A question for our friends across the pond...

From my reading of a wide variety of news and information offerings, and I do not favor the so called right or left wings of info, but I do seek a more centralized vein of information...
Is there an actual change, what some call a radical transition of social order in GB? Is this really a progressive change of society or is this what some label a minor phase of change?
I have read various commentary offered up by the Brits participating on AN but some of the other info sources really caught me. From my reading the Euro is predicted to decline vs the dollar and could go as low as 90 even 80. Some say it is highly likely to go below par. That, it is said will drive up inflation and make the deficit much harder to deal with. The new UK government is leftist and is raising taxes just when they need to be lowering them to try to revive British industry? Are the wealthy really leaving now causing tax revenue to actually decline? The UK has also committed to no fossil energy and that has caused energy costs to rise, and business to leave or not invest. The UK is said by many economists to be in a downward spiral now and not a place anyone will want to invest. Is it really true that Muhammad is the most popular new-born boys name? This speaks volumes as to the population shift in England and Wales. If true does the British populous and governing bodies acknowledge this as a direct reflection of immigration laws past and present? A lot to consider but a lot of these issues could, may or do parallel so many societal shifts in Western culture.
What of traditional British society norms and reactions to said changes.
I study such things from an economic perspective and you guys are the go-to for confirmation of so many various predictions.

You want some answers??? how much time do you have??

I’ll qualify (or disqualify) my response by saying I’m a Brit who lives abroad but has been returning home multiple times per year and keeps up to date on Brit politics via various non-partisan outlets - if there are such things.

Indeed Britain is undergoing changes. It was the first to industrialize and is probably the first to fully deindustrialize. Britain is suffering from a multitude of problems. It no longer manufactures much of anything so the ability to revive the economy is challenging. The manufacturing base is diminished and continues to wither especially after Brexit. We shut down two plants in the UK as the import duties into Europe made us uncompetitive. We also lost a lot of the hard working Eastern European workforce. In my hometown of York we went from having multiple factories for confectionary and rail transportation to zero. Now York is a city of hotels and charity shops. Most of my younger family member now work in healthcare and hospitality. Not great for wages and not great for the tax base.

Brexit failed to deliver on any of the promises that were made by Boris or Farage. The UK made itself uncompetitive with its biggest trading partner and failed to pick up on trade agreements with other nations. The world is retreating from Globalism so trying to stay afloat by exporting from a dying manufacturing base has failed. Economist call Brexit the worst national own goal in modern history. I’m inclined to agree.

Building regulations on the UK are ridiculously inefficient and notoriously hard to navigate. The result is a lack of construction causing higher home prices. The young cannot get on the property ladder. A recent report cited the UK pointed out that the UK has by far the highest construction costs in Europe not as a result of labor costs but due to rules and regulations. Surveys are obscenely expensive. Take a look at the HS2 rail project.

The aging population is putting a lot of pressure on the social services. There are simply not enough young people paying taxes to cover the costs of the older people. The country needs more babies but what work they would do is unknown.

There has been a massive influx of immigrants that has also put a significant strain on the countries infrastructure. Not enough schools, hospitals and police to manage the influx. Many are not paying taxes because they are children or older relatives.

The recent immigrants are not integrating particularly well and this is causing social tension. Recent violent incidents in Southport, Manchester and Leeds has created an impression that the government is favoring immigrants over local born people. Social media commenters were jailed for offensive posts and violent offenders given light sentences. There are now Non-Crime Hate Incidents that are thé col us of the police. George Orwell would be amused and terrified at the same time.

The politics are complicated. The lower socioeconomic population feels left behind and ignored by the various Governments. The government posts are typically filled with university educated elites. The current labor government is very left leaning and some might call it woke. The previous conservative government of 15 years did little to help this in the North of the country. Its is often said by Economists that the London is a rich city attached to a poor country.

Left leaning semi-Marxist thinking has strongly influenced the UKs academic institutions. Much like in the US, the faculty lounge woke thinking has gone from the lecture hall to the board room. DEI is still strong and the UK is certainly not past peak-woke - look at Jaguars recent efforts.

The UK and the US have many similar issues. Both are post-industrial. Both have immigration issues. However, the UK lacks the marriage of innovation, money and entrepreneurship that the US has in spades. Look at the number of successful brands that have emerged out of the US compared to the UK (and the EU for that matter) and you can see which direction the two nations are going.

The UK is the place to come if you need a Turkish haircut that's for sure with several to choose from on every high street it seems

Then Covid comes along to further mire the situation

baz said:

The UK is the place to come if you need a Turkish haircut that's for sure with several to choose from on every high street it seems

Click to expand...

Good thing I don't need a Turkish haircut. Yorkie paints a hellscape I will avoid.

Incase anyone dosent know
It's basically an open secret that Turkish barber's in UK are for money laundering

I am not intending to express a political opinion here, but if you search for any of Douglas Murry's videos on youtube, he covers quite a bit about certain situations both social and political in the UK. He is a very factual sort of person (hard to argue with because he brings the facts and statistics) but of course just like with anyone, it can be said that he has a personal bias. None the less he is just so well informed that he is never at a loss to explain the flaws in counter arguments or attempts to dismiss his position.

o0norton0o said:

I am not intending to express a political opinion here, but if you search for any of Douglas Murry's videos on youtube, he covers quite a bit about certain situations both social and political in the UK. He is a very factual sort of person (hard to argue with because he brings the facts and statistics) but of course just like with anyone, it can be said that he has a personal bias. None the less he is just so well informed that he is never at a loss to explain the flaws in counter arguments or attempts to dismiss his position.

Click to expand...

He reminds me of Christopher Hitchens
Straight to the point,backed with facts

Yorkie said:

I’ll qualify (or disqualify) my response by saying I’m a Brit who lives abroad but has been returning home multiple times per year and keeps up to date on Brit politics via various non-partisan outlets - if there are such things.

Indeed Britain is undergoing changes. It was the first to industrialize and is probably the first to fully deindustrialize. Britain is suffering from a multitude of problems. It no longer manufactures much of anything so the ability to revive the economy is challenging. The manufacturing base is diminished and continues to wither especially after Brexit. We shut down two plants in the UK as the import duties into Europe made us uncompetitive. We also lost a lot of the hard working Eastern European workforce. In my hometown of York we went from having multiple factories for confectionary and rail transportation to zero. Now York is a city of hotels and charity shops. Most of my younger family member now work in healthcare and hospitality. Not great for wages and not great for the tax base.

Brexit failed to deliver on any of the promises that were made by Boris or Farage. The UK made itself uncompetitive with its biggest trading partner and failed to pick up on trade agreements with other nations. The world is retreating from Globalism so trying to stay afloat by exporting from a dying manufacturing base has failed. Economist call Brexit the worst national own goal in modern history. I’m inclined to agree.

Building regulations on the UK are ridiculously inefficient and notoriously hard to navigate. The result is a lack of construction causing higher home prices. The young cannot get on the property ladder. A recent report cited the UK pointed out that the UK has by far the highest construction costs in Europe not as a result of labor costs but due to rules and regulations. Surveys are obscenely expensive. Take a look at the HS2 rail project.

The aging population is putting a lot of pressure on the social services. There are simply not enough young people paying taxes to cover the costs of the older people. The country needs more babies but what work they would do is unknown.

There has been a massive influx of immigrants that has also put a significant strain on the countries infrastructure. Not enough schools, hospitals and police to manage the influx. Many are not paying taxes because they are children or older relatives.

The recent immigrants are not integrating particularly well and this is causing social tension. Recent violent incidents in Southport, Manchester and Leeds has created an impression that the government is favoring immigrants over local born people. Social media commenters were jailed for offensive posts and violent offenders given light sentences. There are now Non-Crime Hate Incidents that are thé col us of the police. George Orwell would be amused and terrified at the same time.

The politics are complicated. The lower socioeconomic population feels left behind and ignored by the various Governments. The government posts are typically filled with university educated elites. The current labor government is very left leaning and some might call it woke. The previous conservative government of 15 years did little to help this in the North of the country. Its is often said by Economists that the London is a rich city attached to a poor country.

Left leaning semi-Marxist thinking has strongly influenced the UKs academic institutions. Much like in the US, the faculty lounge woke thinking has gone from the lecture hall to the board room. DEI is still strong and the UK is certainly not past peak-woke - look at Jaguars recent efforts.

The UK and the US have many similar issues. Both are post-industrial. Both have immigration issues. However, the UK lacks the marriage of innovation, money and entrepreneurship that the US has in spades. Look at the number of successful brands that have emerged out of the US compared to the UK (and the EU for that matter) and you can see which direction the two nations are going.

Click to expand...

Wow....

Sounds ALOT like California...
.........I'll just let it go at that.......

It’s nowhere near as bad here as you may have been led to believe, apart from in isolated communities. Not YET at least, but we are certainly on a catastrophic trajectory and need a course correction ASAP.

Pretty much the same across the rest of Europe too. With the exception of Poland, who put a stop to the nonsense quite early on.

MichaelB said:

Wow....

Sounds ALOT like California...
.........I'll just let it go at that.......

Click to expand...

In some ways yes and some ways not at all. California still very much has food production (water and anti-immigrant complications notwithstanding), and Silicon Valley (tech douchebag and anti-social complications notwithstanding). California has remained the 5th largest economy in the world for the 7th year. That said, it's got a lot to lose.

We live in a time of unprecedented comfort, yet if you look for bad news, it's easy to find. Boogeymen abound.

Fast Eddie said:

Pretty much the same across the rest of Europe too. With the exception of Poland, who put a stop to the nonsense quite early on.

Click to expand...

My sister just sold Poland a missile defense system (stat!), so the grass is not always greener, and some boogeymen have nukes...

Politics and economics are just about power. Two of my friends were POWs during WW2. One was in Germany, the other in Thailand. They both mentioned the great depression and austerity, and how money just appeared from nowhere when WW2 happened. Most money exists as debt. Even when you buy gold, you usually only get a paper promissory note and bullion banks oversell their gold. Most inflation is probably caused by balance of payments differences.
If every country goes down the path of more efficient production of hardware with little recycling, we will probably all end-up looking really silly. I suggest our future in deindustrialised countries will become more about tourism, entertainment and music.
One thing the UK is really good at is producing cars and motorcycles which tug at the heart strings - the nostalgia kick. I would never buy a Morgan car, but I would love to own one. In Brazil they make type35 Bugattis, and P3 Alfas - I don't think they have made a Blower Bentley.

If you were a billionaire, on what could you spend your money ? Women, grog, food would destroy your health. Making more money might inspire some people. Have a look in the car pits at Goodwood ! You can polish a car or a statue.

My dad passed in 2003 I often think about how I'd explain to him and all other ww2 veterans what has happened to the country they fort for!
Anyone can land on our shore and stay
We have thousands of homeless people some of them in full time employment but can't afford to rent or buy
It's impossible to get a face to face doctors appointment (it is where I live anyway)
You can shop lift up to £199 and the police won't even be called
We have non crime hate crimes!
People can go to prison for posting nasty racist comments online even if they think better of it/sober up etc
Real criminals have their sentences cut short to make room for such people
We have kids that believe they have been born into the wrong body
Young people are not having kids anymore because there's no chance of ever buying a house
The list is endless
And I don't know how I'd explain it to him

The baby names stats are distorted by some names being disproportionately popular in some religious groups.

Your everyday secular parents pick from a variety of names.

I subscribe to the Alred E Neuman philosophy. "What me worry"

Comfortably numb