Exactly, that's why the system is so flawed.
Do you think the western world is becoming harder to live in?
- Thread starter RomanNose
- Start date
Exactly, that's why the system is so flawed.
Soldato
care to elaborate, as that's a rather large balloon / nebulous statement. I;d put more of it down to supply and demand. Wages rise, certain groups have more wealth and can afford to pay higher prices or are willing to pay higher prices. Cheap house for example get mopped up by the buy to let nazis, knock on effect house proces go up as fewer become available.
Jo average ends up renting, house prices go up more because now jo average is out of the equation the buy to let satans are cleaning the average man out in rent thus making more money leading them to have more money to buy more houses.
Rinse and repeat until we get to the tipping point where there are thousands of empty privately held properties that no one can afford the rents on so the landlords go broke the properties get repossed and the next buy to let wannabe snaps up a bargin repo.
The selling of council stock to private owners was one of thatchers not so brilliant plans. Council housing existed to ensure that everyone from every walk of life could have somewhere they could call home. The rich had their mansions and the honest working class labourer had his council house. Now the honest working class man has an oppressive buy to let landlords jack boot on his nuts......................
Soldato
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
Associate
I think one of the main problems now is the blatant profiteering. No one seems to be doing a jot about it. For example up here (where they make the stuff) whenever a school or public holiday comes about the price of petrol drives up 2-3p for that week or two. It then magically drops again to the same price, when you dont need to go driving on days out and visiting the folks etc.
Surely someone see's this and something should be done to stop the one person ultimately that made that call to make millions off a holiday for an essential item that had no reason to go up in the first place.
Surely someone see's this and something should be done to stop the one person ultimately that made that call to make millions off a holiday for an essential item that had no reason to go up in the first place.
Permabanned
My mom (58) grew up with an outside toilet and remembers the first time she, had switch electricity installed, first tv, first inside toilet, first shower etc. These days all of that is taken for granted.
We are definitely in a poor era for housing as the housing outlook looks bleak. Houses are just unaffordable for more people than they were by the time my parents were my age, in the 80s. Well it appears that way. But I do think it is getting more difficult to live in the west, starting the last few years. Maybe since 2008 it has not improved.
We are definitely in a poor era for housing as the housing outlook looks bleak. Houses are just unaffordable for more people than they were by the time my parents were my age, in the 80s. Well it appears that way. But I do think it is getting more difficult to live in the west, starting the last few years. Maybe since 2008 it has not improved.
Last edited:
Associate
The biggest thing which makes "the west" harder to live in now is that people are just miserable and are pessimistic about the future. In the last few decades, people may have had less but they were more grateful for what they had. Nowadays people spend all their effort whinging about how everythings unfair because they don't have everything they want and they end up miserable because of it.
Soldato
The housing situation is dire for anyone that isn't a working couple earning a decent wage, my grandparents bought their first house cash outright on a working class salary, you couldn't dream of doing that today, do we have more affordable 'luxuries' today, yes, no doubt, but the cost of real finical security is very high in today's world, in the old days you just had to work hard and save, didn't matter what job you had, these days many work to survive in a gilded cage, a cheap TV from Argos and an internet connection is hardly a substitute for owning your own home, many people value these cheap trinkets because it's all they will ever own, a distraction from the reality of having an unsecured future.
Last edited:
Soldato
Some do, some don't. The people who's parents invested wisely in 1984 are sitting pretty right now.
I can't personally compare the situation now to 30 years ago because I was only just born. However there wasn't nearly this much pessimism about "living in the west" 5 years ago when things were more prosperous. My personal situation was very good then and it's gone on to be significantly better now so I can't complain. I certainly wouldn't describe my life as financially difficult.
I guess what I trying to say is where you live is becoming less an less important generally speaking. What matters most is what social class you were born into, how much support, love and encouragement you got from your parents and how hard you've worked in life to get where you want to be.
Most growth is generated by technological advancement. There are no theoretical limits to future technology.
I can't personally compare the situation now to 30 years ago because I was only just born. However there wasn't nearly this much pessimism about "living in the west" 5 years ago when things were more prosperous. My personal situation was very good then and it's gone on to be significantly better now so I can't complain. I certainly wouldn't describe my life as financially difficult.
I guess what I trying to say is where you live is becoming less an less important generally speaking. What matters most is what social class you were born into, how much support, love and encouragement you got from your parents and how hard you've worked in life to get where you want to be.
Most growth is generated by technological advancement. There are no theoretical limits to future technology.
Last edited:
+1. Would fix everything.
Man of Honour
Me also.
Toilet was in the back yard, I had to stand in the sink to be washed but on a Sunday we had a tin bath in front of the fire.
I went in first and ordered not to wee in it, my Mum second and my Dad third.
We had our first phone around 1975 because me and my girlfriend (now wife) had to go to phone boxes at certain times.
I think we had our first fitted carpet around the same time because before that it was all Lino.
Black and white days were brilliant, 1959, outside toilet on the right with obligatory newspaper to wipe your bum -
Soldato
- Joined
- 23 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 3,177
Yes, we're so hard done by.
i think if we had an average of 8 kids per family things would be much harder for us all.
after going to africa (Kenya) the other year it was very hard to see small kids begging for food.
at least they are trying to not have as many kids now as the current generation seem to realise that more kids == harder to live and feed those kids. i still blame the church though, they still condemn condoms etc.
Soldato
- Joined
- 20 Jun 2010
- Posts
- 3,251
Poppycock, and get over yourself. No they do not. There are plenty of secular aide workers that have nothing to do with the traditional catholic church. Please don't tarnish 'the church' with such a broad, biased and prejudiced brush.
Soldato
- Joined
- 23 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 3,177
isnt it impossible to tarnish the church any more?
Actually cars and especially food have decreased in price (relative) over the last 30 years or so. The increase in house prices is in part due to an increase in proper disposable income (ie income not spent on food, which has increased substantially).
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
And the massive reduction in interest rates - see earlier in this thread for the calculation of the percentage of a persons salary a mortgage took up in the land of super cheap wonder houses that was the 1980's versus today...
Soldato
http://www.theaa.com/public_affairs/reports/Petrol_Prices_1896_todate_gallons.pdf
fuel prices per gallon up to 2005.
by todays price its pretty much just over a 3 fold increase since the 80's to today.