Truly The Best of Us

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Talking this afternoon about two of the greatest institutions we have left in this benighted archipelago, and we weren't talking about any of the august halls of academe or museums of the arts or institutes of science and technology, and certainly not of the houses of parliament. Far and away above all of them, The Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the Mountain Rescue Services, provide pretty much flawless service to those that need them in very often perilous circumstances, without question or hesitation. They respond immediately to calls for help from those in danger at sea or in the mountains: and as an inhabitant of an area immediately placed between both, their actions are in our consciousness daily.

All of this - true service - is provided by skilled volunteers, who, for no reward other than that of helping a fellow human being itself, regularly put their own lives on the line in some of the most hazardous circumstances imaginable, freely and without expectation of reward. Contrast this with the self-interest of politicians and 'captains of industry' whose expectations are the diametrical opposite: reward expected and contractually bound before services are even rendered, such as they will ever be, in so many cases. How is it that we tolerate as a society this paradoxical disparity of values? We know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Sadly, that's unlikely to change anytime soon, but thankfully there are decent people out there who have your back when you need them most. 

Comments

  1. Anonymous7 March 2024 at 08:04

    I'm glad that I spent my 21st birthday with the Penlee lifeboat crew, who sadly lost their lives 11 years later! The fishermen and the divers that I was training were also GOOD company too.:)
    ATB
    Joe

    ReplyDelete

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