View Full Version : Is Everybody Happy ?
You bet your life we're NOT (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/4771908.stm) !!!
So what do YOU think the Gov't can do to make us happy ?? Don't think too hard ! :D
Look at the high number of people that are leaving the UK to set up life abroad.
Although the UK is a nice place at times, it is rapidly going down hill, and if I had the money I'd be moving abroad too, somewhere nicer.
Yeah I'm happy.
And I'd never live anywhere other than the UK.
orangebird
03-05-2006, 09:36
Not, I'm not happy in the UK. I can't leave though as the kids are too young. As soon as they're old enough though, I'm off. Already own a property abroad, and plan to live in it as soon as I possibly can.
For a start they can start doing the job they are paid to do and listen to us Brits.
Interesting that, although there are as yet too few replies, it seems many express a wish to leave UK :erm:
So what makes you want to leave and where would you go ??
We are currently deep into plans to leave (stop shouting hurrah !! :D ) having a choice of two alternative locations. All we need is to sell this damn house (been on the market a while now :( )
homealone
03-05-2006, 10:24
I was reading our local paper last night about a project run by volunteers to clean up a run down area, near a stream which runs through the town.
http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=151901&command=displayContent&sourceNode=151727&contentPK=14413998&folderPk=86530
Within an hour of the volunteers finishing, their work was subject to the attention of vandals, so they went back & cleaned it up again - once again it was wrecked. When they went back to clean it up, yet again, they were subjected to abuse.
As an individual incident it is low key & petty, but as an indication of the depth to which our society has sunk, I think it is significant. It would seem that a section of our community is intent only on destruction, with any attempt at maintainance or growth held in contempt.
Whether that is a symptom or a cause of our 'unhappiness' is moot, but I do wonder where the disaffected people trashing their nest will be in a few years time?
God, we are a nation of complainers.
To the people who want to leave this 'hellhole' where exactly do you want to move to? We have it great here, we seriously do. It is not perfect here, but nowhere is. People get so self-obsessed that a relatively small problem is suddenly so serious it warrants changing country.
We have a health service where you can get treatment for free, at point of use. It is not a great one, but nor is anywhere. But if you have a illness for life you can get the medication you need. People with diabetes in the UK are a lot less likely to develop serious problems from it (losing a leg) than the USA.
We have a rich and powerful culture. We have many great actors, singers, and writers. We have the west end, we have produced some classic programs that have been ported around the world. We have Shakespeare.
Despite the negative press we still have an education to be proud of in the international community and we have 2 of the best universities in the world. Not bad for a small island.
We have very low unemployment level in the UK. Go ask someone in France how easy it is to get a job their and think yourself lucky.
We have more than enough food or water. This is the most serious of all, and we are fine.
The poor do not starve. We have a system to help the poorest of our community. Another thing we should be proud of. It is said that you can tell a lot about a society by how they treat the least well off. I say that this shows that we are a caring and compassionate society.
I could go on....
Every country thinks it has problems. America thinks its under attack from the Middle East, immigrants, and god knows what else. Its real problems are being ignored by the looks of it. But Americans have it great as well.
The French are in the middle of some sort of culture war or identity crisis. They are so confused that they donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t even know whom to blame for their problems capitalism, America, or themselves. But despite high unemployment and people in the streets they have it quite good.
You want real problems? There are plenty to go around, children are dying because they do not have enough water. Water!! Can you imagine not having enough water or food? People are dying from disease that we would not even get because we have good hygiene and clean food and water. They are dying from illnesses which we can get pills for down at the doctors. People are living in war zones, under repressive dictators, in cultures so dated that you can get stoned to death for the smallest of crimes (which are questionable †˜crimesÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¢ÃƒÆ ’¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€Å ¾Ã‚¢ anyway).
So yes, we are incredibly lucky to live in such a rich country. Where you can get a job, get food and drink, live under a roof, have clean water, get a free education, get free healthcare, where the poor donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t die just because they are poor. We are so well off we can have cinemas, TVââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s, music, art, books and so on. We even have free speech and the Internet so we can go on Internet forums and complain but how unlucky we are and how much we want to leave :rolleyes:
If people want to leave because this is a "hellhole" then good. More room for people who understand the richness, wealth, and luck we have in this country. :tu:
I love the UK :)
And that was a party political broadcast from the ****** party. :)
But regarding the question I'm not too sure, if I ignore the fact that I need a kidney/liver etc etc (no joke) I'd say I'm content rather than happy.
And that was a party political broadcast from the ****** party. :)
What part of what i said do you think is wrong
God, we are a nation of complainers.
To the people who want to leave this 'hellhole' where exactly do you want to move to? We have it great here, we seriously do. It is not perfect here, but nowhere is. People get so self-obsessed that a relatively small problem is suddenly so serious it warrants changing country.
We have a health service where you can get treatment for free, at point of use. It is not a great one, but nor is anywhere. But if you have a illness for life you can get the medication you need. People with diabetes in the UK are a lot less likely to develop serious problems from it (losing a leg) than the USA.
If you can get on a waiting list !! My better half waited 13 months for a tooth extraction and I can't even get a decent dentist on the NHS.
We have a rich and powerful culture. We have many great actors, singers, and writers. We have the west end, we have produced some classic programs that have been ported around the world. We have Shakespeare.
All over paid and over priviledged. They are wealthy enough to be remote from the UK's problems.
Despite the negative press we still have an education to be proud of in the international community and we have 2 of the best universities in the world. Not bad for a small island.
If you can struggle to get the basic education from our crowded secondary system enough to get in and then afford the fees.
We have very low unemployment level in the UK. Go ask someone in France how easy it is to get a job their and think yourself lucky.
Most jobs seem to be transient or meanial nowadays or are in service industries rather than proper manufacturing. They don't seem to be real jobs.
We have more than enough food or water. This is the most serious of all, and we are fine.
Our food is either imported food or chemically manufactured or factory farmed with myriads of chemical additives which send our young crazy. The farmers are screwed by the big players (Tesco et al) and many are in danger of going under.
The poor do not starve. We have a system to help the poorest of our community. Another thing we should be proud of. It is said that you can tell a lot about a society by how they treat the least well off. I say that this shows that we are a caring and compassionate society.
To me it seems the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. There are no facilities except street crime if you have no money.
I could go on....
Every country thinks it has problems. America thinks its under attack from the Middle East, immigrants, and god knows what else. Its real problems are being ignored by the looks of it. But Americans have it great as well.
Americans have such a diverse culture and geography it is easy to get away from it all. But they are under attack - fact - deserved or not.
The French are in the middle of some sort of culture war or identity crisis. They are so confused that they donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t even know whom to blame for their problems capitalism, America, or themselves. But despite high unemployment and people in the streets they have it quite good.
I wouldn't want to go to France anyway !
You want real problems? There are plenty to go around, children are dying because they do not have enough water. Water!! Can you imagine not having enough water or food? People are dying from disease that we would not even get because we have good hygiene and clean food and water. They are dying from illnesses which we can get pills for down at the doctors. People are living in war zones, under repressive dictators, in cultures so dated that you can get stoned to death for the smallest of crimes (which are questionable †˜crimesÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¢ÃƒÆ ’¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€Å ¾Ã‚¢ anyway).
Most thirld world countries are ravaged by civil wars which if the greedy dictators stopped would help go a long way to solving their problems. Our 'aid' just helps finance more strife. Don't forget too that some of the people from these regimes bring their dated culture here.
So yes, we are incredibly lucky to live in such a rich country. Where you can get a job, get food and drink, live under a roof, have clean water, get a free education, get free healthcare, where the poor donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t die just because they are poor. We are so well off we can have cinemas, TVââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s, music, art, books and so on. We even have free speech and the Internet so we can go on Internet forums and complain but how unlucky we are and how much we want to leave
If people want to leave because this is a "hellhole" then good. More room for people who understand the richness, wealth, and luck we have in this country.
Let's face it you need all the space you can get and you're welcome to it !
I love the UK.
I don't ! And I predict in the next decade the UK will enter a deep recession due to over population and too much reliance on loans/debt and foreign imports and workers.
Well fine. I still think that we have it lucky compared to what we could have had. You did not choose to be born here, you were lucky. There are millions and millions of people who would give their right arm to live in a country such as this.
We are on the best countrys in the world, we have problems, but all countrys do and ours are quite small in the scheme of things. Also the state does not contain the answer to all our problems. Sometimes lifes chucks **** at us and we have to deal with it.
Where are you going to go? Where is this magical place where life is perfect? I dont mind people leaving obviously, I just wish they wouldnt bad mouth my country while they are at it.
orangebird
04-05-2006, 10:40
Well fine. I still think that we have it lucky compared to what we could have had. You did not choose to be born here, you were lucky. There are millions and millions of people who would give their right arm to live in a country such as this.
We are on the best countrys in the world, we have problems, but all countrys do and ours are quite small in the scheme of things. Also the state does not contain the answer to all our problems. Sometimes lifes chucks **** at us and we have to deal with it.
Where are you going to go? Where is this magical place where life is perfect? I dont mind people leaving obviously, I just wish they wouldnt bad mouth my country while they are at it.
I don't want to sound patronising Damien, but 19. And still in full time ed, living with your parents, correct me if I'm wrong? You don't have a clue. You haven't worked your ******** off, needed help from the state that you've paid into to be be told 'no' when you've asked for help, you haven't had children badly let down at badly run schools. Have you ever lived in any other country apart from the UK?
University. Not at Home. I spent a lot of time if France (and yes, I would rather live in the UK). I got pretty crappy results at school. I've used the NHS.
orangebird
04-05-2006, 11:08
University. Not at Home.
Same thing.
I spent a lot of time if France (and yes, I would rather live in the UK).
I'm not talking about frequent holidays Daniel
I got pretty crappy results at school.
Because of you or the teaching?
I've used the NHS.
I've been lucky enough to have PHC. My best frined however, died because they were bloody incompetent.
You have no experience to base your opinions on. Therefore you cannot poo-poo other peoples post in this thread. Most of them seem to know an awful lot more about real life in the UK than you do.
Macca371
04-05-2006, 11:25
I do love the country but I can see how it is indeed going downhill.
I'd love to live in a country with a much warmer climate, and less wet, and lower taxes.
Well fine. I still think that we have it lucky compared to what we could have had. You did not choose to be born here, you were lucky. There are millions and millions of people who would give their right arm to live in a country such as this.
And it seems those millions and millions are gradually making their way here !!!
We are on the best countrys in the world, we have problems, but all countrys do and ours are quite small in the scheme of things. Also the state does not contain the answer to all our problems. Sometimes lifes chucks **** at us and we have to deal with it.
You're damn right, this WAS the best country in the world. But the people chucking the **** at us seem to be the country's leaders who all have a feathered bolt hole outta here ! :rolleyes:
Where are you going to go? Where is this magical place where life is perfect? I dont mind people leaving obviously, I just wish they wouldnt bad mouth my country while they are at it.
There is no 'magical' place, just places where it seems the county's leaders appear to care more enough for their people and heritage and culture than to let it be swamped by foreign legislation. :erm:
I wish I didn't feel like bad mouthing MY country either. :(
I'm not talking about frequent holidays Daniel
My Names Damien. I have french family and while this does not mean I know exactly what life is like in france, i do know there is enough things to annoy me.
Because of you or the teaching?
Both. It was not great but I also had to take a large, if not most, of the blame myself. Then work my **** off to get to uni.
I've been lucky enough to have PHC. My best frined however, died because they were bloody incompetent.
Sorry to hear that.
You have no experience to base your opinions on. Therefore you cannot poo-poo other peoples post in this thread. Most of them seem to know an awful lot more about real life in the UK than you do.
We are always gaining experience, there is never a point where you are experanced enough. You and me and both still learning. While you have more experance it does not mean your opinion is worth more than Mine. I like the UK, you dont. Me being 19 does not mean I am wrong.
We are always gaining experience, there is never a point where you are experanced enough. You and me and both still learning. While you have more experance it does not mean your opinion is worth more than Mine. I like the UK, you dont. Me being 19 does not mean I am wrong.
I'm not a great fan of criticising people due to a lesser age, but I have to say more experience through age would normally lend more weight to that persons argument (all other things being equal) and being 19 only tends to suggest you are more likely to be wrong than say a 40 year old.
Experience through age is a powerful educator.
However I do welcome comments and insights from our younger membership, it throws light on their thoughts and ideals.
What part of what i said do you think is wronger......well we have a hosepipe ban here and they are talking of even greater measures to curb water use.....
Shakespeare lived and worked here but we don't 'have' him.........his work is free to all.......
The nhs is quite often worse than health care in 3rd world countries.......
This country lets all and sundry in, regardless of weather they are detremental to our way of life......
I could go on but we have been through this before :D
---------- Post added at 14:42 ---------- Previous post was at 14:40 ----------
I'd love to live in a country with a much warmer climate, and less wet, and lower taxes.
Re. the climate..........at least it usually doesn't try to kill us! It's fairly innocuous....
You're damn right, this WAS the best country in the world. But the people chucking the **** at us seem to be the country's leaders who all have a feathered bolt hole outta here ! :rolleyes:
On General Election Day in 1992, the Sun's headline read, 'If Labour wins today, will the last person out of Britain please switch off the lights'.
What a pity they didn't run the same headline again in 1997. Nine years later and where are we? :dozey:
I do love this country and I would never leave. On the other hand, there are large swathes of it I will never contemplate living in. I'm blessed with a home that is relatively unplagued by chavs, which is just as well as I really wouldn't want to live abroad. That part of the British way of life that Tony and his cronies haven't wrecked is still worth having.
On General Election Day in 1992, the Sun's headline read, 'If Labour wins today, will the last person out of Britain please switch off the lights'.
What a pity they didn't run the same headline again in 1997. Nine years later and where are we? :dozey:
I do love this country and I would never leave. On the other hand, there are large swathes of it I will never contemplate living in. I'm blessed with a home that is relatively unplagued by chavs, which is just as well as I really wouldn't want to live abroad. That part of the British way of life that Tony and his cronies haven't wrecked is still worth having.
There will always be a great many people who for one reason or another either cannot or will not leave - maybe because they live in a nice area untouched by the changes in our society. But there are thousands who want to and will leave because those untouched areas of the UK are sadly getting less and less.
I do wish to leave and will be sad to do so, but our family has been badly affected by the changes in our (local) society and we look forward to forging a new life somewhere where the rights and wishes of the people are not overidden by personal agendas and political correctness.
orangebird
05-05-2006, 08:52
There will always be a great many people who for one reason or another either cannot or will not leave - maybe because they live in a nice area untouched by the changes in our society. But there are thousands who want to and will leave because those untouched areas of the UK are sadly getting less and less.
I do wish to leave and will be sad to do so, but our family has been badly affected by the changes in our (local) society and we look forward to forging a new life somewhere where the rights and wishes of the people are not overidden by personal agendas and political correctness.
My dad was always very proud to be British, loved the Monarchy blah blah blah. But eventually, he got fed up of the daily grind, working his butt off and knowing he was never going to get anything in return. So he sold up and moved abroad 2 and a half years ago. He's never coming back either. He's been back to visit for a total of ten days in that 2 and a half years. Whilst there is no perfect country to live in, where he is now is so much better than Engalnd in so many ways.
Proper dental care and raising the tax threshold for parents rather than so many blooming "tax credits" which you have to jump through hoops to get.
I was reading our local paper last night about a project run by volunteers to clean up a run down area, near a stream which runs through the town.
http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=151901&command=displayContent&sourceNode=151727&contentPK=14413998&folderPk=86530
Within an hour of the volunteers finishing, their work was subject to the attention of vandals, so they went back & cleaned it up again - once again it was wrecked. When they went back to clean it up, yet again, they were subjected to abuse.
As an individual incident it is low key & petty, but as an indication of the depth to which our society has sunk, I think it is significant. It would seem that a section of our community is intent only on destruction, with any attempt at maintainance or growth held in contempt.
Whether that is a symptom or a cause of our 'unhappiness' is moot, but I do wonder where the disaffected people trashing their nest will be in a few years time?
I put it down to some very bad parenting myself..:mad:
And no I'm not happy at the moment due to hubby being made redundant and Hampshire county council screwing up my wages this last month(and a vile head cold).However it's my experience that this state of affairs won't last long and I will be happy again.I also know that the grass always seems greener elsewhere to the observer.Sometimes it just isn't the case though and we just take our complaining right along with us.The aussies call us whinging Poms and they are soooo right.:(
I'm not happy in the UK. If there were different circumstances in my life, I would be off, never to return. Sure, there are things I would miss - but when you get down to it, how much of that is emotive?
To be happier, I would like the following: a government who cared about the rest of us, not themselves; laws that actually deal with real problems; a police force which seeks to eliminate crime, not reach targets; taxes that are fairly worked out, and sensibly used; children being taught discipline, and educated, instead of the **** that are in a lot of schools; teachers who teach; an end to the nanny state; a return to real values and standards; sensible controls on immigration; not to be shouted down by people who don't like opinions that differ to their own; shall I go on?
I think this country is sh*te at the moment, and has been for several years. Last year I spent a lot of time abroad; it was much better. People had respect for each other - sure, they may not have had as much as us in material terms, but what's the good of that if you have a cr*p quality of life?
Am I happy? No, But this http://www.canada-rx.net/images/sertraline.jpg helps. :disturbd:
vBulletin® v3.8.11, Copyright ©2000-2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.