Austerity damages people's faith in the future

[2024Hackathon]

I know this is true of where I live. I talk to so many angry people who wonder why there aren't riots about the cost of living. The last time the grumbles and discontent were at this level was just before the riots in 2011.

I have no optimism that things will turn round in a decent timescale. Does anybody seen signs that indicate differently? Any signs of genuine levelling-up?

Last summer, we spent two weekends talking to people in Greater Manchester and Birmingham about how these great cities could have a more prosperous future. The economics of jobs, transport and housing came up. But what also came through was that living with crumbling public services had undermined their trust in the state’s capabilities to effect change for the better. This isn’t a small problem. Change requires citizens to imagine a better future, so they can embrace the disruption involved in getting there.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/17/austerity-damages-public-services-and-peoples-faith-in-the-future

I believe we need a change of government - the Tory party are corrupt and literally don't care about normal people (other than to see what they can get out of us).

100% agree. I've only worked during austerity. I've never known big pay rises, booming public services as an adult. Last year I got a 3.5% pay rise, after years of pay freeze. MPs just this year have given themselves 5.5%. I work in the public sector.

In the same time my wage has gone up 3.5% my rent has gone up 35%. Its untenable and means people have no choice but to focus on just getting through each month. They aren't looking ahead. No country can build in that scenario and this has been a deteriorating situation over that past 12 or so years. My generation have no faith in the country or recovery. My parents generation fear needing to access healthcare and social support as they age. Everyone 8sbjyst struggling to get through.

There are so many mild-mannered people who are questioning why they're not angrier but wonder if they're consumed with just getting through the day.

That's not a healthy society. It increasingly seems that if you're not in a position to inherit wealth from previous generations, you've may well be stuck with maintaining a lifestyle at best but deeply concerned that your quality of life will erode as the gap between inflation and wage increases grows greater.

I was thinking about Maslow hierarchy of needs again today it’s so so true you cannot progress if your needs are not able to be met