to think we are entering a new age of feudalism

[shjjhs12]

Only a few generations ago home ownership was an absolute rite of passage, even the most average job could support an entire family, living standards were good, the retirement age was 65, a 9-5 really was just a 9-5, ect. Today things look completely different. Young people are forced to live at home until their mid 20s as it’s too expensive to move out, home ownership is becoming more and more unrealistic, both parents working far more hours still struggles to maintain a good standard of living, driving is becoming very expensive, holidays are becoming unattainable, fewer people are getting married and having children because of how expensive it is. Today the lives of many people have become far more meaningless with very little to show for, many of us are now just cogs in the machine making money for someone we will never meet. Living standards are materially getting far worse for the majority of people yet the wealth of the super rich keeps growing to the point where now 0.1% of people control massive corporations more powerful than some countries. Anyone else feel like we are entering a new age of feudalism where effectively everyone apart from the super rich is being reduced to a peasant class.

Totally agree, it's like we're now working just to pay bills, with nothing to show for it. Yet we have people still doffing their caps to royalty and quite happy to support their luxurious over privileged lifestyles. People struggling to pay their mortgage on a modest house quite happy to to see the royals living in splendour in their multiple palaces. Makes no sense.

Only a few generations ago home ownership was an absolute rite of passage

This isn't true, unless you're referring to the established middle classes (who are still able to buy properties now due to inheritance).

There was a brief historical blip where normal WC people could buy homes, but it wasn't "a few generations ago", it was more recent than that. Most people rented before the 70s, with large numbers living in secure, good quality council housing.

Hmm, not sure how well this thread sits with the other thread at the moment about how poor we all were in the 1970's. I don't think home ownership was normal a few generations ago, to be honest.

I do agree living standards are plummeting. The question is, what is our base line - the standards of 1950's-1980's, or the standards of 1990's-2010's?

This is why I will never work for the private sector again. I'm done with working 50 / 60 / 70 hours for 40hrs pay so my boss can live in a big house, send his kids to private schools, his wife doesn't work and they go on fancy foreign holidays 3 times a year. Twat

I think the bank holiday and queens Funeral cost the country something like 4.5 billion .mad .would have been a massive help for people. We are getting poorer by the day .

Disagree with life is less meaningful. But agree we are potentially entering an era where home ownership is going to be out of reach for many.

itll be a tough couple of years, but I expect the economy will bounce back.

Only a few generations ago home ownership was an absolute rite of passage, even the most average job could support an entire family, living standards were good, the retirement age was 65, a 9-5 really was just a 9-5, ect.

This is largely a myth. A “few generations ago” takes us back to 1900, when 90% of households were rented, not owned. You left school and started full time work at age 12. The work week was 56hrs/week. And in most working class household multiple members worked- parents plus one or more children.

Even by the close of WWII, only 33% of households were owner-occupiers. Home ownership picked up in the post war prosperity of the 50s and 60s such that 50% of households were owned.

Really it wasn’t until Thatchers great sell off of Council housing with expanding Right to Buy in 1980 that home ownership increased to the majority of households…peaking at 71% in 2000.

So it’s one generation ago really- the generation that was able to buy houses from 1980-2000 where home ownership was a “rite of passage” expected for vast majority of adults. Yep, the baby boomers. They were the one generation that was lucky when it came to houses. But as is human nature, many of this generation focus on how hard they worked and think owning a home was largely due to their graft, not understanding that if it weren’t for this one generation being so lucky, we would not have had such high home ownership %s for twenty years.

I do feel shat on by this government.

What's the point of working and striving and doing all the right things if their tinkering with our economy to give tax breaks to the rich is going to put up the cost of everything and turn everything to shit?

I remember the shithole rented room with shared facilities my mums friend and her kids were shoved into when their home was repossessed.

That's going to happen to some of us isn't it?

Absolutely dreading two more years of this

In the previous generation there were sufficient council houses at a reasonable rent , well maintained

Most people lived in them

Private ownership took off when Maggie sold them off at nominal prices to the renters

And didn't replace the council house stock

But otherwise , yes it feels like they want to return to the 1000s when most people
Didn't count

History repeats, lots of books on it. This is just the shit phase and judging by previous cycles there will be unrest and then the elites relent a bit and then it'll be a period where things are good again, although they are trying to not let that happen. I think the blatant last minute economic looting by these people tells us they know the current way of governing over. Fingers crossed we see some change.

It's a shame we have to keep going round in circles allowing greed to do this to us. Humans are fucking gullible.

This actually made me laugh out loud as it's so bloody true.

I agree. It now feels like the majority of us, especially under 40s, are just working to feed debt and rent and make billionaires richer.

Well there's only one generation born who have been able to afford to do that

So actually before then and now is the norm

It's very hard to follow the baby boomer generation and those who are inheriting from them (the age of people governing us ) as they've been so much richer

Home ownership is a recent change. My parents never expected to buy property when they were growing up - renting rooms (or half a house if you were quite flush) was the norm.

Council home renting then took off but still home ownership spoke of wealth.

It was Thatcher in the 1980's that normalised house purchasing.

I think you have a misaligned view of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

My parents owned their own home, had 5 children, but:

We didn't have out of school activities
Or our own rooms
Clothes came from jumble sales
Uniform was mostly hand me downs
We had one car not two
We didn't eat out at all
We grew our own veg
We had no central heating, ice on the inside of the windows in winter
One bathroom between 7
We didn't ever go to the cinema
We holidayed for one week in the U.K. in a caravan.

It's a trade off. Living like that was miserable. The sacrifices made allowed parents to buy their home but it was no fun at all.

tell me you don't understand what feudalism was without telling me tell me you don't understand what feudalism was.... as far as I know having less disposable income at the moment isn't the same as not being able to move areas, marry, or work without my employer's consent?

@Discovereads is completely right, you are looking with rose tinted glasses at the past as a generic and homogenous 'better time' when for 99% of people it wasn't.

You can point out things are a bit shit at the moment without completely exaggerating and ignoring the parts of history that don't fit in with the point you're making.

Personally as a woman I'd still rather be living in the UK now than at nearly any other point in history. I'd imagine people from most minority groups would say the same. =

The way I see it is broadly, those born in the boomer generation have broadly (I say broadly as I know not everyone) saw living standards increase in many ways throughout their lives, and now millennials/gen Z are seeing things decline massively. And I think that is the true measure of a failed state and a disgraceful government.

I'm not saying that to have a go at boomers btw. It's good that they saw many things improve, and that's how things should have stayed. I'm also aware that things were also particularly difficult for women in the very recent past with equal pay, being able to buy a home. Which disgusts me. Personally I think society should become more united over this and stand up for each others rights. I'm in my 30s and fully supported the WASPY women over pensions. I'm sure there are lots of people of that generation who are equally disgusted at this current government and the impact it is having particularly on younger people.

Oh and OP - you don't have a grasp of what "feudalism" means.

Chucking long words about doesn't indicate intelligence.

So basically your entire OP is just wrong.

I was talking to someone recently who was saying younger generations (I would guess he meant youngest millennials and younger) no longer expect to own houses or cars. They accept this and actively spend and prioritise differently. For example, they would be looking to subscribe to things rather than buy them.

I know he was right about the lower chances of owning these things, but I found the idea that young people must accept this state of affairs - and do - utterly depressing. Yes, historically owning your own home has been for a minority, but the control it gives you over your own life and finances as you get older is so immense I can’t accept turning back the clock to a small percentage owning everything and exploiting everyone else.

@latetothefisting
tell me you don't understand what feudalism was without telling me tell me you don't understand what feudalism was.... as far as I know having less disposable income at the moment isn't the same as not being able to move areas, marry, or work without my employer's consent?

Im glad you pointed this out because I felt too pedantic to highlight that the word “feudalism” was being flagrantly misused.

I know he was right about the lower chances of owning these things, but I found the idea that young people must accept this state of affairs - and do - utterly depressing. Yes, historically owning your own home has been for a minority, but the control it gives you over your own life and finances as you get older is so immense I can’t accept turning back the clock to a small percentage owning everything and exploiting everyone else.

Couldn't agree more with all of this.

There was a brief historical blip where normal WC people could buy homes, but it wasn't "a few generations ago", it was more recent than that. Most people rented before the 70s, with large numbers living in secure, good quality council housing.*

But it shouldn't be a 'brief historical blip'! It's a bloody good thing that living standards improved and the ability to have the security of a home they owned became possible for working class people. It's not acceptable that we are going backwards.

Completely agree.

Very glad I moved abroad 15 years ago.

I voted YABU because you both don’t know what feudalism is and have a very rose tinted view of what life was like for working class people more than 1-2 generations ago. But obviously you’re not wrong that subsequent generations will not be as rich as boomers.

I'm really angry about this tonight.

Conservative MPs must know what they are doing to us rdivaru people in their constituencies.

"Oh you can't afford to pay the ridiculously extortionate energy bills? LOL wait until you see what we're going to do to with your mortgages!"

Absolute and utter bollocks my parents grandparents lived in absolute poverty living in squalid slum conditions having little or no education. Dad's family were Dockers only working if there was a ship to deal with and they were in favour with the charge hands. Mum's were miners in the West Country working"hot" pits naked cos you just couldn't wear clothes due to the heat.
My mum left school at 14 as she had to earn to help her 10 siblings. Dad never was sent to school. He always worked in the family business.
the welfare state kept/keeps my relations in food, housing, etc. Most have good jobs, own nice houses etc etc