Who hasn’t heard about Robin Hood? Within the western popular culture there are loads of various descriptions of the story in books, pictures, comics, TV-series, films and live performances. The drawing above I made some years ago after a picture from the movie Robin Hood with Patrick Bergin as the leading character. We don’t know for sure if there was a specific historic Robin Hood in real life, but the scientific research so far tells us that there may have existed several “Robyn Hoods”, Robyn Hodes during the Middle Ages in England. There are signs that also show that there may have existed a few real people between the 13th to the 14th centuries who lead their lifes in the outskirts of society, and where the stories about them later merged in the songs and tellings. Over the centuries new characters have been invented and put in the story, Lady Marion, Friar Tuck and so on.
In this text I’m not going to tell a specific Robin Hood-story or go deep in the scientific research whether there was a Robin Hood or not. Here I just use Robin Hood as yet another metaphor for something else. In the stories Robin Hood and his merry men are usually described as being rough on the edge, but with mostly good hearts, inventive, down-to-earth and fighting for their survival in a society that was cold and dangerous.
Today, the societies we live in too are sometimes cold and dangerous. Life itself is a precious but fragile thing and in times that might be both good and prosperous, comfortable and peaceful, but also poor, hard, unjust and full of dangers and oppression we as human beings find various ways of coping with life. The resourcefulness of Robin Hood is also something that we too ought to use, but within the limitations of our laws. The problems though as we time and again see in Sweden and in many other countries the laws are bent in different directions and interpreted differently for different people. Life itself will never be just, and injustices will always exist, since that is part of how our world is structured. Nevertheless, in these days, as through millennia of human existence and since the beginning of intelligent life, I believe that we must be resourceful and inventive in how we try to shape our own present life and our future. That resourcefulness must be taken seriously and percieved as just as precious as how we treat our fellow human beings. We have different skills and interests, and old ideas can be rekindled and reshaped, and new things invented. When I write about things like the Iranian-Swedish Society, about things that has happened in the past and connects it to our present-day lifes my aim is to give my readers food for thought and ideas of how to shape his or her future. Maybe you want to start a riding school, invent computer games, become a lawyer to help others in dire straits. Maybe you want to work with your hands, become a travelling guide, a journalist, hip hop-artist, head master or a politician. The important thing is that we try to follow our hearts as well as find out present trends for what is needed now and what might be needed in the future decades. Sometimes we need a little chutzpa, or cheekiness, a daring that leads us on to new goals. The prejudiced ideas that do exist in society ought to be combatted so that more people might succeed irrespective of age, background or gender. Contact potential employers, educate, re-educate, make contacts, socialize, be creative and never ever give in. All generations and everyone is needed.
Anders Moberg, January the 14th 2013.
swedish heart and soul 