The State We're In.....

[johnny_t]

A lot of posts seem to revolve around the perceived state that Britain is in today and, personally, I just either don't see it, or don't see some of the things people see as being a problem as a problem (for example, I don't see the fact that there are Urdu signs up in the local shops as a problem, but some see it as an indicator of our decline, or that our streets are over-run with paedophiles looking for their next chance). In fact, I think Britain's in pretty good shape and a great place to live. This makes a lot of the debates difficult when you don't have an agreed factual basepoint to debate from.

So, if you can, lets all say exactly what it is that you see as being wrong with Britain today. Only rule is that its got to be something that you have actually experienced, not something you've read about.

Only other rule I would add is to try and keep it to a no-arguing thread. Come in, say your piece, don't try and dispute someone else's piece. I'm interested in how people here see the problems we are supposed to have.

You can have more than one go, so don't feel you have to get the whole list off your chest in one go.

So here's my starting point......


The dumbing down of society, and people's loss of critical thought makes them too ready to accept the editorialised version of news presented to them as unquestionable fact.

People still fear change, and fear the different.

 

[JohnD]

Not a new problem, but older people will always (have always) complained that the world isn't what it used to be, is going to the dogs, people are less educated, less intelligent and less polite than they used to be, criminals are worse, those damned immigrants from Brittany/Rome/Denmark/Norway/Saxony/Normandy/Wales/Ireland/Scotland/
England/Holland/France/Germany/Italy/India/Africa/Poland/Bulgaria are responsible for it all.

I think the problem is that some people are always grumbling and looking for someone to blame.

Looking on the bright side, Britain has not had a major war against any of our European neighbours for over 60 years, which makes a wonderful change.

 

[joe-90]

It's quite simple mate. We are an overcrowded country who rely totally on a source of energy in sharp decline (oil).

Just what will we do 20 years from now when China alone would (if it could) use more than the total world production?

How do we live then?

And the other problem is failed muticulturalism. If countries cannot live side-by-side without war - whoever believes communities can live side -by-side is on another planet. If Muslim is against Muslim (Iraq) why does anyone in their right mind think that Christian and Muslim can? Or Muslim and Jew can?

It's just a matter of time until the blue touch paper gets lit.

 

[splinter]

The I.m all right jack attitude in this country,
Sorry BAS's country

 

[2scoops0406]

For me in my industry (IT) the problem is that britain has mainly moved away from R&D and is now simply engaged in buy it and bolt it together solutions. This has entailed a shift away from the more intellectual elements of IT towards, the softer sales and 1st line support activities, which personally I find unstimulating.

 

[Glassman]

I think it has something to do with the information we are given. We have more information available to us now than we did say 20-30 years ago.

There have always been peadophiles but I never heard that reference until about 10 years ago. Before we just called them child molesters or child abductors and it was just one of those things that always happened to somebody else.
Look at the amount of adults now coming forward to report events that occured during their childhoods. Before, these people were probably too afraid to say something before but now that the media has brought these things to our attention attitudes have changed and these victims now feel they are able to stand up and do something about it.

Some things have changed though and one of the most obvious things is the "yobbo culture". Kids these days really do need a kick up the backside. I would never dare gob off at an adult when I was a kid because I knew I wouldn't have a leg to stand on and I'd get a good hiding for it when I got home. Today's kids have rights and dont they just know it!

I was going to rant on about multiculturalism but it'll only give BAS another excuse to start.........so I wont bother

 

[hermes]

Just what will we do 20 years from now when China alone would (if it could) use more than the total world production?.........................................

If Muslim is against Muslim (Iraq)

.

Deviation from the topic, these are not things you have personally experienced.


Two things I think are wrong with the country:

1. Intolerance. Some people just don't seem to be able to accept that other people are different and that it is quite acceptable to be different.

2. The way our children are brought up. It has been mentioned many times on here about how kids don't do the things that we used to do when we were young and I can think of two reasons for this; one is the shift towards sedentary pastimes (computer, playstation, tv. etc.) and the other is the perceived fear of harm befalling your kids if they are out and about, and I think selective journalism is mostly to blame for this.

 

[WoodYouLike]

The State (Brittan) is in…. from a ‘foreigners’ point of view

* chip and pin, why on earth did it take so long to get this established (compared with the running of it for almost 15 – 20 years where we come from?)
* same with getting rid of cheques! Bank to bank payments seem to be a new invention here (!?)
* why companies (be it for a domestic or b2b quote) take so long to send our that quote: don’t they want the business?? (Am still waiting for a storage company to come back to me with a quote, still waiting for a wood wholesaler to come back to us with prices on displays – for weeks on both accounts – in both cases we’ve found more eager companies) The amount of complaints, no let me rephrase that to compliments we get for sending our quotes out the same day is unbelievable.
* why on earth can’t we get a water meter?
* roadworks, one day this utility company breaks up the road, the week after it’s another one on the same road, digging the same wholes.

Wouldn’t trade this place in for anywhere else

* starting up business is much easier than on the continent.
* lagers are much larger than over there (and with less alcohol)
* rural areas / old landscapes / old village sites are preserved (thank goodness for that, lots of history is removed for progress on the continent)
* you decide for yourself for what ‘extras’ your insured for compared to the high tax-levels on the continent where was compulsorily, but where now more and more of those ‘extras’ have to be paid for individually anyway.

Sure I’ll be adding other items to the list

 

[Adam_151]

There have always been peadophiles but I never heard that reference until about 10 years ago. Before we just called them child molesters or child abductors

And it was an accurate term and described the people it set out to describe without much confusion, now we have a term that has a different definition but is seen by the masses as an alternative term to what we used before.

 

[noodlz]

Great idea for a thread

I agree with Johnny_t and Hermes (I hope that's okay within the remit ) about their points.

The sensational and sales-based media with lack of social responsibilty towards the people they deliver to saddens me. I understand they are in a business to sell their product, but just how far they are prepared to go to do that seems to be descending further down a murky path. The fact that many continue to patronise these media feeds the beast...maybe we as a society get what we deserve? I still rue what we're getting though. The media are in an increasingly powerful position, not just to inform about events, but more and more actually to form public opinion. As Churchill said....with great opportunity comes great responsibility....I fear all too often the responsibility is disregarded.

Politics and its gravitation towards style and spin over substance and policy gets my goat. Alistair Campbell lives nearby and I feel physically sick whenever I see him.

Overofficious beaurocracy is another bugbear of mine. From increased parking regulations that are more about creating a revenue stream than improving our road networks to government building and housing regulations that are quite arbitrary depending on whom you deal with.
The very people who create some of these laws (ODPM officials in my dealings) don't know what they actually mean when questioned and the impact they might have; then they have the cheek to say that they will be reviewed once in place and can then be reverted if unworkable, oblivious to the fact that by that time much of the damage will have been done. These self-same people are clueless wonders who are paid large salaries and to justify this they proceed to create red tape for hard-working people who don't have the benefit of a government salary, and yet they don't even enforce these rules on their own council housing.

Okay, that's enough....for now

I still think this is a great country with much more going for it than the downsides......just so you don't think I'm Ebing away

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The State (Brittan) is in…. from a ‘foreigners’ point of view

* chip and pin, why on earth did it take so long to get this established (compared with the running of it for almost 15 – 20 years where we come from?)

Will this be the same progressive country where foreigners can't use their bank cards in many places (some of them pretty important to tourists, like ticket machines at railway stations), as only Dutch ones are accepted, or a different one?

 

[2scoops0406]

* chip and pin, why on earth did it take so long to get this established (compared with the running of it for almost 15 – 20 years where we come from?)
* same with getting rid of cheques! Bank to bank payments seem to be a new invention here (!?)

Chip and pin took us ages to educate our northern friends that they don't need salt and vinegar with it.

Cheques, very useful just before pay day


P.S. I'm from the north originally

 

[WoodYouLike]

* chip and pin, why on earth did it take so long to get this established (compared with the running of it for almost 15 – 20 years where we come from?)

Will this be the same progressive country where foreigners can't use their bank cards in many places (some of them pretty important to tourists, like ticket machines at railway stations), as only Dutch ones are accepted, or a different one?

Very peculiar, that is and I'm sure you're right UK cards do work in the most important places though: ATM's.
Problem must be with magnetic strip versus chip on card: works differently over there it seems.

 

[johnny_t]

All a bit rambling, but its how it comes out of my head.....

Touched on before by hermes, and I agree, is the way children are brought up. Too many adults are either abdicating all responsibility for teaching their children anything, or continue acting like children themselves. Children's TV involves pumping them full of rubbish like 'Dick or Dom' or the frankly incomprehensible (anything faintly Manga, even Pokemon, leaves me scratching my head). Other cartoons are trying to emulate the 'adult' style cartoons such as Ren & Stimpy, forcing children to grow up too fast. Children are then left either sitting up downstairs or watching TV in their bedroom, well beyond any watershed. Parents sit idly by, purchasing bra-tops for their 6 year olds with 'Juicy', 'No Angel' of 'Future MILF' (honestly) sequinned on the front and then let them go out drinking cider on the swings and wonder why it all goes wrong. These parents would discourage their children from doing anything active, like joining the cubs or a sports team, but would find it hilarious that their child can go to the bar and bring them back a drink, or do an impression of Jordan.

All concept of proper variety entertainment has gone out the window. All saturday night TV seems to involve is a series of text-ins to get our cash out of us, and stuff like the X-factor where genuine talent is interleaved with opportunities to laugh at, what appears to be, mentally ill people that have come in to sing Living La Vida Loca and then be insulted. People like Gordon Ramsey or Alan Sugar give the impression that to succeed in life, the only rules are too reject knowledge and be rude to people.

The concept of fame is all-consuming, and everyone is desperate to be famous, even if it is just for being stupid, or being volatile. In fact, these seem to be the two traits that guaratee you a life beyond reality TV these days.

Too much throw-away mentality behind consumerism. Go down the tip and see the sort of things people are chucking away and it is disgusting. There are families that would not be able to even dream of some of the stuff being chucked, and there are more than enough charities about to redistribute it. (IMHO, this is partly what makes eBay great) - From bikes, toys, furniture or old computers, there's always someone who would value what you are chucking out.

 

[Steve]

Touched on before by hermes, and I agree, is the way children are brought up. Too many adults are either abdicating all responsibility for teaching their children anything, or continue acting like children themselves. Children's TV involves pumping them full of rubbish like 'Dick or Dom' or the frankly incomprehensible (anything faintly Manga, even Pokemon, leaves me scratching my head). Other cartoons are trying to emulate the 'adult' style cartoons such as Ren & Stimpy, forcing children to grow up too fast. Children are then left either sitting up downstairs or watching TV in their bedroom, well beyond any watershed. Parents sit idly by, purchasing bra-tops for their 6 year olds with 'Juicy', 'No Angel' of 'Future MILF' (honestly) sequinned on the front and then let them go out drinking cider on the swings and wonder why it all goes wrong. These parents would discourage their children from doing anything active, like joining the cubs or a sports team, but would find it hilarious that their child can go to the bar and bring them back a drink, or do an impression of Jordan.

This is all so funny, but the fact that it is true makes it depressing too.

Feed 'em rubbish
Buy 'em rubbish
Let 'em watch rubbish
Teach 'em a rubbish example

The fact is, many parents simply dont have a clue, especially todays 16 year old teenage mothers, and their 18 year old boyfriends, who they "love with all their heart, and are gonna marry" (said while sat there, both with a fag in their hands and a bottle of white star in a tiny council flat). You just know in a few weeks it will all be over, the lad simply cannot handle raising a child. And what chance does the mother have by herself?

Just yesterday, I saw 2 14-15 year old girls walking up my street, both quite pretty (to the right age group of course), and they both had a fag in their hand. Dont know about anyone else, but women who smoke is a real turn off for me. Lads do it to "look hard", but its beyond me why girls would do it for the same reason

And they congregate in the back alley with a load of 20-year old lads who've been to the local co-op late shop for some white star for them. Dont these prosti-tots have taste? Bacardi Breezers, anyone? Stella, at a push? And why do these lads hang around with 15 year old girls? A bit sad really, isn't it? I mean, I have difficulty finding a girlfriend, but i dont use that as an excuse to hang around in back alleys knocking back white star with 15 year old girls.

And parents really need to take responsibility. A lot of kids talk with a slur, or in some other way not very well, and the parents just think its the schools responsibility and leave it all to them. Many parents get annoyed at the school when their kids get told off or disciplined! They think their little boy/girl would never do anything wrong, they are good as gold, and refuse to accept anything else. Its stupid, the narrow-mindedness. They want to take a large dose of REALITY twice a day.