6 ‘New fashions in clothing are created solely for the commercial exploitation of women’

Many women squander vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. And if women are exploited year after year, they have only themselves to blame. Because they shudder at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are annually blackmailed by the designers and the big stores. No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are rarely concerned with vital things like warmth, comfort and durability. They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, providing they look right.

7 ‘We should all grow fat and be happy’

Fat people spend a lifetime fighting a losing battle against spreading hips, protruding tummies and double chins. You can always recognise dieters from the sour expression on their faces. They spend most of their time turning their noses up at food. They are forever consulting calorie charts; gazing at themselves in mirrors; and leaping on to weighing-machines in the bathroom. They exhaust themselves doing exercises, sweating in sauna baths, being pummelled and massaged by weird machines. All the horrible concoctions dieters eat instead of food leave them permanently dissatisfied. And you can’t be hungry and happy at the same time.

8 ‘The younger generation knows best’

Old people are always saying that the young are not what they were. Every new generation is different from the one that preceded it. Today the difference is very marked indeed. The young are better educated. They have a lot more money to spend and enjoy more freedom. The old always assume that they know best for the simple reason that they have been around a bit longer.

Traditionally, the young have turned to their elders for guidance. Today, the situation might be reversed. The old could learn a thing or two from their children. One of the biggest lessons they could learn is that enjoyment is not ‘sinful’. Enjoyment is a principle one could apply to all aspects of life.

9 ‘Only stricter traffic laws can prevent accidents’

Despite the fact that today the expectation of life has increased enormously, every day we witness the incredible slaughter of men, women and children on the roads. Thousands of people the world over are killed or horrible mutilated each year.

But there are some of the things that might be done to take down the accident rate. The driving test should be standardised and made far more difficult than it is; all drivers should be made to take a test every three years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through stringent annual tests for safety.

10 ‘Parents are too permissive with their children nowadays’

A good old fashioned spanking is out of the question and you are not allowed even to shout at the children. Nobody knows what deep psychological wounds you might inflict. Certainly a child needs love, and a lot of it. But the excessive permissiveness of modern parents is surely doing more harm than good.

Children are hardy creatures and most of them survive the harmful influence of extreme permissiveness which is the normal condition in the modern household. But a great many do not. The spread of juvenile delinquency in our own age is largely due to parental laxity.

And if children are knocked about a little bit in the process, it may not really matter too much. At least this will help them to develop vigorous views of their own and give them something positive to react against.