Does the UK suck?

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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?

Nope. I feel very fortunate to have been born here, thinking about the many other countries out there. There are issues but I find it odd how self-critical some Brits are - every country has its flaws but realistically there are very few other places I'd choose to live.

most people in the world would give an arm and a leg to be born in the UK.

What on earth makes you think that? I live elsewhere in the world and I've never heard anyone say such a thing. I wouldn't part with a fingernail, let alone an arm and a leg. I'm sure it's a wonderful place if you live there, but honestly, many of us are quite happy with the country we were born in.

OP have you ever lived abroad ? If you are using New life in the sun as a barometer of how life is in other countries i think you will have a skewed vision.

I agree with a lot of your points but i do see lots of positives as well. I like the weather for instance. i personally think the NHS is better for under 18s than over 65s.

I think the issue making it suck at the moment is our current government are quietly eroding our rights (which i liked about the uk) and distracting the media with their dead cat stuff about imperial measurements. I am bewildered by the lack of interest in things like removing an independent electoral commission, diluting judicial review, limiting peaceful protest, changing the ministerial code, poroguing parliament, making it easier to remove citizenship. Its going from a bit sucky to scary quite quickly.
Thats before i to how our reputation for not being corrupt or going back on treaties, and therfore a safe trading partner has been damaged. Britain used to have a good brand for trade that has gone pop. I hope when boris goes it can be rebuilt but i dont know.

It’s one of the things I really like about the US: the vast majority of Americans love and are proud of their country, even if they recognise its flaws and acknowledge where change needs to happen. They can separate their dislike of a particular government or some of its policies from their feelings towards their country and fellow residents. I find this miserable “everything about the UK is shit and everyone here is an awful person except me” attitude pretty sad as well as bizarre.

I absolutely disagree with this comment. My DM was 78 when she became really poorly with anaemia, leading to her having a mild heart attack. The NHS did numerous scans and tests to find where the bleeding was coming from. However, one of the scans showed up a nodule on her lung. She was sent to Guys hospital for investigation and it turned out to be a cancerous nodule and she had a partial lungectomy. My DM is now 82 and fit and well and now seeing a cardiologist regularly as one of her heart valves is thickening.

She has had THE best care possible with the NHS and our local hospital is not rated one of the best.

I do too as a dual citizen, it’s so stark to my other country (generally everything is the best which is in the other direction sometimes but at least not this)

The two countries are comparable in many ways but this is a clear separation

However big caveat, I will add it’s mostly on mn not irl I see it. I’d find it too depressing if thr latter

The lack of blind patriotism and "my country is the best" thinking is actually one of the things that I like about the UK.

It definitely has its problems but I really like living her. I moved here 18 years ago as a student and think it's much better than the US where I'm from.

It can be a bit much and I like the rl level here generally

But imo the level of self criticism on here is very high

No natural disasters
No deadly animals
Low crime levels
Low taxation, good public services
Little bigotry
When people complain I tell them to try elsewhere and see what they think then

I have to disagree with just about every point you make, but if you are unhappy can I ask what you have done about it, have you stood for council, parliament etc. worked for the country, police, armed forces or just moaned

@ComtesseDeSpair totally agree with you re the US. I think cheery dose of patriotism is a very unifying, positive thing.

Pretty much agree with all you've said OP. I'd happily swap my place here with someone else and go back to live in one of the many countries I've happily resided. Unfortunately it's not that simple.

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

Every single one? My mum's cleaner? My daughter's swimming teacher? Or are you using some strange definition of "business transaction"?

1. London is the most amazing city in the world (and lucky for me, thats where I live). And to buy an apartment in London is not as expensive as buying an apartment in many of the world's top cities due to the British disdain for apartment living and their inclination to move to the Home Counties once they have babies.
2. Multiculturalism (white british only account for 40% in London) and generally low levels of racism compared to the rest of the western world (stats and my personal experience)
3. Great British humour and british people are so polite
4. Free at the point of service healthcare even if its not great, at least you will never go bankrupt.
5. I love the weather- its crisp but not too cold. I can wear sleeves and tights all year round
6. People are less concerned about appearances and material goods compared to where I come from. Very few people here judge you based on the bag you carry or the car you drive
7. People here are generally open-minded but sensible
8. You don't need to drive a car if you live in many cities in the UK esp London, which is not the case in places like the USA
9. People here are compassionate. I saw a bbc panorama documentary about the struggling poor in the UK and even they were bagging up old clothes to give to the Ukrainians. People donate to food banks and so many charitable initiatives are citizen led. in many societies, people only help those 'in their tribe'.
10. So many beautiful places in the UK to have a holiday. I was in the Cotswolds yesterday and I loved it. And I love our commitment to preserving historical buildings. I do agree that there needs to be some sort of balance and modern housing needs to be built.

Wet, cold, expensive over-populated hellhole full of exploited struggllng people who get blamed for everything by the rich... just like it's always been.

What the attraction is I will never know. Nice countryside for sure...enjoy that before it gets covered in concrete. That's about it.

Shitehole.

I come from one. Singapore. Low tax low crime.Expensive but subsidized housing for citizens. Its a rat race though, people there work extremely long hours.

Its also a city. Do not know any big low tax, low crime developed countries. Its just a lot more expensive to run an entire country as you have to subsidize the poorer regions. In the UK, only London and the SE are net contributors to the tax system. Which is a big reason why our public services are not up to par. You can't have 18 million people trying to support a country with a population of 67 million.

The UK does suck. And there are far better countries.

However, there are way more places that suck worse than the UK. Places where it's worse to be a woman, worse to be black, worse to be poor and worse to be disabled.

We have wonderful history, Castles, cathedrals, stately homes etc. loads of really good culture stuff.

if they get blamed for everything, why are there documentaries on BBC, our national broadcaster, on how they are struggling.

I have lived in 3 countries. there is a huge problem with inequality in almost every country. Its because of an international failure to tax wealth. its because its easy for rich people and corporations to move money around so they are taxed minimally. Hence billionaires can amass huge wealth at the expense of the poor. A dynamic society also implies that there will be inequality. Some people will progress but inevitably some people will be left behind.

I lived in Berlin. When I left for London, I was commenting the apartments were fairly reasonably priced. When I finally bought an apartment in London 3 years later, i compared it with the apartments I was looking at in berlin and realized that my london apartment was cheaper...indeed if you looked at the stats, house prices in germany have grown at a higher rate than in the UK. In fact house prices have grown in every developed country at a far higher rate than local salaries and this is because of inequality and concentration of wealth at the top (and the wealth gets invested in housing).

I've just had two years of investigations to make sure I don't have atypical hyperplasia of the uterus, which can lead to cancer. This has gone on throughout lockdown. It has been handled in a timely and efficient way by the NHS and all the staff have been lovely. I have never once had a late or cancelled appointment.

I hate the over-development of my neck of the woodsfar too much building going onbut there are worse places by far to live. I am looking out over a garden full of early-summer flowers and green grass. I am happy to live in the UK.

Those who want to leave, go now, we need your houses for those who want to stay.

The problem is a lot of Americans don’t acknowledge their flaws which keeps the country the way it is - all that We’re the greatest, freest country in the world simply isn’t true but it’s brainwashed in to them from a very young age (pledging their allegiance every day at school is cultish and weird). They then get huge shocks once they start travelling and realise other countries have far more going for them. I do think us Brits can sometimes be a bit too negative about our country but I’d actually prefer that to pledges of allegiance and flags outside our homes.

Hmm, I'd be surprised if most of the people who feel like the OP is right are fans of the Singapore justice system.

I no longer live in the UK. I could never go back. Even visiting makes me stressed out. For many if those reasons you state