to think that modern life is utter shite

[OfCourse]

EVERYTHING is expensive; food, cars, houses, utilities, travel for work and the service is crap.

ANY GOVERNMENT PROVIDED SERVICE IS FUCKED; education, NHS, social welfare, police.

None of the above are in any particular order. Is it me? Am I just having a bad day?

SELL ME MODERN LIFE

(Sorry to those offended by my previous remark. It was made in the same light-hearted style as the head of John Lewis' recent remarks. Admittedly he was being a bit of a twit, though his descriptions weren't entirely wrong, particularly not about the Gare du Nord being the cesspit of Europe.

However, in both France and the UK, at least there are government-run safety nets for people, even if in France the entire thing seems like something written by Samuel Beckett. And there's more or less universal suffrage, universal access to education, etc - setting aside the fact it's all run by people, who have failings... some more than others... and that it's funded by governments that increasingly see all this welfere and universal access as unnecessary)

You can turn your back on many aspects of modern life. I choose not to be glued to my phone, I live in the countryside, I turn over when adverts come on and I do not follow fashions and latest trends. We live a simple life and are happier for it. The good thing about modern life is that we have options and we can pick and choose what we want to buy into with a bit of willpower.

THIS. Not to downplay the struggles that many people here in the UK are experiencing right now, but if the rest of us who are already comfortably off woke up, stopped competing with each other, became a bit more thoughtful and altruistic and focused on the stuff that's really important, then things could be a whole lot better.

fromparis We loved where we stayed in Italy - beautiful scenery, great food and everyone was incredibly welcoming, but the economic situation really was shocking: beggars and homeless people were very visible on the streets, on trains and in restaurants; there were lots of recent immigrants from Africa who had no jobs and seemed to be pretty much social outcasts; half-finished buildings everywhere; young people with Master's degrees waiting tables with no prospect of finding alternative employment; people queuing up for cut-price scraps at the local market. It was quite an eye-opener!

Why do people feel the need to buy so much shit? It's not good for them, it's not good for the environment, it's not good for their happiness or their health.

Oh, he was spot on about the Gare du Nord kiri - I love Paris, but the smell!

Not sure that judging the merits of a country by its cleanliness is always a good thing, mind you - yes, (Central) London may be cleaner than Paris, but it also feels more soulless, sanitised and corporate in parts, and its cleanliness is in part because of a concerted effort to 'cleanse' the city of rough sleepers, beggars etc. - anyone remember the anti-homeless spikes from this summer?

I don't have to wear corsets that damage my health, I am not legally owned by any man, my children are not the sole property of a man, I earn my own money, and am legally entitled to marry who I love.

Perhaps the OP is part of hard working parents with several DCs.

At that time in life you don't have much choice, you can't clear off to rural Wales, give up your job, turn off the CH. Too many commitments but before that stage, and with no DCs life isn't too bad, yes mortgage's are crippling but there is still a social life, cheap holidays. After DCs there is more holidays and downsizing to the region of your choice.

Then old age to look forward to of course but perhaps we will learn to make our wishes known well before the Care HOme calls and plan what we want, of course if we were in a third world country we wouldn't dwindle into agedness, we'd be dead.

Can we go back to 90's please?
Second half of the 90's was the best era imo.

I 'm very tired of hearing i must be grateful for having toilet (the top part is broken hmm face) and clean water. What, we suppose now to dance in the toilet every time we shite a. And to shout from the window 'i'm the luckiest person in the world!!!! I shit in a toilet!'.

I am not yet fifty.

Women's investment income was taxed as part of their husband's income, so that they could not have savings independent of their husband, during my working life. The presumption was that taxation would be joint, so that women had to declare their income to their husband in order to get a tax code, during my working life (you could opt for separate taxation, but it didn't cover investment income).

There is the general theory that most people think life was better when they were young, life was simpler and their knees didn't hurt. Hence the nostaliga for Stalin from older Russians: it's not that they want the gulags back, it's that they want the ability to run away from the secret police for a bus back.

Free healthcare everyone. still have to pay for DC (disabled) things out of a pittance carers allowance.

On the whole, those who can't work are looked after, not cast out.

STILL dark ages regarding disability discrimination.

We live in a relatively safe country. so the news is all made up then.

Supermarkets are full of a variety of food. and very expensive

Transport system is well developed. its SHITE

Central heating is considered standard, not a luxury. not when you cant afford to put it on all winter.

Modern life is, in my opinion, a lot LESS SHITE than non-modern life.

My life would certainly have been shite-er if I'd been born 50 years earlier, or
quite possibly even 20 years earlier.

my grandparents married 1920's spent nearly every penny on rent and food and a bit of coal
there was the workhouse if you got sick or unemployed no NHS if you could afford a doctor or medicine he came ( as it was always he then) and if not you or your child went without

life in general for people in UK is much better than 1920's however you would have been much better off being 5 in syria in 1920 than you would today

there maybe a max of 20-30 countries where you would be as well off or marginally better off there are at least 150 where you would on average definitely be worse off unless part of the tiny elite

YA little BU, its the consumerism and obsessive greed which is sucking the joy for many.

Contraception. I do not have to have a dozen children.

I can work in a professional career even after having children.

yy agree with the greed/consumerism/people always taking out loans for things they cant pay for just because they HAVE to have them.

the blatant sexualisation of everything influencing kids.

trash reality shows (yes you can choose not to watch them but theyre thrust at you regardless) and kids taking role models out of them.

pornlike videos and stuff readily available.

Ooh, Mary Whitehouse is back!!!!

Life will always be imperfect but I'm very glad that I'm alive now and not 100 years ago; I'd have been sent to the workhouse as a fallen woman! [ grin]. Now I can be proud that I'm a fallen woman.

We are better off in this time and this place than in 99% of other times and places. We are very lucky. Yes there are individual sad stories, but as a whole we are so lucky right now.

I quite like my dishwasher

I think we should not compare ourselves with very poor countries, only the developed world. Of course we have many luxuries compared to poor nations and I'm so so grateful for clean water, heating, a democratic gvt, the police, health care and plenty of food for my children.

But there are things that could be better and should be far better: good quality affordable housing for families, tax BTL landlords to the hilt with better protection for private tenants, commuter trains ( the infrastructure is utterly shite in London) cheaper childcare, more community support and equal pay are just a few I could mention.

Modern life is stressful in different ways to years ago. I grew up in the 70s and 80's. I've come to hate social media, celebrity culture obsession and greed for 'stuff'. We have lost so much community spirit. My part of SE London is ok but soulless and bizarrely at the same time cliquey with yummy mummies and wealthy middle class wannabes.

I am grateful for a I have but the cost of living is madness in London.

My biggest gripe though has to be education and that you can only get into a good state school if you live in posh catchment area and can afford a big house. As a teacher myself, I never really understood the logic of working in an area you can't afford to buy a house in unless you are rich already. You'd think the best teachers would live in locations where they can buy a large property , not trapped renting a shoebox in town!

ANY GOVERNMENT PROVIDED SERVICE IS FUCKED; education, NHS, social welfare, police

The NHS have been brilliant the last few times I have used them and my kids go to a great state school. I feel incredibly lucky to have been born in this country.

I feel like it is getting quite pressurised for our/ our DC's generation. Can't help feeling things were better in some ways when I was a teenager in the 70's.
My Mum was a teacher and I have been too, as well as working with younger children, and I feel she had more freedom and less pressure on what and how she taught.
I worked reasonably consistently through school and got to a good Uni. I feel the pressure on my dd (Y11) seems to be a bit much now, though the greater clarity and knowledge around targets is helpful in some ways.
Going back to my granny's generation and her sisters you do sometimes think they had more opportunity to just potter about, though housework probably took much more time.
All the same the pace of life these days seems to have gone crazy!
And yes, everything seems sooo expensive

Of course this country is expensive. But it's worth it, it is amazing Those who disagree can always emigrate (lives in hope).

There are not many, if any, countries in the world that it would be better to be born in than the UK.

For sure things are not perfect but people in general have very high expectations and people in general are not prepared to pay the taxes to fund what they have come to expect.

The biggest problem is inequality and we must work to improve this, but even the poorest among us are incredibly privileged when compared to the majority in the rest of the world.

I agree with formerbabe and consider myself and my family lucky to live in this country.

Technology is great, but at the same time it's DOING MY HEAD IN.

I am just shy of 40, pretty clever if I say so myself and yet I just

Water is the main thing. When I turn the tap on, clean fresh water comes out.

This still amazes me!

YABVU

You take so much for granted and gave no idea how lucky you are. Maybe expectations need readjusting.