Around the time of the moon landing, I had a great birthday present, a reel-to-reel tape recorder. I made my own Apollo landing commentary on this great piece of tech, now an antique. Shows how far we’ve come in some ways, not in others. The ‘space race’ replaced the ‘arms race’. When it was canned to save $s, the ‘Star Wars’ arms race took over, and look where we are now. Think we should head back to the Sea of Tranquillity, don’t you?
Making a difference?
The ’70s were for my coming-of-age time, as they were for Stuart Maconie, author of ‘The Nanny State Made Me’. It’s when I took my 0 and A Levels, went to uni and started my first job. My view of the decade will always be rose-tinted, I’ll remember the music, discos, student grants (wouldn’t have known what a tuition fee was) and monthly inflationary pay rises negotiated by unions of which I was not a member. The strikes, high taxes and IRA bombs were background noise to me and, yes, I was the first in my family to go to university and, yes, despite everything, felt more secure with a nanny state in charge than at any time since. I’d happily pay more tax to give my kids and grandkids the same.
