It happened again over the weekend. Someone turned the clock, it’s Daylight Saving Time now. A large majority consider the measure pointless and annoying, but the old back-and-forth game continues. That’s why there won’t be any angry protests like in France, where half the country is protesting against a pension reform as if it were 1789 again and the storming of the Bastille.
One sees with horror that the anachronistic lies in this time. War in Europe, dictatorial tendencies in model democratic states such as the USA or Israel – none of this would have been thought possible until recently. The notion that a better world has long since arrived is based on daydreams. Such a misconception is particularly widespread in western countries, a phenomenon of prosperity.
sentimental memory
On a recent trip through Jordan, I had a strong, anachronistic experience. However, of a harmless nature and rather sentimental. In a restaurant, a man lit a cigarette at the other end of the table where we were eating. No e-cigarette, no pocket-sized shisha teat, but really with fire and smoke, a fag.
We were amazed. The man demonstrated an ancient cultural technique, a practiced ritual. Now it has to be said that in the Arab country, which is experiencing a post-pandemic tourism boom, smoking in localities is largely restricted or banned. But it’s still possible.
Progress is lame
It made me nostalgic? No not that. Because alcohol is only available there in international hotels and restaurants. Smoking permit against alcohol ban, that wouldn’t be good business. I also gave up smoking almost completely a long time ago.
What fascinates me about this thing is the relationship between speed and social change. Anti-smoking laws have been advancing at breathtaking (or breath-taking) speed almost everywhere in the world. In contrast, it seems impossible to introduce a speed limit in Germany. There is no cure for gun culture in the United States. Not to mention climate protection. Progress is more of a crab than a snail. And nature is changing, ever worse, ever more frequently, catastrophically.
Preliminary conclusion: The time can be changed at will. Only the spirit does not cooperate.
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Source: Tagesspiegel
I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years now and I have worked for some of the biggest news websites in the world. My focus has always been on entertainment news, but I also cover a range of other topics. I am currently an author at Global happenings and I love writing about all things pop-culture related.
