Collapse of normal life

[OldPot]

It feels to me that this is what is beginning to happen. Spiralling bills that surely only the well off can pay, shortages of things we all took for granted (2 of my mum's regular medications are out of stock, no chemicals for the local swimming pool, things opening for a few hours instead of all day (post office, banks etc), NHS on its knees, many other services just not running as they should). Plus the sodding infernal heat and drought this summer.....

And yes I know we are luckier here in the UK than many, many others countries.....but I just feel there is no turning back to life pre-covid.

The 70s although tough also lead to huge growth in wages.

Talking about 15% interest rates ignores the price of property today. Interest rates only need to get to about 7% to have the same impact on finances that the high interest rates of the past did.

Blaming the Tory government is ridiculous - it's just as much to do with Labour

🤦🏻‍♀️

I always hope for progress though because I love Britain. It is not a shit place, but it has very shit politics.

Ah that old piece of bullshit

Hey, what I said is real and is happening right before our eyes!!!!!!
It's happening!
If you don't Google about the NEW WORLD ORDER and want to know the real facts! Just carry on ignorant.
Try having a read if vigilant citizen on Google as well. Scary world and we have no power

I absolutely love this country. Love the landscapes, the cities, the people, literature, culture all of it. We just have the wrong people in charge, I think.

We choose to live here rather than in Germany (anglo German family) because our lives are immeasurably better here. We lived there for eight years recently. When I hear people on mumsnet saying how great it is in Europe, did you actually live there? Today the German government announced help for families of Euro 340 p.a., at the same time announcing a fund to support energy companies to be paid for by in increase in energy costs which will cost the average German family EUr 1,400 p.a. in VAT alone. You think it's just our politicians that are out of their depth, but it's really not. Look at Merkel's total lack of foresight with regard to concentration risk to Russia - that is the most spectacular political "fail" of the century.

My sister said only the “new poor” are worried about it. I.e. the people who are used to being relatively well off and have no idea how to live without money. We are “old poor” - we grew up with nothing and we know how to survive if we end up back in that situation

This is really interesting. When I was a kid my mum earned quite a lot of money so we were never ever without anything essential and had lots of extras too.

Now I run my own household and my circumstances are very different. I've been stressed for years because I haven't really got to grips with the dissonance between my own resources as an adult and what I grew up expecting a household to provide.

I'm finally getting to grips with being thrifty and starting to budget well and there is so much peace in living within your means and meeting your needs. But it's actually a really big learning curve if, as you say, you're not used to have to be so considerate of your finances.

It's crazy to think once a upon a time life seemed so normal and stable. Everything so expensive now. I drove home the other day and we stopped at McDonald's, child got what he wanted but I was so shocked at even how much the food was I deleted it and went without. This has never happened before. I absolutely think of every penny now.

You are 100% correct. People need to wake up. The big reset is real and happening now!

What's a bit amazing is that the fact the world depends on food grown that year or possibly also the previous year to avoid mass starvation and no one thought that was a bit risky. Despite extremes of climate becoming more frequent.
Or that Germany decided they'd get all their gas from nice Mr Putin and not have a backup plan.
Good thing is the west will at last seriously cut back on CO2 producing oil and gas use ( not from choice)

Marxist state, well that's an oxymoron is it not. neither Marx, nor I are responsible for a bunch of socialists believing that you can bring about revolution in undeveloped economies.

I suspect you are one of these people that believe that the USSR was communist and that Europe and the USA was 100% a liberal democracy with a 100% free market eh?

I definitely agree the human race has peaked. We consume so much garbage and are screwing the planet. 95% of what we produce is just unnecessary tat destined for landfill. New phones every year, cheap shitty fashion, cheap plastic shite............the list is endless. People working themselves into the ground to buy more and more stuff.

It's interesting to hear this the other way round

as well a my puzzlement over holidays and regular takeaways, posters mentioning regular cinema and theatre - a rare treat when I was growing up. Admittedly we had a library.

Hand me down clothes etc were just normal.

the pendulum swings, saying we shouldn't have to go backwards and expect less...well, if you can find a way to sort the economy...

the Great Resignation will be linked to some of the staff shortages and I still hope that will have some positive effects. But anyone who just thinks life should improve and improve is nuts.

the streets of London do feel similar to the 90s recession, but with a higher population.

i'm reading Johann Hari "Stolen Focus" and the effects of tech on rage and general mood is apparently not my imagination or my general Luddism (pun not intended).

I'm also interested to know which countries are "better". I still love England.. Spain and Germany look set to have serious energy problems in terms of supply, not just bills.

I feel like you. I also have had BC but was diagnosed a few days before lockdown 1. I had seamless treatment and consider myself very fortunate. I'm a parent/carer so low income. I'm doing what I can to make things easier for us. We're not yet on the bare bones of our arse and I will try and ensure that continues. I have stopped watching the news because it's so bloody depressing and I don't need that in my life. I wish you well with your continued recovery ❤️

You are looking to narrowly across the Channel and the space of five years. I am talking about strategic geo-political issues that are starting to play out.

You should know this from all the time you spent on the Invasion of Ukraine threads.

That is what I am talking about, not what your basket will look like tomorrow.

Poor you

Here's the thing though. Those people are accustomed to a certain lifestyle and don't want to downgrade. I'm a 40K household with one child, admittedly in a very cheap part of the country, but I think the fact that I have always been on the poorer side means I'm not worried about being in debt, not having much money, not being able to have a holiday etc. etc. etc. I've without eating for three days, I lived with any gas or lecci for three days. I "can" go without.

People on 90K can't even imagine what it's like to go without for many things, and I think there's something of a bell curve of the very poor and very wealthy who will ride this out better than those in the middle.
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@gotelltheoldmandowntheroad

I know I’m a few pages behind, but this really struck me. You make a lot of assumptions here with very little basis. What makes you think people with £90k a year household ‘can’t even imagine going without things?’ There’s lots people with good incomes currently who haven’t always been that ways.

Our household income is about £90k. But it’s got there fairly rapidly in a short amount of time, it’s not been that high for long, so we don’t have much the related build up of capital many others might (like owning a house, or investments) I grew up in a house with not a lot of money - strict food budgets, no holidays, phone lines getting cut off, even one whole winter with no hot water because no one could afford to fix the boiler. I spent my early twenties (not a huge amount of time ago) on disability benefits living in a council flat, with the fun of WCAs and getting my money stopped at a moments notice multiple times.

We are very privileged right now and cushioned in a way I could never have imagined. Yes I’m saving! I have cover for all our appliances, all the insurances, I never want the risk of something breaking and not being able to fix it. I have been able to put up our food budget and fuel budgets to deal with the rises in a way I’m so grateful for and couldn’t have imagined a few years ago, but I still track them I don’t just spend willy nilly - I track every penny.

I’m really scared for most of the country who are in far less comfortable positions than we are, times are getting really scary and it’s just so many things at once this time and the repercussions are just going to keep coming like a house of cards. There will be civil unrest if something isn’t done

they hoped The Rich People would make them Rich too and the Wanting Things to Be Fair People might not let you Get Rich

Can I steal this

I honestly feel like the Britain we love is already a thing of the past.

William saved lives as an air ambulance pilot. Some of the cases he was involved with affecting him mentally. He has been very clear about that. While doing this work and training and retraining, he donated every penny of his salary to charity.

You on the other hand upthread spoke about 'Logan's Run' and advocated older people being killed off.

William's life is played out on the public stage. Yours is played out on an anonymous internet forum. You can be as nasty and spiteful as you like but nobody you know in real life is going to know it is you here are they?

Whereabouts do you live? I think what I see is different to much on mn but I accept it’s probably area dependent.

Other parts will have a different feel

Well, for me that happened a very long time ago, but I think there are still loveable things. And when I'm able to get out of London, I think that will help a lot.

a lot of changes are global though....see again "I blame tech".

backupplan1 eh, what do you mean we have no power at all.

We have all the power, we simply chose not to use it and instead invest all our hope and trust in a bunch of posh numpties. Ultimately with government debt running as high as it is (that along with personal debt has paid for Bezos to have a giant penis to fly to the moon) the government won't be able to pay its attack dogs to keep us down.

No but we are in for a difficult few years

I don’t know how anyone can watch the news and then think our society is collapsing

SouthWest