The early 1980s were a glorious time to be a teenager. Along with BMX bikes, Airwolf and Quattro, we had a plethora of new music genres to be enthralled by. The band Frankie Goes to Hollywood with their dance / funk / pop / rock style were no exception. Their UK number 1 hit song Two Tribes really resonated with its anti-war message at the height of the Cold War.
The threat of mutually assured nuclear destruction of both East and West loomed heavily in the background like an overly eager Grim Reaper. Ironically, we were safer than we thought due to the respective leaders’ implicit understanding of avoiding escalation. They behaved rationally.
With the fall of the Iron Curtain, we aspired for a new era of peace and prosperity, and for three decades this seemed to be the case. Despite regional conflicts, the possibility of World War 3 and Armageddon never seemed to be a realistic possibility. However, as we emerged from the horrors of Covid-19, we found ourselves facing a new threat: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which took the world by surprise. Since then, there has been further conflict across so many corners of the world. And in the past couple of months, we have witnessed events which appear to be not only threatening liberal democracy but also destabilising the world economy and leading the world into unknown territory.
For many years I have subscribed to an online newspaper, but in recent weeks I have been reluctant to open the app on my phone. The available news is all negative, even more so than ever before. It is known that sustained exposure to upsetting news can trigger the fight-or-flight response resulting in stress, anxiety and depression. Therefore, the news currently, for me, is best to be avoided and my knowledge of it will not change any potential outcomes.
There is however news for consumption which is positive and beneficial. I am not talking about ‘Wetherspoon News’, which is a thing according to my son, but Eye News. For Jun/Jul 2025, we have a host of enlightening articles. Andrew King describes the life of the founder of modern ophthalmology, Duke-Elder. The blind adventurer Miles Hilton-Barber takes us to the Danger Zone and in VISION2020, Mattan Arazi explores eyecare challenges in the Middle East. In our trainee section, Lizzie Rosen recounts her ophthalmology elective in the South Pacific and Pete feels the fear on call on his Bogus Journey. There is something that should appeal to everyone in our Jun/Jul 2025 content.
I am not sure if Tears for Fears, in their 1982 song, Mad World, envisaged the situation that we find ourselves in now. However, returning to the lyrics from the song Two Tribes, here at Eye News we are “working on loving, yeah giving you back the good times.” So, in this troubled era, try not to focus on the negative events taking place on the planet but focus on the good things in life, which obviously includes the wonderful world of ophthalmology.
