To think everything is getting worse?

[francesfrankenfurter]

I watched the British Olympics opening ceremony this morning in 2012. It was only 10 years ago, but it seems a different world. It was such a hopeful time with a public mood of feeling proud of our country.

Now everything seems to be getting worse. The economy, cost of living crisis, crime, housing, corruption amongst MPs, poor public services, etc etc. Every day brings more gloom and doom and the public mood seems to be, things can only get worse.

AIBU

Maybe we shouldn’t have been so quick to scream lockdowns for 2 years. Where did people think we were going to get the money from to fund the years of furlough & the shutting down of travel & the economy?

1. You can't blame ten years of Tory underinvestment on the last two years
2. Other countries are performing much better even after longer lockdowns and more generous furlough
3. Bastard Brexit has played a big part

There have been a lot of crisis in quick succession, many of them self induced by the government or the way it has chosen to handle them. I guess it keeps people in control and trains them not to expect too much. I do think the overall trend in public services in this country is a race to the bottom; local authorities just do so much less than in other western European countries yet council tax is relatively higher. And public transport and infrastructure isn't improving to draw level what is on offer in those countries.

I was also thinking about how eager people seem to be to cancel things in this country. My local agricultural show has been cancelled 7 times in the last 22 years, twice for lockdown, once for foot and mouth, twice for livestock related diseases, once because the ground was too hard and once because the ground was too wet. There seems to be a tendency amongst some people to almost revel in a crisis and use it to control people. My local country house estate which is supposedly open to the public has been closed for nearly 3 years now - first for lockdown then due to fallen trees. Yet they still appeal for people to give them money to "keep running". There are now so many things that we are not allowed to do or that we must have a license or a permit for.

Life in the UK seems very controlled, expensive and not a lot of fun at the moment.

And can anyone tell me whether austerity actually achieved anything, other than suppressing employee salaries so companies can make larger profits? It certainly didn't stop house price rises, or rises in commuting costs, or inflation in other areas.

It sounds more as though you’ve not done as well for yourself as you’d like, and are trying to make your experience into something universal.

This is such a British attitude. It’s like we’re too proud to admit when things go wrong and demand better, so we just look away and blame each other for not doing well enough for ourselves. People seem to be more and more obsessed with their homes - their little individual castles - while in the public sphere our roads are starting to fill with pot holes, our city centres are hollowing out, we’ve no police, our NHS is being privatised, and our public services have been sold off over the last ten years with the last about to go. Good luck Brits, we had it so good but we thought we could never lose it.

@carefullycourageous
@Newmama29

Newmama29
Maybe we shouldn’t have been so quick to scream lockdowns for 2 years. Where did people think we were going to get the money from to fund the years of furlough & the shutting down of travel & the economy?

1. You can't blame ten years of Tory underinvestment on the last two years
2. Other countries are performing much better even after longer lockdowns and more generous furlough
3. Bastard Brexit has played a big part

+++

I think you both raise valid points but the root cause is populist politics

1. The lockdowns and the spending of debt on furlough not to mention eat out to help out did bankrupt Gov finances BUT it was supported by the majority of people. hey what's not to like about a half price Nando's , except now there's no money and people are eating from food banks.

2. The Tories particular under Johnson are both clueless and dangerous lurching from one populist policy or promise to the next that then quietly gets forgotten about - 40 new hospitals over the next ten years, 10 new nuclear power stations etc . BUT their populist policies even if they are outright lies and never happen get them re elected by most voters.

3. Brexit was a classic example of populist politics- whilst Remain focused on economic facts, damage to the country- actual tangible issues, Vote Leave went with "Let's take back control" which no one had a f'ing clue what it actually meant but most voters went for it because "hey who doesn't like taking back control ".

In short the problems in this country ( and the US) really started to pile up with the rise of populist politics as most voters are fairly dumb / selfish and when the error of their views (Brexit a clear example) is pointed out to them they tend to double down on their original decision / get angry rather than admit they were wrong ( storming of the Capital Building a clear example) .

The country is becoming increasingly divided and angry. It doesn't look good going forward.

The NHS being privatised? We should be so lucky. I spend much of the year at our home in Amsterdam, where the health service is mainly private, and the difference between there and our NHS is night and day. Everything is better there.

Absolutely.

I work in the public sector. Education is at its lowest, other supporting services cut or gone. When parenting is requiring the most support ( children’s access to online, drugs, abuse, MH issues) there is near to nothing except for schools, yet these are being turned into businesses through the academy system. Academy trusts are increasing in their deviousness of who they work with, who they accept ( both children and other schools) yet as a population we accept it.

Sadly, the popularist vote is created by lack of education. ( our ‘labour council is useless and has cut our services’…with no understanding that this is about central Tory government cuts).

My biggest worry is lack of moral compass. Tory model at the minute is appalling. How do we educate children to be upstanding citizens when our own PM can break rules and then change the same rules so that he keeps his job….

Sure we aren't the worst in the world but i'm trying to think of anything that has actually improved over the last decade? anything?

So transport, housing, education, the NHS esp staffing & waiting lists, wages... the state of roads, student debt, the decline of natural habitat and species, the increase in use of pesticides...

Has anyone had one of these new 40 hospitals built in their area the Tories promised us in 2019? or seen the extra 5000 GP's promised in 2015?

@AchatAVendre agricultural shows consist of farmers bringing their most expensive animals to show. They won't do that if their livestock are at risk from the ground conditions or disease.
It is not like other events where people make money through stalls or fairground rides. Showing animals is a marketing opportunity, or showing produce. But many farmers don't make that much more money as a result. So they prioritise safety.
I have no idea why the private country house is not yet open. They all are around my way. But as it is private it can set its own rules.

I know about it because all the local farmers and equestrian community were posting about how fed up they were with it on Facebook and how they no longer even bothered to enter this show because of the likliehood it would be cancelled. Some of them hadn't even had their entry fees refunded.

Perhaps the country house is owned by the person who heads the show committee I wouldn't mind except they are constantly begging for donations and get considerable local authority funding for various things.

Yes perhaps the same person. Where I live everything is back to normal.

Boom and bust. It goes in cycles. You have years of austerity under the Tory government then Labour get in, throw money at everything to improve things, they then overspend, Tory government returns and we are back to austerity to pay for what Labour has overspent. People always get through the hard times, but until you have lived through them you don't realise how resilient people can be and that things weren't always easier in years gone by.

I am older and have lived through hard times. I don't want to learn to be resilient again. I want a better life.

This conservative government is trashing the economy.

Absolutely heading for a recession. As usual it will effect middle earners the worst.
A Tory government never prepares for such things. Labour will get in and be blamed for over spending clearing up the mess they left so it goes on.

The economic system is crashing. Did you think empires lasted forever? Look up how long they tend to last. Then look up how many years this one has lasted.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Look up how long money systems tend to last. I used empire to refer to the money system because they're basically the same thing. "Who controls the money controls the people"

But people don't always get through the hard times, and even if they do it could be with poorer health - physical and mental - which reduces well-being and potentially life expectancy.

DS has been referred for assessment for autism. Two year wait. His meltdowns are getting increasingly violent and I've been told to try mindfulness. And I get it, I have some idea of the financial situation, and staffing situation from my work. I know the issues. But I've still been left with a child who is frequently injuring me and there is no support from statutory services. I'm looking at third sector support but in the meantime as a family we are in crisis and nobody can do anything.

On the general topic of the thread, things do feel worse now, even without our specific issues with DS. We've never been well off, but we've never had the problems and stress we're having now. Food shopping is getting harder and harder, as it gets more expensive and gas and electric was costing us £90/month a year ago is now £150 and I'm expecting it to be £200 at least come the end of the year. And that's after cutting back.

200+ years ago
Housing was cheaper but much poorer quality and often massively overcrowded vs today
Huge numbers of babies didnt make it to their first birthday
Huge numbers of children didnt make it to age 5.
Few people lived to see 60.
Many women died in childbirth.
In years where crops failed thousands literally starved to death (see Irish famine etc).
Most people worked from sun up til sun down with relatively little true leisure time
Central heating & clean piped water didnt exist

Honestly op..... in the context of 100,000 years of homo sapiens the current period is not that bad.

Ten million people are facing famine today, soon it will be thirty million. Is it bad enough yet?

In "the past" ? Which bit?

At many times it was impossible to buy a house unless you were loaded, and renting for the poor meant a room in a slum tenenment and a loo shared with 200 people. Wages were enough to feed you and little else. NO public services. I mean seriously, your firework display isn't as good as it used to be? Come off it.

You remember when there were 25 kids to a class...do you remember when kids were doing down the mines at 12 or into the cotton factories as 8?

Things are not so great at the minute, but harking back to mythical golden times isn't helpful. There was about 5 minutes in the mid nineties when everything was great but every time has its own issues. By many metrics things are just great.

In years where crops failed thousands literally starved to death (see Irish famine etc)

No, there was no famine in Ireland. There was plenty of food in the country when the potato harvests failed, its just that it was all taken and shipped to Britain, with no aid sent back, while the Irish starved, killing over a million and causing more than that again to leave. It wasn't famine, it was genocide. (And the British did it again a hundred years later when they starved 3 million Bengalis to death)

Where to?

DS1 has talked of immigrating to USA as the work he wants to do pays far better there and is more plentiful. But his partner is American and says the cost of health insurance is terrifying and if you get ill you are instantly beggared.

DS2 is talking about Japan. Work ethic there is about 12-14 hours a day with no holidays and if he's based in Tokyo, he'd be coming home exhausted to a tiny single bedroom with no kitchen for ££££ a month. That's no better either.

Cupidstunt
Ok, whatever, slightly missing the point that bad shit has happened in the past too.

I think there's also alot of blindness and lack of empathy. So much judgement at the moment.so much quick hate.
And there are some real dicks about with such caustic views.i don't think social media has helped.especially not with these people.nor with mental health.the pressures.the things shared or seen.tje fakeness.for youngsters too I think it's trapped so many.
I no it can feel hard op,is there any just tiny tiny things you could think to start adding on your days that would make it any easier.