Politics

[Toonpack 9434]

8 minutes ago, Christmas Tree said:

I got royally fucked over on Electricty through zero fault of my own. But every cloud……

 

At least the neighbours probably won’t have to face me splashing huge waves in and out of the hot tub this year  

 

FYP

[The Fish 10858]

14 minutes ago, Monkeys Fist said:

The random shortages are entirely due to the ongoing lack of HGV drivers.…

 

… because of Brexit. 
 

Doesn’t help that the DVLA are slower than a mackem walking past a playground at sending out licenses. 

There's not a lack of drivers, it's just taking them longer because they're all enjoying the views of the Sunlit Uplands.

[Christmas Tree 4725]

2 hours ago, spongebob toonpants said:

We've been in decline for forty years. There is no dawn coming. UK has had its time in the sun, its squandered its resources and we have a completely unequal and increasingly divided society

It's shit and it's only going to get worse. All Empires end and  we are no exception

I think that’s a very gloomy take on the real world we live in away from social media.

 

Younger age groups are washing away a lot of the stigma and discrimination that used to be part of everyday life. They seem to be fitter, smarter and much better informed about things.

 

The empire is long over but other than climate change I don’t think there are any UK specific issues that can’t be resolved over time, particularly if a way is found to get a better class of decision makers, maybe through proportional representation.

[Rayvin 5223]

2 minutes ago, Christmas Tree said:

I think that’s a very gloomy take on the real world we live in away from social media.

 

Younger age groups are washing away a lot of the stigma and discrimination that used to be part of everyday life. They seem to be fitter, smarter and much better informed about things.

 

The empire is long over but other than climate change I don’t think there are any UK specific issues that can’t be resolved over time, particularly if a way is found to get a better class of decision makers, maybe through proportional representation.

 

I appreciate this as a positive outlook but I'm not sure I quite believe it yet. Not totally convinced by the potential wisdom of the young either, I think millennials were doing ok but I'm a less sure about gen Z. Maybe but they seem resigned to life just being what it is. Not detecting a lot of determination to bring about change, no fury at their inherited lot in life. Just acceptance.

 

Maybe they just don't know what they should have had.

[Renton 21627]

53 minutes ago, Monkeys Fist said:

The random shortages are entirely due to the ongoing lack of HGV drivers.…

 

… because of Brexit. 
 

Doesn’t help that the DVLA are slower than a mackem walking past a playground at sending out licenses. 

 

Some of the delivery drivers are piss (or poo) takers as well.

 

I never shop online but agree with Toonpack's observations. Morrisons seems particularly badly affected so I shop in Sainsburys now which is better. The local coop is sometimes entirely empty in sections. Last week they had no milk (of any kind), fresh bread, or yoghurts at 9am. They've had notices apologising for shortages for about a year now. It's not helped by people buying stuff on the way to the beach admittedly. 

 

The government knows if we implemented border checks we're fucked, so they will never happen it seems. It is insanity. 

[Alex 35095]

I’ve worked with a lot of young people lately and while it obviously doesn’t apply to all, absolutely loads of them are completely wrapped up in superficial stuff. These tend to know absolutely fuck all about anything unless they can remember seeing it happen via whatever media. This isn’t necessarily all their own fault but it’s depressing nonetheless 

[spongebob toonpants 3997]

31 minutes ago, Christmas Tree said:

I think that’s a very gloomy take on the real world we live in away from social media.

 

Younger age groups are washing away a lot of the stigma and discrimination that used to be part of everyday life. They seem to be fitter, smarter and much better informed about things.

 

The empire is long over but other than climate change I don’t think there are any UK specific issues that can’t be resolved over time, particularly if a way is found to get a better class of decision makers, maybe through proportional representation.

I'm not having a go at you here, just the public  in general, but while people believe this the frog will continue to slowly boil, and things will get gradually worse. 

[Christmas Tree 4725]

4 minutes ago, Rayvin said:

 

I appreciate this as a positive outlook but I'm not sure I quite believe it yet. Not totally convinced by the potential wisdom of the young either, I think millennials were doing ok but I'm a less sure about gen Z. Maybe but they seem resigned to life just being what it is. Not detecting a lot of determination to bring about change, no fury at their inherited lot in life. Just acceptance.

 

Maybe they just don't know what they should have had.

I dunno, maybe it’s your last sentence that is revealing. Maybe the average gen z is fairly happy with their lot and is more interested in their day to day life joys / worries etc

 

I think most people just want to meet the love of their life, work, ,raise a family and enjoy life the best they can, in the very short time we have.

 

The sooner we somehow do away from right and left and find a way to run the country more balanced the better.

 

Who knows, maybe with the connectivity of social media (used well) will do away with the “need” for grass root structures on the ground and lead to a totally new movement / way of doing politics.

 

Anyway, enough from me and back to Netflix Sex Education as I’ve learned I might be pansexual  

[Alex 35095]

Social media is a real force for good like, CT  

[spongebob toonpants 3997]

9 minutes ago, Christmas Tree said:

I dunno, maybe it’s your last sentence that is revealing. Maybe the average gen z is fairly happy with their lot and is more interested in their day to day life joys / worries etc

 

I think most people just want to meet the love of their life, work, ,raise a family and enjoy life the best they can, in the very short time we have.

 

The sooner we somehow do away from right and left and find a way to run the country more balanced the better.

 

Who knows, maybe with the connectivity of social media (used well) will do away with the “need” for grass root structures on the ground and lead to a totally new movement / way of doing politics.

 

Anyway, enough from me and back to Netflix Sex Education as I’ve learned I might be pansexual  

I was rereading the start of the covid thread the other day (I know I know) and there were a couple of main things that stood out.

First @Renton got a load of stick but was pretty much right about everything 

Second, there was a naive hope that it was such a catastrophic event that, much like after the war, a better society would come out of it. How wrong that has been proved, the richer are much much richer, and poverty has fucking spiralled.

 

It's over. The corporations have won. They control the institutions, the message the government. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by spongebob toonpants

[Christmas Tree 4725]

2 minutes ago, spongebob toonpants said:

I'm not having a go at you here, just the public  in general, but while people believe this the frog will continue to slowly boil, and things will get gradually worse. 

But putting aside whichever government is in power, do you honestly believe that the quality of life was better 40 years ago than now?

 

Granted there’s a lot that I would improve if elected, but l just think the average person has a much better quality of life than 40 years ago. Maybe I’m wrong.

 

Holidays, car ownership, choice of entertainment, just eat, pornhub, choice of foods, the internet, health treatments. Even the relationships between couples, the freedoms of different sexes, genders and orientations..

[Christmas Tree 4725]

3 minutes ago, Alex said:

Social media is a real force for good like, CT  

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot bad about it and a lot of people who should steer clear for their own health.

 

I was just thinking as way it could be used to break the stranglehold of the main parties.

 

Maybe I’ll knock an app up  

[Renton 21627]

Well CT, I really hope this is just a bad patch but as an example civil servants were awarded an average 2% pay increase this year yesterday, capped at 3%. Their pay has already gone down 11% in real terms in the last decade because of austerity, and this is an effective pay cut of 5% on top of that. What civil servants get is what the rest of the public sector can expect - the military, teachers, council staff, NHS, and social care. You say this isn't a UK specific problem but the fact remains that during our years of austerity, when peoples wages stagnated or decreased, against a backdrop of hugely inflated housing costs and now energy and food, this simply didn't occur in the EU or even the US. I don't have the data to hand to prove this but might dig it out if you want later. And ironically the country's debt is worse now than ever been. It's hard not to be partisan about when where the blame lies is so crystal clear. It was avoidable.

 

I think the future is indeed bleak for a large number of our kids and I feel desperately sorry for them. With housing costs and insane exorbitant fees for education, which the tories put up again this year, what other conclusion is there. And this is before we consider global issues. 

[Alex 35095]

I think there’s a couple of points. Is the quality of life better than it was 25 years ago? 15 years ago? For most of those things, unequivocally not imo. The other thing is wealth inequality and poverty increasing, getting much worse and no obvious end in sight to that. Disposable income is much less even for the middle classes. I don’t think you can point to things we have now that we didn’t have 40 years ago because everywhere has progressed / changed in that time. National decline is a relative rather than an absolute thing 

[Christmas Tree 4725]

5 minutes ago, spongebob toonpants said:

I was rereading the start of the covid thread the other day (I know I know) and there were a couple of main things that stood out.

First @Renton got a load of stick but was pretty much right about everything 

Second, there was a naive hope that it was such a catastrophic event that, much like after the war, a better society would come out of it. How wrong that has been proved, the richer are much much richer, and poverty has fucking spiralled.

 

It's over. The corporations have won. They control the institutions, the message the government. 

People and countries have overcome a hell of a lot more than the things that dive us today.

[Alex 35095]

3 minutes ago, Christmas Tree said:

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot bad about it and a lot of people who should steer clear for their own health.

 

I was just thinking as way it could be used to break the stranglehold of the main parties.

 

Maybe I’ll knock an app up  

Well the thing is massive corporations own and control it and farm data for profit and don’t really regulate it properly 

[Renton 21627]

6 minutes ago, Christmas Tree said:

But putting aside whichever government is in power, do you honestly believe that the quality of life was better 40 years ago than now?

 

Granted there’s a lot that I would improve if elected, but l just think the average person has a much better quality of life than 40 years ago. Maybe I’m wrong.

 

Holidays, car ownership, choice of entertainment, just eat, pornhub, choice of foods, the internet, health treatments. Even the relationships between couples, the freedoms of different sexes, genders and orientations..

 

Have you seen the costs of holidays or cars recently? @Rayvin, hope the flat hunting goes okay, I know a few people your age really struggling to meet the rent in Newcastle, or are you buying? (just to cheer you up). 

[Dr Gloom 21924]

1 hour ago, Christmas Tree said:

 

At least the neighbours probably won’t have to face me dashing in and out of the hot tub this year  

 

[Dr Gloom 21924]

the bbc doc about the decade the rich won is spot on. the era of QE and austerity was great if you were lucky enough to own assets - for other people, not so much. and it's the next generation who are going to be the most fucked by osborne's legacy. 

[Gemmill 44901]

Remember when Friday afternoon on here used to just be people getting excited cos it was nearly the weekend.

 

I've just read the last two pages and it feels like Monday morning, you cunts. 

 

[PaddockLad 17281]

Where are these utter fuckin ghouls that rule us finding the nerve to give P & O a kicking?? 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/apr/01/po-ferries-criminal-investigations-launched-after-staff-sackings?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

[Rayvin 5223]

2 hours ago, Renton said:

 

Have you seen the costs of holidays or cars recently? @Rayvin, hope the flat hunting goes okay, I know a few people your age really struggling to meet the rent in Newcastle, or are you buying? (just to cheer you up). 

 

I'm not even that young anymore tbh, mid 30s. My whole life got flipped on its head by my split with my long term partner and am really only just bouncing back.

 

Just renting for now, still don't have enough good years under my belt on consulting to get a decent mortgage. If I have another year as good as the last one, that'll do it. Until then aye, just need to find somewhere. I have a couple of longer term contracts and I have a decent rate so I'm hopefully ok. Looking to branch out a bit with some of it to fill up the 1.5 days a week I'm idle.

 

Could do without costs being what they are across the board but don't have much choice but to soldier on really, same as everyone else.

 

Thanks for the well wishing though

[Alex 35095]

2 minutes ago, Rayvin said:

 

I'm not even that young anymore tbh, mid 30s. My whole life got flipped on its head by my split with my long term partner and am really only just bouncing back.

 

Just renting for now, still don't have enough good years under my belt on consulting to get a decent mortgage. If I have another year as good as the last one, that'll do it. Until then aye, just need to find somewhere. I have a couple of longer term contracts and I have a decent rate so I'm hopefully ok. Looking to branch out a bit with some of it to fill up the 1.5 days a week I'm idle.

 

Could do without costs being what they are across the board but don't have much choice but to soldier on really, same as everyone else.

Hope it pans out well for you, mate and sorry to hear about your relationship ending. 

[Monkeys Fist 42459]

Aye, sorry to hear about that Rayvin, make sure you look after your wrists and elbows as once they’re done, they’re done. 
 

Make sure you get somewhere with a garden so you can put a shed up. 
 

 

 

I’ve tore the neck off that joke , so I’ll stop now. 

[ewerk 30620]