Thank you, CherryPie. Wise words.

Stumpy, you make a perceptive observation I wish I could refute. When I started the blog I thought of myself as a winner. I had a career I loved and a little family I loved even more. My personal duties fulfilled, I approached my blogging as a modest use of my strengths for the good of a wider society. Since my late wife died, I have had my moments but no lasting wins. I refuse to become a victim, but I admit it’s hard to maintain my innate optimism at times. I don’t doubt the ideas, you understand. I just doubt my strength to uphold them. The blog helps me by connecting me to like minds. There are none among my immediate friends. It’s not that they’re hostile exactly. They just think my ideas are simplistic and naive. They may not be entirely wrong but I can’t help but notice that they take no principled stands on anything and so I worry it may be the idea of principles that they find a naive concept! Without my readers and commentators, I would be very isolated indeed and might (if I’m honest) be gaslit into submission. The look in the eyes of friends and family when I express ideas that Smith or Locke or Paine would consider uncontroversial is disheartening. A couple of generations have now been “educated” to regard the ideas of twenty years ago (let alone two hundred years ago) as ancient, irrelevant history. It seems weird and naive to me to think the present state of human development (still good in many ways - poverty is declining and life expectancy rising) is all do do with the living and nothing to do with those who came before us. Thank you for your kind suggestion. A London blog meet would be fun if enough readers are up for it. But please don’t treat it as a support group. As I say, I refuse to be a victim! I’m now uneasy that I may perhaps have over shared!

Sackerson, the point about the Russian Orthodox Church is well-made. Generations of believers walked past its gates with a sneer during Soviet times, in case they were being watched. Now they practise their faith openly. The young man mentioned in my post was doing something similar in sight of his woke teachers.

Thank you, Pogo.

Chromatistes, wouldn't I have to be Zeus's dad to be grandfather to a Perseus? My vanity never reached quite those heights.

Sun Tzu's Art of War is one of my favourite books. I used to give a copy to each new member of my team, back in the day. It is full of ideas as useful in business negotiations as in war. So I guess you're being reminded of some specific Machiavellian piece of ancient Chinese wisdom rather than the whole work! My favourite piece of advice was that if your enemy's retreat is blocked and the only material you have is gold, "build him a golden bridge". Say what you like about Sun Tzu, he was all about keeping the fighting to a minimum. Indeed, "To win without fighting is best". The most Sun Tzu-like advice I was ever given in my life came from a distinguished City lawyer for whom I once worked. He said he could see I liked to win an argument, but that I took it too far. I wanted my opponent to acknowledge his defeat. That's silly, he said. "The best way to win an argument is for your opponent only to realise, weeks later as he takes a leisurely bath, that he lost".

Prague is more popular with tourists but Budapest is a great city too. I have happy memories of it.

Thanks Mark and MarkC. Much appreciated. One of my English friends tells me I’m going to enjoy singing “the lonely goatherd” to my grandchild when telling him or her the story. I’ll have to practise my yodelling in preparation. I’m certainly going to look for a soft toy goat as a first gift.

Greg, Thank you. As a libertarian (classical liberal, who still believes the things that made the West rich) I wouldn’t really wish Soviet *anything* on anyone. Particularly as the 11 years in post-communist Poland where I was lucky enough to become your friend were highly educational for me. I was humorously suggesting that Britain’s state apparatchiks should be consistent, rather than just stealing the bits of Soviet thought that suit them! I loathe the kind of sociopath attracted to jobs that involve being paid with money taken by state force from fellow citizens while bossing them about, but I wouldn’t really wish a gulag or a firing squad on them. I’d prefer something for them they’d hate even more — earning an honest living in a competitive environment.

That’s falls into the same category as my mum being nasty — not applicable. The breakfast was good though.

Thank you Amanda. Deo violenti, I will.

Thanks Chromatistes. Still four days of driving jeopardy to go before we’re safely home…