Good one, personal attack, you for sure Ive not had first hand experience in living in some of the countries I've listed?
****.
The UK isn't what it's made out to be
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Good one, personal attack, you for sure Ive not had first hand experience in living in some of the countries I've listed?
****.
If you're in the top 40% of earners (let's say) and you don't mind the climate, then you won't see anything wrong with the UK.
If you're in the bottom 40% of earners (let's say) then you'll have a totally different perspective on what "quality of life" the UK offers.
Our levels of inequality rival the USA.
2019 article but still relevant:
Britain risks heading to US levels of inequality, warns top economist | Inequality | The Guardian
Classic British attitude. Make the assumption that the only reason anyone ever does something is to make themselves look better than others. Who does that statement say more about?
Soldato
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- London
What does it say about you that you've chosen to use this opportunity to make assumptions about British attitudes in general? Glass houses.
Im not even sure what your point is. However as I’m British and have lived and worked across the country I guess it’s quite reasonable for me to make “assumptions” about a culture I’ve been embedded in for nearly forty years. But as this is GD and logical fallacy bingo is the name of the game I’ll mark down three “ad hominems” on today’s card. Well done for for not combo breaking.
Lolz. The UK is nothing special. Ruined by successive Tory governments and the ferocious xenophobia and Brexit ******** of the last 4-5 years. Honestly, I loved my time in London as a student in the ‘00s and the few years in Manchester in the early ‘90s when I was small, but I haven’t been back to the UK for probably ten years now and don’t really see a reason to.
Horsed for courses, etc.
Horsed for courses, etc.
Soldato
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- Billericay, UK
Don't 'southern Mediterranean countries' have some of the highest unemployment rates though? I mean the med is a lovely place to live provided you have money but how much opportunity is there?
The Tories thing is ancient history back then. The 1997 general election set off the cultural change in this country. Surely you recognised the atmosphere changed at the end of the 90s? It's likely the reason you enjoyed the 00's.
Which country are you in now?
Yes, thanks to Tony Blair my MA is costing me over £10k.
Not quite sure what you mean by “the Tory thing is ancient history back then”. The tone has very much shifted towards anti-immigration and xenophobia in the last decade thanks to the rise of the BNP and whatnot ~10 years ago and it continued into successive Tory governments.
I’m in Belgium. Not exactly the best place in the world, but it’s good enough. I’d rather be somewhere else - like Norway - but family and work commitments mean I’m not moving any time soon.
When I first moved to Sweden it reminded me of 80s Britain. The good part. Not the bad 
Slowly I've seen it become crappier and crappier like i imagine most of Europe is going.
I don't know the reason. I dare not speculate.
I don't think Europe on a whole will be important in 50 years. Britain is trading on past reputation. No labour government is gonna pull it out of a downward trend. It's bigger than just 1 country,
2 + years of this COVID bs is just about breaking peoples spirit now IMO. As cliché as it is too Europe on a whole has such a good social support network, you no longer have to succeed to breed. The media is self loathing and generates nothing but negativity.
The current obsessions with equality gender and race rights and mentally ill men becoming women and stuff that is so ridiculously trivial that is dragging us down, while the rest of the world steams up behind us. The west is eating itself alive.
The rise of China and the steady decline of the USA, the world is getting ripe for war.
Oh look I speculated anyway.
I'm very pessimistic. I've always enjoyed deadpan comedy. I'm just a glass is half cracked kinda guy. Fun around children's parties etc
I can circular rant all day. Especially when stuck on long bus rides and working weekends.
Slowly I've seen it become crappier and crappier like i imagine most of Europe is going.
I don't know the reason. I dare not speculate.
I don't think Europe on a whole will be important in 50 years. Britain is trading on past reputation. No labour government is gonna pull it out of a downward trend. It's bigger than just 1 country,
2 + years of this COVID bs is just about breaking peoples spirit now IMO. As cliché as it is too Europe on a whole has such a good social support network, you no longer have to succeed to breed. The media is self loathing and generates nothing but negativity.
The current obsessions with equality gender and race rights and mentally ill men becoming women and stuff that is so ridiculously trivial that is dragging us down, while the rest of the world steams up behind us. The west is eating itself alive.
The rise of China and the steady decline of the USA, the world is getting ripe for war.
Oh look I speculated anyway.
I'm very pessimistic. I've always enjoyed deadpan comedy. I'm just a glass is half cracked kinda guy. Fun around children's parties etc
I can circular rant all day. Especially when stuck on long bus rides and working weekends.
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Yep.
When I hear people from the UK talk about "I want to move to somewhere with better weather" If they do (and thats a big IF) they move to locations where the weather is better but the wages are crap. They live from pay check to check, basically on minimum wage or below it. So they can boast about how they are living a wonderful life in the sun with their fast track path to skin cancer.
But they never pick places which have better weather and high salary like parts of America or UAE because their own skill-set is so worthless they could never move there.
I did, and while the USA has more than plenty of its own problems, I'm still glad that I was able to emigrate; fast tracking my career and ultimately increasing my earning potential by anywhere from 3X to 100X.
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
This is the American dream though in a nutshell. As long as you're alright Jack, screw anyone else. Literally all of the worst bit of capitalism.
Soldato
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Crisps. That's why I love the UK.
Crisps in other countries are rubbish.
Crisps in other countries are rubbish.
You are one of the few people who had an worthwhile skillset to move there.
Oh, yeah! They taste like Tesco or Asda Value Crisps.....nasty stuff!
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
Tbf with the student loan system over there being as abhorrent as it is, the way this chap has done it is the only way to do it, unless you have old money.
Name checks out.
Spanish pastrys look like great value but very bland (i was veggie not vegan then) also it's frowned upon to eat in the street but totally fine to urinate there in full daylight.
The Family atmosphere, outdoor bar and restaurant buzz in northern spain was amazing
Though, especially Pamplona (defo not vegan friendly) amazinly hot women also
During my camino my favorite people were definitely north korean and Canadians
The Family atmosphere, outdoor bar and restaurant buzz in northern spain was amazing
Though, especially Pamplona (defo not vegan friendly) amazinly hot women also
During my camino my favorite people were definitely north korean and Canadians
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I think the problem in this country is there isn't a proper political opposition. So we get stuck with long reigning governments, usually the Tories. I've been alive for 44 years and only 13 years of that was under a party not the Tories, Labour.
I don't know what the political situation is in Belgium. But in some other big european countries they use a form of PR system, so it forces each political party to be held accountable by each other. The downside is it can produce unstable governments.
On the anti-immigration and xenophobia point you can hardly say Britain is a stand out in those areas when other european countries have got what their mainstream media would say are fascist/racist parties elected to their national parliaments. So trying to paint it as Britain is exceptional in that is playing on the ignorance of not knowing the situation in other european countries. Germany has fascist parties elected, so does Denmark, Netherland, Sweden, Finland, France, Italy, Greece, and these are just the ones I know about.
Having a quick look at Belgium is seems their National Front had seats in the Belgium elected houses. More recently Vlaams Blok had elected people too (maybe still have but I don't have the recent stats). No nationalist/fascist party as ever been elected to the British Parliament. So it sounds to me like your purposely putting Britain in a bad light while ignoring politicial fascism in the country you now reside.
It seems like you're moaning about integration in Britain while at the same time calling everyone else anti-immigrant/xenophobic yet you've done what you'd accuse them of, moved away to a whiter, more nationalist country.
I just checked on the current Belgium political system. Belgium currently has 2 nationalist parties with people elected.
New Flemish Alliance has 25 people elected in the Chamber of Representatives, and 35 people elected in the Flemish Parliament.
Flemish Interest (which is called Vlaams Belang, a rebrand of Vlaams Blok) has 18 people elected in the Chamber of Representatives, and 23 people elected in the Flemish Parliament.
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I don't have time for a discussion on Belgian Politics (seriously, it'd need a forum all of its own). It's very much 2 countries joined into 1. The Flemish nationalists are nutters who refuse to share any of "their" wealth with the Walloons, and you've got the French-language nationalists who refuse to learn Dutch but insist on socialism which they cannot afford and blame the Flemish for their own failings and the move of industry from coal, etc. to high-tech and services (similar to the UK tbh).
I'm not extolling the virtues of Belgium or its 6 governments (seriously - 1 federal, 5 regional). I was born here to British parents and have lived here most of my life so it's "home". As I said, I would much rather move up to Scandinavia and am in no way suggesting that Belgium is the be all and end all.
The reason you won't get smaller nationalist parties (although TBFH the Conservatives are pretty right-wing) in the UK is due to the first-past-the-post system and the fact that so many of the MPs are in very safe seats.
Also, Belgium is just as racist as the UK, so I'm not justifying any of that either. My points about the UK still stand, however. Just because I live somewhere which also has problems means that my opinions are invalid? Don't think so!
Also, Belgium isn't particularly "more white" than the UK. If you look at the stats, it's roughly the same, but don't forget Begium's population is only 11.5m v 67m in the UK.
UK: Black/African/Caribbean British: 3% Indian/British: 2.3% Pakistani/British: 1.9%, Mixed race: 2%
Belgium: Moroccan 3.7% Turkish 2%