Does the UK suck?

[123LiveLaughLove123]

So I have been watching Channel 4 New Life in the Sun.

And it has really been an eye opener.

It made me think...does the UK actually suck? And we are too institutionalised/subject to propaganda to realise?

Here are the reasons the UK sucks:

1. Weather sucks and the country looks dark and grey all the time


2. Roads are narrow, unpleasant to use, and crowded everywhere


3. Houses are small and full of mould everywhere you look. There is nothing romantic about the Cotswolds: it's ancient peasant housing that should be knocked down


4. People look pale and miserable


5. NHS only useful when you reach 65+


6. Rate of tax is astronomically high (I am two years into a graduate job pays marginal tax is 60%)


7. There is crime and general decrepitude everywhere you look


8. Idiots in charge of the country with no critical thinking ability


9. National caste system as a derivative of Norman invaders


10. Opportunities for young people suck because they can't earn enough to buy houses to offers stable family life


11. Low-level drug dealing in every city/town/village if you know what to look out for


12. Private school now astronomically expensive


13. Every business transaction is in some way a scam in the UK. Low-level scamming each other is the basis of the British economy


14. Legacy of colonialism, sexism, institutional racism, caste system derived from royals. It's basically just awful.

What do you think?

This. ^

@BarbaraofSeville

Yes, it's just grey, grey, grey, dull here.

It's NOT.

@MrOllivander

What's wrong with being pale?

Yeah WHAT? I would like an answer to that too. Imagine if someone said there's a problem with being dark skinned?! You're racist @123LiveLaughLove123

@PaddleBoardingMomma

People who think the UK is shit are seriously in need of having their eyes opened. Poverty across the world, children starving to death, women unable to attend school, genital mutilation as a standard practice, and you think you have it hard because you don't like the Cotswolds? Honestly don't know wtf is wrong with some people.

Probably over privileged lefties coming out with this shit. The same ones who loathe the Royal Family, call anyone who voted for Brexit a racist piece of gammon, and who deface statues of white people. If you don't like the UK, then do us all a favour, and LEAVE. See if you can find anywhere better. Go on! Bog off!

@mumda

And yet people die trying to get here after travelling through many other countries.

Exactly! We are such a TERRIBLE COUNTRY, yet people fall over each other trying to get here. Funny that!

Everything you said is true. I hate that the houses are small the most. So many standard homes have 2.5 bedrooms and families are expected to live in these cramped homes.
Everywhere has pros and cons and I'd rather live here than anywhere else.

You are being a bit harsh - but we moved to mainland Europe 20 years ago, partly because even then, although we both had decent jobs, the cost of living was so high in the SE that we could never save any money.

But taxes are higher in many countries - Australia, Scandinavian countries, France, Germany (I think) - and that's just places where we've lived or thought about living. They all invest more in healthcare though!

No, it doesn't. However, its current government certainly does.

if i had somewhere else i could go id be out here like a fucking shot

Direct taxes are higher than in the UK

Indirect taxes are lower or you can avoid them e.g. council tax as an occupier versus property tax which you don't pay as a tenant.

I think everything the OP says is true but over time you have to insulate yourself against it all by setting up your own thing, be it family or social life or business or all of the above. If you are living your life through the media or the national narrative, you'll find nothing there for you these days. I'm honestly not sure what Johnson's Govt is really doing, it's all reactive stuff. Even if you think that sending refugees to Rwanda is the right thing to do - basically it's outsourcing the problem, like sending our rubbish abroad - there is nothing very merry or uplifting about it, even if you think foreigners coming here crashes the overstretched NHS that's because the Govt has run the NHS down over the last decade or more.

I have begun to ration reading the Times and Sunday Times as the plethora of stories about how bad things are is down heartening, that said you have to have experienced bits of it firsthand to react in this way - some may read the same stories and be entertained on some level, seeing how some have it worse.

It's true it could be worse elsewhere. I think Germany is a decent country these days but they messed up by being in hock to the Russians.
I do think the UK is largely corrupt these days but say that and others point out other places are more corrupt. But the State does seem quite dodgy, it's quite imperialistic but they're doing it to us now, not Johnny Foreigner. They can get to us, we can't get to them - regulators are bent, legal aid abolished, etc

I love on a notoriously cold part of the UK, yer it is sometimes too hot for me.

Stay away. You won't be missed.

Of course she won't be missed, we don't know her.

And yet people die trying to get here after travelling through many other countries.

Oh, how predictable!! This always gets trotted out on any thread like this. You do realise there are other countries in the world people are desperate to get to, not just the UK? Also, you know perfectly what what the OP is trying to say. If you think the UK is perfect then why not come out with some sensible examples of why, rather than this lazy one.

What a vile, ignorant and uneducated response. I earn well above the average yet would have to save nearly 30k deposit to afford to buy, petrol rising, average lives unattainable. The average earner no longer even has the option of buying solo. I am well travelled with family from many countries and life is much better. Even my uncle from the Ukraine had a fantastic (and affordable) life until the war. My parents who are mid 40's have been able to buy decent houses, cars and holidays and are buy no means well off. People under 30 will not have a pension with the current costs of living in the uk and funded care will not be available to our generation.

I would like to live elsewhere definitely, but I’m not able to. Taxes aren’t high enough in the U.K. to provide decent public services. The division between the rich and poor is horrific, and the government and ruling elite are now intrinsically corrupt.

Thats interesting. I think I’d read this article: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/16/why-does-it-cost-32093-just-to-give-birth-in-america

Seems to vary a lot depending on which state anyway.

So the rest of the world is perfect then?

Australia has similar problems, only difference is it is sunny a lot more

If people hate the UK that much, then they should vote with their feet and move to another country, which is better for them, they are not forced to stay here and endure the hardships you mention

Will now await incoming 😳

Why does it have to be either:

“Britain is the diviest dive ever, why would anyone want to live here?”

or

”Everywhere else is simply dreadful. Britain is marvellous by comparison!”

I don’t think many on this thread actually believe either of these things, but there are a lot of posters who are willing to divide the opposition into one camp or another. I suppose that’s the internet for you.

How do you suggest people move to another country, though? Most countries have strict visa, entry, age, money, etc requirements? Most British people aren’t eligible to move anywhere. I looked into it several times, but I don’t fit the criteria, despite speaking three languages almost fluently.

I did vote with my feet and emigrated years ago. I love the UK and no, apart from there is way too much grey weather, it doesn't suck at all BUT! OMG, Brits love moaning! Whenever I'm walking around my home town nowadays, all I hear is bitching and complaining and whining. It literally hurts my ears (although that's partly the accent too). It's got to the point where I won't fly back with BA as you just arrive at the airport to listen to borderline xenophobia and "Isn't that right, Derek's" just because another English speaking country had the audacity to be culturally different to Swindon.

I’m American.

We have mass shootings ALL THE TIME. We have the Republican Party who just voted down a bill to help with DOMESTIC TERRORISM. We have the National Rifle Association (NRA) which gives $Millions in donations to those Republican politicians. They absolutely refuse to support any kind of common sense gun control legislation whatsoever. We have a former president who read the names of the most recent mass school shooting victims at the most recent NRA “celebration,” mispronounced them, and then (I swear), did a little dance at the end. Those NINETEEN CHILDREN weren’t even in their graves yet. Their constituents must be moronic. Scratch that — they must be stupid. They think it’s A-OK for a child of 18 to purchase an AK-47. You have to be 21 here in the States to drink.

I’ve never even been to the U.K., and I can tell you that without a shadow of a doubt, the U.K. doesn’t hold a candle to the U.S.A. in the “they suck” department.

She could come to where I live in California, @Greenpurplepalm, where it’s only 37C+ during the summer. Sometimes it’s over 43C several days at a time.

It seems like some people are just never happy. Picky picky picky. Whing whing whing.

NHS only useful when you reach 65+

I worked with children for many years and most of them would disagree.

Can’t be bothered to engage with any of the rest. You make a few valid points OP but sadly they are obscured by some ridiculously exaggerated statements (see above).

Do you understand how many hoops people have to jump through to be able to move abroad now? At least 6 months savings, hit the visa markers, Degrees are preferred, Job requirements, sponsorships etc.

I think you should * * off then and go and live elsewhere! I'm not sure I could even be bothered to persuade you.

Some people are glass half empty and some are glass half full.

No the UK doesn't suck. While we whine about the NHS, it's a service that saves lives that anyone can access. Maternity care has its faults but imagine the cost if you lived somewhere like the USA and weren't insured? I was hospitalised for a week with preeclampsia and I dread to think how much it would have cost me elsewhere. Even a doctors visit would be unaffordable for many! The cost of living is affecting most countries in the world. When you think about furlough during Covid, how many other countries do you think did this? In many other countries there are many more job losses due to the pandemic. Perhaps you're very wealthy and don't see it from an average persons point of view so can afford insurance and not worry among employment, benefits etc. The weather is mostly mild too!

I came from a poor background and worked really hard at primary school to get into the grammar. Social background doesn't define your academic ability!