It seems a sad reflection on our modern society that at a time of technology, e-mails and other online facilities that many people like myself who do not have such facilities are discriminated against and discouraged to put forward our points of view on a range of matters that concern us.
The media has expressed the view that many people are prisoners of this modern age of technology which in so many ways does not help the human being share communal values. I suppose that many pensioners are an afterthought in a digital age.
Even though we have never used or needed to use such technology in our full and part time work. Clearly, when we write to somebody we still expect the courtesy of a reply, but often don't get it!
While I don’t know the population of Newark and Sherwood, I often wonder how many residents can actually afford to run such systems when so many people have real problems with the cost of living crisis, putting food on the table and heating their homes
To my mind the only people who have won out were the inventor of such systems because people think they need the latest systems, yet they seem to forget that they have been the cause of cyber crime, scams and fraud.
In addition, many problems have been caused by failing IT systems (within Government departments) that fail to do the job they were sourced to do and which clearly were not checked out properly before being brought into operation.
At the same time wasting public money.
We are now led to believe that smart phones and social media post-Covid have affected a number of young people who are suffering from mental health issues and worse.
I was also reading some time ago that people working in the same office were e-mailing each other rather than going over to the other person’s desk to discuss relevant matters — human contact and association lost!
However, I do believe that some techology has a place in the modern world, even though some of it can provide misinformation and deception!
Many years ago when I was working in Local Government I saw the undermentioned piece in a newspaper and which was attributed to Chairman Mao Tse-tung:
“Simpler administration. Talks, speeches, articles and resolutions should all be concise and to the point. Meetings also should not go on too long”.
How right he was! Perhaps if we had less technology we would have simpler lives, and perhaps be a happier country. — A. M. WADDINGTON, Sutton-on-Trent.
