JAN MOIR: The stupid and selfish Cult of Me generation should try surviving in a war zone

Hate to sound like a misanthrope, but sometimes I despair of humanity, I really do.

When did people get so stupid and selfish? What happened to common sense? Was it washed away on the outgoing tide, along with raw intelligence and compassion for our fellow innocents? Not to mention the formerly commonplace concept of pulling together for the good of all.

I’m not talking about the big issues, such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, although God knows, they are bad enough. We have reached a point where the entire civilised world is urging President Putin in Russia and Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel to desist from the fighting and bombing and killing, but no one is listening.

Especially not the Hamas terrorists who are still holding more than 100 Jewish people hostage and refusing all entreaties to give them up, even though this would lead to a reduction in hostilities.

You might hope that those of us who are lucky enough to live in peace and relative prosperity would be feeling blessed by our circumstances. Would be making the most of our good fortune, thanking our lucky stars that we are not sheltering in a bombed-out basement in Rafah, or living in fear for our lives on the frontline in Avdiivka. Not a bit of it.

At Stonehenge in Wiltshire, a woman walked across security barriers to photograph herself touching the famous monument, despite being repeatedly warned not to by security guards

Holidaymakers climb up a treacherous cliff to avoid queues on the landslip damaged steps at Durdle Door in Dorset over the Bank Holiday weekend 

Just look at the recent Easter Bank Holiday, which brought out the worst in so many. Holidays always do. Perhaps it’s the pressure of leaving routine and comfort zones behind that makes people behave so badly, but increasingly it seems like curdled entitlement.

‘I deserve this’ is the mantra of the it’s-all-about-me generation. How on earth would they cope with the desperation and deprivations of a war zone when they can’t even conduct themselves reasonably on a day-trip to a beauty spot?

How else can you explain those visitors to Cornwall who parked their cars on beaches and had to be rescued by hard-pressed emergency services? Or the dozens of illegally parked cars which had to be towed away at Welsh landmarks, while furious locals in the Peak District and Scotland blamed Easter visitors for clogging up beauty spots with traffic and litter?

Everywhere you looked, TikTok maniacs and selfie-seekers were out in force, ruining everything for everyone else; thinking only of themselves and capturing that vital picture for their Instagram feeds — because in this monstrous Cult of Me, the only experience that matters is theirs.

There is a new sharp-elbowed tribe of travel bloggers out there who are ‘investing in memories’ at the expense of others; single-minded graspers focused only on ticking off their bucket list of adventure banalities.

Indeed, one popular bucket list staple is getting to the top of Snowdonia and over the Easter weekend there were fights in the queues — queues! — for the summit, where many were poorly dressed, despite snow at the top. ‘Muppets everywhere,’ one exasperated climber noted.

At Stonehenge in Wiltshire, a woman walked across security barriers to photograph herself touching the famous monument, despite being repeatedly warned not to by security guards. It is sacred, it is protected, it is fenced-off — but nothing would stop her.

From vandalising ancient sites to disrespecting local culture and damaging valuable art and objects in museums by walking backwards to take a selfie, this creep of selfishness has spread like knotweed.

And it’s not just confined to the UK. The sunbed-bagging season has barely begun, yet residents in Tenerife are already revolting against the influx of drunken British tourists who ruin their island every year, while the bullish holidaymakers have responded by painting some graffiti of their own; ‘We Pay Your Wages’. Well, that’s going to result in a cheery atmo down at the old Dog & Duck in the Playas de los Drunkos, isn’t it?

Meanwhile, eight passengers who missed their Norwegian Cruises scheduled departure time from the island of Sao Tome this week are thinking of suing the cruise line instead of blaming themselves for being late.

And the Los Angeles Times reports that skiing accidents in Californian snow resorts have increased by 50 per cent in recent years. Why? Not only are growing numbers enhancing their experience by ingesting cannabis gummies, magic mushrooms or copious amounts of alcohol before hitting the slopes, many are so focused on taking selfies and shooting video for their social media feeds that they are oblivious to what’s happening around them.

Their headphones are on, they have tuned out to everything except their own reality. Things have become so bad that locals don’t ski at weekends any more, for fear of being seriously injured.

Some point to this growing recklessness and selfishness as typical of post-pandemic behaviour. It certainly seems to be the case that Covid and lockdown changed everything, but particularly the way people think about themselves and their place in the world.

And, whether on holiday or at home, it is true that there is precious little ‘one for all’ these days, but plenty of ‘all for one’. Muppets everywhere, indeed.

Terrifying statistic of the week — prescriptions for adults with ADHD have gone up 150 per cent since the pandemic. While there’s no doubt a great number of adults and children genuinely suffer from this condition, the rocketing numbers suggest it’s just another covetable label to mask a lack of discipline and no boundaries. 

It might help some grown-ups feel better about themselves, but it doesn’t help those who need medical care the most. Do you get extra benefits for having ADHD? Of course you do. 

Queen Beyonce takes on Jolene 

Beyonce’s lusty embrace of country music has been a huge global success. Her irresistible single, Texas Hold ’Em, has been number one for weeks, while her 27-track album Cowboy Carter is heading the same way.

Even her new Wild West outfits are a sensation — only Beyonce would dare to bare in white leather chaps. And perhaps only Beyonce would also dare to reimagine and repurpose Dolly Parton’s 1970s classic country song, Jolene.

Beyonce's irresistible single, Texas Hold ’Em, has been number one for weeks, while her 27-track album Cowboy Carter is heading the same way

While pliant Dolly whines to her love rival, ‘I’m begging of you please don’t take my man’, Beyonce purrs, ‘I’m warnin’ you, don’t come for my man’. Where Parton admits, ‘I cannot compete with you, Jolene’, Beyonce snarls, ‘You don’t want no heat with me, Jolene’.

There is nothing particularly liberated about this — surely a true feminist would have kicked out the lousy, cheating bum instead of confronting his mistress.

It’s more of a culturally different way of expressing yourself. For if a love song is to mean something, it must be honest. ‘I’m a queen, Jolene,’ sings Beyonce. And that ain’t no lie neither.

Four years on, lockdown feels like a fever dream

The first few days of spring always remind me of the first few weeks of the pandemic. Can it really be four years ago this week when Queen Elizabeth gave her Covid address to the nation, reminding everyone that ‘better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again’.

She recorded the message at Windsor Castle, where she was living in isolation with 98-year-old Prince Philip. This might sound ridiculous, but I miss them both.

The Queen's message on a billboard overlooking Piccadilly during Easter 2020

It’s also four years since Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalised with Covid, while police vans were patrolling British parks, broadcasting warnings about sitting on benches. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam announced that social distancing was more important than wearing face masks, while Health Secretary Matt Hancock noted there was no evidence to suggest healthy people should be forced to wear masks, nor that we should have to wash the outside of our bagged salads.

Did all this really happen? It seems like a fever dream, it seems like yesterday, it seems like a lifetime ago. I’m glad the Covid emergency is over, but what’s replaced it — political meltdown, wars, Holly Willoughby getting a Netflix deal — seems even worse.

 A gilded career is no match for depression

My sympathy to Roman Kemp, who is leaving his lucrative, enviable and coveted job at Capital Radio in London.

The 31-year-old is taking time out to look after his mental health. He explained this week: ‘I need this time for myself. I’ve been at that company for ten years, on that show for seven now. I’ve tried to spin the plates and tried to do everything, and I’ve realised it’s getting in the way of my life. You can’t enjoy your own life.’

Roman Kemp is the son of pop stars Martin Kemp and Shirlie Holliman, and the godson of the late George Michael 

One might think, yes Roman, that is the problem with work. It frequently gets in the way of relaxing and having fun. It often obstructs, as he points out, enjoying yourself. Roman is the son of pop stars Martin Kemp and Shirlie Holliman, and the godson of the late George Michael.

He has been on telly since he was a kid, and will not be writing an autobiography called My Showbiz Struggle any time soon.

Yet Roman has suffered from serious depression for many years and has been particularly troubled since his producer friend committed suicide a few years ago. Sometimes what looks like an easy and gilded life from the outside can be anything but.

Rufus Sewell is certainly having a moment. The 56-year-old actor plays Prince Andrew in what is sure to be an award-winning turn in the new Netflix drama, Scoop. ‘He reminded me a lot of David Brent,’ he said of the beleaguered royal. 

Cruel but perceptive. Twice-married, handsome Rufus also just got engaged to a lovely 27-year-old actress called Vivian Benitez, somehow finding the time for love between roles in the hit Netflix series The Diplomat and starring in a new film called The Trouble With Jessica. 

The latter is a Hampstead dinner-party drama, with gorgeous property porn, jokes about Farrow & Ball paint colours and a running gag about a baked dessert called clafoutis. I liked it — even though the plot calls for a Daily Mail columnist to die in the first five minutes.

Rufus Sewell, 56, plays Prince Andrew in what is sure to be an award-winning turn in the new Netflix drama, Scoop