Time to reassess what is important
ONE wonders just how many people have actually taken the time during this lockdown period to reassess their life as to what is really important to them. I would think that putting food on the table is a priority and then what is required to keep everyone occupied such as the education of the children, a daily activity to keep healthy and a way to earn a living.
I would say that living on an island like Guernsey where the population is spread over most of the island, their ancestors were basically self-sufficient on their smallholdings and making a living off the land. It was a community way of life where everyone shared what they produced and helped each other throughout the year whatever the weather.
So is this pandemic making us stop and change our ways? The first nations of the world are crying out to save the world from pollution of our present way of life. We have seen how people of Guernsey have come together to help those less fortunate folk in their hour of need, so what will it take to continue this into the future after the pandemic, making Guernsey a better place to live for everyone?
It personally makes me very sad to see so much of our land not being used to grow the food to make us self- sufficient, the empty greenhouses that are falling down, large areas that are being overgrown with blackthorn, brambles and bracken. We have to realise that it is our most valuable asset and we must support the present farming community and give the younger generation a chance to get involved in the future.
The island has been lucky to have the finance industry to bring business to the island but with a changing world it may not be the real answer to our future.
It is what we can physically produce to export that will keep Guernsey afloat by using our natural assets such as the sea, wind and the land. So now is the time to make these changes to be more sustainable for the future and we all can live in harmony and have a better way of life.
DAVID SWIFFEN