Remember when the future seemed bright?
WHEN I was young and watched Tomorrow's World and swapped dog-eared copies of Look and Learn with the bloke on Wombwell Market comic stall, I was extremely interested in what the future would bring.
The received wisdom at the time was a world of space travel, moon bases, hover pavements, silver suits and protein pills. We already had men on the moon. We looked forward to a time when world poverty would be defeated, there would be free electricity and robots would do all the work. There would be a shorter working week and people would retire in their 50s.
Unfortunately the Utopian vision - like the comic stall - has long been consigned to the dustbin of history. The only silver items of clothing these days are tin foil hats.
They are already talking of raising the retirement age to 66 by 2016. By the time my generation gets to retire it will probably be 70 or even higher. Of course this won't affect the current generation of leaders, or their banker mates who will ensure our pensions are worthless by then
anyway.
Alternatively there was another vision of the future I watched on the telly during the 70s. It was a Charlton Heston film called Soylent Green...
This week I am going to be proactive and take my subject from the low-hanging fruit of the ranteer's armoury: "management speak".
I heard a councillor who will remain nameless on the radio this morning who said he was going to have to look at some project or other or other "in the round going forward".
By my calculations if he followed that trajectory he would eventually spiral and disappear up his own backside.
* I have received the following observation from rant reader Graham Oliver of Mexborough, who contributes to the debate about the plans for a rubbish incinerator at Manvers:
"Hi Kevin , with response to your last ROGERS RANTS and the letters page re the proposed incinerator they said that the new sewage treatment plant near Bambury Bridge would not SMELL......."
Says it all really.
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Weather for South Yorkshire
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
