DOES 2024 = 1984?

Having a chat recently over a bottle of a 12 year old Glenlivet with some friends about when something is woke or not woke I happened to mention that on one occasion in the retiring room I commented to a colleague with whom I was on a level just slightly more informal than "just a colleague" that her outfit of red jacket and black skirt was a colourful combination which in the insect world would indicate that "I am poison or I can sting so don`t try to eat me."  She was amused and promised not to bite.  

With our common interest we tried to get together once or perhaps twice a year.  There were six of us of whom two were female one under 40 and the other a retiree like myself.  One male was also retired and the other two were I suppose yet to hit 40. Their reactions to my light hearted remark were unsurprising.  The older woman smiled and agreed entirely with my frivolity and confessed that in her younger days she had a section of her wardrobe to contain her "power outfits" amongst which when she still had a figure to flaunt would usually be a black skirt to be worn with a red or yellow top or jacket. Our other female attendee was smiling rather sardonically at this and said if she had been spoken to like that at her place of work a complaint to her HR manager would have been made at the speed of light.  Of my three male imbibing companions my contemporary snorted that the world if it hasn`t gone mad was at the entrance to the asylum. The other two thought in the nicest possible way that we were a bunch of fogeys.  I suppose that in microcosm they were correct which brings me to the reality of what happens when innocent remarks in some circumstances are as divorced from reality as are members of the Flat Earth Society.  

The employment tribunal case of Yuanyuan Zhang is interesting owing to its focal point being the use of the term frumpy to describe a woman`s appearance.  The tribunal judge is quoted as saying, "such a comment was unwanted comment related to sex".  Owing to her claim being time barred it was rejected.  A report is available  here. 

With millions of Britons proudly hosting names from their or their ancestors` homeland be it Afghanistan or Zambia or all places in between it`s unsurprising that many good hearted English people notorious for lacking linguistic abilities sometimes struggle in that department.  Indeed a now deceased member of my family solved that issue by asking associates to call him Davy.  It seems, however, that common sense and simple mutual respect are increasingly rare commodities nowadays.  In fact the former was a requirement when I was appointed to the bench but went missing about ten years later.  Viveak Taneja was left "angry and upset" when Dana Davies incorrectly called him "Vikesh".  He was sacked as an area sales manager and subsequently was awarded over £9,000 when the tribunal judge ruled that his dignity had been violated. There is a very full report here.  

There is no doubt that every generation since flint was the most precious of stones thinks that the succeeding generation is lacking in some skills or another. However the apparent current obsession with offence being deconstructed to mean any tiny detail of criticism which reaches the eyes or ears vaguely in the direction of a woke receptive individual is now being used for social, financial or political gain.  Until July 4th the manufactured and meaningless word islamophobia is going to be heard many times daily when observers note the identity politics being pursued in some constituencies.  Perhaps we are fortunate that woke is still relatively benign but then so was Das Kapital in 14 September 1867 or Mein Kampf in 18 July 1925.  

When the word genocide is being deliberately misused to foster hate and truth is being seen to be falsehood we truly are nearing the reality of George Orwell`s nightmare. Does  2024 = 1984?  Perhaps there is still hope for old fogeys and the rest of the population.