What's happening to this country?
Discussion
Not really necessary to this story but I'm in a limbo between 2 countries at the moment, the country I'm moving to (France) and the country I'm currently in (UK).
Even taking in to account cultural differences the countries are leagues apart.
Yesterday for instance I was working (I get the joy of working for a public transport company, it's a job I took as it allowed me to work towards my degree and is actually surprisingly enjoyable most of the time!) and did a bit of people observing.
Take the bus interchange I was parked up in for half an hour, 3 groups of feral youths wandering around with no aim in life other than to cause trouble, one group was collared by two police officers for god knows what, another group was playing football with a glass bottle kicking it at buses till it inevitably broke littering the area with shards of glass, the third group started screaming obscenities at the 2 police officers as there was a fence seperating them (yes really brave lads). This last group got chased down by a Police car in the end. One group was playing chicken with buses, one lad in particular just standing in the street with arms out daring the bus drivers to knock him over.
Where have we gone wrong to end up with people who value their own lives so poorly that nothing matters to them any more?
Of course the situation on the bus is rarely better, aside from the pleasant fact that 90% of the customers are a pleasure to deal with (generally old people) 5% are decent working people, the other 5% are just useless scum, no jobs, disabled passes when they clearly don't need them, just wasters playing the system. Sad thing is they probably "earn" as much as most of the decent working people on the bus too.
We have a postal service which isn't fit for purpose. An NHS system which is crumbling under the load of genuinely ill people having to compete with people making spurious claims of disabilities and illness. Police who aren't able to control the lowlifes they have to deal with because the law ties their hands. A road system that breaks down under any weather condition other than light drizzle (and is currently potholed to hell).
Of course that's all ok if your living in a third world country but er....... We aren't? It would even be bearable if we weren't paying through the nose for tax. But we are. Tax on income, tax on savings, tax on fuel, tax on car, vat on fuel, tax on drink, tax on clothes, tax on insurance, council tax.
I suspect in this country about 60% of my earnings end up in Mr Browns pocket either directly or indirectly. I have to say I do not feel I am getting a good deal.
Even taking in to account cultural differences the countries are leagues apart.
Yesterday for instance I was working (I get the joy of working for a public transport company, it's a job I took as it allowed me to work towards my degree and is actually surprisingly enjoyable most of the time!) and did a bit of people observing.
Take the bus interchange I was parked up in for half an hour, 3 groups of feral youths wandering around with no aim in life other than to cause trouble, one group was collared by two police officers for god knows what, another group was playing football with a glass bottle kicking it at buses till it inevitably broke littering the area with shards of glass, the third group started screaming obscenities at the 2 police officers as there was a fence seperating them (yes really brave lads). This last group got chased down by a Police car in the end. One group was playing chicken with buses, one lad in particular just standing in the street with arms out daring the bus drivers to knock him over.
Where have we gone wrong to end up with people who value their own lives so poorly that nothing matters to them any more?
Of course the situation on the bus is rarely better, aside from the pleasant fact that 90% of the customers are a pleasure to deal with (generally old people) 5% are decent working people, the other 5% are just useless scum, no jobs, disabled passes when they clearly don't need them, just wasters playing the system. Sad thing is they probably "earn" as much as most of the decent working people on the bus too.
We have a postal service which isn't fit for purpose. An NHS system which is crumbling under the load of genuinely ill people having to compete with people making spurious claims of disabilities and illness. Police who aren't able to control the lowlifes they have to deal with because the law ties their hands. A road system that breaks down under any weather condition other than light drizzle (and is currently potholed to hell).
Of course that's all ok if your living in a third world country but er....... We aren't? It would even be bearable if we weren't paying through the nose for tax. But we are. Tax on income, tax on savings, tax on fuel, tax on car, vat on fuel, tax on drink, tax on clothes, tax on insurance, council tax.
I suspect in this country about 60% of my earnings end up in Mr Browns pocket either directly or indirectly. I have to say I do not feel I am getting a good deal.
We were as a collective population told that we could no longer be proud of our country and our distinctive culture/ values. I think it was well intentioned, integration into Europe, to be more welcoming to immigrants etc.
But IMO it's backfired massively, like so many well intentioned Government interventions in society. It's causing nothing less than a social/civil disintegration.
But IMO it's backfired massively, like so many well intentioned Government interventions in society. It's causing nothing less than a social/civil disintegration.
I'm all for returning to the good old days- teachers wallop kids that are out of line, the police have more power than they do now, and prison being a prison- no tv, hard labour and make it a detterant.
I'd go so far as to say national service.
No one seems to have any respect any more- and I believe you won't get respect without authority.
I agree that the country is going down the drain though
I'd go so far as to say national service.
No one seems to have any respect any more- and I believe you won't get respect without authority.
I agree that the country is going down the drain though
I agreee there are serious problems with the way society operates in the UK, mainly due to people thinking they're entiled to everything without assuming much in the way of responsibility.
Not sure I'd want to swap it for France though. Its a lovely place but, as far as I can see, its got any number of serious problems. The most pressing of which has to be the fact that any attempt to reform the labour laws and give the country a better chance of reducing its very high unemployment is met by wide spread protests from unions and students, so nothing chnages. I know it has been softened now, but rules like the 35 hour week together with the huge social welfare costs just don't add up.
And that's before you try and deal with the daft petty bureaucracy that's everywhwere.
Lovely place, just not sure the grass is greener.
Not sure I'd want to swap it for France though. Its a lovely place but, as far as I can see, its got any number of serious problems. The most pressing of which has to be the fact that any attempt to reform the labour laws and give the country a better chance of reducing its very high unemployment is met by wide spread protests from unions and students, so nothing chnages. I know it has been softened now, but rules like the 35 hour week together with the huge social welfare costs just don't add up.
And that's before you try and deal with the daft petty bureaucracy that's everywhwere.
Lovely place, just not sure the grass is greener.
Mermaid said:
Bing o said:
Emsman said:
I agree that the country is going down the drain though
The country is fine. It's the people that ruin it.
Nothing a good dictatorship (temporary of course) would not sort out.
Saddam was a wonderful chap..if you were a sunni
Mermaid said:
Bing o said:
Emsman said:
I agree that the country is going down the drain though
The country is fine. It's the people that ruin it.Nothing a good dictatorship (temporary of course) would not sort out.
Mind you the Romans seem to have managed to sort that out with Julius Caesar.
The feral idiots that are our nations yoof do provide good entertainment sometimes though. Picture the scene: a group of numpties, aged around 14, gathered around a pint glass that they've found somewhere. After telling various passers-by to "go f
k yourself" after being asked to stop kicking said pint glass about, one of these future rocket scientists stands it up and decides to stamp on it. Cue lots of blood, lots of screaming for mum, and one passerby, (me), telling them to "go fk yourself" when asked to call an ambulance.
k yourself" after being asked to stop kicking said pint glass about, one of these future rocket scientists stands it up and decides to stamp on it. Cue lots of blood, lots of screaming for mum, and one passerby, (me), telling them to "go fk yourself" when asked to call an ambulance.Christ, the primary school in our village has a non copmpetitive sports day.
In the running, kids can run as fast as they can, then have to wait for the slowest kid to catch up, hold hands and all cross the line together.
This is, by all accounts, so there are no losers.
Why not encourage someone who is good at something?
I realise that the example may not be the best, but its thesame throughout society- look after the dimwits so they dont get upset,whilst penalising the ones who may shine in their chosen field.
You mustnt say x in case it offends y, you cant do this in case it upsets someone.
its no wonder we are in the ste
In the running, kids can run as fast as they can, then have to wait for the slowest kid to catch up, hold hands and all cross the line together.
This is, by all accounts, so there are no losers.
Why not encourage someone who is good at something?
I realise that the example may not be the best, but its thesame throughout society- look after the dimwits so they dont get upset,whilst penalising the ones who may shine in their chosen field.
You mustnt say x in case it offends y, you cant do this in case it upsets someone.
its no wonder we are in the s
teTrommel said:
wildoliver said:
I'm in a limbo between 2 countries at the moment, the country I'm moving to (France) and the country I'm currently in (UK).
Plenty of scum in France. Might be easier to put space between you and them, but they're still there.Emsman said:
Christ, the primary school in our village has a non copmpetitive sports day.
In the running, kids can run as fast as they can, then have to wait for the slowest kid to catch up, hold hands and all cross the line together.
This is, by all accounts, so there are no losers.
Why not encourage someone who is good at something?
I realise that the example may not be the best, but its thesame throughout society- look after the dimwits so they dont get upset,whilst penalising the ones who may shine in their chosen field.
You mustnt say x in case it offends y, you cant do this in case it upsets someone.
its no wonder we are in the ste
I'd make sure that my kid was told to ignore all that tosh and go for gold.In the running, kids can run as fast as they can, then have to wait for the slowest kid to catch up, hold hands and all cross the line together.
This is, by all accounts, so there are no losers.
Why not encourage someone who is good at something?
I realise that the example may not be the best, but its thesame throughout society- look after the dimwits so they dont get upset,whilst penalising the ones who may shine in their chosen field.
You mustnt say x in case it offends y, you cant do this in case it upsets someone.
its no wonder we are in the s
teEmsman said:
Christ, the primary school in our village has a non copmpetitive sports day.
In the running, kids can run as fast as they can, then have to wait for the slowest kid to catch up, hold hands and all cross the line together.
This is, by all accounts, so there are no losers.
Why not encourage someone who is good at something?
I realise that the example may not be the best, but its thesame throughout society- look after the dimwits so they dont get upset,whilst penalising the ones who may shine in their chosen field.
You mustnt say x in case it offends y, you cant do this in case it upsets someone.
its no wonder we are in the ste
That's Labour's (read communist) social engineering for you.. all dumbed down to the LOWEST common denominator!In the running, kids can run as fast as they can, then have to wait for the slowest kid to catch up, hold hands and all cross the line together.
This is, by all accounts, so there are no losers.
Why not encourage someone who is good at something?
I realise that the example may not be the best, but its thesame throughout society- look after the dimwits so they dont get upset,whilst penalising the ones who may shine in their chosen field.
You mustnt say x in case it offends y, you cant do this in case it upsets someone.
its no wonder we are in the s
teExactly, and therein lies the problem.
If little johnny is a bit slow at school, the whole class learns at his pace so he doesnt get left behind.
In the mean time, the bright kids get bored, rebel, and become a pain as they are not being stretched.
Worse, the majority of the scrotes you see (as outlined standing in front of buses and the like) have no reason to be educated, when the social system will provide for them come what may.
Quite when one of the imbeciles in government will realise that the whole system needs rebuilding from the ground up is beyond me, but if we continue letting ste in at the bottom end, and the cream (by which i mean those wealthy and or intelligent enough to leave) keeps leaving at the top, we are going to be left with a nation full of dross- if we arent already.
Rant over
If little johnny is a bit slow at school, the whole class learns at his pace so he doesnt get left behind.
In the mean time, the bright kids get bored, rebel, and become a pain as they are not being stretched.
Worse, the majority of the scrotes you see (as outlined standing in front of buses and the like) have no reason to be educated, when the social system will provide for them come what may.
Quite when one of the imbeciles in government will realise that the whole system needs rebuilding from the ground up is beyond me, but if we continue letting s
te in at the bottom end, and the cream (by which i mean those wealthy and or intelligent enough to leave) keeps leaving at the top, we are going to be left with a nation full of dross- if we arent already.Rant over
Trommel said:
wildoliver said:
I'm in a limbo between 2 countries at the moment, the country I'm moving to (France) and the country I'm currently in (UK).
Plenty of scum in France. Might be easier to put space between you and them, but they're still there.Emsman said:
Exactly, and therein lies the problem.
If little johnny is a bit slow at school, the whole class learns at his pace so he doesnt get left behind.
In the mean time, the bright kids get bored, rebel, and become a pain as they are not being stretched.
Worse, the majority of the scrotes you see (as outlined standing in front of buses and the like) have no reason to be educated, when the social system will provide for them come what may.
Quite when one of the imbeciles in government will realise that the whole system needs rebuilding from the ground up is beyond me, but if we continue letting ste in at the bottom end, and the cream (by which i mean those wealthy and or intelligent enough to leave) keeps leaving at the top, we are going to be left with a nation full of dross- if we arent already.
Rant over
Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately I can't see there being sufficient impetus to do anything about it until we go bankrupt. Until then the existing political parties will carry on rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic...If little johnny is a bit slow at school, the whole class learns at his pace so he doesnt get left behind.
In the mean time, the bright kids get bored, rebel, and become a pain as they are not being stretched.
Worse, the majority of the scrotes you see (as outlined standing in front of buses and the like) have no reason to be educated, when the social system will provide for them come what may.
Quite when one of the imbeciles in government will realise that the whole system needs rebuilding from the ground up is beyond me, but if we continue letting s
te in at the bottom end, and the cream (by which i mean those wealthy and or intelligent enough to leave) keeps leaving at the top, we are going to be left with a nation full of dross- if we arent already.Rant over
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