Moral collapse

[Titanic99]

The deficit was built up before any bank bailouts and during an economic boom, how many times does that need explaining?

 

Note the date on this Money Week article. It's also worth a read.

 

http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/gordon-browns-poisoned-chalice

 

I think you need to start thinking for yourself instead of following the line the media have you believe.

 

Here is something completely independent for you to review, it compares deficits/surplus's across countries from 1992 onwards and from it you'll see all Westernised countries with the exception of Norway run a deficit each year so Britain was not unusual or over excessive.

 

What will interest you is the comparison between the figures whilst your party was in power 1992-1997 and that whilst Labour was in power 1997-2007 (start of the world economy going mad).

 

To make it simple for you the Tories over this period ran an average deficit of 5.58% whilst the figure for Labour was 1.372%.

 

So yesterday I pointed out to you that there appears to be more growth whilst Labour is in power, today I've shown you that the Tories ran up bigger deficits whilst in power so could you tell me why you defend this hopeless shower of a party that takes from the poor to pay for the errors of the rich.

 

http://www.gfmag.com/tools/global-database/economic-data/10395-public-deficit-by-country.html#axzz1VZQBVP9j

[some guy]

From a young persons perspective, I see a lot of problems in society caused by the fact that young people have no respect for elders, be it their own parents or people in general. Older people don't seem to have any authority nowadays. My grandmother used to say to me that if she was caught swearing she would get a "clip round the ear", nowadays, you can't do anything to kids, whether they ARE your own or not. I'm not saying corporal punishment is the answer, but something needs to be done to sort out young people's attitudes towards society.

 

I agree with a lot of things the OP said, such as our obsession with consumerism. I'm currently studying A-Level Sociology so I do have a huge grasp on what causes many problems in society. Secularisation has lead to people looking for other ways to fulfill their lives, such as consumer goods.

 

The decline in the traditional "nuclear" family is also perhaps a cause for young people becoming disengaged with society. The majority of anti-social youths come from unstable families, often without father figures. Now, I'm not saying that any other families are bad for society - I come from a single-parent family and I think I turned out OK - but, there is a clear pattern between single-parent families and under-achieving young people. The last 20-30 years has seen a huge increase in divorces / remarriages. I don't know whether it's to do with changes in divorce laws or it could be part of the bigger picture: CONSUMERISM. One could argue that people don't neccessarily marry for love or financial stability anymore. Perhaps they do initially, but people may see their other-halves as an object to show off and not the love of their life. Then re-marrying could be considered "upgrading" to the latest, must-have product. However, this is just one end of the spectrum. There are scores of explanations into the downfall of society's moral values.

 

Controversially, multiculturalism could be to blame for society's problems. Even though the majority of us now accept different cultures into society, race, religion and culture get brought into EVERYTHING. Only recently alot of the riots in London were started by mostly ethnically-diverse people who claimed the police shot Mark Duggan "because he was black", which is a ridiculous statement. But in what can only be decsribed as a "Political Correctness gone mad" state in which we live, it's no wonder that there are issues like that, and it will NEVER end. The MINORITIES are the ones who have the power, leaving the MAJORITIES outraged. Yet, there is nothing we can do about that. If just one white person or several spoke out about the influence of political correctness on society and the unfair balance of "power" between minorities and majorities, then it's classed as a hate crime.

 

Capitalism. Democracy. The world is a corrupt, rotten place.

[upinwath]

- the rise of consumerism, with the need to aquire that latest must have product

 

Pushed by Blair.

 

- the lack of social housing, caused by Right to Buy policies, leading the further ghetoisation of lower income families

 

Makes no difference. Peasants will always be peasants regardless subsidised housing. They just filthy cheaper houses and live with other peasants this way while nice people have the chance to live well away from them.

 

- the availability of easy credit, which Thatcher brought about ,leading to debt and the misery it causes

 

Thatcher did make a mistake here. She tried to help low life peasants be capitalists. It was obvious they simpley didn't have the brains to handle it.

 

- the rising presence of alcohol in society

 

Drunk by the sort of people who vote Labour.

 

- the obsession with private propery, shown most typically with the obsession with house prices

 

True capitalists simple took advantage of fools who simply couldn't handle their cash. That's the nature of capitalism.

 

- the deindustrialisation of the 1980s, which virtually ended apprenticeships in heavy industry and reduced opportunities for young men who didn't have an academic outlook (you were too knackered to riot when you'd done an 8 hour shift at the pit!)

 

Brought about because of the silly amount of power the unions had gained. If the political left had worked with Thatcher to encourage sensible policies, there would have been no need to kill the industries. The unions are to blame.

 

- the obsession with celebrity - "oh, i must have what they have/look like them"

 

Stupid peasants trying to be successful - No chance. They should learn to live with the fact they're inferior.

 

- the rise of the compensation culture, which was given life by Thatcher's reforms of the legal profession. This has given rise to the I want what's mine attitude

 

True. I believe Thatcher made a mistake here. Not that Blair changed it

 

- the fall is standards in public life, typified by MPs and journalists

 

Not to mention the pathetic masses following the mostly labour politicians who formed the most corrupt government in history. Unless you don't count dodgy passports, lies on mortgage application forms and so on

 

The problem that I have with Cameron is that he seems to be trying to move the agenda onto gangs and criminality,but this goes much deeper. He needs to take a long hard look at what governments have done since the 1980s, and in particular what his beloved Thatcher unleashed, and try and unpick some of that damage. For me, the sad thing is that Labour had 13 years to make a difference, but just continued with the individualistic, consumeristic agenda that the Tories had begun. We reap what we sow.

 

The best thing that Thatcher did was getting police on horses to charge the miners. Pity that cretin, Scargill didn't get his daft head knocked off along with his ugly wig.

[Doingalright]

If only the one nation, or even the traditionalists had been the dominant faction in the Tory party in the eighties instead of the free marketeers. How different would this country be now. Oh well.

[harvey19]

Why not look forward instead of backwards and vote for the party that offers most for the individual voter ?