No doubt it is old age which allows one to realise how in our times, public and private styles of speech and behaviour in every day life have increasingly become much ruder. The change happened the world over, as it has happened in this country. It's true as well that some ways of behaving that in the past were considered to be smooth and civil, actually camouflaged deeply held hypocritical attitudes.

The transformation towards today's behaviour has been decades in the making. As I see things, it all started when there was a change in how US movies got to be presented - I guess as of the 1980s, when vulgarity in ongoing dialogue became a regular feature. This reflected how people actually talked in their everyday lives and was therefore more realistic - but its adoption by the cinema further promoted its use, making it seem more "acceptable". It spread more easily among children and young people - not just by way of coarse vocabulary but also by way of attitudes and forms of expression.

The social means of communication have continued with the process by which rudeness stepped up its take over of individuals' manners - their ways of expression and of behaviour.

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SHOPPING BASKET

The model that the political parties seem to have of voters of both sexes is that of a buyer in a supermarket out to buy necessities and more. How can he/she best find products to make life more comfortable at (to use current jargon) an affordable price? The political competition is to be won by the side which convinces most people that it is offering the most desirable package of products at an attractive price.

Yet how true is it that people decide whom to vote for simply on the basis of how they can get the best deal for their shopping basket? What's the outcome when there's just one product (or two) that is vital to a buyer, but it cannot be placed in a shopping basket - such as a vision for the future that reflects generally held values, regarding for instance, the environment, or a sense of social equality, or correct governance? It is difficult to package these "products" inside a shopping basket.

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DIGITAL DEVELOPMENTS

During the years of Labour administration, the digital front was managed exceptionally well, with governmental services at the their best. More than that, a familiarity with the use of digital tools spread across most social strata, including in the educational field. This important achievement was reinforced by incentives provided to entrepreneurs and others when it came to creating digital initiatives in the commerical, social and artistic fields.

In future, the challenge will be how to sustain this progress in order to keep the country at the forefront in deploying viable methods that ensure the digital sciences will continue to contribute to the economy's development and to social wellbeing. Here too, as in all other areas, our small size places limits to how far we can go. Yet, the potential remains great.  Labour's achievements in this area should help to make any emphasis on the sector more credible with the young and not so young members of the electorate. Labour's election campaign is doing well to also pay attention to this aspect.