The Iconoclast FEB 2018

TOUCHÉ-A SOCIETY
OF SNOWFLAKES
TOBY WOOD contemplates the oversensitive nature of today’s society.
There has been a switch in
modern society. The days of
the stiff upper lip and the rugged
determination of any
good British citizen have long
passed, but has this switch
been a good one?
Historically, our society has
been one of stubbornness and
optimism in the face of adversity.
In the last century we’ve had
the Somme generation, the
Passchendaele, Jutland, and
Ypres generation who faced insurmountable
odds, and yet
kept getting on.
This generation was followed by
the second war’s youth- the
men of Dunkirk, Dieppe, El Alamein
and Sicily. Again, a huge
swathe of young men were
drawn into the throes of war in
defence of liberty, democracy,
and Britain. Those who served,
and those at home, adopted an
attitude of fortitude which
played a large part in getting us
through all the difficulties in,
mostly, one piece.
From the outbreak of war in
1914 on towards perhaps the
1980s, these men were regarded
as heroes- valiant soldiers
who could take a beating and
carry on regardless. However, in
more recent years this spirit of
resilience in our nation’s population
has dwindled. The war
winners are now seen as victims
of mechanised slaughter, not
the patriotic and gutsy defenders
of the free world that they
were previously perceived as.
This change reflects a broader
shift in the societal norm, not
just in the memories of our
fighting forces. Increasingly,
people are being encouraged to
cry rather than maintain that
stiff upper lip we have managed
to preserve for centuries.
So is this change a positive one,
or have we become too sensitive;
too prone to simply accept
defeat and give up?
It cannot be disputed that bottling
your emotions up is a poor
decision. One of the best ways
to deal with an issue is to have a
nice heart-to-heart with someone,
maybe over a cup of tea
and some shortbread. However,
when the slightest hiccough in
one’s daily routine brings you
out in tears, is it worth reevaluating
the new tendency?
The era of thick skinned persistence
is, undoubtedly, over. Replaced
instead by this ‘new-age
drippiness’ we have become so
fond of. Stating an opinion on
the internet for instance often
leads to a heated discussion,
where someone who disagrees
with you will engage in a less
than civil argument about some
pointless and meaningless topic.
Indeed, it is difficult to give examples
of such a controversy
without offending someone
reading this.
JACOB REES MOGG
IS KNOWN FOR
QUOTES LIKE ‘NEW
AGE DRIPPINESS’
A disagreement now can stem
from something so miniscule, so
insignificant on a broader scale
that you’d be better off just ignoring
it and moving on. But no,
we feel compelled to put our
views out there, making sure
everybody is aware that we disagree,
and we are offended, and
we are victims.