The UK collapsing fast

Reading the comments section , on what were bustling towns full of nightlife. Something very drastic must have occurred to basically switch them of just like a light switch, this level of social change does not happen this fast without a reason. This guy just makes an observation but does not offer much of a cause. I would suggest that it looks like some sort of plague has gone through, are we looking at what happens to societies where the sickness rates have finally come home to roost , or financial collapse on a scale not seen before. During the last Great Depression, trading centers were still ticking along albeit at a reduced rate. This is a grass roots report from a very concerned citizen.

It does seem that inter societal trading has ceased, like the smaller shops cafes , family run enterprises which tended to support communities economically , for instance in past times small skilled businesses would still stagger on at a reduced rate during a downturn. Local food production etc it does tend to look like things are dire in this guys neighborhood.

a reply to: annonentity

Demographics are changing. The birth rate in most prosperous, urbanized, industrialized nations is not keeping up with the minimal replacement rate and hasn't been for quite some time. So the population is aging. That means there aren't as many people out and about as there used to be.

Here is the population pyramid of Somalia, a classic pre-industrial pre-urbanized nation:



Here is the population pyramid of the UK:



See the difference?

originally posted by: Boomer1947
a reply to: annonentity

Demographics are changing. The birth rate in most prosperous, urbanized, industrialized nations is not keeping up with the minimal replacement rate and hasn't been for quite some time. So the population is aging. That means there aren't as many people out and about as there used to be.

Here is the population pyramid of Somalia, a classic pre-industrial pre-urbanized nation:

Here is the population pyramid of the UK:

See the difference?

Now add in illegal immigrants to the population and their birth rates.

You are so close to getting it...

a reply to: Boomer1947

I did occur to me that only eighteen to twenty five year olds would be the demographic causing the bustling on a Saturday night. If this demographic ceased for some reason it would go quiet.

originally posted by: annonentity
a reply to: Boomer1947

I did occur to me that only eighteen to twenty five year olds would be the demographic causing the bustling on a Saturday night. If this demographic ceased for some reason it would go quiet.

Bingo.

And now we can ask to ascertain what factor(s) might be contributing to this decline in that age group.

originally posted by: Boomer1947
a reply to: annonentity

Demographics are changing. The birth rate in most prosperous, urbanized, industrialized nations is not keeping up with the minimal replacement rate and hasn't been for quite some time. So the population is aging. That means there aren't as many people out and about as there used to be.

Here is the population pyramid of Somalia, a classic pre-industrial pre-urbanized nation:

Here is the population pyramid of the UK:

See the difference?

From what I seen in those charts is that in Somali the death rate is quite high. The death rate in the UK is low until after all Somalians have passed away and then the ones in the UK start dying off. This is easily found by comparing the uppermost parts on the charts.

I would think the environment and cultures in those countries contribute mostly to the differences in this comparison. More of a death problem than a birth problem. A high death rate necessitates a high birth rate to sustain a working population.

The UK chart being almost vertical until older than he oldest Somalians means the population is very stable until old age sets in.

a reply to: annonentity

Oh boo bloody hoo.

The UK was finished from the time it started -- back in 1603 when a foreign monarch succeeded to the throne of England (and it wasn't the first time that had happened either).

It was finished again in 1649 when they chopped that foreigner's son's head off and declared England a republic.

Finished yet again in 1660 when that republic collapsed, and the son of the guy they decapitated was made king again.

Poor old UK. It's been finished (according to people who can't face any new development in society) a hundred times or more since Alfred burnt the cakes.

Finished when the Chartists marched. Fnished when the last Test Act was repealed. Finished by the General Strike of 1926. Finished when Hitler launched his bombing campaign. Finished when the Windrush docked at Tilbury. Finished during the Winter of Discontent, 1978–79, or was it in the Eighties when Thatcher brought down the unions (or was it just the North that was finished then)?

Change-hating reactionaries always think the End is just around the corner. It never is, you know. America will perish before Britain does. Mark my words.

a reply to: annonentity

It.

Is.

Not.

By.

Accident.

None of it is.

a reply to: Kallipygywiggy

Good post.

The UK has many problems and the UK has many faults.....but the UK is far from being finished.

Strange how so many of these 'the UK is doomed', 'the UK is evil incarnate' or 'the UK runs the world' etc threads are started by non-UK members who seem to have a bit of an obsession about the UK.

Perfect storm of factors. A lot of firms never really made it back post lockdown; folk not going out as much as before, online shopping habits that formed in lockdown have persisted.

But the biggest factor is shelter costs: house prices & rental costs. They now take up a massive, unprecedented % of income. Over a decade of ZIRP (0 base rate policy) by Bank of England, along with Tory house price pumping policies like Help 2 Buy and the covid Stamp Duty tax holiday rocketed property prices in the country’s biggest ever Ponzi. Many poor fools believed the ‘0 interest rates are forever’ mantra from parasite vested interests, so they vastly over leveraged themselves, vastly overpaying for properties.

Then comes Ukraine’s cost of living crisis inflation forcing Bank of England into a year of rate rises to over 5% (5% is the historical average, but to the millions who took out those massive mortgages at ~0%, this made their repayments almost impossible.

Add to this storm PM Liz Truss panicking markets in late 2022 with a mini budget full of uncosted spending (she then had to quit -shortest serving PM ever) and boom 💥

For over a year now millions have been barely making shelter cost, so there’s no disposable income left in consumers pockets to feet retail and nightlife etc. Despite official stats doing voodoo to pretend all is ‘fine’, the U.K. has been in and remains in a coal face recession.

…Which has led to the jobs marketing is tighter; Office of National Statistics again voodoo’ing the stats to paint a fake, less-negative picture (they now have a wired ‘inactive’ category not included in jobless number - frakking mental). As Twain said, ‘There’s lies, damned lies and statistics.’

It’s not looking good, with the apparently tamed inflation looking like it’ll start edging up again with energy firms cap lifted and their prices rising ~10% in September.

U.K. is slowly sliding into a deeper recession, but if those jobless figures rise it could turn into a sudden collapse into depression.

I recall trying to find a job in the dark days of the early 90s, with dole offices crowded, job boards empty and houses boarded up daily with repos. I hope we dodge that happening all over again. I wouldn’t bet on it, though

In short, decade of ZIIRP followed by inflation & higher interest rates = zero disposable income = consumerism halts = job cuts = recession = depression

The only stat that reveals the true depth of this hole is Truflation’s 37% inflation accumulated since 2020.

Wage rises will take many, many years to catch up with that.
Interest rates are not going back to ZIRP any time soon - perhaps never.

So the only way out of this hole is for shelter costs to collapse, freeing up income to be spent in the economy.

That means pain for those who irresponsibly over leveraged, but at least they’ll have jobs, rather than this depression disappearing jobs and many of those people losing their homes anyhow.

Otherwise it’s an inescapable spiral down into the hole forever in order to bail out some of those irresponsible borrowers and of course to maintain the profits of those MPs who are landlords. Between the 3 main parties there are 81 landlord MPs… smoking gun?

a reply to: annonentity

I would hazard a guess and say that a lot of Towns have changed in the way of Culture... certain Religious groups don't drink or party much... etc... so the nightclubs and bars/pubs close down or go out of business!

a reply to: McGinty

A lot of firms never really made it back post lockdown; folk not going out as much as before, online shopping habits that formed in lockdown have persisted.

Which parts of the UK do you think are likely to collapse because of this?

The economy? Retail sales contributed just 5% to the total economic output of the UK in 2023. Not a major factor.

British society? It survived the Norman Conquest, the Black Death, the Puritans and Cromwell, the Great Plague, two world wars, the Blitz, the social upheavals of the twentieth century and Covid-19, and it's going to collapse because people aren't going down the pub so often these days?

a reply to: annonentity

He says it is eight o'clock at night, but it's full daylight, there's no sign of street lighting (which comes on about 6 PM), and there are families with kids that are clearly out and about.

I think anyone who believes the bloke in the video, is totally gullible.

a reply to: annonentity

"So what are youngsters doing now, staying in, being teetotal, they not going out for a night out"

Poor pedo can't find any youngsters in town, at 8 pm, on a Saturday evening, what's the world coming to ffs!

Anyhoo, and on a more serious note, just more doom porn and daft speculation from you and him.

The town looks clean tidy and well-kept.

If there was major social deprivation and the place was collapsing, as claimed, it would look very different for a start.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: annonentity

Poor pedo

I've never been tempted to email a YouTube content creator before, but I'd love to see classy Andy explaining his childish rage-posting of libelous comments to some dude in a powdered wig.

Remember this libelous comment the next time you're clutching your pearls about what other people have said.

a reply to: ksihkahe

He's kicking about the town center with a camera looking for young people at 8pm on a Saturday night ksihkahe.

Dude's probably lucky he did not find any if we are honest, for him that is. LoL

And if you canny handle a little levity aimed at the prize cockwomble, too bad, the pedo comment was an obvious joke.

Again the town is pretty much in pristine condition compared to a lot of areas around the country, he's talking out of his arse.

Probably because his bar is empty and he's in a cream puff.

a reply to: annonentity

Been there, done it, got the T shirt.

originally posted by: annonentity
Reading the comments section , on what were bustling towns full of nightlife. Something very drastic must have occurred to basically switch them of just like a light switch, this level of social change does not happen this fast without a reason. This guy just makes an observation but does not offer much of a cause. I would suggest that it looks like some sort of plague has gone through, are we looking at what happens to societies where the sickness rates have finally come home to roost , or financial collapse on a scale not seen before. During the last Great Depression, trading centers were still ticking along albeit at a reduced rate. This is a grass roots report from a very concerned citizen.

depends when it was filmed, during August lots of festivals at least 100,000 people in Reading over the weekend

a reply to: UpIsNowDown2

Agreed.

A hell of a lot worse off places around the UK that would have better served to make his point methinks.