The Economist on 'Broken Britain'.

[Kromovaracun]

Hello all,

AOG's recent reference to the 'Broken Britain' view in a recent question made me remember an article in this week's economist. I'm pretty sure it'll only be available for public viewing until Friday, but it's still worth a look and presents quite an interesting amount of light on the 'Broken Britain' idea. Considering a lot of ABers seem to believe it, I thought it'd make some really interesting reading.

http://www.economist....cfm?story_id=15452867

Enjoy.

Sorry, not really a question.

[jno]

very interesting, thanks. The shift from local to national newspapers hadn't struck me like this before (though national newspapers are in decline too, which suggests people will soon be getting their 'facts' from the utterly unreliable internet).

I can't help wondering how many people who fret about broken Britain have ever been personally affected by it, or whether they just parrot the tabloids. Perhaps if they compare their own lives now with how they actually were, say, 20 years ago, they might be surprised.

[zita-green]

Thanks. The reading I have been doing agrees with much of this. I give great weight to the massive disparities in income; the gap between rich and poor is wider than ever and is at the root of many social problems.

[fredpuli47]

Perception is everything.If people think they're going to be killed or attacked the moment they step outside their front door, possibly because of lurid accounts of isolated incidents from other parts of Britain, they'll do so in spite of plain evidence to the contrary.The normal, and the improving normal, are not readily identified by accounts of incidents and they wouldn't sell newpapers if they were.
Anyway, older people have been saying their country is going to the dogs, and bemoaning the behaviour of the young, since at least the time of the Ancient Greeks.I'm old enough to remember them saying how much better things were in the War ! (Ah, yes, Grandad, you had lots of things in the old days we don't have today.Camaraderie,all pulling together, the Luftwaffe, rickets,rationing, TB, no NHS, yes, it was wonderful ! )

[Quizmonster]

If perception were accurate, we should find a murderous pædophile on every street corner. I haven't seen figures lately, but it is not so long ago that I read there were no more such killings every year nowadays than there were fifty years ago. Nevertheless, children are obliged to spend their lives indoors...the very place that some uncle, real or so-called, is vastly more likely to molest or harm them! Weird!