What scares you about Britain today?

[flatandy]

Jan 22, 2009 13:01:05 GMT VikingHumpingWitch said:

Jan 22, 2009 12:58:01 GMT flatandy said:

If you think talking about grouting is ostentatious, then you really are very, very British. It's very, very dull. But it's hardly glam.

Not glamourous, but you were saying the other day about how people are looked down on for doing up their houses and I'm just thinking that if that were so, they wouldn't all have been on about it for hours and sticking endless photos of the work in progress up on Facebook and so on.

I do see what you mean and there is a tendency for people to think that if you actually care about anything then you're some kind of bleeding heart and it's much cooler to be "I don't give a toss" about it all, but I'm struggling to think of anyone other than posters on this board who does this.

Oh, I see it everywhere. Even in football crowds, which should be the one place you don't. I see it when people talk about music. I see it in reports on politics. I feel it's everywhere.

Oh, and as for the "look at the work in progress" stuff on houses, I think it's actually part of the same. Rather than say "Look at my ace new house", it's more "look how horrible it was that I had to live in this dump whilst I spent a fortune on getting something done shoddily, or how much I struggled to do it myself, it took me forever."

It's effectively saying "I've done my penance for wanting something so utterly wrong as a nicer looking place to live".

[Libby]

I was born in London too VHW and i'm really proud of that too.
One of the greatest capitals in the World.

[radge]

our society is governed by the media. The media print far too much negative crap and dont balance it out at all. and if they try they try balance it out with A cat was saved from a tree, or disabled person learnt to ride a bike. bla bla ba. Because of the amount of negativity we see, read and hear, it gets put on to us, and thus brings down the whole country. It aint right.

[VikingHumpingWitch]

Hey Libby. Just for my curiosity, were you on the old board and if so who?

[VikingHumpingWitch]

And why are you listed as a moderator but not on the moderators list on the front page thingy?

One other thing that does scare me about Britain is the increasing religiousisation (hell, there must be a real word for that). We need less of this, not more bloody rights for believers in whatnot.

[radge]

VHW i invented the word Religification, and once you have been through the process of religification, you have become religified!!! Nae bad eh? Im trying to get it into the Oxford English ahahahaha

[Libby]

Hi VHW! I joined News as a member just before closure, although i've known Foxy for years. I was an Assistant Manager in her group Entertainment for years, and am a Moderator on Entertainment now in News. My real name is Liberty, but i'm known as Libby. I have never had any other names on the internet. Hope that helps lol! I am loving it here in News, it's a great forum!

[VikingHumpingWitch]

Liberty is a fabulous name. Libby is also the name of my friend's ex-wife, and he has a very large toy penguin named for her hanging on a noose over his kitchen table. God I've bored myself.

[Libby]

Lol, love the penguin idea!

[greenergrass]

I was born in London and I am thankful that I no longer live there. I did live in Hackney which makes my relief understandable though.

[radge]

i lived in Hackney too. I thought it was cool, mind you I wasnt in deepest darkest Hackney I think anyone rubbishing Britain has their right to, but at the same time, someone did mention...there arent that many better places to live in the world. Unless youre fine with corruption on a grand scale.

[Libby]

It's been a long Winter Beachy! I wonder if things will look better when and if the sun comes out and we get some warmer weather!

I agree with the comment about rudeness mentioned before - everywhere i go people are so rude - waiting rooms, shops, schools etc. Everyone seems so impatient! Road rage is rife too, why is everyone so intolerant these days?!

[VikingHumpingWitch]

I think the BAe scandal showed that Britain, as it stands, is fine with corruption on grand scale.

[flatandy]

Jan 22, 2009 13:38:50 GMT VikingHumpingWitch said:

I think the BAe scandal showed that Britain, as it stands, is fine with corruption on grand scale.

BAe is interesting because it shows that Britain is absolutely fine with paying out bribes to foreigners if it greases the wheels of business, because foreigners don't know better. But we'd have been utterly horrified if we'd discovered a BAe exec taking a bakchander.

[SKYBLUE]

What scares you about Britain today?

That we are in fact just a 2 party state and there's nothing to decide between them!

[radge]

Thats not on a grand scazle thats just a bit here and a bit there. I for one enjoy the fact that if the cops pull me over for a broken tail light i dont have to pay them to keep my arse out of the cells. Thats corruption on a grand scale where everyone is affected on a day to day basis.

[VikingHumpingWitch]

The figure I've heard bandied around were backhanders in excess of five hundren million quid, that's a fairly grand scale in my book. The OECD were strongly critical about it anyway, and they're huge brainboxes.

[ricklinc]

Rudeness. Thought that Blair had handed off that to Louise Casey to deal with as part of the Respect Agenda. How's that going by the way?

[VikingHumpingWitch]

Hmm, a quick google on respect tzar seems to indicate that there isn't one any more. Louise Casey is "former Respect Tzar" but I can't seem to find the ministry of respect website.

[mids]

Is Liberty short for Libertine?