Why does life seem to shit in the UK

[RosieLeaLovesTea]

Endless threads about schools going down the pan and poor behaviour in schools making teachers want to leave.
NHS waiting lists and quality of care medical is poor.
housing market market in crisis and affordability of housing

I read the threads and it feels like life in the UK is really shit. Plus crap weathe for 8 months of the year.

how did we get here snd what is the solution?

No, its peoples lived experiences.

GPs, Hospitals/AE/Waiting lists, Schools, Roads, Crime.... we can all see the effects of de investment over decades.

14000 additional deaths last year caused by AE delays/poor treatment.

"Did you vote for Brexit?"

The UKs problems pre date Brexit - they're why Brexit happened!

For a very long time successive governments have screwed too much money out of the taxpayer, while simultaneously failing to spend enough of it on improving public services and living standards.
They won't build affordable housing, invest in training new doctors or dentists, force utilities companies to do their jobs properly and at fair prices.
The only thing that's wrong with this country is lazy, self serving government.

I think people here forget the 1970s/80s were tough from an economy perspective. You know, the time you had to go on a waiting list for a mortgage and then the negative equity/job losses.

Bad governance, national self harm (Brexit), poor economic model (40 years of neoliberalism), voters encouraged to vote by much of the media to make themselves poorer, lack of discipline at home and in school and weak policing.

A lot of the figures are for Oxford.

I’m nit anti-immigration at all, I’m the child of migrants myself. But I think we need to really think about planning migration in a way that is useful to the uk.

In the past the economy was always cyclical and boom and bust, so you could maybe bunker down when a recession hit and save for a rainy day/make hay while the sun shined during an economic boom. It's been bust and miserable since 2008.

For those at the bottom it's always tough. Difference is the middle classes have been hit since the global crash.

Yes I don't disagree with that. I also think we should help genuine asylum seekers.

Because we've consistently had Governments that focus on short-term plans and distracting the public from their failings by encouraging us to fight amongst ourselves and see each other as the enemy/problem.

I don't think it's shit, it's just think people love to complain. There was a thread on here the other day about England being boring, and a few posters were practically falling over themselves trying to find things to complain about 😂

I'm not saying the situation in the UK is perfect by any means, but I do think there's a tendency to focus on the negative and to drag anyone down who dares to say anything optimistic about anything.

But they shouldn't have been, Norway aside, what did the UK do with vast amounts of Gas and Oil, that the rest of Europe didn't have?

Privatised it, got some tax revenues, most of which were used to reduce higher tax rates, the rest squandered, now its gone.

Norway didn't sell it off, sure we have a much larger population but we gave it away.

I split between UK and an EU country. Whilst the EU country is not immune from problems, the way of life is certainly more agreeable, food is better, the people are more polite, the weather is generally better. I'm moving out permanently when my circumstances allow.

I'm fortunate in that where I am in the UK is OK, but there's been a definite decline in the living conditions and built environment over the past 20 odd years. There no longer seems to be any optimism though. The national psyche seems depressed and resigned to things being grim, which is reflected in the attitude of our political leaders.

Well, you have to bear in mind that the people who are having a nice/ok time are less likely to post about it. In my line of work, by definition you only see people who are having a terrible time and are seeing you as a last resort. It's very easy to get into the mindset of assuming that everything's awful when the reality is that you're exposed to a self-selecting minority, if that makes any sense.

Has it ever occurred to anybody that maybe "we" are the problem? Consumerism - mass consumerism which keeps us in the constant cycle of working more to earn more, to spend more...

I know people depressed with their lives and finances.. with a huge mortgage, 2 cars on the drive (financed), constantly buying stuff... Stuff they don't need. Brand new phones, clothes, expensive brands.. Constantly chasing their tails, working overtime and not seeing as much of their kids as they would like.

Why? What's the point? Why not live modestly and have a higher disposable income which will enable you to have some form of a life? Why do we need expensive cars? Big expensive houses on 5% deposits? Why do we need the latest gadget? Why do we need to redecorate and change out furniture every 12/18 months?

We don't- it's a choice.

I think people are just more selfish and refuse to take any personal responsibility or accountability these days. For example, schools and the nhs are suffering underfunding, but are also suffering from parents refusing to raise their children properly which means teachers quit due to feral, disrespectful children, and the nhs is suffering the impact of obesity. People used to walk their kids to school but now they drive them there even if it’s only a 20minute walk. This causes traffic congestion.

Honestly the uk would be a lot nicer to live if people weren’t so selfish and entitled.

Exactly - take the heating threads as a prime example. Whenever anyone dares to say they're happy for the heating to be on at 18, the same posters always rush in to criticise and complain. It's like they can't bear to see people happy or content.

It's the same on the NHS threads - post about a positive experience and you're faced with a load of people bitching about how unfair it is - it's like nobody is allowed to experience anything nicely if you can't yourself. It's such an odd attitude to me but seems so prevalent on here - it can't be healthy.

Europe doesn’t have healthcare free at the point of use but any suggestion of changing this is met with cries about privatisation.

One of the reasons that infrastructure projects are more costly and take longer in the UK is our legislation around planning and building. I read an article (I’ll try to find it) about how the Uk had substantially more red tape than europe which meant that building new infrastructure was more difficult here.

(I couldn’t find the exact article but this is similar www.cityam.com/why-does-britain-suck-at-building-major-infrastructure/)

I would agree that travel costs are prohibitively expensive in the UK. I’m not sure why though.

I think it’s complicated and we don’t always have a clear sight of why things are the way they are. We have numerous problems such as pfi loans, or poorly managed immigration (I still remember the bulge classes and kids being stuck in cabins).

It’s not that theres load of money and it’s a political decision not to spend it. The problem is allocation of money and how to generate more. Our taxes are very high but we also have a very high dependent population (22% of the population is inactive and not looking for work).

Actually, I watched a documentary where they asked those hiding in Calais exactly this question. The answer was basically "because you are given a house and a job and tons of benefits, the English girls will shag them/marry them and they have relatives or friends from their villages already there". People traffickers will always invent this utopia as they need clients.

I agree but there are many, many people already living modest lives and struggling to pay the bills. I feel like you're talking about the middle classes cutting back. There are many who can't cut back any further.

Because they know once they set foot on the channel they're likely here for the duration. It's practically impossible to get rid of them, at least with the help of immigration lawyers, the HRA and ECHR.

Yes, I was delighted to see the Afghani girls coming to the UK to study medicine. I would take all the girls if I could.

Absolutely, we paint every 10 years! Couldn´t afford it every 1-2. And as for expensive brands, she is having a laugh.

Of course there is people genuinely struggling through circumstances however those people will always exist and we as a society should protect those people as best we can however - I know people who could improve their personal circumstances but choose not to

I don’t think it’s shit. I’d rather live here than a large % of the world where it’s illegal to be gay, no health service, no education, no women’s rights, no earning potential, no electricity, no fresh water, no access to vaccinations, wars. I’d say in comparison we have hit the jackpot!

Hello Rishi.

I think it’s also social media, people see the west and it looks amazing compared to where you live. Many will also know people who went and sent money home for their families or were able to move their families to join them.

I think economic circumstances are a big motivator. Which it is for many of us so I wouldn’t judge a person for that.