Strange comments about the U.K.

[Lessando]

I often just read threads without posting. But I read one thread on here recently that made me think, and I wanted to start a new thread about it.

There was a thread on here a while ago, it was titled "Do you feel lucky in life".

About one hundred posters came on and wrote a similiar thing, they all wrote

"Oh yes I am so lucky to have been born in the U.K." and they wrote things like

"I won the lottery of life by being born in the UK"

I was surprised at the fawning over the top comments, because they are in stark contrast to how I have experienced living in other countries. Living conditions in many other countries seem to me to be a lot better than living conditions in the UK.

I have lived in other countries and right now I am living in the UK for a year . Don't get me wrong , there are things that are nice about the UK.

What I really wanted to discuss is why do some people in the UK seem to think it is the best country in the world.
But, if you go outside of the UK, a lot of media outlets talk about the UK in a very negative way. Do people know this happesn?

So many other countries are doing better economically than the UK is. Living conditions are better. The last EU country that i lived in, i barely saw a homeless person.

In my current city in the UK, homeless people come up to me and ask me for money all the time. Every single day.

I lived in an EU country last year. The media outside of the UK always reports negatively about the UK. They usually say that the UK is a very bad place to live, especially after Brexit.

Im not really saying if I personally think the UK is good or bad, obviously I am just one person.

I more wanted to discuss the discrepancy between many people in the UK thinking it is the best country in the world and they are lucky to live there, and the media outside the UK who report that the UK is a terrible place to live in.
Any thoughts on it?

Can you give more specific info on the world viewing UK as a terrible place?

This

How can this be a binary question and answer?

I live in South Africa and my gosh we have problems here but I lived in the Uk for 7 years and didn’t particularly enjoy it. Just never felt like home and your weather is awful.

Can someone tell me where this utopia is because I’m looking to move again…. Somewhere.

Thats interesting. Where are you from?

Thats literally my point. I’m comparing it as a country to dissimilar countries in terms of development. Not France or Germany or Canada. Thats why I said any handful of developed developed westernised countries could be considered the best so it’s just splitting hairs or personal preference! There’s a much bigger margin between the standard of life in Bangladesh vs the UK than France vs the UK.

When I think about how lucky I am to live in the UK and get things like “running water” I’m comparing myself to the 85% of the world who live in developing countries and those who may not have access to that.

The UK is probably ONE of the best countries you could be born into. Any similar developed Western country would also.

This has been the case for many years.
Should we have open borders?

Christ, what a load of bollocks!

I live in a lovely part of the UK with low crime, clean air and beautiful views. There are some shite parts of the UK but that goes for every country.

Secondly - if the UK is viewed so badly across the world why are we still getting thousands of people risking their lives to get here?!

It’s all relative isn’t it. I’d rather be born and live in the UK than some countries and some countries are better than here. A lot is dependent on how much money you have and the rights of its citizens (particularly, of course, women). There are some countries that I wouldn’t put a big toe on the ground of they disgust me too much.

You're assuming everyone in the UK is incapable of independent thought.

Which countries have you lived in? What job are you doing in the UK and what area of the country are you living in?

Let's start with the specifics from you so we can engage in meaningful dialogue.

I think that multiple people have asked the same question actually.
its almost as though you don’t want to answer the question…

Be prepared for a lot of defensive responses. Some people can’t cope with the idea that the UK isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. They are often people who have never lived outside the UK and have no basis for comparison.

IMO there’s much to like and admire about the UK. But the same can be said about many, many countries. I would say that certain aspects of everyday life (e.g. healthcare) are superior in other places. The NHS used to be the envy of the world. Alas, due to lack of appropriate funding, it’s now a system that is really struggling. Similarly, the current state of the educational system in the UK leaves much to be desired. I could go on. But again I think there are wonderful things about the UK as well.

🙄

Lovely for you. Would you accept open borders? Really? Think about it? Where 50 million from south America or Asia come in? Would you be ok with that?

I think we have to be patient and wait for actual facts from the op.

I'm from Ireland but recently went on holiday in Cambridge. I love Cambridge but was perplexed by how few pedestrian crossings there are on extremely busy roads. Where i live there are loads of pedestrian crossings. Just a general comment on my experience of the UK. I felt I was taking my life in my hands every time I had to rush across the road.

Are you okay?

Where did it say that it was answering a quesion? It didn't.

That poster wrote something, and I replied to her.

I don't think that people mean that they are lucky to be born in the UK over Netherlands, Sweden, Australia etc etc.
They mean that they are lucky to be born in the UK over Haiti, Myanmar, North Korea etc etc. Whilst there are many beautiful places in those countries, people think they are lucky to be born in a country where there is somewhat economic stability, hasn't been recent civil war or uprisings and where there are democratic elections. That sort of thing OP. Many other countries in the world also have those things, but there a lot that don't have those things.

Does anyone know if there has ever been a point in time where the general U.K. public has been happy and proud of the NHS? This is a genuine question from a foreigner…

Has it always been something to moan about? Did your parents moan about it?

Wake me up when they arrive. Sigh.....

It doesn’t. But we must all be patient..

I’m not sure it’s the best in the world but I do love the UK. I’ve lived in Japan as well as the UK and travelled to 40 other countries.

On the most part, I find the UK safe, quiet and beautiful with good education, arts and job opportunities as well as free healthcare. It’s a lot more than you’d find in a lot of places. And I love the national trust, my house and area etc.

The main thing I hate in the UK is the dust and dust mites because I’m allergic. My eczema vanishes in SEA/LatAm. It goes wild in the UK, Japan and Korea.

Even Japan which is lauded by people drive me up the wall. I lived far away from the main tourism spots and its was LOUD. Every day beeping and sirens and crossings that make noise and talking adverts in the street. Drove me mad along with the endless and confusing beaurocracy - why do I need to go to the town hall to get a stamp to get a number to put onto a machine to get a paper to give to the car salesman for him to do the same thing to then give me a paper that I then have to take to the town hall? Mind numbing. And the town hall is closed every Monday- Wednesday and every public celebration day of which there are 100 throughout the year.

You're wrong.

• "More than one-third (39.2%) of the world population live under authoritarian rule. Sixty countries are now classified as “authoritarian regimes”, an increase of one compared with the 2023 index, and an increase of eight from a decade ago in 2014."

• Western Europe has the highest index score of any region, at 8.38, and was the only one to improve its overall score in 2024. The United Kingdom improved its score, moving up the rankings from 18th in 2023 to 17th"

If you count freedom of expression as something you value, the UK is doing OK.

America is moving more and more towards authoritarianism, Trump hasn't been in power for a year and watch how he is is dismantling freedom of expression. Yesterday he fired a government statistician because he didn't like the number of job losses they reported... that's just a tiny example of what's happening over there, as he takes away impartiality.

We have free healthcare, free education and the rule of law still mostly intact in the UK.

We are also part of the G7 meaning we have a pretty high GDP compared to most other countries on the planet.

Presumably you lived in some European countries... sure, they are nice but Europe is dying, did you see the deal they were just forced to do with the USA?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jp-morgan-chief-message-europe-182119626.html

maybe it's time to wake up and smell the coffee? Europe is no longer competitive. It's dying. Literally, the way of life you speak of so highly, it's going. It can't last at the pace of change we are experiencing.

Alternatives are places like Afghanistan? Yemen? North Korea? Myanmar? Even much of S America - sexist, much of Africa - poor/violent, much of middle East, sexist/dangerous, Asia - authoritarianism/despots. And now America turning authoritarian..

The UK isn't the best country in the world. The idea is absurd. It might be someone's favourite country of course, but there's nothing about it that makes it better than everywhere else. You hear the same nonsense about America being the best or the "freest" country in the world. It's idiotic.

I'd love to live in London if I had lots of money.