Why do things keep getting worse?

rocketstop

David49

I see no indication that the economy is good even the well off are economizing and businesses are very downbeat

This ! Exactly.

Spot on 👍

David49

I see no indication that the economy is good even the well off are economizing and businesses are very downbeat

This ! Exactly.

I think nanna8’s summing up of the situation is a very likely scenario.

Allira

fancythat

There used to be a time when man went out to work and woman kept house and kids.
Nowadays, to have any decent standard of living, both people need to work. And often get topped up by benefits.

I know which time of life I prefered.

When was that?
I remember my mother working.
Not full-time, admittedly and she was usually there for me or I went work with her.

I do have friends who never went back to work after having a family but somehow manage to have a higher State Pension than me 🤔

50s, 60s, 70s.
I was surrounded by them

Grantanow

Farage's strategy is to lament that Britain is broken, find someone to blame ( the EU and now immigrants) and to present Reform as the razzmatazz answer to all problems. Well, it's just bullsh*t. He and his knuckledragging Party would be a disaster.

The whole premise of populism is to appeal to the lowest possible denominator, in a nutshell people’s darkest fears and prejudices and to promise quick fixes that will never work. Farage, who readily admits he knows nothing about how politics works, has made this an exact science. And there are plenty who sign up to his ‘let’s just blame foreigners’ spiel but as my old mum said ‘there is one born every minute’.

Looking back to when mine were small, if a mother went out to work, you would find a child minder and your little one was safe. They would be registered and perhaps even have their own children. Now, the emphasis seems to be on nursery schools which cost an arm and a leg because they have to meet so many rules and standards. I am not saying the old ways were better, but they did work. Also, the contents and decor in a home are so much hight now. We lived for 9 years with very old stuff and only when we had saved enough did my 60 year old kitchen get replaced. If suggested to the young generation now, they would be horrified if that was expected of them. We did not have a holiday for ten years as we needed every penny to pay the mortgage etc. I could go on. Expectations are different.

@MaizieD thanks. I was expecting to be shot down in flames by someone with a much better grasp of how the economy works. I can only apply the logic of someone who is pee’ed off by the unfairness of it all. Sadly the ‘I’m alright Jack’ mentality of those who are comfortably off ensures that this rigged economy keeps on rewarding those with money whilst punishing those who have none.

MayBee70

nanna8

It is early days yet. When it gets closer to an election they will dig up major dirt on Reform and discredit them. That, or declare a war somewhere so everyone has to rally round and support the current crowd. Wait and see. Old tactic but tried and true and it usually works.

What a disgusting thing to say…from someone thousands of miles away gloating over all of this (don’t worry though…I’m the one that will get banned from this forum, not you…)

Aussies are pretty cynical about politics but the point about declaring war is closer than you think. Ukraine has not been resolved and we could get seriously involved quite easily.

nanna8

It is early days yet. When it gets closer to an election they will dig up major dirt on Reform and discredit them. That, or declare a war somewhere so everyone has to rally round and support the current crowd. Wait and see. Old tactic but tried and true and it usually works.

What a disgusting thing to say…from someone thousands of miles away gloating over all of this (don’t worry though…I’m the one that will get banned from this forum, not you…)

It is early days yet. When it gets closer to an election they will dig up major dirt on Reform and discredit them. That, or declare a war somewhere so everyone has to rally round and support the current crowd. Wait and see. Old tactic but tried and true and it usually works.

Grantanow

Farage's strategy is to lament that Britain is broken, find someone to blame ( the EU and now immigrants) and to present Reform as the razzmatazz answer to all problems. Well, it's just bullsh*t. He and his knuckledragging Party would be a disaster.

Best summing up of Reform I’ve ever read! Eg it used to be Polish people stealing our jobs but now it’s boat people. If they get into power ( heaven help us) I wonder who they’ll find to blame for everything. If I’m lucky it won’t be me or my family but I wouldn’t bank on it .

Farage's strategy is to lament that Britain is broken, find someone to blame ( the EU and now immigrants) and to present Reform as the razzmatazz answer to all problems. Well, it's just bullsh*t. He and his knuckledragging Party would be a disaster.

Austerity doesn't work, Babs03

fancythat

There used to be a time when man went out to work and woman kept house and kids.
Nowadays, to have any decent standard of living, both people need to work. And often get topped up by benefits.

I know which time of life I prefered.

When was that?
I remember my mother working.
Not full-time, admittedly and she was usually there for me or I went work with her.

I do have friends who never went back to work after having a family but somehow manage to have a higher State Pension than me 🤔

For someone who claims not to know much about ‘the economy”, Babs, you have analysed it very well. Your logic is faultless.

Unfortunately there is little we can do to alter the direction it takes because the economic beliefs of those responsible for directing our economy, the Treasury, under the nominal direction of the Chancellor, and the Bank of England are rooted in a system which is designed to favour the upward flow of money to the already wealthy and to corporate profiteers , leaving the rest of the population to enjoy the crumbs they leave behind.

I’ve been banging on about this for years but there’s very little interest, downright disbelief and people appear to think it’s boring.

Even if you do know the truth about how the economy could work for everyone it’s just frustrating and infuriating to know that there’s little one ca do about changing it.

If you don’t mind being frustrated and cross I suggest you seek out videos on youtube by Richard Murphy and Gary Stevenson. They both have deep concerns about how our economy favours the wealthy, though they come at it from different perspectives. Richard has solutions, Gary is struggling to find solutions.

David49

I see no indication that the economy is good even the well off are economizing and businesses are very downbeat

I'm not so sure.

People seem to travel more, go to expensive concerts, football matches and certainly have plenty of clothes to wear - no make do and mend any more.

Yes, it probably does need both partners working to sustain such a lifestyle, but how did this idea originate thst women didn't work and were homemakers? We may have had the luxury of staying at home until our children started school, that was the expectation in the 1960s and 70s, but it meant really tightening the purse strings. Just basic necessities, no luxuries. Then back to work when they were all in school (and how good that felt!!).

Of course, there are some people struggling, and quite often this is due to family breakdown. We need to support those who are struggling for one reason or another.

I just wonder about ‘the economy’ which seems to run counter to the interests of the majority imho. I mean we hear that the economy is struggling so you would assume that big businesses and banks would be struggling, however, energy companies are making big profits, banks are now back to a bonus culture, water companies pass on profits to their stakeholders, and supermarkets are making big profits, so they are doing well out of ‘the economy’, but none of this trickles down to the majority of people, instead we hear of prices going up, stamp duty going up, and pensions being taxed. So what about the profits made by big businesses and banks etc.? Why, after decades of the majority being told that the economy is struggling, and some people are forced to eat or heat, isn’t that struggle being seen at the top as well as the bottom??
And surely if those at the top of the tree are thriving it means the economy isn’t that bad after all and perhaps some of the money being squeezed out of those at the bottom could be mitigated by balancing the books a bit better and making sure everyone benefits from profits they contributed to by paying exorbitant bills.

Er, no, Maybee. My AC aren’t particularly profuse consumers of goods. The newest car anyone has is 2+ years old and some are ten years old. Phones are middle of the road items, not the latest tech - Ds’s is so old it barely charges up now.

I don’t envy any of my AC’s lives in that they all work FT as do their spouses and they are constantly stressed. There’s childcare/affording childcare, fretting they don’t see enough of their children or have to spend time away from them, making arrangements to ferry them about, last-minute panics when a child falls sick or one of them has an accident. With today’s connected world, they don’t get much chance to switch off, either, with work emails arriving late at night or on holiday. I’m glad they can use their education and skills but life is not a bed of roses.

Just noticed some typos!

All this makes me very glad that I chose not to have children.
The pundits keep telling us we are an aging society as though it were our fault that there are not enough "economically active" people to support us. People cannot help getting older and wearing out physically. However there are too many younger people sitting at home gaming and smoking weed. They are too anxious to do a days work. And as some of you have pointed out there is little incentive for them to get off their asses and look for work.

Education no longer opens door for them as it opened for me in the past. Now it costs a fortune to go to university so only the rich middle classes can afford to send their kids. Like many here I had a part time job at 14 and a full time job from 16. Ive had anxiety attacks and depression intermittently throughout my life. Did not stop me having several successful careers and at 81 still working. Being a single person I just had to get on with it.

I see no indication that the economy is good even the well off are economizing and businesses are very downbeat

Skydancer

Great post, PamelaJ1.

I second that….

Great post, PamelaJ1.

We must all have noticed that most supermarkets now have collection points for food banks.

The life my children lead is still better than my life as a young mother during the Thatcher years. Maybe living in a consumer society we have to be made to feel we have to have the latest mobile phone, a new electric car etc and feel cheated if we can’t afford one?