This. I was watching the BBC Archive the other day, where it interviewed people’s thoughts on the mutual disarm movement back in the 80s, and you had two people sitting down at a table expressing their views, but not getting more than a little riled up or resorting to character attacks.
I wish TV was still like this. The most vocal guy in the room is putting forward the view that UK paid for the nukes, and so it should keep them, and ultimately make ourselves more independent of the US and not subservient to them. He’s also a chauvinist pig, but it is only one aspect of his personality and the others seem to understand that and keep the discussion grounded.
One thing I have noticed from watching these old videos is that people ultimately haven’t changed: the exact same gripes (cost of living, buying houses), and the exact same fears (russian interference, loss of jobs to china). They just smoke and drank more.
That last sentence might sound like a joke, but I do think there really is something to having a beer and sharing a cigarette with someone you’re violently in disagreement with. It normalizes the air somehow. Reminds me of the “slightly less than two drinks” rule from Mitchell&Web.
This. I was watching the BBC Archive the other day, where it interviewed people’s thoughts on the mutual disarm movement back in the 80s, and you had two people sitting down at a table expressing their views, but not getting more than a little riled up or resorting to character attacks.
https://youtu.be/6yfE9Ihr8F0?t=661
I wish TV was still like this. The most vocal guy in the room is putting forward the view that UK paid for the nukes, and so it should keep them, and ultimately make ourselves more independent of the US and not subservient to them. He’s also a chauvinist pig, but it is only one aspect of his personality and the others seem to understand that and keep the discussion grounded.
One thing I have noticed from watching these old videos is that people ultimately haven’t changed: the exact same gripes (cost of living, buying houses), and the exact same fears (russian interference, loss of jobs to china). They just smoke and drank more.
That last sentence might sound like a joke, but I do think there really is something to having a beer and sharing a cigarette with someone you’re violently in disagreement with. It normalizes the air somehow. Reminds me of the “slightly less than two drinks” rule from Mitchell&Web.
1983 , I was in the army then , almost WW III, Stanislav Petrov saved the world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov
Yes he did. Sometimes it just takes one adult in the room