Are you worried for the future of GB and indeed the world?

David49

For the last 50 yrs the UK has been slowly sinking, we have been spending more than we have been earning, selling ever more national assets to the highest bidder. The rich get richer the poor get poorer, do I realistically expect any polititian to change that - no, we all want jam today it’s not going to happen.

That has certainly been a part of it - our national assets being sold off and put in private hands. I am still trying to get my head round selling off our water, our public transport, our fuel into private hands. It was obvious that, just to take one example, ie selling off our water = shareholders would be determined to take "profits" and blow maintaining our decent water system. I only have to take a 20 minute walk from my home to our nearest river - and it's very easy to see just how polluted it is any time/any day and yet a 50 year old friend of mine tells me that she remembers when people went swimming in it. That's one example of where our money has gone to "grabbers". I think Welsh Water just hides it rather better than some of our other water companies.

All round we see a sinking country - we used to have an NHS, we used to have better public transport, we used to have a reasonable public library system and so the list goes on....

Blimey OP- answers on a postcard?

For the last 50 yrs the UK has been slowly sinking, we have been spending more than we have been earning, selling ever more national assets to the highest bidder. The rich get richer the poor get poorer, do I realistically expect any polititian to change that - no, we all want jam today it’s not going to happen.

CountessFosco

What worries us more is the rise in Sharia Law [illegal apparently but gaining ground]. How would our lovely GDs of 15 and 13 fare under this draconian system?

I’m with Babs03 in having confidence in the younger generation. I see them bringing up their children well, whilst running their own businesses, or working well in paid employment. I don’t see Grammar Schools as a positive, they benefitted a very small proportion of children and left the majority feel in like failures at 11.

I’ve seen no evidence Sharia Law is ‘gaining ground’ other than when used occasionally by a small number of separatingMuslim parents. The majority of Muslim women who were born in the uk instruct solicitors

Carriadagain blames ‘illegals’ for our problems. The numbers fleeing the Middle East and Africa is set to continue to rise. Global warming, wars, famine etc means many will try to find a better life for their children. That’s why international co-operation is needed, not ideas like `Rwanda.

Thanks to MOnica for setting accurate historical facts.

M0nica

SkyDancer I actually worry constantly about the future of this country and of the world. As someone upthread said, things were pretty much okay till the 1990s.

I cannot that anyone, let alone 2, could say that. What about the Cold War, the threats of nuclear armageddon, 2 world wars in 30 years. The IRA and the 'troubles' in Ireland, Islamic terrorism goes back to the late 1960s/70s. Remember the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The hijacking of airplanes and their passengers.

Some people here clearly have very selective memories.

They must have lived in a bubble.

I think, as a child until I was a teenager , I was unaware of these terrible things and that is how it should be. Children should not be burdened with these worries.
However, I remember being aware of politics because my DF was politically active and talked about this at home.

I can’t believe anyone can state life here was ok until 1990? They must have been in a deep sleep! We left for the USA in 1977 and couldn’t wait to go. There was endless strikes, you name the industry and it was striking. And then the miners strikes continued with all the violence. And the bombs and misery on Northern Ireland. I could go on and on. We could only stay in the USA for three years as it was a job transfer and we returned to a country that still seemed to be heading for the rocks! So no I don’t worry about my children and my grandchildren’s future here, worrying never changed anything.

Not selective at all. We were aware of these things. But for those of us born 1950s onwards life was overall pretty Normal and anticipated to remain so.

I remember the "troubles", I remember IRA bombing and one of the reasons I left one of our huge cities that I was living in at the time is I thought "In the not too distant future I am not sure about its safety...so I'd better not be in a huge city...I'll go somewhere smaller/safer". One-off incidents happening to Israelis representing Palestine-they-call-Israel, airplanes are all one-off incidents basically.

Nuclear Armageddon - I was one of the main people in one of the leading CND groups in the country - ie that other groups copied. I can't speak for anyone else in it - but I remember I never took that "Protect and Survive" stuff seriously - it was clearly ludicrous. I never doubted we'd throw out the American cruise missiles stationed in our country. I don't remember one moment's doubt ever about it - I knew we would win. Again - I can't speak for anyone else - but I basically knew we had won when our most public officer in our CND group had his house broken into/all our documents gone through/nothing stolen/his house desecrated and I knew we had won the second he told us what had been done to his house - and we all sympathised and we all (including him) carried straight on. We'd already proved waving large sums of money at our group from an American direction was something we unanimously dismissed the offer of in about 2 minutes flat - and yep...I also knew we were going to win at that point - as none of us had a scrap of doubt at turning down American money meant to shut us up.

What some of us (including me) fear is not just one-off incidents - but a takeover of our Society as a whole and all of us affected by it.

I am not worried either.

Nothing new under the sun, says the Bible Book of Ecclisiates, written in 3000BC or whenever.

And there isnt.

I think the greatest challenges facing children today will be the cost of living, the need to work until later and later in life and possibly the development of AI making jobs harder to come by. I certainly wouldn't want to be starting out. I have no children myself, which makes me sad at times, but in some ways I am glad I am not inflicting a potential tough life on someone. Just need to get through it myself!

SkyDancer I actually worry constantly about the future of this country and of the world. As someone upthread said, things were pretty much okay till the 1990s.

I cannot that anyone, let alone 2, could say that. What about the Cold War, the threats of nuclear armageddon, 2 world wars in 30 years. The IRA and the 'troubles' in Ireland, Islamic terrorism goes back to the late 1960s/70s. Remember the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The hijacking of airplanes and their passengers.

Some people here clearly have very selective memories.

CariadAgain. What is now OUR country may no longer be the one we recognise.

CariadAgain

CountessFosco

What worries us more is the rise in Sharia Law [illegal apparently but gaining ground]. How would our lovely GDs of 15 and 13 fare under this draconian system?

I look at that and think "Would they really seriously try and impose Sharia "courts" on us in our own country? Surely it would be they would use those for themselves - but accept that it is OUR country and we have normal courts and that's what we will use. But I do have a sneaking suspicion they're trying to push their ways on us in our own country. If people integrate and abide by our ways that's one thing - but I've got a little gut thing saying to me "By around 2045/2050 this may not function like OUR country any more - even though it still will be iyswim".

I hope I'm wrong and what my father has been saying to me for around 30 years of how he sees our country's future is wrong.

CountessFosco

What worries us more is the rise in Sharia Law [illegal apparently but gaining ground]. How would our lovely GDs of 15 and 13 fare under this draconian system?

I look at that and think "Would they really seriously try and impose Sharia "courts" on us in our own country? Surely it would be they would use those for themselves - but accept that it is OUR country and we have normal courts and that's what we will use. But I do have a sneaking suspicion they're trying to push their ways on us in our own country. If people integrate and abide by our ways that's one thing - but I've got a little gut thing saying to me "By around 2045/2050 this may not function like OUR country any more - even though it still will be iyswim".

I hope I'm wrong and what my father has been saying to me for around 30 years of how he sees our country's future is wrong.

Can't see the point in worrying, what will be will be

No, I'm not worried either; what's the point? I agree Norah it will be what it will be.

I actually worry constantly about the future of this country and of the world. As someone upthread said, things were pretty much okay till the 1990s. Then everything seemed to go downhill. I worry about nuclear war, global warming and AI. All of those things could put an end to the world. As for this country, there are far too many people here now - many of whom we know nothing about and who have totally different values to those I have grown up with. I despair and don't agree with those who say 'twas ever thus. No it wasn't. We didn't have the internet. Technology means wars will be fought electronically. Bombs will be detonated from far away. The world is getting more and more dangerous, run by power-hungry men and there is no common sense.

What worries us more is the rise in Sharia Law [illegal apparently but gaining ground]. How would our lovely GDs of 15 and 13 fare under this draconian system?

What do I think will happen in the future?

Our country will continue to get more and more overcrowded - as more "illegals" pile into it. Our freedom of speech has become somewhat restricted and I feel it will get even worse. People never got sacked from jobs/refused them in the first place for not having A Jab that many of us have decided not to have until recently. I still feel very shocked that my personal decision that I made in that direction would have seen me unfairly dismissed from some jobs if I were still young enough to need a job - thank goodness I'm safely retired and so doesnt apply.

Technology etc helped our lives improve to start with - and we got the Pill/phones in our homes as standard/central heating in our homes as standard etc - but now it's making life more difficult imo (smartphones/smart appliances/5G/etc).

I see it as our country started turning for the worse in the 1990s and our country starting to split up more, technology that makes our lives harder coming along, etc. So I wish I could agree with a more optimistic take - and then remind myself "Well at least I won't be living in Britain come around the middle of this century - as I was born in the early 1950s - and so should be safely dead and out of harms way by then". Partly because I don't know how much longer this trend for things getting worse will go on and partly because I'm feeling it's necessary to start stating "This is Britain. It's a liberal modern Christian country. That is how things ARE going to stay - even if some individuals don't like that fact and are trying to change us".

Are you worried for the future of GB and indeed the world?

I think the thing which worries me most is the oceans of plastic.

I worry about a lot of things, but not that.

Autocorrect prefers Gold to Cold
Cold War

There have always been horrors going on in the world, as M0nica says but, as Oreo points out without all the modern tech, people were either not aware of much going on in the world or dismissed it as not affecting them.

As a working class child, but not poverty-stricken, life seemed quite carefree. I wasn't really aware of the struggles and hard work my parents may have had to keep us well fed, warm and clothed.
I can remember getting upset and angry abut things in the 1950s and 60s, there were terrifying happenings such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the ongoing Gold War, the Vietnam War which led to such diverse opinions, famines, extreme weather events.
Then we had IRA bombings for 20 years, worrying for those of us who lived or worked in cities or Government buildings.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

Nope not at all! Worrying will not change a thing!

I think the younger generation are marvellous and just hope future governments don’t let them down. The majority I know don’t drink like we did back in the day, are in fact far more health conscious and aware of how what they do impacts upon the planet. They are also more aware of gender rights and how diversity benefits society.
Of course the cost of living is ridiculous and buying a home is so hard. But I always told my grown children to always save and buy according to their pocket. A one bedroom flat to start with, and you don’t need everything new, buy in charity shops or on preloved sites, save until you can afford new. These days too many want an ideal home with everything brand spanking new to start with. Thankfully they took that advice and gave now got a better house with really nice furniture - but still second hand, they prefer it.
I think we underestimate our younger generation. They aren’t snowflakes they are pioneers in a darker more dangerous world than we knew.

No, it will be what it will be.