The Slippery Slope?

It was exactly sixty years ago today that sugar rationing came to an end. That was fully eight years after the war had ended. For my parents generation, the years of being deprived soon gave way to the years of gluttony. If you limit the diet of any animal, you will directly exert an effect on its health. My father has often spoken with fondness of the availabilty of sweets after rationing ended. Like many, he was a sweet toothed person and, once the flood gates were opened, he made up for the years of going without. Because our knowledge of diabetes is so much better now, it would be difficult to compare the rates of today with those in 1953. I do think though that the war years must have advantaged the health of that generation even if some sought to make up for lost time when rationing was finally lifted. During the war, their diet was one which today would be held up as a shining example of healthy eating. The minute choice returned to the dinner table, human nature resumed and the price has arguably been paid ever since. There is a certain irony that the NHS was formed in 1947 because the dietary restrictions of most would have a seriously beneficial effect on waiting lists. Also, up until that point, people used to have to pay to go and see the doctor so were usually very ill before they did so. Yes, those early years of the NHS must have been very interesting. Granted, people smoked more then and I don't doubt that mental illness must have been rife following the horrors of the war. For all that though, I can't help but feel that their lives were more fulfilling than ours today. There is no doubt they had a better sense of community and kept an eye out more for each other. That generation understandably sought to escape the memories of war and cam of age in the 1960s. Their music alone was testament to their desire to effect change. One such member of that extraordinary group turned 70 today. During the 60s, he was the epitomy of cool and was oft imitated by the waves of new talent all searching for the next hit. Born Clive Powell, Georgie Fame was born in Lancashire and went on to lead the fusion of jazz with rhythm and blues which transformed the London music scene. He has worked with just about everybody of stature from that illustrious decade and continues to perform as he enters his eighth decade. In particular, his song "Getaway" seemed somehow to sum up the cool mid 60s sound. His later collaborations with Alan Price were also memorable although the urban myth that they were brothers was just that. Fame was so cool that he reached number one with each of his three top ten singles at a time when the competition was fierce. With the start in life they had, it is little wonder that the war years gave us so many wonderful musicians of whom Georgie was just one of so many. Can you imagine sugar rationing today? I think there would be a riot and anarchy would set in. It is said that Gordon Brown considered deploying troops on our streets when the scale of the banking collapse began to emerge. With sugar rationing, I don't think he'd have had a choice!