Bulgarian Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 - the rise of consumerism, with the need to aquire that latest must have product I think that started with the Industrial Revolution, when people could actually afford to have the "must have products" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipex Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 According to Cameron there's been a morale collapse in society. i think he's got a point - you see evidence every day, not just manifesting itself in riots, but also through much small acts of inviduals from all sectors of society. Here's my own list of things that have contributed this to a larger or small extent (in no particular order and not exhaustive): - the rise of consumerism, with the need to aquire that latest must have product - the lack of social housing, caused by Right to Buy policies, leading the further ghetoisation of lower income families - the availability of easy credit, which Thatcher brought about ,leading to debt and the misery it causes - the rising presence of alcohol in society - the obsession with private propery, shown most typically with the obsession with house prices - 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!) - the obsession with celebrity - "oh, i must have what they have/look like them" - 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 - the fall is standards in public life, typified by MPs and journalists 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. Seen this happen since 1995/6...Before then people were alot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkey Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Cameron allowed the Tory party to be chaired by a man who won't even register his business interests in the UK so he can avoid taxes. He brought the tax dodger Phillip Green in as a government advisor, and he is up to his neck in the Murdoch corruption, which he patronisingly imagines everyone has forgotten after the shock of the looting and rioting. I could go on. Moral Decay? Pot kettle, Glass houses stones, etc. I agree we need a new direction in this country, away from the ethos of self-centredness and greed, but Cameron leading the way would be a bit like putting Harold Shipman in charge of NHS reform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrapeApe Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Not a moral collapse, but a moral panic. They come long every few years and have done so for centuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad.Malky Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 - the rise of consumerism, with the need to aquire that latest must have product - the lack of social housing, caused by Right to Buy policies, leading the further ghetoisation of lower income families - the availability of easy credit, which Thatcher brought about ,leading to debt and the misery it causes - the rising presence of alcohol in society - the obsession with private propery, shown most typically with the obsession with house prices - 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!) - the obsession with celebrity - "oh, i must have what they have/look like them" - 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 - the fall is standards in public life, typified by MPs and journalists . You could sum up the biggest part of that lot in on word, Thatcherism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doingalright Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 No mention of Blair and the 13 years of Labour in the OP's analysis. Amazing. It is Labours social policies that have done so much cultural damage to this country, I really dont know where to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Most of the things in bold have nothing to do with the government. PEOPLE chose to live their lives how they want. The rise in consumerism is our choice. WE demand cheap cheap goods that simply cant be made within UK PLC for the same price. That's why foreign markets won. Do you really think UK made clothing could really be sold for £2 for a t-shirt or £30 for a suit al' a Primark? How about a UK made car for the price of a Kia? Do you have a uk made tv in your house? How about the right to buy. I bet all those people (including my own family) who got a chance to get ownership of their own house arn't complaining. Nor will their next of kin who get an nice inheritance to possibly allow them a chance to get their own house. Nor the people who are chosing getting into debt when they are spend spend spend in the shops.....dont tell me its all on essentials. Compensation claims are on the rise because people became more focused on money grabbing than actually using the laws for justice. The laws have always been there. So why no mass demand on compensation claims in the 60s / 70s. Maybe there weren't as many accidents or maybe people just accepted that when things went wrong - that's life. Now people expect the blame to be passed onto someone else and demand they pay. As for apprenticeships etc. Most people became too snobby to be seen doing industrial/manual jobs. They were far too focused getting into university doing mickey mouse degrees in marketing and david beckham studies. Why? becuase people thought they would use it as a way of walking into a £30k job without any skills or effort. So..... what part is the government's fault again? Governments pass legislation and relax legislation which has far flung consequences for everyone (and many unintentional consequences as well) for example not so long ago it was illegal to advertise legal services on TV - now we have a plethora of 'Have you been in an accident?' type ads. Selling council houses was Margaret Thatcher's bright idea, she changed the law to allow it. Government wanted Universities to be more self funding which meant they had to offer a wider range of courses to appeal to more people, to generate funds, thus we had the rise of mickey mouse degrees and '40% of people to go to university...' It didn't do the unemployment figures any harm either. And so on... People are very easy to manipulate. It would be hard NOT to be able to trace things back to the government one way or another.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad.Malky Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 , I really dont know where to start. I will tell you where to start, NuLabour were a watered down version of Thatcherism to appease the middle ground, Thatcher did the damage and NuLabour just rolled with it. A messiah came along and promised a change but alas it was a false dawn, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkey Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 No mention of Blair and the 13 years of Labour in the OP's analysis. Amazing. It is Labours social policies that have done so much cultural damage to this country, I really dont know where to start. I agree, in taking on so much Thatcherite ideology, NuLabour presided over the a continuation of the social rot which emerged as a result of adopting American style social and economic policies. It is no coincidence that what we are seeing are the types of things which have happened in the US already. By accelerating these policies, the present government are only going to make things worse, and appointing themselves as the standard bearers of 'decency' and 'morality' is the stuff of crude satirical comedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doingalright Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 I will tell you where to start, NuLabour were a watered down version of Thatcherism to appease the middle ground, Thatcher did the damage and NuLabour just rolled with it. A messiah came along and promised a change but alas it was a false dawn, I agree, in taking on so much Thatcherite ideology, NuLabour presided over the a continuation of the social rot which emerged as a result of adopting American style social and economic policies. It is no coincidence that what we are seeing are the types of things which have happened in the US already. By accelerating these policies, the present government are only going to make things worse, and appointing themselves as the standard bearers of 'decency' and 'morality' is the stuff of crude satirical comedy. Labour has always been strongly affiliated with the Marxist Fabian society that has produced just about all Labours leaders and most of Labours social policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.