JOYCE JAMES, LITERARY EDITOR

IN HIS NOVEL, The Time Machine, HG Wells describes a human future where the species is divided in two. Above ground are the sweet, beautiful, pampered, indifferent Eloi, who appear to live in a paradise; below ground are the ugly, thuggish, hard working Morlocks, who appear to be condemned to hell. As it turns out, it is the Morlocks who rule, and the Eloi are their domesticated food supply.

Watching the interaction between Ursula Von Der Leyen, and knowing Europe’s recent history, I could not help wondering if we were experiencing Wells’ vision in action.

Modern Europe has become a tourist theme park inhabited by a herd of pampered supine mendicants, who only raise their heads from the grass for a moment when one of their number is taken away for consumption.

They moan contempt for Trump and his kind but they cannot stand up to him. They have turned tolerance into an addiction and indifference to their own fate has become a replacement religion.

Perhaps all the fight has gone from them. Two World Wars and the Cold War have left them empty of belief and devoid of ambition. They have become afraid of living. They merely exist. Hoping no one will hurt them.

The views expressed are those of Mrs James and, while they probably do reflect those of her husband, as is right and proper, they do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kookaburra Bugle – ED