To panic about the dire state of the UK?

[moveblues]

So... all things considered... aren't we up sh-t creek?
-gas and electricity prices
-covid (masks? Pfft completed Covid mate (in England))
-council tax hikes
-inflation
-food shortages
-Brexit
-petrol

Sounds like something out of a dystopian nightmare. I'm worried dear reader, and 'keep calm and carry on' doesn't help.

@Hdhdjejdj

Too right I am. It was a pit town, the children of which were not the Tory Goverment’s priority when it came to education. They were too busy crushing the unions. The brutal fact is that still remains the case today. Some of us managed to defy the odds and succeed.

Yet you’re angry that people are complaining about how they were taught about the success of the empire - ‘bigoted and small minded’ I believe were the words you used?

@rocklamp

Yeah, I think we're going to end up like some sorry eastern bloc country that's perpetually struggling and the rest of the world is oblivious to.

I remember years ago listening to an article on Radio 4 about Kazakhstan and how they didn't have any healthcare AND NOW THAT'S US! 😱😱😱

Nothing would surprise me now.

Slightly dramatic I think ....

I am a European living the UK. I love living here and would love it even more if I didn't feel that things were beginning to sink. From reading this thread, it does seem like a lot of people are happy enough to let things sink.
So long as the Taliban are not in charge, the government are doing a good job. So long as there are some things on the supermarket shelves, we're not going to starve (even though many families live in poverty). If things are getting tougher, start a gratitude journal. Be grateful you're not living at the base of a volcano.
I would love to live in a country that was striving for equality, cutting poverty and investing in health and education. A country full of diversity that was listened to and celebrated by the government. I would love that country to be the UK.

countless poor homeless folk congregating in the centre, begging at every traffic light

Where is this?

[quote Pumperthepumper]@DdraigGoch

Still, if your dream for your kids is 9-5 monotony, you do you.

Yes, it absolutely is. The idea of my kids working a seventy hour week and still not getting anywhere near what they need to live is a horrible thought. I don’t think it comes from a university education though, I think it comes from being someone who thinks working endless hours is some kind of test of pride or something? Even though you don’t have anything tangible to show for it, aside from vague feelings of ‘life experience’.[/quote]
"Tangible"? Like a flash car? No, you can keep them.

You forgot that I bought a house. Small, needs some work doing, but I still love it. What's more tangible than bricks and mortar? I did that ten years younger than many of my generation expect to.

I also said that I gained the experience and a reference which allowed me to find a job with steady hours (unlike the ups and downs of tourism) and a fair wage. Many of my former colleagues did similar. Of those who took our places, their lot has improved dramatically as employers have been forced to start making their conditions more attractive.

Like @ColorMagicBarbie above, not everyone actually wants to work office hours. People who do work them must never see daylight in the winter and spend their weekends cramming in to the shops/hotels/attractions with everyone else. I on the other hand can get home after an early turn with plenty of daylight left to enjoy. I also can have midweek appointments without needing annual leave and my shift pattern gets me a long weekend every few weeks. We've got a few middle shifts in our roster which most of us consider to be a day wasted compared with a 5am start or a 10pm finish.

You have no idea what my life is really like, and no comprehension of what makes me happy.

LarkspurLane
Quite. I'd love that too.

I think the issue is British exceptionalism. It totally peaked before covid;

• it won't happen here, we're a lot less crowded than China.
• it won't happen here, we have a much younger population than Italy.
• it won't happen here, we're much less tactile than the Spanish.

Then once it did happen here, we're so used to seeing shit like this happen to poorer countries on the news, it came as a real shock to a lot of people and really challenged the idea that we're protected because Britain isn't 'one of those other countries'.

Plus I think we're living through a massive shift and Britain's standing on the world stage, following Brexit, covid and Afghanistan, isn't what it used to be. A lot of countries view us as a bit of a joke and we're certainly not one of the big three powers any more. We really are living through a time of big change and I agree that it's scary and hard to predict how it'll pan out. (I genuinely couldn't understand why Gove and Johnson were backing Brexit, when it would never happen, was convinced trump would never get in to power and felt people were really over reacting about covid before I realised I apparently know nothing!)

There's been worse times before, I bet the women sending their sons off to France in 1939 20 years after sending their husbands off to France wondered how they'd get through it, I bet people in the mining villages in the 80s were terrified, I bet the winter when there was all the strikes was shit, and people waiting with baited breath during the Cold War, couldn't see how it would end, but it always does and generally the lower down the economic ladder you are, the more of the burden you have to shoulder.

You don’t appear to understand irony @Pumperthepumper

@DdraigGoch I think most people don’t want to work a 70-hour week to keep a roof over their head, no. Certainly when it then means they can’t afford any additional extras, like a car. I don’t think that’s a measure of success, I think that’s an indication you’ve been failed by the country you live in.

@Hdhdjejdj

You don’t appear to understand irony *@Pumperthepumper*

Where’s the irony? Did you learn about the empire or not? Is it bigoted to learn about the empire or not?

Dear god.

@Hdhdjejdj

Dear god.

No answer?

I am a European living the UK. I love living here and would love it even more if I didn't feel that things were beginning to sink. From reading this thread, it does seem like a lot of people are happy enough to let things sink.

I beg to differ. The media like to paint the country as 'going to the dogs' because it gets them clicks. Some Mumsnetters seem to revel in this misery, much like Orwell's intelectuals. The rest of the country however have been going to the park or the pub over the weekend. No sense of impending doom there.

I think the issue is British exceptionalism. It totally peaked before covid;
- it won't happen here, we're a lot less crowded than China.
- it won't happen here, we have a much younger population than Italy.
- it won't happen here, we're much less tactile than the Spanish.

Then once it did happen here, we're so used to seeing shit like this happen to poorer countries on the news, it came as a real shock to a lot of people and really challenged the idea that we're protected because Britain isn't 'one of those other countries'.

Every country has found it tough to be hit so hard.

Look at some parts of Aus right now.

@Pumperthepumper I think rather than say I have no answer, it would be more accurate to say I have no words.

[quote Hdhdjejdj]@Pumperthepumper I think rather than say I have no answer, it would be more accurate to say I have no words.[/quote]
No, I’d believe you don’t.

You are so right @Pumperthepumper

@DdraigGoch

I am a European living the UK. I love living here and would love it even more if I didn't feel that things were beginning to sink. From reading this thread, it does seem like a lot of people are happy enough to let things sink.

I beg to differ. The media like to paint the country as 'going to the dogs' because it gets them clicks. Some Mumsnetters seem to revel in this misery, much like Orwell's intelectuals. The rest of the country however have been going to the park or the pub over the weekend. No sense of impending doom there.

Definitely 😀

I agree. I'm kind of just carrying on and trying to ignore it, but can only do that for so long !

[quote Pumperthepumper]@DdraigGoch I think most people don’t want to work a 70-hour week to keep a roof over their head, no. Certainly when it then means they can’t afford any additional extras, like a car. I don’t think that’s a measure of success, I think that’s an indication you’ve been failed by the country you live in.[/quote]
You don't know me, who are you to judge?

I enjoyed my early 20s for all its ups and downs.

Brian Blessed illustrated it so well the last time around:

From around 14s.

@DdraigGoch I’m not judging you. I do pity you, working 70 hour weeks should not be what you need to reach the basics of human comfort. And I definitely pity you for thinking that’s absolutely normal and fine, and some kind of weird ‘that’s what makes Britain great!’ mentality. I think we can do better.

Where is Nigel Farage now

@Allusernamesalreadyused

Where is Nigel Farage now

Last I heard, he was telling into an echo chamber made up of GBNews watchers.

not everyone actually wants to work office hours. People who do work them must never see daylight in the winter and spend their weekends cramming in to the shops/hotels/attractions with everyone else. I on the other hand can get home after an early turn with plenty of daylight left to enjoy. I also can have midweek appointments without needing annual leave

I work “office hours” I see plenty daylight hours in the winter. I don’t need annual leave for appointments. I don’t cram anywhere with anyone.