To think that this country (UK) is going downhill?

[gem1981]

first please let me explain I think I am quite a normal (!) person and try to have a positve attitude towards life but recently well I am getting tired of constantly trying to find the positive in our country.

I don't know if my perspective has changed since I have become a parent or if things have actually got worse... but over the past couple of years I have noticed a significant shift in people's attitudes towards the country ...

Everyone complains about all sorts, petrol prices, food prices, taxes, council tax etc.

I go to my local high street and shops are closing left right and centre, there is litter everywhere, things look generally grey and most people look miserable.

It seems that no matter where you are in society you have some sort of struggle - paying for childcare, getting your kids into a decent school, even getting an appt with your GP.

I know I am moaning too ... but I just wanted to check with you lot ... do you feel the same or am I falling into a pessimistic hole?

I am not looking for a fight I just want your honest opinions - are you happy living in the UK or do you dream of emmigrating?

Thanks

I don't think the UK is really going downhill. It still has a lot going for it, it's just hard to see that sometimes when you can only see evidence of the bad bits.

The grass ain't necessarily greener on the other side. The things you have listed can be problems in many other countries.

My brother and SIL emigrated just over a year ago, and plan to come back in about 12-18 months. Things aren't that much better overseas.

yeah that's what I am afraid of moving country and then the probs still existing there - perhaps the general daily grind is getting me down, but you still have a daily grind no matter where you live right?

i have felt like this a lot recently. But maybe it depends on whereabouts you live in the UK? I'm in London so of course it all seems rather grey and grim to me

Stop reading the daily mail!

I am emigrating this year to Australia, mainly for a better life for my children

I have family and friends there and they absolutely love it

it is sunny for one, always a bonus

I love living here, it's my home, it's beautiful and vibrant and grimy and yes, it has problems but, well, it's where I belong. I've lived in other countries and seen far, far worse problems than we have here. And I can tell you, gem1981, wherever you go, a daily grind is a daily grind. However glamorous a place might seem when you're there for a holiday or whatever, having to actually live and work there opens your eyes pretty quickly. The fantastic becomes the mundane surprisingly soon.

Don't bet on it Oliveoil!!

My family live in Western Australia and have had storms, cold days, and lots of rain lately. The summers are unbearably hot (my Dad said it was 44 degrees on Christmas Day) and winters can be cool and wet.

It's not sunny 365 days a year

oooh Oliveoil I sooo jealous we have got the forms and have just started to fill in all the stuff - would be really interested to know what you think when you get there.

I think Sidge is right, the grass isn't always greener.

I think we are experiencing a bit of a downturn at the moment, I don't think our government is very strong and the financial situation of most people isn't too great. however, some of these factors are global, credit crunch etc so the world over is experiencing it.

that said, i still think we live in one of the best countries in the world and there is every chance htings could get better, as much as they could get worse. i don't think it's a continuing spiral downwards, just a bit of a dip.

Sidge - all the people I know live in Perth and they never complain about the weather, ever ever ever

a pool is handy when it is 44 degrees

I took a group of Eastern European students into London sightseeing last summer. To them, this country is like fairyland. Many British families have 2 cars, take holidays, don't need to put bars or gates up to stop people breaking into their house etc etc.

They were amazed at how clean the streets of London were!

We have a vibrant, multicultural society with low unemployment in most areas and an adequate (if not ideal) system of social support and health care.

We just don't know how lucky we are... and that's before you even start to take into account some of the most diverse and beautiful scenery in the world.

Coming from Africa and looking at the news coming out of there, it puts into perspective what real poverty and misfortune is...

At the risk of falling for a round robin e-mail, there was one which just put into perspective just how fortunate we are in the grand scheme of things and in terms of things like fresh water, education, housing, life expectancy, health care etc..

If I was Zimbabwean, I would most probably be dead... Av life expectancy for a Zimbabwean woman is 34 years old...

op-stop moaning!compared to other places we have such an easy life.life is what you make it!

please don't get me wrong I understand how lucky we are 100% to have things that we consider the basics... what gets to me is the way in which the country is poorly managed

I think you are absolutely right Gem, I'm fed up of the lack of respect in the UK,its become a very dog eat dog place to live and Big Brother is definitely watching us. There is poor return for hard work, outrageous price increases by companies making massive profits and giving massive bonuses. A government that uses tax payers money to bail out banks that have used our money to make their billions anyway. Councils wanting more and more money for fewer services, parking fees and fines on the increase, unsatisfactory customer service, and Sainsbury's or Tesco around every corner you turn!! oooh I could go on...but then I'd be moaning!!!!

I have a roof over my head, a job, food, an education for my DCs, access to health care, I feel and am safe at home and out, I have friends, good neighbours, most of the people I meet are friendly enough, I have enough money to keep us solvent and enough left over for extras. I don't live in a particularly nice area and I am not rolling in money but I would say that I'm in a similar position to many people in the UK. And I'm fine. Most people i know are fine. The problems that they have would be problems whereever they lived.

gem1981 - Oh God, yes - with you on that one! My political leanings are Socialist, so it grieves me to see how Blair's government has squandered millions on extra layers of management for the NHS whilst meanwhile our local hospital is scheduled for closure when 12,000 new homes are planned locally over the next 13 years.

Emigration is just a selection of how you want to be mismanaged - it is just a swap of probelms for different ones - people emigrating because they are sick of the UK are really deluding themselves if they think the grass is greener on the other side...

i am happy becuase i live in a nice partof the uk. i live in a clean town near the sea quite afluent but not arsey.

i hate going to london which is a shithole.

the only thing that fucks me off about this country if the fact that i am mugged for having a car.

so I am deluded then am I?

op, you sound like my FIL

(yes, he does read the daily mail)

custardo - glad you're back - i think you're baking but i don't like it when people leave

why does everything have to be so dog eat dog though? there just seems to be no sense of community any more. Surely we all have an obligation to improve society and make the place we live a nice place to be.

Let me tell you the vegetable aisle in Tesco on Sat afternoon is not a nice place to be !!! (realises that using tesco as a microcosm of society is ironic!!) - why can't people RESPECT each other?

pmsl

dodgy R

barking

Typicl comment from Fairymum.
Why does that have to come into it ?
Its not like I think its any better in any other country either. Its not like I want to emigrate anywhere. Can't we say that the Uk is geting worse, or even that the world is becoming a worse place to live, without being jumped on ?