DW Lander ruefully compares life today with how he remembers it in 1940 (Letters, February 13).

But he forgets that when faced with a common enemy, social differences evaporate.

While individual morality may not have improved since 1940, social morality certainly has.

The death penalty has gone; bastardy has gone as a social stigma; we have a national minimum wage; the benefits of the health service are far better than they were in 1940; child poverty is slowly disappearing; the standards of education are far better; nursery provision will soon be universal and millions of us go overseas for holidays. Above all, we have an economy which is the envy of Europe.

But whether all this is conducive to greater happiness is debateable.

So when one decides to concentrate on one aspect of life, such as law and order, it would be salutary to reflect on the improvements which have occurred.

It may well help one to grow old gracefully.

-Reg Jenkins, Hove