to think the UK has become awful?

[ma1formed]

I can't pinpoint when, but it feels like everything that was once pretty good is now quite awful

So expensive
No doctors
Uni costs for kids insane
Terrible rent / can't buy a house
Everyone seems quite unpleasant or racist

Is it just me?

What evidence do you have for that?

Research generally puts the UK in a very good position in this respect. You’re in the top 10%, close behind the leaders.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/least-racist-countries

People say a lot how bad UK is, but very few people want to brainstorm how to change that

Greed has caused it. We have all brainstormed really, but we are powerless because people keep voting for awful things.

The sorry truth is some people just have far too much money. The wealth divide is too great and also almost arbitrary. It depends when you were born, it's a postcode lottery, it doesn't bear much relationship at all to how hard you try.

Is it not greed that you want some of their money?

Our GINI is not much changed in recent years, so your suggestion that inequality is much different to a decade ago isn’t borne out by the data.

It's quite simple. This country has been fucked over by the Tories for 13 years. And if you voted for them, then you deserve all the pain that is coming to you. Vote for them again and you will be doubly culpable. The middle class thought, oh they won't come for me. No, they only punish bad poor people. I'll be protected. I do everything right. They will never come for me. How is that working out for you now?

I called my gp lunchtime yesterday (dd sent home from school) and he called back at 5.15pm, booked her in for obs and bloods today at 10am. Once we finished with the nurse he came out of his room and said he’d like to have a chat so he can look at the results when they come back and align results with our conversation to get the full picture and hopefully some answers.

Lots of positives where I live, nice places to visit/walks/paddle boarding/cafes and restaurants.

some people just focus on the negative.

It's the lack of investment that worries me, in both private and public sector. This creates social problems (e.g., criminality / the care burden) and costs (e.g., poor-health / housing benefit) and we're not getting enough inward investment from oversees or home-grown investment. We need an overhaul of our tax system for starters.
I agree with you OP, things have deteriorated overall, and all the relevant and reliable data supports that. But doesn't mean it has to be like that, so we should avoid fatalism!

Yeah but other countries have things things like genocides and ethnic cleansing.

It's utterly shit. I was only thinking this today as I walked through our town with its boarded up shops, litter strewn everywhere and a bloke walking along drinking a can of lager at 3 pm.

It's structurally broken. There is little public transport where we live, the only local secondary is failing with a falling roll and therefore a shrinking budget. There are no decent jobs available, no leisure facilities and the health facilities are on their knees. Why would anyone want to come and live here? Sadly I think it's probably representative of many areas of the country.

Lived in three different countries, moved back because I love the Uk. It has really deteriorated and I wish I had stayed abroad.
I think all countries have deteriorated to a point, but after waiting over an hour thirty for an ambulance with a relative who had had a stroke and ended up taking them into hospital myself, it’s dangerously bad here.
No age is perfect, but when respect and decent behaviour has gone in society, it’s awful.

It won't change if Labour get in.

Taxes can only go up again to make people believe they are regaining some services.

No matter what government is in it will fall on the middle sector of society to support the poorest.
The world stage dictates that they leave the wealthiest alone, it has always been so.

With Brexit, they believed they could open up the pool to invite the wealthiest to invest, at the moment no one trusts anyone, as in countries.
There are just too many people on the planet wanting the same resources and with each sucessive country industrialising we are finding it harder to keep up.

We have been conditioned to think happiness equates to consumerism, until values change and I think the younger generation are the one's who know this, then there will be greater unrest on the planet.
My generation expected everything, holiday's abroad, cars, mortgages, free education, free healthcare, a decent safety net by the welfare state, until we lower our expectations and values then I can't see anything other than wars and an eviromentally damaged planet.

We're on a perfect path of the human race destroying itself.

Others may not agree but I agree with the increase in open racism in recent years. We seemed to be making progress with it but since Brexit people think they have free pass to say what they like and that everyone else agrees. It’s very noticeable now.

People also seem to be far more selfish these days.

Sorry, that should read they think everyone else agrees.

I think it’s just basic lack of standards. The customer service everywhere is shocking. I feel I’m spoken to like shit in most places I visit.

@FirstYouGetTheMoney

How did you get the money to come over here?

I'm happy for you that you've done well but surely you must understand that some people whether inside the UK or outside are living hand to mouth and cannot afford any kind of air or train fare, let alone educational fees, insurances that you claim are essential etc.

It is very hard to make something out of nothing. If you've managed it, good for you. But you must surely have some understanding that for many hard working people, doing well and thriving financially is not doable for them. They lack confidence, resources, support and/or skills to do the same.

@FirstYouGetTheMoney

Is it not greed that you want some of their money?

No. I want public services to be well run, people to be able to afford homes and food.

This is always something I hear from Tory voters lol. "Politics of envy". It's the logic we've used to justify massive inequality for decades.

I agree OP, I have relocated twice abroad and am thinking of doing it a third time and this time for good. This country seems chaotic and run down compared to what it used to be

Having spent a lot of time in America I feel Britain has picked up a lot of their bad points (food banks, corrupt governments) and few of their good points. I feel a lot happier in America when I visit - been twice in the past year. I get a sinking feeling when I get back here.

I am far from simple. The point you fail to accept is that people can have a valid viewpoint that, as the OP put it, the UK has become awful.

The UK is a great place for many, many people. It is a great place for me. I have been very successful. I inherited nothing. I had no university education and I have served my country. I have maximised my opportunities and I have helped others do the same. My life is rich in money terms, family life, spiritually and in the pursuit of knowledge. I am growing every day and will continue for whatever years I have left.

Here is the twist. I can look around me. I can listen to what other people are saying. I can be objective and I can use my own experience, mind and heart to understand their points of view and decide whether there is truth in them as not. And guess what. For many, many people the UK is not a great place. Poor housing, limited opportunity. Racialism does exist. Class culture too - something the UK is pretty good at keeping in good repair. High asset prices and an economy that is partly driven by investment in homes and an insane belief house prices create profits.

Are you aware, the average 20 or 30 year old has little hope of getting on the housing ladder. Desperate to save but high rental costs, student debt and poorer private pension provision than the previous two generations. Much less disposable income than previous generations and a very real prospect of having to fund all healthcare costs soon. To suggest these people should be putting money away for a rainy day is something they well understand, but have little practical hope of doing so. Most of this is driven by poor political decisions and poor political leadership over the last couple of decades. If leadership is irrelevant then why do we have some successful companies and some poor ones. Why do we have some successful families and some dysfunctional ones. And good communities and poor ones.

Your sanctimonious posts about yourself do not reflect well on you. Others have told you that and you are aware of it.

It has been known for centuries by any government that immigration attracts the strongest in society, people who are capable of moving across the planet whether by neccesity of oppression or just to better their survival have always been seen to be an asset, many countries understand this, after a few gnerations they become very productive and potentially great tax payers.

After two world wars whereby a huge pool of physically strong males were annialated we needed a strong immigration force. The fact many of them had an extremely hard time being accepted made them all the more superior in strength.

The racism comes from fear, fear of the poorest in society having to compete for fewer resouces.

People are small minded, always have been there will always be an excuse for people's ignorance, Brexit is just another excuse.

@FirstYouGetTheMoney

Also The Gini coefficient is about income distribution. I'm not talking about an income divide. I'm taking about a wealth divide.

Plenty of people earning £30,000 might have a very nice life, if they bought a house 25 years ago and gained heaps of equity and were able to save whilst enjoying free education, high wages and low cost of living.

Comparatively others earning £30k with student debt, paying high rent in a city would be Comparatively screwed.

It's a crapshoot now.

Here is the twist. I can look around me. I can listen to what other people are saying. I can be objective and I can use my own experience, mind and heart to understand their points of view and decide whether there is truth in them as not. And guess what. For many, many people the UK is not a great place. Poor housing, limited opportunity. Racialism does exist. Class culture too - something the UK is pretty good at keeping in good repair. High asset prices and an economy that is partly driven by investment in homes and an insane belief house prices create profits.

@Seychal nailed it!

I’m usually a very positive person as is my partner, but we have both noticed an increase in more aggressive driving and anti-social behaviour since COVID. The lack of policing and open thieving from shops and supermarkets is a major concern and I think people are becoming increasingly anxious as they perceive a potential breakdown of law and order.

^This.

Yep, I rarely went a whole week without experiencing racial abuse, it ramped up a lot more after brexit. I had countless people abuse me and tell me that I’d be chucked out because of brexit, I’ve been spat at by people who tell me I’m not allowed to live in the UK anymore because they won the vote to get rid of me. Our eight year old son has been experiencing racism directef at him since the age of five.

We’ve left the UK, zero race based incidents for any of us so far.

Some of the problems are cyclical- i'm in my 50s and remember discussions about rent/housing costs over the years - economic issues trigger racism /discrimination as people look to blame others
some not so much- i think there has been a massive effort to clean up rivers etc and in general they are much cleaner.
The others...we're just reaping the impact of the decisions made years ago to vote in a Tory government , the constant votes against tax rises etc its all very well to say we'd like a better health service, free education but no-one voted for them or will vote for them