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. . . . are we becoming more like the USA? Been to the USA quite a few times and it always struck me of a country of 'have's' and 'have not's'. If you are a 'have' then you can have a very comfortable life style but if you are not, then it is a tough place to live.
With this pandemic unfortunately many people have lost their jobs or had to take a pay cut and this is going to have a big impact on their lives. It is fine taking mortgage breaks or borrowing money to keep a business going but at some point the money has to be paid back.
On the other hand, many people are able to work from home, kept their jobs and with no fares to pay, in many cases they are better off.
Just wanted to say how sorry I am for people like Disco who have had a double hit and any other posters on this site who have had to take a hit. Also a big shout out to anyone who has lost a loved one to COVID-19 my thoughts are with each and everyone of you.
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Is it just me or . . . . on 17:34 - Dec 7 with 2454 views
Been coming a long time. It's now why our kids say 'like' every other word and people say 'can I get....' when ordering something. And so on (as the issue of language has been covered on here before!).
The American work ethic is either work until you burn out or you're fired. No wonder the country is pharma dependent (kerr-ching).
The whole business modus operandi has ben seeping in over here too and, IMO, it stinks. But we are sheep to our friends from across the pond.
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Is it just me or . . . . on 18:37 - Dec 7 with 2337 views
We’ve always been a very unequal country, but in the past the poorest had safety nets such as a liveable minimum wage, affordable housing (council or owned), free university education, sick pay, subsidised travel, subsidised utilities. The country owned all these assets that existed for the needs of the public and not for the profit of its shareholders.
All of those have now gone and been sold, and the NHS is slowly circling the drain.
On top of that, we have this never ending culture war and a dysfunctional media (social and otherwise) which handily distracts from having our pants pulled down by our government (both blue and red) and the 1%.
I was incredibly lucky and am starting my fourth job in two years owing to short term contacts but if any of those had fallen through I’d have been fcked!
I want to say Capitalism is to blame, but I don’t feel ready for that debate on here to be honest so will shut my gob after giving my tuppence worth.
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Is it just me or . . . . on 18:45 - Dec 7 with 2303 views
No, it's not just you. First time I visited America 40 years ago it really seemed "foreign" to me. The strange use of English, the "personal stories" in every newspaper and TV news item, politicians being overtly rude to each other, obese people waddling around everywhere eating snacks. Now it's very similar here in the UK.
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Is it just me or . . . . on 18:49 - Dec 7 with 2293 views
Ironically CFW, that have or have nots scenario is one of the reasons myself and hundreds of thousands other British people emigrated to the US. We're generally not comfortable with the entrenched class system...though I'm no fool, the 'landed gentry' exported their values to America, we just manage to spread the wealth around a bit.
Is it just me or . . . . on 18:37 - Dec 7 by BazzaInTheLoft
We’ve always been a very unequal country, but in the past the poorest had safety nets such as a liveable minimum wage, affordable housing (council or owned), free university education, sick pay, subsidised travel, subsidised utilities. The country owned all these assets that existed for the needs of the public and not for the profit of its shareholders.
All of those have now gone and been sold, and the NHS is slowly circling the drain.
On top of that, we have this never ending culture war and a dysfunctional media (social and otherwise) which handily distracts from having our pants pulled down by our government (both blue and red) and the 1%.
I was incredibly lucky and am starting my fourth job in two years owing to short term contacts but if any of those had fallen through I’d have been fcked!
I want to say Capitalism is to blame, but I don’t feel ready for that debate on here to be honest so will shut my gob after giving my tuppence worth.