An inspector visiting during gardening therapy noticed one inmate dragging a wheelbarrow upside down.
The person explained, “when I wheel it right way up, people keep putting things in it and telling me to take it where I don’t want to go”.
Trump is now bullying other nations to accept demands on Greenland regardless of international law, while the USA is ravaged by unrest against enforcing decisions contrary to local opinion.
The successful strike to unseat the dictator in Venezuela still allows his regime continuity while purloining its oil and resources.
Dictatorship doesn’t make for better organisation.
It depends on the personal whims of the dictator, perhaps good for him, but not necessarily for anyone else.
Some will hope to profit from agreement, but most are frightened into conformity.
Social media allows everyone to have their say, especially the opinionated, but there is no requirement that anything is actually true.
Nor is there any limit on what is said, so it becomes a weird mix of fact and fantasy, with scams and other evil unchecked.
Naming a channel “truth social” does not make it true or sociable.
The American demand to take over Greenland could be using its defence as an excuse to acquire mineral rights for US companies to profit.
Maybe history is repeating itself.
In the year 865, invading Danes took over the east of England, establishing the “Danelaw”.
But recent history is not repeated because we now have the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Danes all on the same side, opposing the USA.
The mental inmate dragging his barrow around was rejecting collaboration, doing just what he wanted for himself, regardless of anyone else.
That is the global problem.
We seem to be in a period of decisions by personal whim, not thinking through the result with common sense.
Taking over an inherently hostile Ukraine will not work well for Russia; the USA alienating allies in the NATO alliance will not make for a safer world either.
Christmas seems a long time ago.
“Fall on your knees and hear the angel voices- fear not, peace on earth to men that are God’s friends” to combine the lyrics of a popular carol with a quote from St Luke’s Gospel.
The Christmas story starts with the birth of baby Jesus.
As Jesus grew up, he taught people how to live sensibly, caring for each other.
Power and politics were not relevant, whether Jewish leaders or Roman occupiers.
Jesus said: “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,” to recall one Bible quote.
Different faiths have different renderings, but all have the simple message that we should respect the Creator while treating our neighbour as we ourselves want to be treated.
Events in the news may seem remote, but the message is applicable worldwide.
It should fit wherever it touches, regardless of power, poverty, or personal whim.
The message from Christmas tells us that we should be working with everyone immediately around us and with the wider world for the common good, and so should our leaders.