Is the UK about to collapse?

[Penfield]

Sorry - There was probably a better way to put this.

Does anyone else have a feeling that we are close to some collapse, explosion, disintegration of society ...

With gas prices, petrol shortages, inflation, Brexit fall out, Covid, gaslighting government etc

I feel like we're on the edge of something - big ...

I know society is on a downward spiral. I know the environment is completely fucked.

This why I'm nowadays glad I never had children

Reusing a coffee cup is just something we're told we can to do divert attention from the fact the climate change is here and happening.

There is nothing I as an individual can do about it. Me living my life overwhelmed by anxiety won't help either. So yes, I will try and bumble along and do my best. What else can I do?

As for "it's a horrible time to be alive" well it's the only chance you'll get, so you might as well try and be happy

@JasonMomoasgirlfriend

Long term it always goes up

Houses need to go back to homes not investments.

Previous generations did have it worse in a way. Living with the after effects of war is never going to be fun

But try telling that to the people struggling to put food on the table. Or stay warm. Or are trying to access healthcare. Or have MH struggles. Or despair at the widening gulf between rich and poor. Again, not exactly fun

So we’re in a situation where we may as well as compare a broken arm with a broken leg. If you break an arm at least you can walk around normal without crutches. But that doesn’t make a broken arm hurt any less

People always quote the ‘there’s too much pent up demand for there to be a housing crash’ but don’t actually understand what happens in a housing crash. I remember the 90’s boom & bust.

You view a house, put in an offer, valuation comes & it’s already lower than what the house is on for so you offer again and then get the rear because prices fall again and it hasn’t hit the bottom so you don’t know if you will be in negative equity immediately and the spiral continues. Very few people now have experienced that!

*get the fear not rear 😄

But try telling that to the people struggling to put food on the table. Or stay warm. Or are trying to access healthcare. Or have MH struggles. Or despair at the widening gulf between rich and poor. Again, not exactly fun
There have always been people in poverty, and a massive gap between rich and poor.

Things aren't great right now but I've lived through worse...like being on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall, then the fall of communism and an actual collapse of society, plus being near the border of a war zone. And yet, life carried on. Everything passes.
Trust me, the Uk is nowhere near collapse. But I appreciate it can feel that way if you've been used to relative stability, peace and plenty. The Uk is still a great place to live though.

@Gastonia just because it’s always happened it doesn’t make it any easier….no one is suddenly going to turn around and say “actually, I’m not hungry anymore because generations have gone through the same thing”

I know I’m being somewhat flippant but when people are struggling it’s just not helpful for responses to be a chorus of “it was worse during the war”

@AngelDelight28 that wasn’t directed at you btw - cross posts!

Every country in the world is cracking up, we've just had a worldwide pandemic. Things are not going to get better overnight.
Suggest you google world war 1 and 2 and the flu pandemic for a prediction of how long it will take for the economy to recover.

You should have lived through the 70s (it was great!)

But try telling that to the people struggling to put food on the table. Or stay warm. Or are trying to access healthcare. Or have MH struggles. Or despair at the widening gulf between rich and poor. Again, not exactly fun
The question wasn't whether "we've never had it so good", but whether the UK was about to collapse. My point is that it's often been bad (or worse) in the past, and it hasn't lead to a collapse. Not that our current situation is a good thing!

@Davros I reckon I could have survived the hardship

I’m not sure I’d have survived Abba though

The UK is not anywhere near collapse. It is on a downward spiral though. I have been through this before in the 70s and 80s.
Eventually, things will get better. But tough times are beginning.
Climate change is going to continue to be a problem. For those in the UK, the major issue is flooding. Don't buy a house at risk of flooding.

I still abhor ABBA, overrated shite

I don’t think it will ‘collapse’, as in there won’t be a defining moment where it all goes to shit and we’re living in Mad Max territory. But I think our quality of life (and mental state as a nation) will continue to deteriorate for some years to come. It’s very depressing to think about.

@Gastonia I agree, I’m not sure we’re quite at the point of collapse

But I do think that there can be a certain lack of empathy when people have survived through the most horrendous times, sometimes a bit of a lack of understanding that things aren’t great for a great many people

No.

And yes plenty of people in the past thought we would not survive as long as we have because there would be a nuclear war. There were papers from the 80s released recently that showed we did come much close to a nuclear war than the public realised at the time. But the reality is no large nuclear war happened.
Climate change will have and is currently having real impacts. In particular flooding and famine in poorer countries that do not have the infrastructure to deal with this. In Britain it is really flooding and hotter weather that is the issues. It will also lead to more subsidence claims and will negatively affect British wildlife.
But life will go on. People will go to work, get married, have kids and have fun.

Scotland will I am sure go of its own volition.

@adawong you are xenophobic.