The End Of Innocence


“There was this idea spinning in my mind (or almost my mind spinning) as to why the world is how it is. I know, this is serious philosophy, especially on a Wednesday morning! Anyway, I think it all boils down to one question: When and how did we lose our innocence?“


So, let’s join Christian’s deep thoughts. Obviously, we don’t expect a single answer, it’s a million things all coming together. Or is there a greater plan?


“I mean, I remember a time when we could board a plane with a pair of tweezers in the hand luggage. And when the kids and the geeks could visit the pilot in the cockpit and watch them doing their work. When you could show up late at the airport with a standard economy ticket (underestimated the travelling time between Victoria and Heathrow!) and they simply put you on the next flight. There was a time when we could call that thing in the class room where the teacher writes on ‘blackboard’ without anybody suspecting racism. Or a time when products could be sold without utterly ridiculous warnings printed on them to avoid the odd lawsuit. When peanut butter didn’t come with a warning that it may contain nuts. When people needed to take responsibility for what they were doing rather than getting strangled by laws to protect us from ourselves..”


And then there was a time when Formula 1 drivers weren’t just kids that dutifully first thanked their sponsors before complaining about their car and team. By the way, we know that smoking is unhealthy, but what was so wrong about the Marlboro advertisement? We can go on without stopping (you noticed, no?), the question is, is our vision clouded by romantic nostalgia, are we getting old or did something seriously go wrong? We’re not talking about 9/11 here, this was just one incident in a much bigger scheme…


“So, can anybody tell me what happened?“