to think many years of safety and comfort have left the UK population complacent and smug.

[Nimbostratus100]

I see it over so many topics.

People who never seem to find it conceivable for a moment that they could be a refugee in someone else's country next year - anyone who lives long enough is as likely to find themselves in a refugee situation as anyone else.

People seem to think it is clever and independent minded to turn down emergency alerts on their phone, because we never have natural disasters here, do we. Yes we do, there is geological evidence of massive tsunamis over the southern UK, of unknown origin, but there are various theories of where they came from, and they could certainly come again. Other natural disasters also possible, especially floods and wild fires, as we saw the start of last summer

Montgomery, we are due to have the biggest ever explosion in peace time Europe at some unknown date in the future.

Terrorism, toxic industrial accidents, gas release, air raid, we are not magically immune

Homelessness, so many people so sure it will never happen to them, cos they don't drink, or gamble, or whatever, these things cause a tiny percentage of rough sleepers

You don't have to look very far on these threads to still see evidence of the indignation that we had to go into lockdown, a little bit, for a short time, a couple of years ago! As if we were somehow more immune than the rest of the world

AIBU to think that the UK population as a whole suffers from the delusion that we are somehow magically protected from the misfortunes of the rest of the world, and that our incredible good fortune in remaining safe and secure for nearly 80 years has blinded us to the fact that we have simply been very lucky, and there is no guarantee that this will extend for another 80 years, and we really need to treat people in bad situations with more compassion, and be more prepared to deal with bad situations ourselves?

True but often drug use develops after becoming homeless. There is a lot of help available if willing to follow strict rules though, many who are homeless cannot do this and often those who become homeless have chaotic life's before.

that is not true, and even of the ones that it is true, this is more commonly a result of being a rough sleeper, not a cause - this is exactly the attitude I am complaining about

Bloody hell. You are a ray of light aren't you?

I’ve lived in a few countries and I am aware how lucky I am to have done so.

It was just luck of the draw to be here in this country now and it’s part of overall gratitude.

Just hearing about Ukraine and recent horrors with children taken is enough of a jolt to see how bad it could be.

Something like emergency alarm will always get threads on not doing it but the people just having it on their phone won’t say much.

Also agree about not fearing all the could happens and enjoying life while you can.

This.

I don't take anything for granted. I'm old enough to remember regular terrorist attacks, petrol shortages, power cuts, 3 day week, Chernobyl etc etc and now we've had the pandemic.

But I don't worry about what might be because it wouldn't help. I'll enjoy the peace while it lasts.

Your thread is fundamentally flawed OP.

Dwelling on the negative serves nobody. What about all the positives that this country has. What about focusing on those areas and how the UK, Europe, G7, 'the West' creates wealth and well being and how could turn things around to share these things more. Put wealth directly in the hands of everybody.

If you want a race to the bottom, I am sure with your attitude you will certainly win.

I notice that many people don't seem aware of how fortunate we are in this country (viewed globally of course, compared to other European countries with more rational governments this is a shit show)- or if they do appreciate this, they seem to unconsciously believe that they deserve this good fortune.
That is the smugness OP is talking about I think.
It's pure luck that any of us are sitting with an internet connection and a device and probably a full stomach and not in a village somewhere with no electricity, drainage or mains water.
I'm reminded of a politics lecturer who used to ask students what 'security' meat to them. Invariably they replied along the lines of growing up in a stable home, feeling loved and supported, feeling valued etc. No, said the lecturer, security is not being afraid the police will come for you in the middle of the night, take you away and kill you.
It's right that we should all value what we have and not think we have done anything to deserve it - be grateful and enjoy what we have but also be compassionate to others who aren't so lucky and be aware it might not last for ever.

I never understood the whole "luck of the draw to be born in this country" argument. There's no luck about it. You were born here because your parents lived here when you were born. And the country became great because of people like your parents working, fighting and dying to make it better. It didn't just happen by chance. And you are who you are because you were born in Britain. If you were born in a different country you'd be a different person.

I am not asking for a race to the bottom, I am saying lets dump this pathetic superior attitude of "o well, these people who bad things happen to are intrinsically unlucky, and it isn't our problem, because we are above all that"

as is evidenced on this thread quite clearly, for example, by the poster insisting, totally erroneously, that most rough sleepers have drink or drug problems - rather than thinking these are people like me, and there but for the grace of God go I

This is the smugness and complacency that I| am referring to, and its damaging and hateful

Honestly, the lack of comprehension on this thread!! OP never said anyone should be living in a constant state of fear, just that Brits seem to be very complacent about life and seem to think nothing bad will ever happen to them, only to other people!!! I don't live in the UK, but it is something I have picked up on also over my years on MN. Yes, OP, YANBU.

I wouldn’t go by mn on much tbh.

Other than no matter what it’ll attract the I live o/s and U.K. is the pits but that’s nearly every thread.

I think there is definitely an element of this but on the other hand how are you expecting people to live? Worry about these things day to day?

if you’re referring to people not being accepting of refugees and not wanting to help etc then yes I agree to a point, but often individuals can’t do anything themselves - people are barely affording their own bills etc

i actually think that after Covid people are very aware that things can change at the drop of a hat - but I won’t spend my days worrying about what might happen, what kind of life would that be? And how will it help those who are suffering from all the things you listed?

for what it’s worth I don’t think it’s just the UK either yet we always get singled out for this kind of thing.

Do you think people in other countries haven't worked and fought and died to make their countries great?

Of course they have, just as much as the population of the UK

However we have had better weather - for the time being- and more reliable crops, less disease and fewer natural disasters, for the time being, nothing to do with how hard our grandparents worked and fought and died, and NOT permanent.

We have had a stable government and not been invaded - for the time being, could change next month - nothing to do out grandparents working and fighting and dying, just to do with political geography.

WE have not had a devastating earthquake, or volcano in recent centuries, and an earth quale is unlikely, but a volcanoes isn't, and not is severe flooding, tsunamis or meteor strikes. None of these are related to how hard th uk population has worked or fought or died.

So lets have a little more compassion for people who's forefathers have worked and fought and died just as hard, but come from parts of the world where climate change ( caused by us) has devasted crop growing, where floods and droughts have made food production insecure, and where natural disasters have wrecked the infrastructure.

Next year or next generation or next century, it could be the population of the UK needing support from these countries, to survive

OP I’m not being goady but what do you mean by a normal amount of compassion? In your view what is it people should be doing? How should this compassion be displayed?

do you mean in posts on mumsnet? As I really don’t think it’s representative to be honest I think a lot of people are just up for a row and know how to press buttons.

Don't let one poster affect you. Perhaps get a skin thicker than the one you are asking everybody else to have, many of whom do not need it. The world is a messy place as Obama said. Many people do great things and your average Joe or Jane do know we are fortunate to benefit from a hard won democracy. Most people I know do not sneer at those they see who are unfortunate. They just do not know how to deal with it and in most cases have limited means to do so, just putting food on the table, heating and drying clothes is enough.

Perhaps, rather than continue your membership of Extinction Rebellion, you focus on the systems under which 75% of the world's population live. Autocracies are a polite word for dictatorships. Putin, Trump, Xi Ping and Bolsonaro - perhaps start there. These countries are only playing lip service to Climate Change and in my opinion unless we focus on the hard won freedoms we have and build upon them, democracy is the dodo of this century.

you are probably right, mumsnet posts are probably not particularly representative. It is just the aura of specialness, perceived superiority , and untouchability on here that I think might actually feed into the callousness with which so many people are treated, and safety protocols disregarded

I’d say it’s the opposite: people are very aware of how lucky they are and how quickly that could change. That’s the very reason that they’re scared by perceived threats such as immigration.

My brother is in the highest risk category when it comes to rough sleeping and there is provision for him. It isn’t perfect, but tax payer money does provide a safety net for people like him. For which I am extremely grateful for. I have more faith in people than you do OP.

@Nimbostratus100 I know what you mean when a lot of people seem to have a go to response of things immediately getting their back up for example people getting cross they might receive alerts for missing children in their area. Frustrating when you know if it was their child they would be singing a different tune.

TBH We had war & terrorism in Europe, lots of it since WW2, climate change is happening right before our very eyes and we ve just had a pandemic....

As for "famine" there are around 4m in the UK who cannot afford decent food or heating.

What more do people want?

We have more pressing concerns than a nuclear war that will never happen or a tsunami that is very unlikely to happen and will only affect a handful of people on the coast. I prefer to focus on more important problems. I think that we are paying too much tax, women's rights are under threat from the policies of one particular party (I have a daughter), and I think the endless flow of immigrants will be what finishes the UK and make us poorer than Poland.

Also missing children's alerts are just creepy. If I watch a true crime documentary or movie I am too creeped out to sleep. Being sent a constant stream of these cases is something I would opt out of for this reason.

You're not wrong. But at the same time, I am really not going to start worrying about a tsunami.

AIBU to think that the UK population as a whole suffers from the delusion that we are somehow magically protected from the misfortunes of the rest of the world, and that our incredible good fortune in remaining safe and secure for nearly 80 years has blinded us to the fact that we have simply been very lucky, and there is no guarantee that this will extend for another 80 years, and we really need to treat people in bad situations with more compassion, and be more prepared to deal with bad situations ourselves?

You are mixing up three different things here - only 1 and 3 have any logical connection:
1 people in the UK having a false sense of security and safety
2 people not having compassion for others in bad situations
3 people needing to be more prepared for bad situations.

I agree with 1 and 3 - most people are very unprepared for something as simple as a three-day power cut, let alone a more serious crisis.
This has nothing to do with whether people have any compassion or not.