Has Britain become a third world country?

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gavroche

Getting old but not past it
Location
North Wales
I must admit, I am becoming tired of all these shows, adverts and so on.... raising money for charities.
It seems that every organisation relies on charities nowadays, why? Britain is a rich country that can afford millions on hosting the Olympics, millions given away to Africa and others, millions to big organisations evading taxes, millions on consultancies fees for nothing and so on......so why can't the country spend the same amount of money on those who need it the most: research for cures, deprived families, orphan children etc.....Where do our taxes go? Why do those in power do nothing to help those who need it the most? Why do we have to rely on charities and the public to support them?
Don't get me wrong, I am not criticising charities as they do a good job and actually care about their ethos.
I just can't understand why a rich country like this one is just happy to let charities do what the country itself should be doing.
 

grolyat

Active Member
Have you ever been to a third world country?
 

BigonaBianchi

Yes I can, Yes I am, Yes I did...Repeat.
We are not third world by a long way. But we are a greed driven bunch for the most part who don't care about the misfortunes of others. Those in power have to remain popular to stay there and unfortunately your average brit isn't interested in anything that makes them feel uncomfortable.
Helping those in need isn't of any benefit to them, so it makes them feel uncomfortable.
Bit sad really.

On a side note, imho the uk has degenerated badly, people's moral values seem to have all but gone. It's become all about the 'me first' culture. I think this decline in values is abhorrent.
 

MrJamie

Oaf on a Bike
People wouldn't appreciate their taxes going up to pay for things like charities that don't affect them directly, youd have to have something like the idiot tax of the National Lottery but privatised :P I find it a bit odd though the amount of money some of the charities must have spent on TV ads even if they do profit from it, makes me think of the amount they spend buying places in marathons etc.

I think the morals thing relates to how people are brought up, with the most recent generation(s) teaching kids to get what they can and not get taken advantage of, but I think it goes hand in hand with untrusting cynicism of everything :smile:
 

Linford

Guest
Good examples of 1st world a: USA and Canada
Good examples of 1st word b: UK, Italy and France
Good examples of 2nd world: Spain, Greece, Mexico
Good examples of 3rd world: Chad, Myanmar, Cleethorpes

Whadayamean, the Train drivers and other public servants in Greece get retire at 50 on a gold plated pension worth 90% of their final year salary (£38k IIRC), and on top of that, because they didn't pay taxes whilst they were in work, means that everyone else in the EU can help balance the books and top up their package...jobsagoodun :thumbsup:

We must be doing something wrong in the UK

I'd say that 1st world a would be parts of the USA, oil rich in the middle east, Japan, Norway, Sweden etc. I've been to the USA a couple of times and would say there is some terrible poverty out there right now. The recession is biting deep and the paint is peeling off many of the buildings, even in the prosperous area's :sad:
 

deptfordmarmoset

Full time tea drinker
Location
Armonmy Way
As you're French, you may notice a difference. But, while the UK probably has a stronger tradition of Christian, then post-Christian and humanist charitable work, and a more ''liberal'' approach than a more centralised France does, the difference is not that great. France has its téléthons and les Restos du Coeur served 115 million meals last winter to the needy. The comments here, though, seem reminiscent of Linford's comment above.
 

BigonaBianchi

Yes I can, Yes I am, Yes I did...Repeat.
I don't think there has to be a link between poverty and morals. I suspect back in the 40's in the uk there was extreme.poverty yet moral standards were higher I suspect.

I know poor families who I would trust much.more than rich ones .

Respect thy fellow man peeps a few please and thankyou, and less aggression.
 

avalon

Guru
Location
Australia
I think one of the things that has helped Australia to become wealthy and ride out the recession better than most countries is the number of volunteers that give up their free time to keep things running. The majority of fire fighters, State Emergency Service workers, some ambulance crews and many others are volunteers, Whereas the attitude in the UK tends to be ''I'm not doing that, it's not my job'' or ''I'm not doing it unless you pay me.'' People who do give up their time to volunteer tend to be religious or retired and get labled in a negative way as ''do gooders.''
 
The trouble with this country is we have total about turns every time we have a change of government.
Some initiatives from all sides have been proven to work then as soon as the next incumbents move in things get changed purely for the sake of it being someone else's new idea, the sufferers usually being at the bottom end of our 'society'.
Maybe we would have the chance to think about others and the kind of country we aspire to, if instead of worrying about how we are going to pay for this, afford that, whilst being in jobs that could disappear overnight. We might one day get around to being involved in genuinely helping others and therefore ourselves to a brighter future for all and not just funding through the near 75% of our salaries paid in direct and indirect taxes that prop up cartels and cliques that profit from the work till you die system that we have walked into eyes wide open.
Ninety nine per cent of us would just like to be able to put a roof over our families heads, put food on the table and keep warm, that's it. It's the few that try to become ridiculously wealthy by risking everyone else's future in the speculation and fraud on the stock markets and banking institutions that bring countries as great as this one once was to it's knees, not the hard working overtaxed and under valued citizens.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
What you've failed to appreciate is that charity is big business and a huge employer. There are hundreds of thousands of people making a very nice living off your guilt; you give money or old clothes and 90% of the value goes to financing their comfortable lifestyle while the remaining 10% goes to the intended beneficiaries. Africa is full of alcoholics enjoying the sunshine and cheap beer, living the expat lifestyle and calling themselves NGOs.

And no... even in Nigeria, supposedly the wealthiest country in Africa, 92% are still living on less than $2.00 a day and suffering misery, desperation, ill health, no public electricity or water, little security and constant theft, cheating and harrassment by "officials". THAT is a third-world country. You, on the other hand, live in the best organised, least corrupt, richest, cleanest, safest country in Europe with the longest heritage of democracy and the most complex system of checks and balances developed over centuries to keep power in its place, despite what you read in the press. You also speak the world's premier language and hold the world's most coveted passport. You enjoy constant electricity, clean water and sewerage and excellent roads as well as a constant supply of fuel and food. You can pick up the 'phone and summon an efficient fire-brigade, a free ambulance to a clean well equipped hospital where you can receive the best treatment in the world for free, or a mostly un-corrupt Police officer.

So no; definitely still a first-world country.
 

threebikesmcginty

Corn Fed Hick...
Location
...on the slake
Good examples of 1st world a: USA and Canada
Good examples of 1st word b: UK, Italy and France
Good examples of 2nd world: Spain, Greece, Mexico
Good examples of 3rd world: Chad, Myanmar, Cleethorpes

You're wrong on Cleethorpes, think of it as a kind of East Coast Monaco or Cannes - a better example for you would be Ilkeston which is the Derbyshire equivalent of a shanty town.
 

screenman

Legendary Member
A lot of people who live in Cleethorpes have chosen that lifestyle, choice now that is a thing third world people do not have.

I do not think we are as low as maybe in the future, in both mine and my wife's trade we are seeing the gradual decline of the grey pound, at least in our local community that is. The two big employers in the village have both closed and these were the one's that paid out a very good pension. Now around here unless you are a civil servant you may have to keep working till you drop, or cannot go on any longer as there are not the jobs that can give you a large pension in the public sector locally.
 
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