Is this country going to the dogs?

GrannyGravy13

MaizieD

Added to the above the grass is always greener on the other side along with things were so much better when we were younger along with any similar tale and you get headers like the OP…

I have to say, as Essex born and bred, I don't recall no-go areas being reported in any of the coastal resorts when I lived there...

Google Jaywick MazieD it is allegedly one of if not the most poorest area in the U.K. drove through it last summer (I was lost as was my SatNav) not an experience I wish to repeat.

The main problem with Southend Sea Front (the middle area with Adventure Island, amusement arcades and The Pier) are the trains full of day trippers often rival inner city gangs who bring their drugs and violence with them added to which easy access to London and onwards it’s ripe for the taking between County Lines Gangs.

The locals tend to use the beaches at either end and avoid the masses, the local paper is an eye opener.

My response to you, GG13 was referring to your assertion along with things were so much better when we were younger along with any similar tale and you get headers like the OP… i.e that we who think the UK is deteriorating in many ways, are looking at the past with rose coloured glasses (I would, actually, dearly love some of them as they seem to make people able to tolerate all sorts of unpleasantness, but that's another story)

To get back. You said, basically, that we were fantasising about things being better when we were young. I respond that, as an Essex native until my early 20s I never saw or heard of no go areas in the coastal resorts. Not even in Jaywick or Southend...

But then, I did have to run the gauntlet of the squaddies on guard wolf whistling and commenting every time I walked past the barracks on the way into town. I think they call it 'harassment now and it only appears to be done by 'immigrants' or brown people

I can't see what relevance your response has.

Objectively, the rolling back of the state has reduced the standards of public services. The NHS, education, policing, local authority services are all providing worse services to the public than they did 10 years ago. It’s all measurable. Some of the most obvious effects are seen around us every day - avoidable deaths, potholes, littering, public disorder and petty crime, increased poverty, etc.etc. Our international reputation is also shot. There’s no getting away from the measurables.

The biggest problem I see is the amount of time and resources now required to get the country functioning as it should again.

these sort of attacks happen abroad too.

There was a program about Jaywick some years ago and it was very sad. Lots of people with complex issues being 'dumped' (for want of a better word) altogether in the same place. Many living in sub standard housing that was only meant for summer dwelling.

I bet Romans in their togas sat about and bemoaned the state of affairs even back then.
😁

Bad news sells newspapers and grabs media attention. We very seldom get heart-warming headlines. Also, retrospective, rose-coloured spectacles focused on the supposed "good old days" seem to be rather selective in terms of what they see. Yes, there's a lot wrong in society today, but you could argue that there always has been. I still believe that the vast majority of the population are good, well-intentioned souls, who just want to get on with living a harmonious life, and with positively responding to the everyday challenges which we all face. "Making a difference" starts with each and every one of us.

MaizieD

^Added to the above the grass is always greener on the other side along with things were so much better when we were younger along with any similar tale and you get headers like the OP…^

I have to say, as Essex born and bred, I don't recall no-go areas being reported in any of the coastal resorts when I lived there...

Google Jaywick MazieD it is allegedly one of if not the most poorest area in the U.K. drove through it last summer (I was lost as was my SatNav) not an experience I wish to repeat.

The main problem with Southend Sea Front (the middle area with Adventure Island, amusement arcades and The Pier) are the trains full of day trippers often rival inner city gangs who bring their drugs and violence with them added to which easy access to London and onwards it’s ripe for the taking between County Lines Gangs.

The locals tend to use the beaches at either end and avoid the masses, the local paper is an eye opener.

No, not "going to the dogs" - just problems are more visible.

Added to the above the grass is always greener on the other side along with things were so much better when we were younger along with any similar tale and you get headers like the OP…

I have to say, as Essex born and bred, I don't recall no-go areas being reported in any of the coastal resorts when I lived there...

Bad news has always traveled quicker and further than good news.

Since the rise in social media, camera phones and the overwhelming desire to share everything you see or do it stands to reason that bad news stories are travelling further and quicker.

Added to the above the grass is always greener on the other side along with things were so much better when we were younger along with any similar tale and you get headers like the OP…

fancythat

Biblical morals were given for a reason. Peace for people in society, being one of them.

Which bit of the bible are you referring to?

There was a great deal of smiting and fighting going on in the Old Testament. Was that with divine approval?

Biblical morals were given for a reason. Peace for people in society, being one of them.

In Wendover, a group of talented young musicians has organised a classical concert in order to raise money for Ukrainians suffering as their cities are bombed, and their homes are destroyed.
Personally I'd rather read about this group of kind, community minded, young musicians in Wendover giving up a Sunday afternoon to play Chopin and Bach for free. But of course that doesn't make the national news.
I think these young people are living proof that, where it counts, our country is not "going to the dogs". The next generations of Wendover and other towns in the country will take us forward and never lose their compassion for others.

paddyann54

Its not "going to the dogs" it well and truly went to the dogs over the past decade or more .When you have liars ,thieves and crooks running the country ,not to mention bigots andMP's who seem to be on a brain share what chance is there for England ?
Sadly they seem determined to drag the rest of the DISunited kingdom down with them .

There are times when I think a 'like' button would be handy.

Its not "going to the dogs" it well and truly went to the dogs over the past decade or more .When you have liars ,thieves and crooks running the country ,not to mention bigots andMP's who seem to be on a brain share what chance is there for England ?
Sadly they seem determined to drag the rest of the DISunited kingdom down with them .

I think these incidents have always been far more common than many realise. However, now there is always a camera nearby (phone) for pseudo reporters to share with the press or social media.

I always thought the expression was from betting (more than you can afford) - I've never heard the rotten food explanation.

And I know someone who was raped in a "quiet corner of Brittany". It happens everywhere.

going to the dogs
I like that expression. I think we are the only country that uses it, most of the others talk about going down the valley as in water. I'm guessing our expression comes from giving decaying food, which wasn't fit for humans, to the dogs.
No, I don't think our country is rotten or putrid just because emotive crime stories are slipped into the news. I have no idea what Wendover is like, but when I read, as I do, (in Ouest-France), about rape, fire bombs or acid attacks in quiet corners of Brittany, I know that all countries have similar problems.

All the "normal" people going about their lives peacefully and without fuss do not make for news stories.
Nor do I believe for a nanosecond that random acts of violence are unique to this country
So no I do not agree
And I think TBH that a thread title like this is like a red rag to your average bull and unnecessarily goady.

I don’t respect either off the two main political parties, for the first time I couldn't vote for either, I would love Starmer to have an original idea, to be decisive but but no chance as all he does is rubbish the opposition, he comes up with nothing, we need a change but who can we have? There is more violence due mainly I think to the internet, easy access to porn just makes women objects and yet lots of women love earning a living from it. I look back at my early life as being quite carefree and free to go where I want, very independent but youngsters can’t do that now.

Every generation thinks the country is going to the dogs compared to when they were young.

Overall I think things gradually improve. In our youth, any assault had to be brutal to attract police attention. See how many books would casually mention someone (adult) being hit or kicked by someone, it was taken as normal. it wouldn't be now, bullying was treated as par for the course and chldren and women could be beaten with impunity.

I do live in France but I'm talking about the UK, or perhaps England. The divisions that are apparent in some of the other threads seem to be getting worse and it saddens me.

I know that reporting of sexual violence has increased and that many such crimes were hidden in the past. It's the nature of this particular crime. Perhaps the perpetrators had a grudge against the victim - I don't know. It took place in Wendover in Bucks. Are there immigrants there? It doesn't look like a poor area either.

I don't believe there has ever been a golden age in our history. In the past many injustices and wrongs were hidden - accepted domestic violence, sexual abuse etc. So no, I don't think we are going to the dogs. We just exchange one set of problems for another and always will.

On rapes - its reporting on rapes that are increasing, not incidence. Women have gained the courage to speak up.

Are you talking about what goes on in France OP? I know there’s loads of social probs there and a lot of poverty but I guess it’s no worse on the whole than many European countries.It doesn’t mean it’s going to the dogs.
Gangs, knife crime, drugs and violence have gone on for a very long time.