AIBU to think that no-one actually believes in the system any more?

[MongoOnlyPawnInGameOfLife]

Does anyone have any faith in the system any more? When I look around, it's hard to see how things are going to improve from here and I've yet to talk to anyone that disagrees but maybe I'm just in my own bubble and there are people out there who are optimistic and have good reason to be.

Maybe the $3.7 trillion that transferred from the very poorest to the very richest during the pandemic will somehow find it's way back?

Maybe the 'Decade that the rich won' on BBC at the moment will just be an interesting old fossil from a momentary blip in time rather than an incredibly depressing documentary, made all the worse by the utter lack of shame and shrugs of the shoulders from the talking heads on it who bear most of the responsiblity.

Maybe we will find some politicians who are actually any good and who genuinely want to make the country and the world a better place rather than career chancers who line up the company executive directorships and after dinner speaking tours for when they leave parliament, or are happy just to stoke the culture wars as they know that money train will keep going for ages.

Maybe they can turn around the looming environmental crisis and resource wars by finding an alternative to capitalism that doesn't just strip the world bare and funnel the results into the coffers of the super rich.

Maybe social media will actually turn out to be a force for good and change the world for the better?

Maybe my children will be able to afford a house (and to heat it and maybe even have a family of their own)?

So come on, don't tell me how things could be worse and we should be grateful we're not all up chimneys, because clearly yes, it is better than 150 years ago for most people. The issue here is that things are sliding backwards and, as far as I can see as I look down, the slope is getting steeper and no-one is there to catch us at the bottom.

YANBU - I've lost faith in the system, but what can you do? We're on this train and there's no getting off.

YABU - All this shall soon pass. Sunlit uplands await us and I will tell everyone why in the comments.

PS. I really would welcome some genuine reasons for optimism at the moment, if there actually are any. Shit is getting honestly really depressing.

Yanbu....everyone knows it's a sham but we need to survive so play along we do. ( but why keep voting for these Tory lunatics?!)

Also, think everyone knows that capitalism is a bollocks but we have little choice to participate unless we go off grid.

Yanbu, total shit show.

@malificent7

Also, think everyone knows that capitalism is a bollocks but we have little choice to participate unless we go off grid.

I think that may be the most depressing thing - if everyone does see it but even then, we can't do anything about it because the sheer momentum and the forces working against us are overwhelming.

Yanbu I agree with everything u have said and would just add to that as a 52 year old woman I've been totally radicalised by the last two years, and I have now lost all faith in government, legacy media, scientific and medical establishment and the police.

Yanbu I think we are regressing to the historical social set up of upstairs and downstairs/very rich and very poor and very little in the middle. Whilst people feel like they are in the middle they will keep peddling harder to stay there, for a while people who drop down will peddle to survive but after a while the social order will be threatened (social unrest etc).

YANBU, I've never had faith in this government,but the recent news of them cutting tax for the bankers but increasing NI contributions while there is an energy crisis looming as so many people are just keeping above water is beyond reprehensible.

I despair for my adult children.

I believe that much of our problem lies with the 'get rich quick' element of both society and government.

How have we got to a state where people are entering bidding wars in order to secure a roof over their heads... and not even a roof, a share in a roof with other random people?
And these rents are often so much more than mortgages which so many people are not eligible for.

That we now have food bank usage where demand is outstripping supply?!

That we are still reliant on energy that's mostly supplied from fossil fuels that we have known, for decades, was a finite resource.

That Shell have made a £12bn profit in the last quarter yet people are choosing warmth over food.

Sorry, I could go on.

YANBU. It makes me want to leave but it's not really an option at the moment.

Ohbthe system hasn't worked this well for several centuries.

Its just that the system isn't set up for your benefit...

You used to be able to rely on the tories being reasonably capable as well as a little circumspect as they widen the wealth imbalance but now they can't even be bothered to do that.

Labour would do nothing about the systemic faults, even if they weren't busy fighting among themselves over inconsequential (in the wider scheme of things) social justice issues, because the faults are global and not national and no-one thinks they have the ability or the imagination to deal with them anyway.

The only way I see this going is unrest followed by total societal failure (starting in the US first) or authoritarianism at the hands of the 1% and enough willing lackeys willing to turn a blind eye.

YANBU. It's appalling. The house over the road from me has been turned into an HMO. It's on Rightmove now: the monthly rent for an ensuite room with shared kitchen is 25% more than our mortgage payment for a whole house. How is anyone supposed to house a family when rents are sky high and it's impossible to save?

@RedToothBrush

Ohbthe system hasn't worked this well for several centuries.

Its just that the system isn't set up for your benefit...

Quite, but it did at least benefit enough to keep popular support and has raised standards of living for a lot of people (in the northern hemisphere at least - not worked out quite so well for those south of the equator).

It will be interesting (in a 'may you live in interesting times' kind of way) to see what happpens as lives start getting worse for the vast majority in the western world and the capital class can no longer sell us that particular line.

I haven't believed in the system for a long time.

I’m fairly optimistic for the long term future. I think decades cycle this way. I am hopeful that there will eventually be change and new hope come the next general election (hopefully before).

@KittyTail

I’m fairly optimistic for the long term future. I think decades cycle this way. I am hopeful that there will eventually be change and new hope come the next general election (hopefully before).

That’s nice to hear, but how do you see that happening?

Who did you vote for?

@KittyTail

I’m fairly optimistic for the long term future. I think decades cycle this way. I am hopeful that there will eventually be change and new hope come the next general election (hopefully before).

Y'think?

With the quality of the shadow cabinet matching the cabinet?

Last election it was labour, though more because I thought I should vote than any expectation it would mean anything. Our fptp system is a sham designed to create the illusion that your vote matters.

Because as I mentioned, things do not stay the same and history shows us this. The contrast between life in the 1970s and 80s for example was quite stark for the average family. Some decades the cost of living is high, some there’s more disposal income about.

I think that throughout history there has been a big gap between rich and poor. I think there was a fairly unique period post war wher the gap was smaller and ther were lots of ladders to move up in wealth. I think we are now reverting to normality.

What system?

I pay £1500 roughly a year in council tax for my bins to be emptier. That's about all the council actually provide anyway..

God knows how much in national insurance etc for what exactly? Services to become worse consistently? Money to be 'lost', wasted etc.

Not much of a system anymore.

I relate totally to all of your points. I feel very deflated and it just feels like we are bracing ourselves to see how bad it will get. It's an utter tragedy that Labour lost the last election. Wish I could be more positive, am embracing the spiritual route to cope.

I sort of feel that things rub along ok so long as you are able to access school and employment with no barriers - eg neuro-diversity, physical disability, long term illness or reasons why you can't drive / cycle etc. If you are bog standard "ordinary", the system does provide an education, a route into qualifications / training etc. The problem is that so many people do not fall into that category and then there is no safety net. CAHMS, Adult MH services, PIP assessments, NHS waiting lists, investment in public transport etc - those things are broken and would make the most difference if they were fixed.
IF you have the mental and physical resources to get yourself out there every day, no dependent elderly parents, young or SN children then I think you should be able to make things work - possibly accepting that you need to upsticks and move to a different area etc, but that's a bloody big IF and rules out millions of people who really really can't. Oh and MASSIVE investment in housebuilding is needed to provide sensibly sized family homes, 2 ,3 and 4 beds with gardens that are not postage sized rubble heaps and enough land left for suitable parking that can swell council stocks . Building these would provide a large swathe of tradespeople with employment, training schemes and all the businesses that make and supply the materials would also benefit., The houses need to have infrastructure allocated, schools, GPS, etc also to be built and investment in training for teachers and medical staff (plus a massive uptick in education funding to make conditions better to attract new entrants and stop the flood of retirements / quitters (I don't mean that in a bad way). So, just a few things to sort out and it'll all be fine!!!

Literally just talking to DD about this. She said she puts on a World Service podcast on the morning instead of listening to R4 in order to get a more global view. She says that helps.