What's to be done

[bbmac]

There is a perverse irony to human nature in that of all the advances we make, fall into 3 main categories

a. Health/medicine...ie keeping each other alive longer and in better health
b. Communication.....ie being better/more easily able to communicate and understand each other's culture.

and

c. Weaponry.......ie better weapons/warefare with which to kill each other.

It is perhaps hopeful that two of these are positive, and it could be argued that weaponary is a deterrence making those that might want to wreak havoc on an individual/group or country think twice. There is probably no doubt that the policy of detante in the cold war and the fear of what became known as MAD (mutually assured desctruction) prevented an all out conflict between the nato allies and the warsaw pact, led by the USA and USSR superpowers. That said The Usa's experience with the constitutionally enshrined right to bear arms probably disproves this argument when applied to individuals. The recent phenomenon of Islamic extremism probably also disproves this argument when applied to groups.

In the Uk, for all the advances made people appear no more content/happier with less individual security as life appears to get harder.

As an example, despite the fall in headline crime figures, the fear of crime remains high, with this stupid labour govt ministers failing to understand this feebly quoting that overall crime has fallen, thus deservedly missing oit on any dividend associated with this overall fall. As a further example in 1975 the average mortgage payment accounted for just 23% of the main earner's income, in 2006 this had risen to 84% of the main earner's income, with lenders now offering up to 6 x incomes versus the standard 2.5 times plus second earner seen in the late seventies/eighties.

25yrs ago it was the common belief that we would have more leisure time and that we would retire earlier. Now govts have/are seriously considering increasing the state retirement age.

My question is this, what's to be done??

 

[Trader333]

In 1975 it was not possible to borrow more than 2.5 times your salary and it was Thatcher that changed that by de-regulating credit with the idea being that they would control it using interest rates. That is why it is now possible to borrow ludicrous amounts of money but my view is that we should simply dump the government.


Paul

 

[Crap Buddist]

Britain on the Couch. might be worth a read if you come across a copy. in this world of abundance people are not happy as they perhaps should be. Society has been hoodwinked I think into chasing lifestyle rainbows. Very good marketing though, good for business maybe, but long term effects? People aint happy, they feel the lack of something ?

 

[shadowninja]

That's easy. Charity work is the answer. Help those less fortunate than yourself. No matter how bad things are, there is always someone worse off.

 

[Trader333]

No matter how bad things are, there is always someone worse off.

Unless you're dead


Paul

 

[counter_violent]

Unless you're dead


Paul

Even death to some is preferable to eternal suffering.

 

[Splitlink]

Unless you're dead


Paul

Getting rid of the government is not going to solve the problem because, looking abroad, we can see that all Western block countries are in the same boat.

These are some of the problems, but I defy any future government to solve one of them.

1)Our inability to deal with the drug problem.

2) the wealth gap.

3) The lack of cheap, clean, energy.

However, our civilisation, as we know it, is going to change even more than it has over the past fifty years because no one is going to want to change the status quo in which he lives. Even the unions, which should be organisations wishing to benefit everyone, are only interested in keeping their own members in jobs, to the detriment of everyone else.

The bottom line is that human greed and aquisitiveness is at the bottom of all the world's problems and I doubt that there is a solution that would be acceptable to those that live nearer the top of the heap.

Split

 

[shadowninja]

Unless you're dead

What is wrong with the eternal peace? I think this could side-track a bit, though. I'm not afraid of death but I am trying to make my passing years useful and interesting (which is partly why I am day trade; freedom, not just financially).

ETA: if you're dead, you won't care, anyway.

 

[Crap Buddist]

Please give just £2 per month to help UK OAP this year.

25yrs ago it was the common belief that we would have more leisure time and that we would retire earlier. Now govts have/are seriously considering increasing the state retirement age.

My question is this, what's to be done??

hmm they have already done it. Not so long back they upped the retirement age for women from 60 to 65, i was younger then and thought ,when it was touted as under review , i thought good they will bring mens retiremnt age down to 60. I was shocked they are thinking the other way. I see it as a failure really. And they talk of pushing it maybe towards 70 now ? hmmm. I dont know maybe its me, but I would of thought get people to retire earlier would be an improved standard to work towards?

It wont be too long before people perhaps become embarrassed when seeing a wheezing 70 year old hump coal into your car at the garage or groan under the strain of having to push a beer overloaded dodgy shopping trolley on route to yobbo's 4 x 4 in the car park at sainsbury's.

I expect whilst at the moment we have help the overworked Donkey's in Elsavador ads popping up on the telly, the next may well feature the above supermarket imagery but to help pensioners in the United Kingdom. they are tired they need a rest, but the governement of this country says more, more, more... Please give just £2 per month to help UK Oap this year.

 

[Splitlink]

hmm they have already done it. Not so long back they upped the retirement age for women from 60 to 65, i was younger then and thought ,when it was touted as under review , i thought good they will bring mens retiremnt age down to 60. I was shocked they are thinking the other way. I see it as a failure really. And they talk of pushing it maybe towards 70 now ? hmmm. I dont know maybe its me, but I would of thought get people to retire earlier would be an improved standard to work towards?

It wont be too long before people perhaps become embarrassed when seeing a wheezing 70 year old hump coal into your car at the garage or groan under the strain of having to push a beer overloaded dodgy shopping trolley on route to yobbo's 4 x 4 in the car park at sainsbury's.

I expect whilst at the moment we have help the overworked Donkey's in Elsavador ads popping up on the telly, the next may well feature the above supermarket imagery but to help pensioners in the United Kingdom. they are tired they need a rest, but the governement of this country says more, more, more... Please give just £2 per month to help UK Oap this year.

It's an aging population. Somebody has to do the humping. That's why they are delaying the pension. I got a new tv this week. It was accompanied by a technician and a 60 year old humper. I said to the techie, who was 30 years younger than the humper, "If he drops that you needn't take it out of the box, I don't want it".

Split