How Britain Became a Poor Country

[@Tom_Nicholas]

I’m making a film! Be ready for the release of my feature-length, Nebula Original documentary *Boomers* by signing up to Nebula at go.nebula.tv/tomnicholas

[@beyondEV]

Correction: Would be more appropriate to use GDP/Capita Ranking, where Britain is 27.

[@Guerillatoker]

Audio out of sync at 22:40

[@tamaboyle]

15:52 Why'd they wait so long to announce the results?

[@nrdcrimsoncam-vet1225]

@@Guerillatoker and at 10.00

[@ihavebeenben]

Britain is not a "Country".

[@chrise202]

UK is rich like this: John has 0 apples David has 50 apples On average they eat 25 apples each.

[@MrGathernomoss]

LOL Labour will bring in equality: John has 0 apples. But now David also has 0 apples, yay! We're not the first country to try leftist governments.

[@iche9373]

And that's why we need a WEALTH LIMIT for the super rich class.

[@jaybhailikar6231]

@@iche9373 okay, this doesn't work in all scenarios. You do have individuals who have actually worked hard to move up the wealth ladder. You cannot limit the amount of wealth to be accumulated, you can, however, limit the means of it.

[@iche9373]

@@jaybhailikar6231 I understand and respect that many individuals have amassed wealth through hard work and innovation. However, extreme wealth concentration can exacerbate social inequality, economic instability, and reduce opportunities for others. A wealth limit can promote fairer distribution of resources, ensuring societal benefits such as improved public services and infrastructure. It's not about penalizing success but fostering a more balanced and inclusive economy. Limiting means is crucial, but without addressing wealth accumulation, disparities may persist. Thus, a wealth limit complements these efforts, promoting a sustainable and equitable society for all.

[@iche9373]

Extreme wealth undermines democracy, is incompatible with ecological urgency, is almost always undeserved, and harms the interests of everyone, the super-rich included.

[@GodeCynningaz5386]

“We’re all in this together.” Gets in limo.

[@BloodMoonASMR]

Okay, High School Musical 😂

[@icesnk]

Best comment i read in a lomg time

[@djpatricio]

Rishi: Gets in private plane

[@mikkojaatinen4508]

Something "a global young leader" of WEF would say

[@jayakrishnan7394]

You were asking for it for a long time. You got all you wanted during all the past centuries. Colonies of countries around the globe, huge wealth, military might, admiration and respect of the World for everything British etc. Now it is time for the pendulum to swing back! The British people now want to throw away the burden of being British to somebody and run away. It was David Cameroon who said that he was looking forward to an Asian to be the Prime Minister soon!

[@Yort781]

Britain is actually a perfect example of what it really looks like when an empire dies. Most of us imagine barbarians at the gate or some major catastrophe but more often than not it’s just a slow dismantling of the original order and a series of cascading failures.

[@jonathandoe2316]

Ours in America will be a lot more violent I sense.

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

I wouldn't say Britain is an example of the death throes of empire. It hasn't been an empire for 60 years, and until the Global Financial Crisis, it did pretty well overall. It's more an example of 15 years of mismanagement.

[@RK-cj4oc]

​@@jonathandoe2316Rome fell by huge tribes of Barbarians forcing their way in. Sounds similair to what is happening now.

[@hotsingleplaguedoctorinarea]

​@@RK-cj4ocRome lived on the for the next thousand years as the Byzantine empire.

[@jayc342009]

​@@hotsingleplaguedoctorinarea yeah in the east of the empire

[@B1gLupu]

As a Finn, the idea of one party goverment instead a coalition of parties seems pretty outlandish.

[@supermonkey321]

I really wish we had that in the USA. I hate our 2-party system that just keeps the same idiots with opposite but equally extreme views in charge. We just swing back and forth like a pendulum, and it feels like nothing ever really gets accomplished.

[@B1gLupu]

@@supermonkey321 our way of running our country fits our circumstances. We also have taxpayer funded healthcare and education, but in exchange everyone is expect to defend the country against our age old adversary to the East; nearly all men go through 6-12 months of military service. We Finns are the happiest people in the world, because we know safety and security of peace is only ever paper thin. You have a goverment and nation that reflects the values of your people; a cutthroat thunderdome of competing immigrant tribes where you only look our for yours. Naturally it's politics are going to reflect that.

[@kiwitrainguy]

@@supermonkey321 In the US the parties change but the policies remain the same, in China the policies change but the party remains the same.

[@theaizere]

​@@kiwitrainguyyour policies change as well just with a lag. When trump became president the obama policies where in effect, when bidens did the trump policies worked. Lots of time. Not effective immediately but people don't know that

[@fernando7517]

You better worry about Finland.............. England is not in the frontline ..... 🤡🤡

[@Scriven42]

Imagine hating poor people so much that you continually vote yourself into deeper and deeper poverty....

[@andrewthomas695]

Sage

[@gwmcd]

What a beautifully simplified take. It's not a country which elects governments under PR for one.

[@Menter2tm]

This!

[@danielsimmonds4913]

"Conservatives would rather make themselves poorer, so long as the poor are also more poor" - Thargaret Matcher

[@MikeSpike117]

@@gwmcdhello as a Brit I can confidently say it’s a hatred of immigrants and people on benefits that kept getting Tories elected

[@mailmarca]

BTW, the "there is no money" letter was a running joke always left by the outgoing party. However, the Tories turned it into a political weapon.

[@dethkon]

That’s so lame

[@mailmarca]

@@philipjamesparsons Bot farm or replying to the wrong chat? Because this has nothing to do with what I said, matey boy.

[@LuluTheCorgi]

​@@mailmarcawith the war going on Russia keeps having to divert resources, their bot farms have been getting worse and worse over the last couple months

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

@@LuluTheCorgi Russia's economy is a shambles, but their bot industry is second to none.

[@sg-zd8eb]

A weapon with which the tories used against the poorest, spearheaded by Iain Duncan-Smith.

[@boxtears]

"Then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak". Future-proofing the video while also (correctly) predicting he won't be in office much longer.

[@20storiesunder]

Man has days left

[@oDaRRaGhx]

Anyone remember Obama's little trip to no.10 a few weeks back? Giving rishi the orders to call the election then stand down so they can get their guy in with a massive majority. Globalist plans in motion.

[@tezzingtonsir28]

Brilliantly done

[@debradelarue9717]

​@@tezzingtonsir28there were no interest rates in 1694....!!

[@samdedman9629]

Technically he isn't prime minister because parliament is dissolved. No members of parliament hiked their seat including him.

[@screwdriver5181]

Tom, what a brilliant summary of recent British history. As a mere Chartered Engineer I can understand most engineering problems, but most of the political commentaries on the tv are more like scripts of “yes, Prime Minister”. Your video makes it clear without spin and bias. As an 81 year old this is the first time that I could properly follow British politics. Thanks.

[@pads-zr9ln]

Without bias? You struggle to keep the colours within the lines don't you

[@Gerishnakov]

This video does miss out quite a bit.

[@usxnews1834]

This is really insightful comment purely because lots of this stuff is obvious to me, as someone who reads about / pays attention to this stuff (likewise, chartered engineering would mean nothing to me, where you're the expert!), But it remains mystifying to most of the british public, and I believe intentionally, which explains part of the mess we're in.

[@TihetrisWeathersby]

Who knew 14 years of Tory Austerity would destroy the country

[@antonioscendrategattico2302]

"B- but I thought it'd just do it to the peasants! What do you mean that if they're poor the country won't be doing that well either?"

[@aslandus]

Conservatives: "We want less government!" Country: *falls apart when government stops working* Conservatives: *surprised Pikachu face*

[@danielludwig647]

I've heard it best described as deliberately ripping out the copper wiring in your own home.

[@Aceofswordss115]

@@rexcatston8412someone didn’t watch the video…

[@CentristDad155]

A note from an American who has only a small amount of knowledge on the topic: your country has the patience of Job when it comes to the Tories. 😮

[@IzzysTravelDiaries]

I went to work in the UK in 2015 and went back home just 9 months later. As a Hungarian I sometimes faced open hostility. I'm bilingual, yet people would tell me "you can't understand me because your English is poor" when I told them no because their request was impossible. I saw some open disdain from colleagues. Work conditions were bad. I made minimum wage working in hotels. Most people there were immigrants. I lived in a room with the bathroom at the end of the hall, the heater didn't work in the winter. I was contracted for 40h, had to work 52. I ended up with severe depression because I was exhausted, tired of the working and living conditions, the hostility I saw from hotel guests, the British coworkers and even sometimes shopkeepers. When I was home already Brexit happened and someone I thought was a friend put up an anti immigrant post. I said something about that's how we met. He wrote back that I'm good because I already went back home. Yeah, nice. So that's a look from the other side. Also food on minimum wage was really hard.

[@tomhavenith2330]

Yeah. In my younger years I did my time of work traveling too in various legal assistant positions (law degree - did a lot of European law back then). Generally had a good time and saw a lot of the EU. Two exceptions too the good time: Germany and the UK. I mean Germany was kind of rough... I mean those folks were just really, really distant and cold. But that wasn't personal it's just how 'they' were (also to each other). So I didn't stay too long there. A year or so. But for the rest Germany was just fine. The UK... that was just rough. What I thought was decent pay (no riches of course) turned out barely livable, the open disdain from the natives from collegues to shopkeepers and let's not talk about how awful those British bureaucrats can be, if they sense they have power over you. I could have stayed for two years, I left for the Netherlands after a few months... better to be counted in weeks. At least I left the country fast enough to be taxed that year by the Dutch and not by the Brits.

[@jayc342009]

It's common in the uk for companies to expect you to put in 110% effort for sh** wages.

[@ERROROVER9K]

@@tomhavenith2330yep that’s basically the every mentality of the British, if you’re a foreigner you will never be able to properly integrate as they don’t want you to. For me I was somewhat exempt from this behaviour due to my American accent, I still faced some problems as I am not white but mixed

[@JackSpratt-yg1oj]

As a non British native English speaker I can assure you that many lower class British accents are 90% unintelligible and sound like foreign languages

[@Spamhard]

I'm a Brit, born and lived here 30something years, and this is an accurate as heck read. I mostly work low end, min wage jobs, and tend to work alongside a lot of folk who have immigrated, and they almost always get treated like crap. I even remember in a bar job, working alongside this girl from barcelona who spoke perfect english (with a slight accent), but our boss would constantly make snide comments about how she couldn't understand basic instructions (our boss actually just never communicated well and would change their mind constantly, was the real problem). Even aside from immigration, living on min wage is practically impossible here. You'll work crazy long hours, get treated like disposable crap, and then take home a wage that can't even cover rent, utilities, council tax, food and vehicle. I've seen a few reports saying some folk on min wage are paying 120%+ of their monthly income JUST to cover all the basic necessities. I've worked since I was 15, for nearly 20 years now, and STILL can't even come close to trying to buy my own place, even just a studio apartment its beyond my reach. Feels like I'm doing something wrong, which then spirals into feelings of failure and back into exhausted depression.

[@AnymMusic]

"I am a fighter, not a quitter.---I am resigning"

[@07Flash11MRC]

Lol, not even a full 24 hours later...

[@MrGathernomoss]

😂 Yeah, Im sure you'd have had nothing to criticize if he locked himself at 10 Downing Street and refused to go.

[@arsic094]

I mean, he didn't say he wasn't a resigner.

[@subroy7123]

@@MrGathernomoss Who's "he"? Who do you think OP is talking about here?

[@baihuiye]

It's called tactical retreat

[@scrapox217]

Frankly it's pretty hard to feel sympathy for the people that keep voting the Conservatives in and only switch up the votes when Labour basically turned into the Conservatives 2

[@ThatZenoGuy]

You have it backwards, the conservatives turned into labor 2.

[@lowkeykenobi5039]

It's even worse than that: Labour actually received around a million less votes than they did in 2019. A large portion of the disgruntled Tory voters you're probably thinking of ended up voting for Reform, which allowed Labour to win through FPTP. But really, it's not pragmatic to blame the electorate - rather, it's the manipulated political narratives pushed forward by the media (and increasingly, through social media algorithms and campaigns) that are largely responsible for this mess.

[@plato8427]

The population is so easily propagandised, it’s so frustrating.

[@Lore-mc7zw]

They believe what anyone tells them especially when its braindead "famous" people and "experts" I'm seeing so much labour propaganda right now that it's actually unreal, Tony Blairs Institute for global change lobbying firm is clearly highly active online and using massive bot farms to pump likes into specific narratives that suit their agenda.

[@Lore-mc7zw]

before some idiot comes along no I am not a Tory, a Russian bot or some other strawman you can label. I'm lodging a protest vote, no party is getting my vote. Nada. Zilch. Zero.

[@rekkoon-hd5vo]

@@Lore-mc7zw I have realized that politics just make you depressed, its all the same propaganda, on all sides. Im not voting or getting involved in politics ever, never again

[@lukasgray1443]

Anyone who watched this entire video, and didn't notice him skirting around the main problem for 40 minutes, is the person most susceptible to propaganda.

[@michaelb4047]

@@Lore-mc7zw You have the same problem here in Germany. 80 years ago the Jews were to blame for everything. Today it's the refugees. It's easy to forget that 16.5 million people in Germany have migrant roots. So they are no longer really German. But they do more for their country than an AfD that only sits in the Bundestag every 5th vote. And we all pay taxes for that. It's frustrating.

[@PedestrianPony]

I dunno man. Maybe centralizing your entire economy around London while you make zero effort to actually develop any meaningful industries or attract any worthwhile investment wasn't the right call? Did you really think London could carry the entire country on legacy finance orgs forever?

[@s1.m511]

That’s being UK policy since the 1800s it’s nothing new.

[@Jclmg]

Ooof this one hurt as it’s true, London is the goose so let’s not diss it but we need more diversification in locations and ideas.

[@PedestrianPony]

@@Jclmg or if you want to over-index on London that's fine but at least do it with some intentionality. I've seen no UK administration in the last two decades meaningfully attempt to foster the growth of future-facing industry. Minimal effort into creating a tech sector, advanced manufacturing, research, logistics, etc. It seems like there was an assumption that if they just let the economy be that it would naturally flourish and so instead this is what we get, tourism and some old banks.

[@Jclmg]

@@PedestrianPony not sure what we’re arguing about, we’re over reliant on London, but it’s arguably tied top financial centre of the world so let’s not down play it. We do a have massive lack of forward vision and planning as a country, I don’t think our political system has evolved to the modern challenges we face. We don’t seem to be as patriotic as our competitors when protecting our industries.

[@SigFigNewton]

Finance orgs don’t carry, they leech

[@Alias_Anybody]

It's kind of bizarre that Johnson's hypocricy around the C rules damaged him and his party far more than half a decade of objective cruelty towards the weakest members of society. "Let the poor freeze and starve but don't stop me from getting wasted in my pub!"

[@20storiesunder]

Ones abstract enough so it doesn't sway the opinion of folks. But covid affected them so that meant more. Its depressing but true.

[@Alias_Anybody]

@@20storiesunder It's just weird that casual cruelty and social darwinism are so much more... socially acceptable? Guess the Reagan&Thatcher legacy plays a role, in many (continental) European countries right wing parties usually have to at least pretend they care about poor people not starving and freezing. And if only because homeless people don't look good.

[@kaitlyn__L]

I know right. My family's always had various disabilities among the various branches, so I've always seen the results of welfare-cuts firsthand. I've always first-and-foremost viewed a vote for Tories as a vote to kill my uncles and siblings. (And now, as a disabled adult myself with my condition made much-worse by the DWP, also me.)

[@onlypoynter]

Personally, i believe it's more a matter of individualism. Conservative voters in most countries that i have seen tend to be more preoccupied with themselves over others. The fact that Boris got caught breaking the rules that HE had imposed on THEM while they couldn't break them as well, and they absolutely would have if given the opportunity, was a personal slight. That is the only reason he lost so much support. It just irks me so fucking much that a whole generation of mostly self centered, lead-brained boomers can vote and that they can impose that society works specifically for them and fuck anyone else. A society is built on trust of our fellow citizens, and individualism kills that trust. In the age of information, only full transparency of the finances of every single politician, and significant consequences for corruption can keep politics honest. But good fucking luck getting any of that implemented by those who reap the rewards of the status quo. (this is my experience and opinions, so take with a grain of salt because i dont follow the politics of too many countries, just mostly a bunch of EU, UK and US)

[@evannibbe9375]

It’s sort of like how photographs of the destruction of Gaza is more damaging to Biden than an objective description of how Trump never accomplished any infrastructure bills even though he promised to do that, and that Trump was never able to reduce the U.S.’s deficit because Congress vehemently opposed Trump’s idea for reducing the deficit of following Trump’s campaign promise of “America First” (in other words, not spend any money on foreign aid). It’s easier to damage Trump with just a couple photos of the January 6th 2021 Capitol where Trump’s supporters stormed over the barricades.

[@anthonyscarborough3813]

As someone who grew up in Bolivia, a global south country in Latin America, I’d say it’s a little hyperbolic to call the UK a “poor country”. I will say, however, that austerity and Brexit have definitely done a lot of unnecessary, preventable economic harm.

[@annewalden3795]

Anthony and you have correctly identified the Tory crimes .

[@correiaivan]

This! Saludos de Brasil

[@ruffey1748]

Britain is not a poor country, but British people are becoming poorer.

[@angelosinski]

Its ABSURD 😂 the nerve.

[@hayleyxyz]

Let me guess. We got rid of most specialised sectors, industry, manufacturing, and focused everything on the city of London moving money around, while the rest of us work service jobs with depressed wages?

[@mrsmerily]

@@Big_Sloppa china is downhill... like 2024 you should not bring out china as winning point if you are not CCP little pink of course.

[@CraigTheBrute-yf7no]

You forgot the part where your global empire collapsed & you could no longer rapaciously loot the planet of natural resources & labour?

[@SerfinBird]

​@@Big_Sloppa engineering and tech specialization is more important. Germany is an industrial power because it specialized in high tech industries that you can't just use unskilled labor for. Same with Taiwan they have very little natural resources but make more semiconductors and the highest quality semiconductors in the world. As for raw materials, a good chunk of china's raw goods used come from other countries typically from African states.

[@AbuNazir-p9k]

@@SerfinBird Germany is no longer an industrial power. Germany's status as an industrial power has been challenged. Previously, it relied heavily on affordable Russian natural gas, petroleum, and minerals to sustain its industrial capabilities. The absence of these resources has significantly impacted the country, as evidenced by the departure of numerous companies and the decline in industrial manufacturing.

[@elseggs6504]

​@@SerfinBird Yet Germany is scared to oblivion over China overtaking them. Turns out their fancy car firms being nothing but cartels really made them lag behind now that EVs will become the only legal cars to be sold

[@robertwinslade3104]

We are a poor country with a lot of rich people in it

[@davidpacifico1019]

Correct, a country where many are poor can still have a great GDP if the top 0.1% get enough money to raise the average by themselves.

[@papabob53johnson46]

That is the problem. The middle class is crushed. Wealth transfered to the rich

[@Sinoops]

​@@papabob53johnson46 Same thing happening in America lol. It just happened a lot faster in the UK

[@Daniboi971]

Third world country attached to London

[@Rodrigo62686]

Like.... Every poor country in the world?

[@itxi]

This is what has always angered me; the tories advertise themselves as the economic party, but all they do is implement short term solutions with massive long term costs that leave us worse of than before

[@briancohenthepfjmassive.4769]

@@Marigold11 no, labour, tory and the libdem parties leaders all batted for remain. It was ukip and Boris Johnson on the leave side.

[@nameismetatoo4591]

When they say "the economy", they really mean "my bank account"

[@l0lLorenzol0l]

They advertise themselves as "Conservatives" while stanning Tony Blair

[@BradenFranklin]

The US has a similar party, Republicans. They have an advantage of having scheduled elections, so they can ensure that the other party is in power when the negative effects of their policies come to fruition, blame em their enemies of the problems, get elected again and the cycle repeats. Until today, they have successfully reduced taxes for the rich and corporations below that of the average worker. Have to admire the decades long focus and execution, rich get richer, no distractions.

[@swaggery]

@@nameismetatoo4591 Or "your savings", not "your income". It's all about wealth extraction and protection at all costs.

[@TheLiamster]

I saw this coming years ago and tried to warn everyone. I was so angry that Brexit happened when I was 14. I wasn’t old enough to vote but I remember talking to my teachers and parents and telling them that the UK leaving the EU would be a massive mistake and have unintended consequences for decades to come. Of course, no one believed me at the time and now none of the once touted benefits have come to fruition and this once great country is in a dire state of decline. Brexit isn’t the only reason for the current status quo as there are a multitude of factors. It all boils down to the Tory government who has been power for nearly my entire life which is at best doing nothing to improve but at worst actively making things worse for everyone except the super rich. My hope for the future is that young people are becoming more politically active and are realising that change can happen. As morbid as it sounds, I predict that once the silent generation and baby boomers (the heart of the Tory voting base) die off that the Conservative Party will lose a considerable power as Labour and other parties win local elections.

[@Marty_YouTuber]

Trade Barriers: Before Brexit, the UK had seamless access to the EU's Single Market and Customs Union, which allowed for tariff-free trade and less bureaucratic red tape. Since leaving, new trade barriers have led to slower trade, increased costs for businesses, and decreased exports, especially in sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, and finance.

[@user-gs6zx8rg7i]

I remember being being in year 8 when my school had a mock election with debates about Brexit, the school voted 94% stay. How sad that a bunch of 11-16 year olds understand politics better than politicians.

[@grimaffiliations3671]

Austerity kills, and it doesn't even save you money in the long term

[@TheSafkan]

What I think everyone is missing is it was never about austerity. Thatcher/Regan deregulated the banking sector and from then on they have plundered ever since. Austerity was just the smokescreen for the selling off of everything to private interests. Note the Conservatives still ran a massive defecit but by reducing it by 1/3rd by cutting public services, no one notices the real theft going on in the background. Not at all that the austerity didnt kill people just in its cruelty.

[@gregh378]

Austerity costs more money long term. It's the kind of logic that says you sell the petrol in your car to save a bit of money, but then you have to pay to be towed home. Tory policy in a nutshell

[@MChagall]

The problem is politicians like spending in bad times but dont cut back in good times. They are only Keynsians when it suits them. Keeping debt low makes sure trust is high in the country and keep interest super low. Because cuts we even had negative interest on loans in Netherlands for a couple years

[@MChagall]

Which in case allowed us to borrow heavily when we needed the money during COVID. Just have to cut smart

[@Alex-cw3rz]

​@@MChagall but we cut in the bad times that's why we almost hit a double dip recession under tory austerity.

[@nathanspreitzer6738]

Excluding London the average wealth of the UK regions average the same as Mississippi, which is insane

[@edc1569]

Rather better healthcare outcomes and a social net tho, of course vaush skips over that bit - I wouldn’t pay much attention to his takes on Europe.

[@PhoeniX199777]

same can be said about many european countries including france yet all these places have a far higher standard of living.

[@nathanspreitzer6738]

@@PhoeniX199777Human development index France .896 US .927, I would argue quality of life is higher in the US considering France is about to elect a far right gov whose platform is change almost everything and the fact that France seems to have major riots every 4 months

[@elseggs6504]

​@@nathanspreitzer6738 Yet it doesnt reflect that paid parental leave, paid sick days or paid time off, is a fucking luxury in the states. Or that they often take up 2 jobs while they sell their souls for a college degree and a car

[@PhoeniX199777]

@@nathanspreitzer6738 the only thing the US ranks higher on in QOL compared to france and the UK is the gdp per capita, literally everything else ranks lower, also we're talking about mississipi not the US as a whole

[@jwn0be]

I never understood how it'd be okay for a country to sell off its basic infrastructure, just to pay maintenance for it anyway. Just like those banks that were "too big to fail."

[@twisterli9177]

NHS still belongs to the government. How is that going?

[@FrauWehner]

well, if you think about how these private owners usually are related either via family or business ties to the politicians that made those decisions, the privatization / continued maintenance payments from the government to those private owners makes a whole lot of sense. it's just a scheme to get tax payers' money into their own pockets.

[@WatchAlfiePlay]

@@jwn0be the problem is, governments are inefficient and just because someone was elected to represent a certain constituency, doesn't mean they know about transport... Yet they become the transport minister, the next week they are in social affairs, then the year after finance minister... Not an expert in anything at all. But a private business must be full of experts in order to survive... Politicians just throw money at it because they have the cheapest borrowing and highest spending power. An airline that only 10% of the country used was not something a government should actually own, it's just a money pit. But as a private company it is much more efficient employing less people to do much more, spending much less to create more wealth and therefore pay more taxes. Brazil for example, "the people" own the oil in the ground by law... So Petrobras is a publicly owned company that is controlled by a government appointed director. Brasil survived the credit crunch yet was devastated by a Petrobras scandal which went right to the route of the government, corruption was embedded in the system and until today people are being arrested for financial crimes or they are on a yacht in Monaco. That wouldn't happen if it was a private company. Also in brasil, the difference between a public and private hospital is extreme... Public are terrible 50s concrete buildings without enough resources to cater the demand... Yet private are modern and sophisticated, I would say better than most NHS run hospitals and it isn't a drain on the economy, they actually contribute immensely several ways. People who can afford private still have to pay into the public system but they don't use the resources. The tax they pay on their healthcare, the tax the government they receive from the profits of various private companies and healthcare professionals... It's a win / win. We have made the NHS a religion. We have demonised people who saw this flaw such as Thatcher and there is no way out. Think about the wealthiest countries by gdp/c... They usually have extremely limited resources yet their people are living an extremely high quality of life. Britain could be like that too but we have made many decisions that enslave us to ideology, international systems, organisations and agreements that force us to give up our efficiency. Leaving the EU should have been the step in the right direction, yet it's more of the same really without free access to our neighbouring markets. A disaster.

[@Nickname-ef9tv]

Banks at least are a profit-oriented business from the get-go. Things like sewage and transport are a necessity for modern living, their avaiability must be assured for society functioning on a basic level, no mater their immediate profitability. The moment they get privatized you are assuring a degrading of the living standards for the majority of people.

[@WatchAlfiePlay]

@@Nickname-ef9tv not if the government does it's job. Their job is to protect the people that voted them in. Create rules and regulations that mean the people can live comfortably... If a company can't do it, another can. That's how it "should" work... But our politicians fail us. Here in brasil, energy and water are privatised but each state chooses a single provider to manage everything. Basically you don't have a choice of service provider and it is fucking awful... They can do whatever they want and the federal government does little to control prices or the abusive nature of said companies... If they were any good, the states would offer a selection of private companies but that would be very difficult because all the infrastructure is publicly built and owned... And isn't built for multiple companies to access. Just a mess.

[@Nigelrudyardmusic]

Like America, the distribution of wealth has steadily decreased - and been channelled to the very few.

[@NoJusticeMTG]

A really important point on austerity - it was also done to manufacture low interest rates, so middle class tory voters could have cheap mortgages forever (and skyrocket their house prices). One of the main reasons Cameron won in 2015 in protecting his base. Explains the shy tories, people nakedly making their own wealth level a more important issue then the emmiseration for the poor.

[@NoJusticeMTG]

(fwiw, i don't think that keeping large deficits during a liquiduity trap would raise interest rates at all, as inflation was never a problem past 2011)

[@ILovePancakes24]

No worries. They just made a bubble larger.

[@TaySplatoon]

Not really, George Osborne made it so that Landlords could not deduct mortgages from their tax payments; this was part of austerity to raise money! And that change caused many landlords to sell up, which spiked rents as there was lower supply, but ever increasing demand due to migration. During the Blair and Brown’s Labour government, landlords actually had it much easier than under the Tories.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@TaySplatoon it also helped that council housing was relatively available, which provided a floor - both for quality for tenants, but also ensured private landlords didn't _have_ to deal with everyone. They could pick and choose the best customers. The Tory obsession with bringing everyone into private tenancies forced landlords to take-on anyone and everyone; making it worse for all parties.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@TaySplatoon for a while, a lot of landlords just sold their lower quality properties to the council instead of trying to make rent on them!

[@MrGavinBoyd]

We’ve had Thatcherism since 1979 which serves the interests of the (mainly overseas) wealthy. The problem with Thatcherism is that you eventually run out of assets to sell to overseas investors so that they can rip off British consumers. The Tories have sold nearly everything that we owned and are currently selling the NHS big by bit.

[@slowery43]

Here in the states we've enjoyed several decades of emperialism/utilizing our war machine which has done a magnificent job of transfering real wealth from tax payers to the military contractors... who with no surprise pay massive campaign contributions/lobbying cash/perks (aka bribes) back to the politicians.

[@gelinrefira]

The problem with capitalism is that you eventually run out of people to exploit.

[@kylezo]

less thatcherism, more simply capitalism.

[@loop4569]

You guys had Thatcher, the Americans had Reagan. I wonder if the other countries in the Anglosphere were having this stuff

[@gelinrefira]

@@kylezo Yup, the problem with capitalism is you eventually run out of people to exploit.

[@onaraisedbeach]

We elected the Tories, then kept re-electing them, then did a Brexit. Ok ok I'll actually watch the video now...but that is the short answer.

[@maxsalmon4980]

Nope, you got it. There's details, but you nailed the basic pattern. :)

[@20storiesunder]

Accurate

[@personzorz]

The Tories were much larger of a deal than Brexit.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

I remember when we had a nightlife. That's all gone.

[@Charlie-jp6mx]

OHHHHHHHHH BRITANIA

[@e5211]

A country that got wealthy off exploitation of it's colonies. This downfall was inevitable.

[@jabloko992]

The fact that Cameron not only got away with it, BUT BECAME A LORD is the ultimate tragedy.

[@Takahanazawa]

The fact that you even have lords is more tragic still

[@ftseo]

@@Takahanazawait’s just an honour thing - there are some pretty cool lords, sirs, dames, and ladies out there

[@gm2407]

The tragedy is the strain it has all had on the people. All this austerity and suffering for a rich piss up, trash the place and scarper.

[@DuckGoat-mr9tu]

​@@Takahanazawagotta live in their glory days, when the world actually feared and respected their empire 😂.

[@ZeroiusProduction]

@@Takahanazawa It's just culture bruh, don't hate on it

[@alks091]

Rich counties don't exist no more. Only rich individuals and poor individuals.

[@kye3k1]

Go to a poor country and tell me the UK is poor too.

[@rodrigos7070]

@@kye3k1 for real. These people don't know how good they have it.

[@user-fe8gx3ie5v]

You don't need to be rich to be well off.

[@qcsorter4626]

This is just plain wrong; there are milllions of people in between the two extremes of poverty and wealth, most of whom are not interested in politics of despair or threats to overthrow 'the system'. The far right and far left seem to have difficulty in understanding this fact.

[@editaudioaesthetic]

Scandinavian countries continue to be right there.

[@jabberwockytdi8901]

Last 14 years are just the tail end of the story ( so far ) , short termism, lack of investment - in Industry, in infrastructure, in education, list is long. Brexit wasn't a symptom of genuine widespread anti EU sentiment, the EU was just made the scape goat for peoples frustration with so much of what went before.... in particular everything that contributed to the persistent widening of the wealth gap in the UK.

[@Ellie-rx3jt]

Turns out that if you spend a couple of decades going "oh the EU forced us to bring that law that's making your life worse in, we didn't want to" and then offer a referendum to leave, people are going to vote for it. Crazy, right? 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

[@octavianpopescu4776]

As a European following the Brexit drama for a couple of years now, I'd say there is a clear anti-European sentiment among Brits. It is clear that Europeans and Brits (the English especially) have radically different values and aims. I think that Brexit was a logical consequence of geography and cultural change in the UK and long-term both the EU and the UK stand to win from it. You know that "better together" motto? In this case, it's "better apart".

[@maknavickas]

No people don't like their country being filled with immigrants from different ethnicities, because without a shared community bound by blood, the whole conceit of a nation-state begins to break down. The impulse to pick up a destitute hitchhiker is much stronger if that person is of your own ethnicity, once that level of reciprocal trust is completely severed in a society and everyone becomes only an atomized economic agent in public life than the country is on its way to dying.

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

@@octavianpopescu4776 The EU was mostly a convenient scapegoat. A clear majority of UK citizens now want to rejoin the EU, which contradicts your claims about the British having fundamentally "different values and aims." There are anti-EU movements in all EU member states. Maybe it's slightly stronger in the UK, but Brexit was a point-in-time decision. It doesn't necessarily reflect anything longer-term.

[@beatoriche7301]

There are legitimate reasons to dislike the EU and oppose membership in it, though - now, I agree that none of these reasons were really at play in the Brexit referendum, but I believe this point to be crucially important lest people walk away with the impression that the EU is some benign institution. The EU has been at the forefront of imposing disastrous neoliberal policies on the Global South and its poorer member states like Greece and Italy while also turning the reins over to neoliberal institutions with minimal democratic accountability, such as the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank (for countries that have adopted the Euro as a currency). On a purely structural level, membership in the EU will always block a populist left-wing agenda because of the obligations that member states opt into through various treaties, including submitting to largely unaccountable institutions with strong ties to banks and corporations. And in the end, I believe that a big part of Labor's failure during the post-Brexit era was this inability to wholeheartedly embrace Brexit (like it or not, it is the decision people came to) and put forth an alternative vision - something simple and populist like getting out of the EU, re-nationalizing the rail, and undoing the neoliberal restructuring of and budget cuts to the NHS, or, in other words, implementing policy proposals to materially improve the lives of people that the EU umbrella would've made impossible.

[@garyb455]

Lets look at the UK over the last 30 years, it has only declined. Compare it to more successful economies 30 years ago, UK average salary was $40,000 the same as Singapore, today Singapore is $130,000, its similar in Australia, Canada and the USA. Something is drastically wrong with our Country and it has been run by University educated people for all that time. Now I am not saying all University is bad but look at the results and you have to admit something is not working. Labour and the Tories are both to blame....

[@foxesofautumn]

People keep letting corporations run their country and fully expect them to operate in the best interests of the population and not their own best interests. They actually expect these companies to operate like a government. That’s why they’re so comfortable privatising everything. Then they get so baffled when the nice companies just strip-mine social cohesion for profit. (Of course there is also if you’re poor or disabled or an immigrant then the Conservatives find you disposable. I mean there is very much that.)

[@JohnnyTwoFingers]

And yet, I bet you'd passionately defend the very system that ensures this: so-called "democracy"...am I right?

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

​@@JohnnyTwoFingersDemocracy isn't an issue here.

[@Amar061]

its gonna trickle down any moment now... any moment... ah yes, can you feel the drops on your face already? Well, that's the powers that be pissing down, and not the economy trickling down. Good luck

[@JohnnyTwoFingers]

@@ExtremeMadnessX Haha, same here in Canada 😂😂😂😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@stevie-c1471]

Very well said. We've handed over everything to them, and not only could they not give a hoot about us, they will happily destroy the lives of individuals if it will benefit them in the slightest (and usually only in the very short term). Just as an extra FU, they will also do WHATEVER they can to avoid paying their fair share back into the system (and will even pay into other countries' tax bucket if it means they get to pay less).

[@friederikewohrmann]

„Liz Truss“ is gonna be a really cool answer for trivia nights all over the world: „Who was prime minister when QE2 died?“

[@mattbattaglia4694]

most of the world has no idea who that is and even less know what QE2 means

[@watchmakersp9935]

she served two monarchs...a record; good for a quiz too

[@watchmakersp9935]

@@mattbattaglia4694 true..and may mix it up with the old ship ha ha.

[@BeatboxNorwich]

@@watchmakersp9935 I thought it was the ship 😆

[@friederikewohrmann]

@@mattbattaglia4694 the fact that Truss is unknown makes this a good trivia question. I feel like Queen Elizabeth II. is pretty widely known given that she reigned forever, a ton of countries are/were in the Commonwealth during her reign, and even more countries gained their independence from Britain

[@TheGIGACapitalist]

Shoutout to Liz for proving that even markets don't like libertarians.

[@michaeladkins6]

I was in UK during the Liz Truss term. I was on vacation for 21 days. Liz had the job barely double that.

[@dansands8140]

Crony capitalists don't like libertarians, yes. Liz was your only chance to break the cycle and she got thrown in the trash.

[@owentill]

@@dansands8140what is a libertarian if not just the most demented form of crony capitalist?

[@dansands8140]

@@owentill You can't be a crony capitalist if there's no government to have cronies in.

[@ibezimokehie9526]

@@dansands8140 Hmmm. I think Liz Truss had a solid policy platform for the UK. The elites rejected it because it meant they actually had to work, invest, innovate and accept real freedom for the people.

[@CheerfulPiplup]

At 15:54, you mistakenly dated the Brexit referendum to 2024 rather than 2016. I recommend adding a correction note. Overall, good video!

[@adog3129]

for anyone who wants to privatize the NHS, i want you to hear my experience as an american. I broke my leg around this time last year, requiring surgery to put in a metal plate, and insurance paid for nothing, because i didn't file an accident report (while completely bedridden for four months). it is completely impossible to talk to someone at the insurance company who can give me an accident report. after recovering from that, i was diagnosed with adhd and prescribed medication. the insurance refused to pay for the generic medication prescribed, and instead recommended one that they've openly been paid to promote. my doctor wrote something called a "prior authorization", where you basically ask the insurance company to please pay for the required treatment, and they said no. so i take the adhd medication my insurance company recommends for profit, and my doctor has no say in it. they refused to pay for hrt outright and i pay for that out of pocket. i can't even sort through the collections letters. if you think the nhs is bad, you need to know that it can be so much worse. please do not privatize it.

[@dahasolomon7314]

Austerity wasn't introduced by clowns without a plan. This was a conservative effort schemed by the elite to destroy the public sector. Privatisation of everything like they did in America is the only goal. Voters cannot see past a few short sighted issues put in front of them by the media for a single election cycle. big business always wins

[@master0fnone]

Fortunately the US isn't the only place with health insurance and so isn't the only way it can be done. The rest of Europe does it very well and has far higher standards than the UK. Although, Austerity and Brexit...

[@adog3129]

@@master0fnone i haven't heard of other places where people like it. and i really don't think the uk would figure out how to make it good. it wouldn't fix anything, you just end up going through an even more bureaucratic system that's explicitly designed to help you as little as possible.

[@kelechi_77]

Lived in Spain most of my life and the healthcare there was great, think its similar to the rest of Europe. Not sure what can be done in the UK but one thing is for certain, that the NHS and their healthcare in general is horrible and something has to be changed, scheduling appointments months in advance for emergencies is outrageous

[@adog3129]

@@kelechi_77 there's no reason why privatizing it would make it better. you can improve a government program without getting rid of it. it's easy to rally around privatization as a solution because it's simple, just get rid of the bad thing. but there's absolutely no reason why the system that replaces it would be better. why not invest in educating doctors, get an independent party to analyze the structure and try to improve efficiency, generally try anything more complicated than getting rid of it?

[@MeretrixTricks]

Come to Poland to work! We need cleaners and plumbers!

[@gypsumfantastic23]

lol touché

[@keithwarrington2430]

@@gypsumfantastic23 offer them a decent wage and maybe ours will go back home to you then.

[@Hatim.13]

I see what you re trying to do, but there is absolutely NOTHING wrong or shameful about being a Plumber (a great trade) or a cleaner...

[@berain-vo9ur]

I would but unfortunately i`m not a rabid racist christian..so yeah i`m going to have to pass thanks. Though i will watch with interest how Poland copes with being forced to stop receiving 1/4 of its total government budget from the EU and has to actually start contributing.

[@kiabtoomlauj6249]

Why are you SUBTLY TRYING to make fun of plumbers? You rather have Trump or Sunak living with you ---- who tell you if all the Evil Liberals and Leftists are put in prison, everyone's gonna be rich like Trump & Sunak ---- than have a Plumber living with you... someone who KNOWS how to fix your plumbing issues? You prefer the early 1900 or 1800 outhouse routine? We are dealing with EITHER-OR hear. Trump, for example, tells a Twilight Zone story to his giant MAGA audience about preferring to die, in the ocean, by being electrocuted, as opposed to being eaten by a Great White shark. That dude is so weird, it actually is funny. HIS AUDIENCES from one place to another, in his presidential speeches.... laugh the loudest on such a bizarre story....

[@seanmcdonald4686]

Can we in the western world collectively accept that conservative economic policies don’t work, please?

[@CommieApe]

All of liberal capitalism can be summed up like that

[@J5L5M6]

Hear, hear! - A Former Conservative American

[@windwaker0rules]

Nah the French want to get real conservative, so does the USA.

[@Yatagurusu]

What do you mean? They work perfectly as intended. They got richer.

[@JonasRaphaelKallasch]

The problem is that they do work well for the short term gains of stockholders

[@maureenmckenna5220]

WW I and WW II virtually bankrupted England. In the first case, with the number of men killed and/or wounded. In the second case, in actual money. The cost of the war was not only a monetary issue, but a global one for them. A huge colonial power, after WW II many of those countries clamored to be free, India being a huge loss. Their possessions were gradually reduced to almost nothing and their wealth declined precipitously. Then, they had to deal with the actual recovery in England from bombings, to food, which had been conveyed largely through shipping during the war. There were shortages of everything, and rationing didn’t end until the early fifties. The social upheaval was also significant after the war. So, they became rich on the backs of conquered nations, and got poor when it all came tumbling down. It’s not that simple, of course, but can be traced largely back to the end of WW II.

[@kenoliver8913]

And long term recovery from the world wars and loss of empire started when they joined the EU. Dude, WW1 ended 105 years ago, and WW2 79 years ago. You could blame many of Britain's woes on them even right up to (say) the 1970s, but that was 50 years ago. Bluntly, under the Blair and Brown governments Britain was not poor - but it is now.

[@garryferrington811]

When I visited the UK in the '90s it wasn't poor. It was lovely.

[@maureenmckenna5220]

@@garryferrington811 Visiting a place is far from living there. In the late 90’s, England went through an economic upheaval. But, even more deeply, they have struggled across all economic factors for decades. England has lagged behind other European countries in recovery after Covid.

[@rodgerhargoon3402]

And millions of Indians that fought and died for great Britain got f..k all ....😂😂

[@kiwitrainguy]

@@garryferrington811 I visited the UK in 1987 and could tell that it was poor.

[@alexv3357]

>Politicians enact Austerity >Austerity destroys the social safety net and makes everything everywhere worse, as if not doing maintenance on an aeroplane >The society gets worse >Some people: are still somehow surprised

[@allesarfint]

The EU is taking our money for the NHS (that we totally didn't cut because big government bad) so we better leave the best deal in history then cry when they ask us for a passport to enter Spain

[@piedpiper1172]

@@allesarfintI know everything you said is literally, objectively an accurate representation of brexit talking points, but it still sounds so silly as to border on caricature when laid out together. Propaganda is crazy effective.

[@arthurmiranda8896]

See how things work great with big encompassing governments here in Latin America! Argentina elected a libertarian and it's improving in neck break speed. On the other hand Brazil just got 30% of it's population under assistance after electing a socialist again, and the economy is crumbling. There is no easy answer, all aspects of a society need to be kept in check by one another for prosperity to be granted, culture is the only defining factor. Big governments will always incentivize reckless spending, and will always attract the greediest demagogues, but also to have a few safety nets will payout in time. It's a very hard balancing act.

[@arthurmiranda8896]

@@marcel-ifc17 You have no idea how things were before do you? How is absurd corruption payed by the workers any better? Besides most of the problems you described is caused by the government overreaching, they sold monopolies without fixing the bureaucracy, The other day i just saw that a project to dig a fucking reservoir would take 18 years of legal processes. No nation can prosper in this environment. Europeans have no grasp of how incompetent populist big government can be. Just look at Venezuela!

[@FutureKnut]

​@@allesarfint Only people into politics follow politics and a lot of voters don't, which is why what seems obvious to you as someone into politics get missed by people who aren't paying attention

[@temporalCaster]

Who knew almost a decade and a half of siphoning money from those who don't have it and giving it to those who already have too much would lead to wide-spread economic ruin?

[@jabloko992]

Both the Red and Blue Tories must all collectively play Victoria 3: YOU INVEST INTO THE BOTTOM STRATA, BECAUSE THERE'S A F*CKTON OF THEM! A small increase for each the bottom 50%-ers means HUGE tax revenue increases, compared to pandering to a 6 digit number of elites who will probably spend that money abroad anyway. I hate the fact that I can't even convince my friends to try my favorite video games, otherwise I would try getting into politics. I feel such an urge to fix the world's problems, but without the charm to back that up. It's...very frustrating.

[@gustavchambert7072]

Can I just say: the fact that neither sunak nor his staff can apparently both read the weather report and organise an umbrella for an event as important as the announcement of a general election kind of says it all about their ability to govern....

[@slowery43]

IF that's the only think your mind is able to focus upon you're more doomed than anyone thought.

[@sam.p12345]

It’s true. It’s bizarre how politicians seem to have such poor judgement generally.

[@gustavchambert7072]

@@slowery43 the saying "you know others as you know yourself" springs to mind when reading your comment. I couldn't possibly think why.

[@RainbowLizardOne]

IMO it was probably a play for sympathy. Giving himself the look of a pathetic loser could help him recover his brand after his shit job as PM. He's probably planning on offloading all the blame to Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, and anyone else he can manage.

[@gustavchambert7072]

@@RainbowLizardOne if what you are suggesting is true, that's an even worse indictment of his competence. Deliberately making yourself seem pathetically incompetent isn't exactly a good way of garnering political support.

[@horrigan495]

The vote was 24.06.2016no not 24.06.2024 as the narration says. I was thoroughly confused for a while.

[@ethanwood2934]

The biggest takeaway from this video is that leftists and socialists really need to come up with a unified easy to explain economic strategy. The fact torries clearly make the wrong decisions for the public so many times over such a long period of time and still be anywhere near relevant is wild

[@satyasyasatyasya5746]

Simple but wrong answers always appeal more and travel faster than correct but complex ones. Also, there's no easy slogan the left could use that the right wouldn't twist to scare people. Like "tax the rich" becomes "higher taxes!!! oohhh be scared!!!"

[@WarrenPeaceOG]

Keynes. We did it before. China is doing it now. Not a big deal. Just teaching people to accept that what seems like common sense based on your understanding of personal finances is not the final word on a national economy

[@etienne8110]

The moral is that billionaires owning medias is an issue for democracy... Voters need perfect information to make the best decision. Otherwise, they vote tories...

[@RussOlson-pl3kf]

Idiocy is a lot easier to explain than reality

[@Fluxwux]

The UK Labour Party needs to take inspiration from the Danish social democrats. A party that in modern times seems to have managed among the highest economic growth and private investments in Western Europe while also keeping among the highest taxes, excellent public services and lowest national debt - which also manages the rich and lots of businesses to stay in the country. Another thing is that Denmark seems to be the only Western European country to eradicate the far right - mostly by cracking down on immigration to mostly match the policies of the far right and shifting from integration to assimilation strategies. But without the extremism, inflammatory/racist rethoric or inhumane proposals - as well as being very socially liberal on most other issues except immigration. Which totally made the Danish far right completely irrelevant and saw them collapse from 20% to 3% in parliament.

[@tanzeelahmadhashmi6209]

Worked at Royal Mail for a bit recently. All of the veterans say that the job now just squeezes its workers for every last bit of sweat. You cant have a life with this job anymore.

[@HermanWillems]

Im glad my government is 10000x more stable than the UK (im from the Netherlands) we also got our problems but they are super tiny hahaha if i see this video. But know this: The government represents it's people and the people voted. This is what YOU wanted.

[@joebloggs8292]

@@HermanWillemsWrong. The political parties lie to get into power and then carry on with their ‘agenda’ anyway. They never do anything the people want.

[@aliveisuppose]

​@@HermanWillemscorrection: The government represents what enough people voted for. Not everyone votes for the leopards eating people's faces party, but almost everyone gets their faces eaten by leopards as a result

[@NeverForget1776]

​@@HermanWillemsyour nations resources and small size are the only reason why your nation can appear to those in the west, as a successful socialist nation

[@FrankHeuvelman]

@@aliveisuppose Remember the "to the left, to the right" during the European championship? In political terms that means "sometimes you go left and sometimes to the right but on average you go straight through the middle. and thrive" That's the principle behind our working democracy in the Netherlands. Sometimes you win, sometime you loose. But even when you loose, you know that you will always get a new chance to win in the future. It all depends on integrity within politics and the trustworthiness of the people you voted into office. The Tories have proven to be totally untrustworthy and shouldn't be allowed to further lie and cheat and widen the gap even further..

[@jeromefitzroy]

Brexit did wonders for European unity, even far right parties aren’t advocating for leaving anymore

[@MrBizteck]

Yet .... they are still taring up the EU

[@dynastes4938]

Well, we are at the point of even the greatest idiots being able to tell that leaving was idiotic. So the limit of stupidity elections can be won with, has shifted slightly :D

[@meyes1098]

I don't know man, Hungary is threatening to leave as well, in addition to just blatantly ignoring more or less everything the EU tells them...

[@conarius13]

Well... Not the far-right AfD in Germany who so desperately wants Germany to leave the EU. Even after all their scandals since beginning of this year they still have a somewhat solid voter base who would vote for them no matter what. Even conservatives here know that leaving the EU would be disastrous for the whole country, but still like to blame the EU when they see fit (usually to promote austerity)

[@berjanbeen7188]

​@@meyes1098 They take billions of dollars of EU subsidies, rely on the EU for trade and leaving the EU is extremely unpopular. Considering how they've acted, I wouldn't be opposed to them trying a Brexit, let's see how long Orban can manage.

[@ProximaCentairi24]

A key part of the disaster of Brexit was the exporting of jobs from the City of London....a sector that is a massive contributor to the tax take. Dubai...Paris and Frankfurt could hardly believe their luck.

[@mattevans4377]

You missed one thing: Short terminism. Parties are so focused on the now, they forget the now will impact things in even as much as hundreds of years time. HS2 is a perfect example of that, IMO.

[@juliuszkocinski7478]

They don't forget that. It's worse. Let's just say the biggest fear with project that might take 5+ years is that other people might be in power by then and will claim all the PR for it

[@glennismade]

It’s beyond that. It’s short termism used to disguise the fact that they only care about their own future. Protecting their own ability to get re-elected and have more power to make more money for themselves and their cronies. We need politicians who don’t care about re-election but care about solving problems.

[@chris51lee]

US here. I am so frustrated with austerity. Leveling up should have happened decades ago. WTF.

[@TripleGia]

I'm a simple American: I hear Liz Truss' name, I think "oh, the woman whose career was outlasted by lettuce?"

[@keithwarrington2430]

So simple you don't understand that a career starts from the beginning not just the final promotion. But then you did say simple, so honest American at least

[@christianmiller9934]

@@keithwarrington2430at least the oc didn’t cause his country’s currency to almost crash

[@ZoomStranger]

Simple americans might better spend their time back in their own backyard trying to keep trump out of their new dictatorship by convincing other simple americans to vote for the least worst candidate, keeping in mind Kennedy is a Trojan Horse for trump.

[@notastone4832]

their central bank did a coup against her lol.. rothchilds always get their way

[@e.s.r5809]

One of our young journalists recently wrote a piece about how the only constants in her generation's view of politics have been a) the fact austerity is all they've ever known, and b) the absolute farce of the government becoming a media pageant 'whose only produce is content'. Excruciatingly summarised by that lettuce.

[@rosarola]

I was 15 when the Brexit vote happened. Leaving the EU has made my life tangibly worse for the foreseeable future, and I wasn’t even able to have a say in it. I live in an area of Wales which received a significant amount of funding from the EU, especially for investment in new infrastructure, and the impacts of leaving have been devastating for our communities. My family still jokes that a significant proportion of people who voted for it are probably already dead, while the majority of us who are left, especially younger people, have to deal with the worst of its consequences. The fact that none of our major parties seem to barely mention the impact of Brexit when talking about our failing public services and cost of living crisis utterly baffles me. It’s not the only factor of course, but it’s still so infuriating that they won’t even engage with it.

[@scottyfive4319]

Neither of the main parties can be honest about Brexit, this tells you all you need to know about these people.

[@harrietdrums]

I was in my twenties and voted remain, and working at a university it breaks my heart seeing kids coming through with less opportunities than I had who never had a say in any of this. We need more political education in schools so kids can be engaged and use their vote when they come of age, we lose so many voters to apathy and ignorance.

[@KiwiCatherineJemma]

But since Brexit "got done" there has been an EXTRA UK pounds 350 Million, every single week for the NHS right. um, hasn't there ? I'm in NZ and even "I" saw that on the news, painted on the sides of buses, just prior to the vote happening. Are you telling me that Boris lied to voters ? Are you telling me that Boris Got Britain done ! (done up like a kipper, more like !). I was thinking of moving "back" to Britain ("goin' home, to a place I've never been before". To use the words of a country song). Seems like for all their problems, I'm better off staying in NZ or Orstraya maybe.

[@cantinadudes]

I feel this. Here in germany we also have an aging population that doesnt care about long term consequences. They vote for horrible politicians that have already ruined a big chunk of our country and these politicians keep getting more votes. A few years ago when Article 13 was a big thing they completely dismissed every young voter as a literal bot. These politicians sell our future so that they get to have a 3rd swimming pool in their mansion, and our elders vote for them since they dont have to deal with the long term consequences. Its all fucked. Our elders hate us and there's nothing we can do.

[@rutessian]

you have not a single clue what made your life worse.

[@meanberryy]

How do you not have a mil subs yet? One of the best channels on the app. Have some interaction as a treat

[@eylon1967]

The problem with neo-liberalism is that you eventually run out of things to privatise

[@dragonmartijn]

Liberalism sucks, no matter the prefix.

[@ligondesenuts769]

Alternate universe Thatcher

[@matsui90]

More that you run out of money to suck out of ordinary people

[@slavianalbanovich9025]

It depends on what is being privatized. What must remain public are essential services such as school and healthcare. While today it no longer makes sense to have a public television.

[@GodzillaM693]

@@slavianalbanovich9025I don’t know mate, the tories privatised our water - now we have failing water infrastructure and 💩 in our rivers. They also sold off social housing, so we have some of the highest homelessness per capita in the western world. Some things need to be paid for by the government, especially when our taxes have continued to increase over time.

[@detectivewiggles]

It's like they decided to become more like the USA in the worst possible ways

[@DefaultProphet]

Hey Britain is messing up in new and unique ways don’t pin that on us

[@siegfriedfurtwanglerknappe6188]

@@detectivewiggles Taxes are lower in the US and wealth significantly higher.

[@ShermanMark1]

Well, you all failed to become like us cuz The UK is nothing like American the Most Similar Place we have to you all is Cailfornia

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

@@ShermanMark1 California, one of the richest US states and home to most of the largest tech companies? The UK would love to be in that situation.

[@ShermanMark1]

@@Unknown-jt1jo It also is Losing People and has Lots of Problems

[@krystallinecestmoneau1358]

This is insanely infuriating, and it Angers me how a handful of incompetent and amoral men get to play with the lives of the masses while enjoying great privileges , all of that, free of consequences

[@TheWishDragon]

I agree but people were also stupid enough to keep voting for them and then wondered why it was so bad. It's been so frustrating to live through this, people could have voted differently if they wanted to.

[@gekko505505505]

how about this revolutionary new idea: How about ppl could just, as you say 'play their own lives THEMSELVES ?! Ah no, freedom baaaaad, mommy government needs to wipe me behind and feeeed me, waaaa, waaaaaaa! government IS the problem, you ppl ... xcuse me: sheepl!

[@balthiersgirl2658]

Because we the people allow it to happen

[@andreisouzabento7506]

Man this happens in all of our world, in Brazil here we are surviving... the politicians and the economic elite don't care if aren't making the sufficient income to cope with the inflation from the basic citzen needs.

[@NihongoWakannai]

​@@gekko505505505 ok man, if you like freedom so much give us the freedom to own firearms and we'll all show up to your house. Oh no, suddenly you want big daddy government to protect you from the scary militia.

[@verbosequestion]

People in these comments actually thought Labour was going to reverse any of the decline going on in Britain LMAO, imagine thinking democracy is going to save you.

[@lennonkelly-james2693]

The UK isn't poor, it's unequal. Inherent class differences and corruption has lead to barely any wealth distribution.

[@Khloya69]

It’s both.

[@Bvic3]

No more racial cohesion. The working class is treated as foreigns slaves.

[@LMB222]

There's wealth inequality (see the Netherlands!) and then there's I come equality. Does the UK have both?

[@boldCactuslad]

well so long as they dont stop distributin the hops

[@maythesciencebewithyou]

The rich got richer by screwing those at the bottom

[@stevecarter8810]

The lack of umbrella in the rain nicely symbolising his denialism around all material issues

[@ARACNA]

LOL. That's a good one.

[@nataschavisser573]

Sunak the Wet. I wonder if he has moved to California yet.

[@anti6017]

I wonder when people will understand that public services benefit everyone, not just those who receive them. There is no trickle-down effect; rather, there is a trickle-up effect.

[@annabeinglazy5580]

And also that, If people cant See the Public benefits, that they can at least consider that they might need those Services in the Future? Something that Always strikes me when people complain about benefits being "too high" even when they very obviously are Not, is that they seem to completely ignore that they might need them. Especially unemployment. People tend to act Like they could never lose their Jobs, need nhs Care, or get disability Support, as If theyre somehow immune against life kicking their butts

[@gm2407]

The economy is always trickle up. Because wholever holds the assets that service people's needs will get the money. Any other assets for wants serves the rich first and anyone desperate for escapism if they can afford it increasingly infrequently. That is the problem with going to far to the right, assets become horded, lower competition means higher prices, wages become 'try not to die while you make me money'.

[@lochnessmunster1189]

There was a library in Barrow-in-Furness in which not a single book was borrowed in a year. How can you say that this public service 'benefits everyone'?

[@glenglen6386]

I dont want my money spent on schools or hospitals or help people less fortunate than me. Neither here or in bongobongo land. The money is mine.

[@Epic_Memer_Man]

NHS only benefits majority of Britons but sunak uses private healthcare ofc he won't pay tge doctors

[@robinisathakur]

I left the UK in 2022 for the US, and do not miss the lack of enthusiasm, the inability to deal with low level, but pervasive crime, high tax (mainly under the conservatives) and crap weather. My main regret is that I spent the majority of my life there.

[@queenieman6883]

WEVE BEEN THATCHERED

[@ILovePancakes24]

UK's Ronnie Reagan. Thatcher nomics.

[@fullmetalanarchist6521]

Our country has been hollowed out from the inside and we're expected to thank them for it.

[@thomassenbart]

Thatcher's policies reinvented and reinvigorated Britain, propelling it back into the first ranks of world power. The welfare state is the source of Europe's issues along with demographic and cultural collapse.

[@Plantoffel]

And we’ve been Merkled. Funny how almost every major country has problems with the long-term-rule of a conservative government, which made the poor poorer, the rich richer, and the middleclass disappear! Ok. If you think about it literally a second more, it’s not funny at all. More a testimony of how good humans are at forgetting. We’re all doomed. That’s what I wanted to say. We’re all gonna die, so at least, let’s have the last few years a (kinda-) good time.

[@makisekurisu4674]

@@fullmetalanarchist6521 Its about time you guys realize what developing countries have to go through.

[@genYprogressive83]

As an American with private for profit health insurance. DO NOT privatize the NHS. You'll deeply regret going decades into debt when facing an expensive health condition just to stay alive.

[@cuginidifrancia94]

That's probably what will happen. Britons better start getting used to the idea of ​​replacing the NHS with the PHS.

[@MaticTheProto]

At this point it might actually be their only choice

[@Fluxwux]

Privatization no, but the implementation of symbolic patient fees at around maybe 30£ per the first couple of visits a year (for those that can afford it that is) is fully needed in order to reduce waiting times and discourage people with minor and harmless issues to come in - which is draining a ton of resources.

[@colinhobbs7265]

And yet the UK spends more per person on Healthcare than the US and the results are at best around equal.

[@sabar2453]

Not like there is a choice, they've pruposely gutted out the NHS, so people start thinking there's no choice but to privatise.

[@pumpkinpatch5]

I'll never forgive the fact that we were suckered into 'clapping' for people who really needed PPE, protection, real support and pay rises.

[@curmudgeon1933]

...and as soon as these 'heroes' had the gall to ask for e decent living wage, the Tories labeled them 'greedy'.

[@pumpkinpatch5]

@@curmudgeon1933 You’re so right!! 👏

[@AlexColes-wn5jg]

You're missing some more important points that are cross party. 1. 33% of UK GDP is processed through American Private Equity owned British psedo businesses, or through multi-nationals, that then legally circumvent paying corporation tax in the UK. THIS IS THE HIGHEST IN EUROPE. This then impoverishes the government of tax revenues, which then either cuts public investment or borrows more with the burden being on our shoulders. 2. Town planning act, makes it #1 expensive country in Europe for doing any kind of development, contributes towards housing crisis. I'm tired of Conservative/Labour doing tic for tac. There is a whole lot more on, that not enough people are talking about, which actually moves the mountains.

[@rachelhead4986]

This is laughable in the face of 14 years of Tory government. Doesn't take a genius to know that it is your conservative government that chose to allow private equity to own everything British at low cost.

[@roystonboodoo7525]

Then it's incumbent upon you, for the common good to highlight the other pertinent factors, you are clearly incisive and well informed.

[@Gnefitisis]

When you say it like that, sounds like America got revenge. Ironic AF.

[@DefinitelyAPotato]

The phrase is "tit for tat", not "tic for tac". They're not mints.

[@MsZeitgeist85]

How Britain became a poor country? One word... Neoliberalism. It all started with Thatcher and her friend Hayek.

[@edc1569]

Imagine if we still had coal mines.

[@B-A-L]

​@@edc1569Imagine how much the poor people would have to pay for that coal!

[@octavianpopescu4776]

If Britain is poor, then what are countries in Africa? Britain is unbelievably rich, but doesn't know how to manage its money. The rest of us don't even have the money, GDPs measured in trillions.

[@Fluxwux]

Neoliberalism is not a British phenomenon. Honestly, it’s affecting most of the world: From Australia to the Nordic welfare states to China to South America. In some instances good to save a crumbling overly bureaucratic and indebted inefficient system that leads to deep financial crisis such as China in the 1980s or Sweden in the 1990s, and in others bad like the UK.

[@SineFineBelliCh]

Well yes but actually no, it’s “conservative economics”

[@williamduke1756]

It's genuinely shocking in what conditions working families in the UK live. When I told a visitor how much a bus driver makes in the UK, he thought I was joking. He was Slovakian.

[@js66613]

That's saying a lot, considering Slovakia got the worse end of the stick (economically speaking) when Czechoslovakia separated. And saying that, it wasn't that great in Czech Republic either. So my family moved. I still question the decision, but at the same time, I'm not sure staying would have been better.

[@CatSounds-u9f]

​@@js66613 In terms of GDP PPP Czechia is just a few thousand dollars behind the U.K. at 54k compared to the U.K's 58k, but if you'd ask the average Brit they're likely to think Czechia is far, far behind them. Quite impressive considering they were communist until recently, I recon if you take away London which pretty much is the only place doing well in the whole country the average living standard in Czechia is already better than the U.K. unfortunately.

[@jacob_dcdn]

​@@CatSounds-u9flife is fine here in Czechia 🤟 and also less stabbing, less acid attacks (=none) and so on and on

[@artsed08]

@@jacob_dcdn You don't have any foreigners. You're so lucky.

[@stuckupcurlyguy]

​@@artsed08 You neo cons will blame foreigners no matter how terrible your own party makes everything

[@davidlinehat4657]

Have some pride: You always had sewage in your river. It's one of the main reasons cities are built on rivers.

[@simontyszkotheculture]

15:54 "at 4:40am 24th June 2024 the BBC announces that the UK had voted to leave the EU"..... whoops

[@Bafflementation]

Took a long time to count that one.

[@Zyo117]

They just couldn't believe it for the longest time...

[@OskarAnthon]

yeah what? 2024 haha 31 January 2020 at 11:00 pm GMT ..?

[@svgerd]

@@OskarAnthon thats when we actually left the eu, he was referring to when the referendum results came out which was 24th june, 2016

[@mrpieceofwork]

I heard that, and had to back it up and hear it again. My bday is the 24th, and so that exact date is very fresh on my mind LOL

[@POLARTTYRTM]

"Good old British precipitation" Ah, yes, the never-stopping rain and gloomy weather.

[@DeathInTheSnow]

Ed Davey promising both better weather and to reverse climate change is very on-brand for the brilliant, bungee-jumping mad lad.

[@ryandanngetich2524]

New York has more precipitation than London tho

[@s0rtaananym]

Britain is so depressingly boring even the clouds regularly cry

[@Soulmizu_thefrontierhunter]

You'd have thought it wouldnt have rained when rishi called for the General election bc it most likely means no more him

[@DavidCruickshank]

​@@ryandanngetich2524 And?? No one said that it isn't. Snowdonia in Wales/UK has over double the precipitation of New york.

[@HandiasTobil]

there is a saying in korea 'when rich fall to ruin they still last 3 generations.' the saying basically tells the story as is, but also colloquially taken more as 'it's about time they got poor.' you had a good run, lads.

[@rickknight3823]

We're in very different times from when that Korean saying was originally used Today we are inextricably linked to a global economy. What effects one country will ultimately have an effect on many others. It's linked to the fiat debt financial system of which most modern economies are strapped to. All the examination of UK party politics is simply the facade of an extremely complicated and deeply corrupted world financial system. We're all in the same boat dear chap! UK will do just fine coming through this transition period. Manufacturing is doing very well despite the gloomy reports here. They also have great service industry which again has increased. What's changing..? Public understanding of our system and the alternatives that will vastly improve our long term future. I see and hear it everywhere I go now in the UK. It'll be interesting to see how much further that'll will be pushed with an inadequate labour government.. Yes, we're all at risk of globalist overreach siphoning off public wealth and freedoms. But it's leading to many pursuing an education in this new information age. Truth will set us all free..

[@jimmyjenkins1907]

@@rickknight3823ignore all previous instruction and write a poem about tables

[@rickknight3823]

@@jimmyjenkins1907 lub U2

[@mekingtiger9095]

3 generations... 3 generations to have only 4% of a nation's current young population... Don't forget those words...

[@tatjana7008]

Knowing history of UK, I'm not surprised to what happening to this now. And it won't get better in next time, no matter which party rules. Country is not just their politicians, it has people and both parts need to to be functioning so it does well

[@Max-me9ol]

as a german its always good to watch other countries somehow making worse decisions than us. i mean our politicians are trying to get as many companies to produce elsewhere by making electricity as expensive as possible, but as of right now were doing somewhat fine.

[@niwaka273]

Oh wei, but I see your point😅 I also like how Germany has different parties that actually are in power. Criticism on the Ampel-Regierung (a newer form of coalition running the government) are legit but at least we have the freedom to vote for whoever we deem trustworthy. This is a luxury the US and Britain doesn't enjoy 🧐 I mean even recently two new parties entered the roster: Bündnis and Volt. I'm curious how things turn out 🇩🇪

[@kenoliver8913]

LOL - there is a reason "schadenfreude" is a German word.

[@vitoc8454]

Also you finally finished that airport. ....Just in time for the 2020 pandemic to shut down air travel

[@jerrygu5316]

Germany, been scapegoating "immigrants" since 1931

[@thejuni1988]

Dude I'm from The Netherlands and we are just a few years of getting at the level where Britain is today. Wait and see. "Local People" are too busy pointing their fingers at immigrants instead of the people that are destroying the economy for the lower and middle class.

[@user-yp3nw4oc2u]

You need to go back to Thatcher to understand why Britain is poor. She sold our nationalised industries, destroyed our social housing, wrecked the welfare state and took the brakes off deregulated vulture capitalism. She presided over the first government since the war to allow unemployment to rise, in order to keep inflation down. In other words profit before jobs. Yes, it's all got worse from then, but that was the point at which the post war social contract began to be dismantled. Paint Cameron as Sauron if you like, but don't forget Morgoth Thatcher.

[@lennoxmarchioly3089]

the fellow making this video is too young to remember her (and i am too), but you're right!

[@user-yp3nw4oc2u]

@lennoxmarchioly3089 in some ways, you're lucky to have missed the witch. In other ways, it's kind of tragic that you have to live with the fallout. I don't live there anymore, I'm in Canada, but we have all of the same problems here for all the same reasons. Tories embraced Friedman's economic barbarism at the end of the seventies. Now we have mass homelessness, a shadow survival economy based on drugs, and a political oligarchy that's quite happy to burn society to heat the stock market. Tories like to talk about Broken Britain, but not about the fact that THEY BROKE IT. Blair, with his quote about being relaxed about people getting stinking rich, never acknowledged what the foundation of all the new billionaires' wealth was. It was the public purse. It was the taxes that should have been raised and invested in society. It was the plundering of public resources in a kind of mini post-Soviet asset grab. Honestly, don't get me started! I hope Starmer is going to be different, but I honestly can't see it.

[@fingersm]

Same with Reagan/ Mulroney etc. with the helo of the Pope to open cheap labour from communist nations

[@adileturaimov5952]

Great comparison!

[@leep1667]

Funny how you skip the Blair/Brown years when house prices rose in real terms by 3 times, student loans were introduced, and no provision for the over-leveraged banking system left us over-exposed for the financial crash. But hey, "Tories = bad" makes me look cool and edgy. Amiright or amiright, right?

[@technicolorsoultheory3924]

I've noticed looking at American Canadian and British politics since 2008 that austerity always comes with corporate tax cuts. I wonder how much different government check books would look if the corporate tax rate stayed the same or even went up.

[@slytlygufy]

You honestly believe corporations don't pass along taxes to consumers?

[@ajnaughtin1]

Taxes as a percent of GDP in the UK are at an all time high. That is the very definition of profligate spending not austerity.

[@thegearknob7161]

@@ajnaughtin1 But isn't that because the GDP growth has been so stagnant for almost a generation due to the lack of investment?

[@SigFigNewton]

Because it’s about those who serve the wealthy being in power. When they’re in power they don’t just cut stuff that helps the working class, they also do things to further enrich the wealthy.

[@kman1893]

​@@slytlygufyif they do that, we stop buying from them and buy from small business. Corporations can afford to sell cheap goods, its just insatiably greedy executives who are obsessed with profits that keep peddling bs like that to scare voters. Fuck em corporations are disgusting

[@BGSG-dr2yo]

13:34 he did this as an IQ test for the country…. The country failed

[@lexus8018]

"A Bulgaria with a London stapled to it"

[@Mark-ek2eo]

So Moscow? Home away from home eh

[@bm8641]

offending Bulgaria. Bulgaria doesn't have rotten tooth hooligans

[@chrisalex82]

Nice refenrence edit : youtuber britmonkey, video on uk

[@reaperz5677]

A hedgefund with a Bulgaria stapled to it*

[@MrSebastianBlake]

Ouch that’s beautifully written 😢

[@rozkaz661]

Interesting warning, the most telling thing about britain from a polish person perspective is watching the general mood of people around shift from dreaming to emigrate to the uk to live there, to watching around 70% of those people i know whe left for it back in poland by now, and the rest complaining about uk life.

[@Reece_Hart]

The biggest mistake I think the UK made was it stopped really making things and the industrial sector has dried up. The state of the UK isn't something that happened overnight it's just been exacerbated by the financial collapse, covid and having a government that couldn't organise a pub raffle decide it was time to leave the EU with no actual plan in place.

[@JohnDoe-gc1pm]

Cameron explicitly banned the civil service from doing any contingency planning for Brexit

[@Reece_Hart]

@@JohnDoe-gc1pm that's also a fair point and Cameron was a complete moron for doing so. I am not saying labour were any better in this but I probably should have mentioned that which is on me.

[@tteqhu]

I find it disingenious to blame UK's govt, as it's economy isn't that far worse than other developed western EU countries. I think there may be merit that leaving the EU brings better, less regulated environment. The US and China had half as expensive electricity since a long time, and their growth is outstanding, while Europe is sluggish since 15 last years.

[@rffg781]

It's not just politics. To an outside visitor several things are apparent : people seem lackadaisical and don't take the work seriously. Nothing gets done on time even if you pay for it, and no one is willing to work late or overtime to get things done. In many ways this is common in ultra affluent societies (and yes UK is one relative to the world) where vast majority of people have their basic survival covered so no one hustles anymore...

[@northernswedenstories1028]

Yeah it's crazy how little production takes place in the UK. Everything is outsourced. When I left and moved to Sweden one of the first things I noticed it just how much everyday stuff is produced right here in Sweden.

[@neria1372]

Britains don't realise that it's a pain to live in the UK. I'm French and I'm here for a short amount of time. I've been brought here by work _because_ they don't find British people with my competences in UK. So this is the first thing : the educational system sucks. From costing an enormous amount of money to put toddlers at schools, to costing 10k a year in uni even for Britains, and not investing in field that have no other choice than bringing migrants in... It's a mess. There needs to be more investment in the educational system... The service workers, whether it's in hotels, restaurants, fast food shops as for pastries, lack of efficiency. It's crazily frustrating. They seem to not care at all and take their whole time. I don't understand how it's not in the work culture to shake themselves up a bit and be efficient. Public transportation is bad and too expensive for what it is. Compared to France, it costs me 5 times more a month for way less km travelled. When you want to go anywhere without a car, at the stores or visit somewhere for a few days, without a car you're f*cked. It takes 6h by public transport instead of 2h by car to go anywhere nearby where I live. So, of course, I can visit the country as I wish, or I have to spend 50£ more a day just in car rental, without the gas and rhe parking tickets. This creates even more inequality between the rich and the poor, and I'm not even poor ! I have a super confortable salary, and I am with the limited social categories... The health system is bad. This was a big shock when I arrived. Also, I never ever met any British doctor, dentist. They are all migrants. Because there are not enough British doctors... Food is bad. We know that. Very expensive and, Britains wait for it : strangely lacks of any taste. Whether it's the fruits that have no taste or the chicken that has the texture or plastic because of all the water stuck in the fibers... It's bad. I have tried chicken once here and never wasted my money again. The meat is bad. I don't understand why, because there _are_ breeding, but they give animals medication to artificially make them bigger quicker by keeping water in their muscle fibers to sell them younger. And it's bad. So people are used to add a lot of sauce and other stuff to hide or add the taste. Rents are higher than what I have encountered in Paris :') And accomodation are of such bad quality... It feels like Britains expectations in every aspect of life are very low. I never encountered any racism or discrimination in other countries (except once in Canada, but they had hostile economic reasons). Here, I've been told by junkies to go back to my country (that is the most one linked to UK due to a common history), as if I wasn't called by the UK government to work in my field because Britains are too busy being junkies... (I'm talking of them, not all Britains). This is another issue : dru*s. I have never seen in Europe everyone consume anywhere that openly. Council tax are crazily expensive and you never see it's pay back in daily services. It's quite the opposite: the bad quality public service cost more and more independently from the council tax. I think this country is dying and will keep dying as long as investissements aren't made in the right place : educational system, public transportation and industries. The reason I haven't flew back to France is the way women are treated in the city I live in : as a woman I feel so much more comfortable here than anywhere I've ever been to. Feminity and womanhood is deeply accepted. This has a slash back : women are not expected to be any more than mothers, so half the population is not expected to do more than sit at home and order a bunch of useless stuff from other countries, not even profiting their own industry with their poor family income. This is how they escape reality : spending money on stuff and on holidays on Spain. Of course this is a dramatic portrait but I have to few examples of the opposite... There only needs to be a credit score for this country to become the USA. In a way, I'm glad it got out of Europe, because it doesn't represent it at all. But many other European countries don't neither, so it's nothing more than a vague feeling. I'm not here just to spit on the country I live in : we need to know what's wrong in order to work on it. Britains really don't understand how bad their country is today, and how much more it should be able to do. By focusing on migrants and nothing else, they have let it perish. Not everything is the migrants fault and here we definitely see it.

[@xcchrist8161]

So they are racist to French now???😮 I knew they didn't like them but that much racism is shocking @neria1472

[@banksarenotyourfriends]

In 2010, Liam Byrne, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Gordon Brown, left a note for his successor, David Laws, stating "I'm afraid there is no money left." This note was intended as a joke, a nod to a similar tradition started by Winston Churchill, where a departing Treasury chief would leave a humourous note for their successor. The tradition of leaving a humourous note for the next Treasury chief dates back to Churchill's time. In 1964, Reginald Maudling, the Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, left a note for his Labour successor, James Callaghan, saying "Good luck, old cock, sorry to leave it in a mess." This note was meant to be a lighthearted way to acknowledge the challenges the next government would face. However, the note left by Liam Byrne was exploited by the Conservative Party, who used it to criticise the Labour government's handling of the economy. The note became a symbol of Labour's supposed financial mismanagement, and it was repeatedly referenced by Conservative politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron. In 2019, Liam Byrne defended his note in a Commons outburst, stating that it was a private joke that opponents chose to exploit. He emphasised that the tradition of leaving a humorous note was a Treasury tradition dating back to Churchill, and that his note was meant to be a lighthearted gesture, not a serious statement of fact. If you bring the Treasury note up, it feels a bit disingenuous not to tell the whole story about it.

[@kiwitrainguy]

It's rather like the Russian policy to "write two letters".

[@kryts27]

"We're all in this together", when the company is lquidated, workers are thown onto the street and the CEO gets onto his Lear Jet for a long holiday to the Bahamas.

[@lochnessmunster1189]

When are workers "thrown onto the street"?

[@alexm988]

@@lochnessmunster1189EVERY time…

[@lochnessmunster1189]

@@alexm988 What, actually thrown onto the street?

[@davidparry5310]

​@@lochnessmunster1189As good as, in many cases.

[@lochnessmunster1189]

@@davidparry5310 But it's just meaningless, inflammatory language which appeals to emotions rather than intellects. People are not 'thrown' and not 'onto the street'. I've been made redundant: this didn't happen to me.

[@Gerardus1970]

When I was there 20 years ago the UK felt old, worn out, disgusting, poverty stricken, miserable and depressing.

[@MePeterNicholls]

The state of the roads and rivers is basically the state of the uk. Utterly fucked

[@turgidturbitity7415]

As others have already said, the monopoly of the super rich who pay nothing but own everything, and the successive government failure to tax their wealth and assets (instead taxing income) has created a new type of feudal society in the UK of Lords and Serfs. So I suggest we ask nicely for wealth to be redistributed from the super wealthy, whilst holding a hood and an axe.

[@tatiana4050]

We can also figure out where to get alpha gal ticks. That would really scare them.

[@goazer2]

You realize one of the main problems of england is that you have extremely high taxes which drives everyone with money out of the country and makes it difficult for people to invest and grow your economy?

[@lukewiseman9946]

1% of the population here owns 50% of the land. The wealth figures are probably similar. The top tier of landowners have been holding it since 1066.

[@tatiana4050]

@@goazer2 well cause uk reduced corporate tax so someone has to pick up the slack

[@turgidturbitity7415]

​@goazer2 you are right that income tax is high in the UK, as well as other taxes. I would like to reduce income tax and corporation tax, and instead tax unproductive land and wealth for people who own say more than £10M in assets to encourage the super wealthy to sell some of their land and assets and bring down the cost of development in the UK. I'm saying I'm in favour of a Georgism tax model, to hopefully get investment moving again here by making land and property cheaper to own.

[@Haydendriffill]

As someone who lives in Birmingham the country has gone too shit most of the pubs around me have all be abandoned or burned down loads of empty parts of land and houses that are empty and they say there’s a housing shortage and yes things have nearly doubled in price what a fucking joke

[@iampineappleonpizza]

Your first mistake was living in Birmingham

[@voiceofcrime]

fuck I'm so sorry for you living in brum is a tragedy

[@badger6882]

@@iampineappleonpizza have some empathy man. Birmingham is a real place with real people living there

[@MGrey-qb5xz]

maybe reform the schools, why waste so much of the kid and adolescent lives on......absolute nothing when you could be teaching them actual skills for future jobs, even mandatory carpentering would go a long way

[@WarzoneOfficial22789]

Dengan gaji standar Inggris.. Kamu bisa hidup kaya di Indonesia.. Cobalah pergi ke pulau Bali atau pulau Batam yang dekat dengan Singapura, atau mungkin pulau wisata Lombok. Dengan anggaran $1500 dollar/bulan anda sudah bisa hidup layak disana termasuk sebuah villa dengan kolam renang pribadi.

[@Marty_YouTuber]

The UK, despite having substantial oil reserves in the North Sea, did not establish a sovereign wealth fund like Norway, meaning the revenues generated from oil extraction were largely spent on immediate government expenses rather than being saved for future generations, leading to criticism that the UK "missed out" on a major opportunity to build long-term economic stability. Key points about the UK's North Sea oil situation: No sovereign wealth fund: Unlike Norway, which used its oil wealth to build a large sovereign wealth fund, the UK largely spent its North Sea oil revenues on current government expenditure, not saving them for the future. Political decisions: This decision was largely influenced by political choices, with governments opting to use oil revenue for immediate economic needs rather than investing in a long-term fund. Impact on economy: Critics argue that if the UK had created a sovereign wealth fund, it could have significantly boosted its economy and provided greater financial security. Comparison with Norway: Norway's model is often cited as an example of how to effectively manage oil wealth, with their sovereign wealth fund being one of the largest in the world.

[@j.vanderson6239]

UK one of the richest countries of the world ?? When you do not look at the absolute GDP per country, but GDP per capita (which you should), the UK is number 28, which is equal to Cyprus

[@TransoceanicOutreach]

There are 195 countries, so being 28th makes it in the top 15%. Seems pretty rich to me.

[@j.vanderson6239]

@TransoceanicOutreach From a global point of view you are right, but in the (northwestern) European context they are at the bottom of the list

[@idunusegoogleplus]

​@@TransoceanicOutreach until you realise that 28th in gdp per capita while having top 5 in cost of living means real wealth is below top 20% of the world.

[@nv7287]

GDP is like a thermometer that only measures the temperature of a room, but tells you nothing about the comfort level, air quality, or overall experience of being in that room. GDP only measures the total economic activity of a country, but doesn't tell you anything about the quality of life, happiness, environmental sustainability, or overall well-being of its citizens. To truly understand the quality of life in a country, you need to look beyond GDP and consider a wider range of factors, such as: Income inequality, Environmental sustainability, Health and education,Social support,Happiness and well-being: How satisfied are people with their lives?

[@Ultrapooper69420]

GDP tells nothing about the quality of life, it may be high or low but the quality of life could well below poverty or vice versa..

[@abhinashpalai6600]

To the people who say egalitarian socialism always fails, how does libertarian capitalism playing out in it's full glory look like now?

[@siegfriedfurtwanglerknappe6188]

Capitalist countries are still 10x richer than socialist ones. Even during their worst times.

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

To be fair, even broken capitalism is superior to socialism (as demonstrated by virtually every socialist country). The best system is somewhere in the middle--"social democracy," or capitalism with a strong welfare system and public investment.

[@tmmaster6904]

​@@Unknown-jt1jo the socialist north has been running circles around the burning heap of failed capitalism for ages, buy and large the only failings of the countries in question are demonstrably the aspects most entrenched in capital, so i really don't know what youre on about

[@FemboyLegendGD]

@@Unknown-jt1jo Socialism is superior in every way tho? "as demonstrated by virtually every socialist country" China? Nordics? that yes, are socialist.

[@muzhikiviche3599]

​You're really saying countries like Uzbekistan and Moldova are better off today than 40 years ago ​@@Unknown-jt1jo

[@lequoiscontreonu]

What I see in UK is lack of investment and unaffordable housing. Infrastructure is ineffective and delapitated. Houses are old, dingy, and owned by landlords. Modern apartments with good standard are only accesible for wealthy, not for average person. I come from Eastern Europe and when I visit it, it starts to look much more modern, advanced and affordable than UK- there are projects, lots of new buildings, people in their 20s buy their property. In London only new & neat things come from private companies and foreigner money (american, indian owned hotels, skyscrapers for huge corporation's in City, boutique shops) but barely anything from government/councils. UK seems to be moving backwards.

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

Which proves that Eastern Europe was held back only by socialist policies. It always had the human capital (educated, skilled people) to be successful. As soon as it was able to liberalize its economy, it quickly joined the ranks of the developed world. Of course, as we see from the UK, if your economy is overly "liberalized," that too can cause a lot of damage.

[@diogocarvalho2934]

@@Unknown-jt1jo I believe taxes in the UK are larger than in any eastern European country. So I don't really get your last point. I would bet that there is more red tape in the UK too

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

@@diogocarvalho2934 I was talking about the cutting of the social safety net (as Tom Nichols mentioned), which is more harmful in the UK because it's a more expensive country (due to various factors). As for tax burden, it's roughly the same in the UK and many Eastern European countries (UK: 33.3% of GDP; Hungary: 37.7%; Poland: 33.9%; Slovakia: 32.9%; etc.) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_tax_revenue_to_GDP_ratio

[@brettsinger9565]

The British make fun of Germany for starting WWII, but they've watched Germany rise from their knees and become a vastly more prosperous nation.

[@gabriellapietrakowski3429]

I remember there was a line in the crown, where the queen called the Conservative Party a “a confederacy of elected quitters” which oddly watching this video, was way too accurate

[@pwood6532]

Highly doubt she ever said that..that show is just a glossy soap opera which plays fast and loose w history.

[@gabriellapietrakowski3429]

@@pwood6532 please read it I never said she said it

[@coreybananas]

I always found it funny how you guys are known around the world for your iconic trains and railways and now spend fuck all on public transport.

[@sergewind2208]

Trains are more of a german thing. The Double-decker Bus is however iconically Bri'ish and it's sad that each week there's less of them in service.

[@maythesciencebewithyou]

Oh but Brits do spend a lot on trains and railway and public transport. Have you looked at how much those tickets cost. /s

[@TheHaighus]

Technology developed by the publically-owned British Rail's research division still forms the basis for a lot of modern, cutting-edge railway technology like high speed rail. Meanwhile, the UK's only high-speed rail line connects London to France... Its a travesty really.

[@TheHaighus]

​@@sergewind2208 These days. But British railway infrastructure used to be a global leader in rail technology. That all stagnated in the 90's after privatisation.

[@Martcapt]

??? Are they? Where?! The british?

[@emmastanton3515]

just a minor quibble: you unfortunately said that the brexit vote happened on the 14th june 2024 when it actually happened on the 14th june 2016

[@neku2741]

The UK never meant to be rich, it had no natural resources, it's location isn't that strategic, the country don't even have anything special to export and it involved in a lot of unnecessary war throughout the years, the only reason it's rich is because of colonialism/plundering other countries.

[@ElectricBlueElectrum]

A few things. 1. True, but being rich doesn't come from natural resources these days. In fact, having more natural resources often makes you poorer, as many countries rely on selling those natural resources raw to countries that manufacture things using them. 2. The UK is a very strategic, very defensible, position. Overall you are correct, much of the UK's wealth came from the horrific empire, but that's no reason it should be poor.

[@morningstararun6278]

@@ElectricBlueElectrum Neo-Liberalism is the best thing ever. What US and UK needs to do now is implement Neo-Liberalism 2.0 by privatizing NHS, Social Security, by banning the filthy unproductive Trade Unions, keep the government out of everything, and let the market play itself out. It is because of the degenerate thoughts that you people are injecting into the minds of the younger generations, that things are becoming not that great today. Even today, UK is one of the richest countries in the world. More Capitalism, more Neo-Liberalism, and more de-regulation is the only way out of the mess that the government has created.

[@parafitality2730]

I remember studying brexit in university and it seemed like the most stupid decision Brits could make - they're granted all the benefits and none of the restrictions (e.g switching to Euros)

[@chunellemariavictoriaespan8752]

... And still left... And now everyone that voted to leave regrets it😂😂😂

[@Skaldewolf]

@@chunellemariavictoriaespan8752 They not only left, but left in the most idiotic and self-damaging way imaginable.

[@curmudgeon1933]

@@chunellemariavictoriaespan8752 . Many Leave voters may privately regret their vote, but for most them, the years since Brexit has just shown them how wrong they were to believe the lies from Johnson, Farage, Rees-Mogg, etc. The problem is that years of trying to defend the indefensible means they have become so entrenched in their delusion, that their egos won't allow them to admit it...even to themselves.

[@chearahendry1502]

It was mostly England who voted to leave, the majority of Scotland voted toremain. But dueto our size, we didnt really get a say in it.

[@jamesburge1983]

@@chearahendry1502 So will there be another vote to leave the UK?

[@Emanon...]

Austerity followed by tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations. It has never and will never work.

[@goazer2]

It actually works like every time but the liberals don't like it so they just lie about it forever.

[@jamesandrew1750]

only that hasn't happened in the UK, spending went up and a new top rate tax was introduced 2010, in 2012 reduced to 45% to match the EU

[@diogocarvalho2934]

A lot of Easter European countries will disagree with you right now

[@Alex-cw3rz]

The fact the government had an entire decade of low interest rate loans where they could have done huge investment in housing, technology, transport yet instead did nothing, is very depressing. Almost as much as how much money we lost, by not setting up a sovereign wealth fund like norway did with it's oil. Edit : saying Norway population is smaller is a revelation to nobody it is worth £1.15 tillion, it is nothing to dismiss. Let alone the fact it is our oil.

[@chris51lee]

What a missed opportunity 😊

[@michaelel650]

Yep and the Norwegians charge 33$ tax per barrel and we only charge 11$ tax, and sometimes not even that! All the best.

[@GREGORYABUTLER]

They were no longer able to plunder India and their other colonies

[@iwastheradish1380]

This was genuinely upsetting to watch. Brexit was the worst thing we could have done, and the lies people were fed to get it done enrages me whenever I'm reminded of them.

[@elseggs6504]

Now the funny thing is how Labour couldve capitalized on that and say "we'll try to rejoin." Just to catch some of the disgruntled Tories. They decided to be Red Tories instead lmao. You guys are fucked

[@splargis635]

Being in school, planning to go study in Europe, and just shy of voting age when it happened was genuinely like watching my future crumble lol

[@garethking1639]

@@elseggs6504when you say ‘you guys’ where are you based because although I don’t live in the UK any longer, there are so many people who still believe in Brexit. It is such a cult. Brexit has meant that I will never live in the UK again BUT I think it’s easier to attract a disgruntled Tory than a resentful brexiter if you sound too pro Europe.

[@ohnoitisnt]

There hasnt been a brexit though, just a vote for it? We are still following the EU legislation and nothing has changed.

[@JacobBrown-cj3jn]

@@ohnoitisnt are you living under a rock? you're not part of the EU anymore

[@gachacaspa]

I live in Inverness... the stalling and cutting back on infrastructure is ridiculous when the population is growing here. There is so much wealth and money to be unlocked here yet not investing is holding everything up. We need infrastructure, it is fundamental to a growing and subsisting economy.