As the world seems to be descending into greater and greater chaos, you might sometimes wonder if there are any mortal forces left interested in wisdom and thoughtfulness. Even in this little corner of paradise, the press is full of stories of violence and discord. Especially when they’re intoxicated, many men believe they have the right to treat their womenfolk as punchbags. Apparently, wherever nature remains untamed, robbers and rapists are waiting to pounce upon unsuspecting victims.

Buildings are broken into and jewellery snatched in the streets. Even graveyards are not immune – anything that can make money disappears into the night. “The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.” Meanwhile, for all this rag’s campaigning, it doesn’t seem to deter lorries dumping waste in obscure corners of the countryside, and many vehicle occupants still believe that plastic cups and containers are best disposed of by chucking them out of the window. On the beaches and mountainsides, louts assume the best way to dispose of litter is simply to drop it.  Admittedly, Ancient Athens wasn’t always the best example of civic responsibility, with rubbish dumped all over the place, but eventually attitudes changed as people realised it wasn’t a terribly good idea.

Incivism reigns and it exists not just amongst those at the bottom of the ladder. If things are to change, the example has to come from on high but drug barons and avarice have penetrated all levels of society. The press are easily able to find pockets of drug-trafficking, while the police are nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they don’t know how to tackle the elaborate systems put in place by the traffickers, perhaps there are other reasons. There are teachers who don’t know how to teach and the system still does little to ensure a rounded education. Parents abdicate their responsibilities, which start by not having children if you can’t support and nurture them.

“The world doesn’t belong to leaders. The world belongs to all humanity.” However, a self-service system seems to exist amongst politicos and councillors, supported by sectarian lobbies seeking tit-bits, although the number of religious festivals and buildings would suggest the values of integrity and honesty should have permeated society by now. The public sector is populated with numerous incompetents, pistonné by politicians, and even public sector unions don’t understand that meritocracy is more important than senility. Instead, many people are dedicated to enriching themselves, encouraged by visions of a high income economy – but what’s the point of that if the society has no soul? “Because of lack of moral principle, human life becomes worthless. Moral principle, truthfulness, is a key factor. If we lose that, then there is no future.”

These various quotes may sound as if they come from Greek philosophers but they are those of one of the great spiritual leaders of recent times, the Dalai Lama, who may tweet with a Trump-like ease but at least his tweets have something of value to say. He is, of course, the man world leaders daren’t be seen talking to because China will be furious. “When reason ends, then anger begins. Therefore, anger is a sign of weakness.”

There are a few other small voices encouraging thought, even if they never make the headlines, those who can martial their thoughts, whose reminiscences show how little has changed, how deeply engrained some problems are, how little importance is attached to history. By the way, as Tenzin Gyatso said with his proverbial sense of humour, “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”