Doom and Gloom

[toastboy]

When was the last time the country didn't have a major crisis to deal with?

We've got the Credit Crunch Recesssion to deal with now.
Before that Climate Change.
Before that Global Warming.
Before that War on Terror.
Before that The Millenium Bug.
Before that The Ozone Layer.
Before that another recession.
Before that Poll Tax riots
Before that The Cold War.

Did we ever have a sustained time when the government/media weren't feeding us doom and gloom?

[Austin.J]

Woo for being a teenager & not having to care (much) about any of that!

[Baby Huey]

When I were a lad all you had to worry about was getting blown up by the IRA, nuked by the Ruskies and day to day life under Maggie's jackboot.

Luxury.

[jimothy]

Standard rule of politics, keep the people afraid as it makes them easier to control.

[Austin.J]

Baby Huey said:

When I were a lad all you had to worry about was getting blown up by the IRA, nuked by the Ruskies and day to day life under Maggie's jackboot.

Luxury.

that monty python sketch, the 4 Yorkshire men popped in to my head soon as i read that, now at work everyones looking at me like i'm a nut job.

Edited by Austin.J on Saturday 6th December 10:04

[RegMolehusband]

In the seventies we were also very concerned about

Acid rain
Oil running out by the year 2000
The next ice age being overdue

[Baby Huey]

Moonbugs.

There was some hysteria regarding the possibility of deadly germs being bought back to earth after the moon landings.

[Simpo Two]

The last time I remember there not being something to be miserable about was the mid-1990s. Then speed cameras were introduced and we have been victims of media and government spin ever since.

Possibly no coincidence that New Labour came to power in 1997...

[Baby Huey]

Simpo Two said:

The last time I remember there not being something to be miserable about was the mid-1990s. Then speed cameras were introduced and we have been victims of media and government spin ever since.

Possibly no coincidence that New Labour came to power in 1997...

New Labour didn't invent spin.

[chris watton]

RegMolehusband said:

In the seventies we were also very concerned about

Acid rain
Oil running out by the year 2000
The next ice age being overdue

..And the rain forests (which I wholeheartedly agree they need saving), and the starving in Africa - I remember being told at school that if we brought in enough metal milk bottle tops, we could eradicate the famine!

[Steamer]

Baby Huey said:

Moonbugs.

There was some hysteria regarding the possibility of deadly germs being bought back to earth after the moon landings.

And when they reported that MonsterMunch crisps where a health hazard...

...they said the flavorings might brain my damage

[chris watton]

Baby Huey said:

Simpo Two said:

The last time I remember there not being something to be miserable about was the mid-1990s. Then speed cameras were introduced and we have been victims of media and government spin ever since.

Possibly no coincidence that New Labour came to power in 1997...

New Labour didn't invent spin.

But they have certainly polished it and made it into a finely tuned tool.

[Aiten]

Baby Huey said:

Simpo Two said:

The last time I remember there not being something to be miserable about was the mid-1990s. Then speed cameras were introduced and we have been victims of media and government spin ever since.

Possibly no coincidence that New Labour came to power in 1997...

New Labour didn't invent spin.

Political spin as been documented for since before the Egyptians empire.
We can't say NL are very good at it either. A 12 year old could make people believe he was a god, Labour can't even sneak through stealth taxes without getting caught. It's not like the people were less intelligent back then, just walk down most highstreets in Kent to prove that.

[13th]

I can remember in my early teens being terrified that the Russians were going to nuke us on a specific date and living close to Heathrow I wasn't going stand a chance.

When I woke up screaming my mother consoled me by saying "Don't be silly darling if that were the case we'd nuke them the day before" !



Didn't sleep a wink for weeks

Credit crunch is a piece of cake compared to teenage angst!

[Simpo Two]

RegMolehusband said:

In the seventies we were also very concerned about
Acid rain
Oil running out by the year 2000
The next ice age being overdue

I was at achool/teenager in the 70s so perhaps wasn't so aware, but I don't remember the BBC etc banging on an on about those things in every programme, link amd jingle as they do now. Things seemed better in proportion then. The Cold War didn't bother me a jot. You knew who the baddies were and where they were, and that there was a balance of power (MAD) that would stop anything happening. Now we have 'terrorism', and we all know how Govt uses that card...

chris watton said:

and the starving in Africa - I remember being told at school that if we brought in enough metal milk bottle tops, we could eradicate the famine!

Perhaps you did - perhaps it kept them alive so they could produce even more starving children?!

Edited by Simpo Two on Saturday 6th December 10:25

[dilbert]

toastboy said:

Before that The Cold War.

For a while there, that one was genuinely pretty spooky. TBH if you remember that one, then all the others pale.

[turbobloke]

These days, there's a heap of taxation and control freak misery attached to most doom and gloom stories, which is why Labour and their beeb / media lackeys are so full of it. They're full of it anyway, but more so.

[Steamer]

13th said:

I can remember in my early teens being terrified that the Russians were going to nuke us on a specific date and living close to Heathrow I wasn't going stand a chance.

When I woke up screaming my mother consoled me by saying "Don't be silly darling if that were the case we'd nuke them the day before" !



Didn't sleep a wink for weeks

Credit crunch is a piece of cake compared to teenage angst!

They made us watch that 1980's television docudrama depicting the effects of a nuclear war on the United Kingdom and its aftermath called THREADS


Scared the crap out of me for the best part of 1984 / 1985 - thanks school!

[turbobloke]

Steamer said:

Scared the crap out of me for the best part of 1984 / 1985 - thanks school!

They're using Al Gore's AIT these days.

[Baby Huey]

dilbert said:

toastboy said:

Before that The Cold War.

For a while there, that one was genuinely pretty spooky. TBH if you remember that one, then all the others pale.

Yes, there seemed like a constant threat of nuclear war from when I was born until I was about 18. It did cast quite a shadow over our lives.

I remember Threads coming out, I used to have a copy of When The Wind Blows, all very depressing.

Edited by Baby Huey on Saturday 6th December 10:36