Blair & British Behaviour

I heard recently that the problem neighbour issue has now become so bad in the UK that the government has proposed some kind of training camp for offenders where they would all have to live together.

Add this to the introduction of anti-social behaviour orders for yobs who terrorize town centres at night and the increasing frequency of routine violence on Britain's streets at night and you could start to get the impression of a society in a serious downward spiral.

Is behaviour in Britain really getting that bad, it sounds like hell.

One would expect Hell to be slightly more uncomfortable than what you described, surely?

It seems to me, that you're under-estimating Hell, and reading the Daily Mail too much(i.e it's not that bad).

Originally posted by Winchester Ranger T
I heard recently that the problem neighbour issue has now become so bad in the UK that the government has proposed some kind of training camp for offenders where they would all have to live together.

- Every now and again some wild scheme surfaces in some of our more 'imaginative' tabloids.

Right at the start of Thatchers time (1979) it was 'short sharp shcoks for yobs, now it's boot camps.
Same old same old.
For some there is nothing that can't be 'solved' by an ever harsher and harder line, no matter what the history or track record to date.

Is behaviour in Britain really getting that bad, it sounds like hell.

- There are minority elements within every generation that always seem to think things were once much better (the laughable 'golden age that never was' - multi millions dead in frequent wars, illness and motality rates multiples of what they are now etc etc) and are now just always getting worse and there is some dreadful scary 'rising tide' to contend with.

It's nothing new, sadly there will always be fringe behaviour that has most of the rest of us clucking in amazed distaste.

The pity is some seem determined to portray it as the norm everywhere (usually to promote some ridiculous political agenda) .

But if you or anyone seriously imagines that 'Britain is hell' is representitive and typically true then I suggest getting out more and going to travel the world a little and maybe return with a little appreciation of just how good the overwhelming majority of us have it here in the UK.

BTW what is the connection to "Blair"?
Is the UK supposed to have been a crime-free paradise pre-1997 and Blair came along and changed British behaviour or something?


[edit on 15-10-2005 by sminkeypinkey]

Hi, I am from the great country of Texas.

WTF IS A YOB?

is that a hoodie? Chav?

Originally posted by Lysergic
WTF IS A YOB?

is that a hoodie? Chav?

- Could be.

Yob or yobbo - low-life, scumbag, POS, lout, hooligan.....the list is pretty much endless, need I go on?

Originally posted by sminkeypinkey
BTW what is the connection to "Blair"?
Is the UK supposed to have been a crime-free paradise pre-1997 and Blair came along and changed British behaviour or something?

The proposal for the "Bad Neighbour" camps was a government initiative and the last time I checked, he was in charge.

As for getting out more, I lived in the UK for most of my life and have lived and worked in 3 different foreign nations (Sweden, Canada, and now the USA) - I think that gives me a fair perspective, and compared to the other places I've lived, Britain is a very unpleasant place to be - no one ever seemed to be happy unless they were drinking in a pub, that was the biggest shock moving overseas, seeing people walking around smiling, in the UK peole just "seemed" so miserable unless they were swigging beer. When I run into my former countrymen here in the US, they stand out easily from other nationalities, take a number one haircut, a bottle of beer, an England football shirt, lots of foul language, and a best friend called "Chozza" whose name is being shouted repeatedly, and voila, instant Brit.

Perhaps the worst thing is the negative attitudes that pervade society there. Everything is just a big piss take, and cynicism is elevated to an art form. Britain really needs to change.

Combine this with the news of anti-social behaviour orders and you arrive at the reason for the thread.

[edit on 15-10-2005 by Winchester Ranger T]

Wow, you just steriotyped and insulted an entire nation with one paragraph, way to go!
I personaly wont be loosing any sleep because you dont like the UK, personaly i like it here and wouldnt live any where else.
I can see this thread getting very warm or fading into the obscurity it deserves.

Hello.

I have heard that there are areas in America in which youths drive around and shoot other youths with automatic weapons before speeding off. This seems to happen the most in places such as South Central Los Angeles. Is this true? Sounds like hell.

Cheers.

Originally posted by cargo
Hello.

I have heard that there are areas in America in which youths drive around and shoot other youths with automatic weapons before speeding off. This seems to happen the most in places such as South Central Los Angeles. Is this true? Sounds like hell.

Cheers.

South central Los Angeles is indeed hell, as is West Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and as you may have gathered recently New Orleans. The USA has some nightmarish areas, this isn't intended as a competition, just an evaluation of how bad Britain is getting (or not as the case may be).

Originally posted by Winchester Ranger T
The proposal for the "Bad Neighbour" camps was a government initiative and the last time I checked, he was in charge.

- Like I said 25 years ago during the time of Thatcher and Home Secretary William Whitelaw the fashion was for 'short sharp shocks' in a hardline boot camp type arrangement.

It comes and goes, it's nothing new.
It doesn't 'work' for all and is no easy fix.

(Your characterisation of the UK and the British is amusing, you really ought to mix with a different bunch of Brits.
I doubt the US 'underclass' is anymore inspiring than the British version but to pretend either are typical of all in either nation is laughable.
Similarly with the worse inner city areas.)

Maybe it's because I'm originally from Cheshire, they always did say it's "grim up North".

All I have to go on is the feedback I get from my friends and relatives back "home", and although they span all levels of the social scale from working class to nouveau riche, it's difficult to get a good word out of them for today's Britain.

My own observations are based out what I see spilling down the aircraft steps in Vegas and Florida, maybe I just need to get out more and good old blighty still has plenty going for it.

Originally posted by Winchester Ranger T
Maybe it's because I'm originally from Cheshire, they always did say it's "grim up North".

- Look mate I have been to and lived in lots of the UK; my dad lives on the outskirts of Halifax and I'm not having that.
The north of England has some of the most breath-taking scenery you could find.

It's only "grim up north" in little bits.

All I have to go on is the feedback I get from my friends and relatives back "home", and although they span all levels of the social scale from working class to nouveau riche, it's difficult to get a good word out of them for today's Britain.

- I don't doubt you but you have to remember that bitching about any and everything is a British past-time; there are indeed many of us who are cynics who take the piss often (if to varying degrees).
It might seem strange but it isn't "hell" it's a constant source of humour to many of us.

Why?

Because it's in the blood; we're a defiant, irreverent and bolshie bunch (possibly because up until very recently we were mere Royal property, 'subjects' and confined by one of the most rigid class systems around so that even the middle classes resented their lot).

My own observations are based out what I see spilling down the aircraft steps in Vegas and Florida, maybe I just need to get out more and good old blighty still has plenty going for it.

- No doubt we have our fair share of 'star turns' but for all that it really isn't how everyone is.

It's like everywhere; unless something has seriously and disasterously gone wrong and you're referring to a war zone or something the negative is never the typical.

if you dont like the UK why even bother comming over... infact stay over the otherside of the ocean we dont care...Not everyone in the UK wear english t-shirts, or use alot of foul language, (no wonder some Brits dont like yo yankkees with attittudes like that (numpty), Nnaw you need to change your countrys attitude before your country is isolatedf romt he rest of the world hmmmms maybe a good idea every contry in the world turn their back on the USA and treat them like they treat others.

Mod Edit (removed improper quote, and please don't attack your fellow members)

[edit on 10-5-2006 by WyrdeOne]

I must admit I find you insulting. Our problems pale in comparison to yours, yet you come in here, in your high and mighty tower of arrogance, and belittle the British people again, or more namely, the English folk. And that's not on. They seem like quite a nice bunch of folk. The folk you hung out with in your all too brief stay at least never pretended to wear their troubles with a smile.