Ian,
Sorry if I over-reacted - the miners strike was a traumatic time for all of us and had implications on many of our lives - especially on those of us who relied on a pay packet at the end of the week.
Whether they liked it or not, the strike was not just about coal, but about the rights of workers to be represented by a Trades Union - Thatcher picked her enemy carefully and was happy to use the police force as a private army to smash the miners union. It could just as easily have been the dockers or the electricians......
It was also about defending communities which depended on mining for their livelihood - I, as a supporter of Trade unions, and as a human being, was proud to be part of that. When the miners strike was lost, we all dipped out; some of us foresaw that; that's why we got involved.
I'm glad you found your niche elsewhere - many thousands didn't.
"If I want to change people's lives, I could become a politician."
Nowadays politicians don't change things - they perpetuate them - if we haven't learned that, we've learned nothing.
Folk song has ALWAYS been a part of people expressing their opinions and emotions about their lives and trying to improve their lot - the cotton industry, the mining communities, conditions at sea or on the farms - you name it, there's a song about it. Right up to the recent 'troubles' in Ireland songs were used as stones to throw at 'the enemy' (whatever side of the fight you happen to sit on). Personally, I'd rather them than bombs and bullets.
What are you proposing - that you ban songs that don't fit your particular philosophy from the clubs?
"I have two bottles of champagne in the house at any time..."
Delighted to hear it - wonder how many ex-miners can afford to say the same?
By being a 'sadder and wiser person' - you totally concede the victory to Thatcher - wouldn't sleep at nights if I did that.
Jim Carroll