PEOPLE today are at a crossroads. We are at the end of one era and the beginning of another, locked in battle about what our future will be.

With no strong faith, no awareness of how to change the world through political action or community work, and no leaders in political or social life who can be counted as serious role models, people drift through life like rudderless boats, bereft of the human touch that makes it all worthwhile.

To thousands, life has now become a matter of us and them.

Without effective leadership, without the great characters that used to dominate and influence our lives, we are becoming irritable and bad tempered, making the business of today our only ambition and forgetting about tomorrow.

We blame everyone else for this state of affairs -- the one we have created for ourselves.

In certain parts of our society, people are using guns and violence to fight back. With no real self-knowledge, too many of our young people are easily led by the false prophets of violence and anarchy.

We need new heroes.

The voices that fight for the greater good of society, the voices of the would-be heroes who call for the investment of time and effort in our society's future, are far too quiet.

We must stop the noise and listen to the words that are being spoken. In those words, there may be some answers.

Jim Silver

Nottingham

(formerly of Bromley Cross, Bolton)