Will the UK become a third world country?

[Green Web]

With the safety net getting smaller and smaller and more people becoming destitute will more of the UK become a third world country?

[*_ash_*]

Will the UK become a third world country?

 

It's highly unlikely that in the near future we will ever see poverty in a way that the current 'third world' suffers now.

 

With the safety net getting smaller and smaller and more people becoming destitute will more of the UK become a third world country?

 

Do you mean smaller net than it was last year? - or smaller than it was 10, 20, 50 or 100 years ago?

 

Same question again, but change the 'net' part to 'destitute'... ?

[Anna B]

I think yes. Funnily enough I asked this question just after the banks collapsed in 2007 /2008 and the general conscensus was that I was crackers. But all the signs pointed to it then and they still do now, even more so. It's hard now to remember what it was like pre 2007, or how quickly we have fallen to this level.

 

The mark of a third world country is a large impoverished majority and a small powerful (often ruling) elite of the super wealthy. The divide between rich and poor in this country is growing wider, faster and more extreme. Those at the top end of the scale are becoming disconnected and out of touch with those lower down. Social mobility has all but come to a stop.

 

The other common denominator is debt. We are now so indebted it is impossible to get out of. This is what has held the third world back for years. We are now so indebted we can never get out of it. One day the interest alone will be greater than our GDP. All investment in our country will stop. We have already hocked most of the family silver, there will be little left to sell.

 

The country is already becoming poorer and less able to afford the things we used to take for granted. Cuts are having undesirable effects across the board. Standards are falling in Healthcare, Education, Policing, the armed forces, public services etc. Soon we will be having power cuts which will depress the economy further. We are lacking basic housing and up-to-date infrastructure which will only get worse.

 

Unemployment will rise, and those in work will find their wages effectively cut, and job insecurity will be taken advantage of by employers, (who, to be fair, will be competing in international markets.) Inflation will mean more and more people will be on the breadline and below it. The welfare safety net is being eroded so we will be seeing real third world poverty and homelessness affecting more and more people.

 

As desparation grips more and more people we will see escalating social unrest and conflict. Political instability will follow. Draconian measures will be used to keep the populace in check. Politicians will not have the answers or the power to implement change, and new groups will rise promising solutions but diluting the democratic process.

 

If all this seems far fetched and unlikely, just look at Germany in the 1920's and 30s following the great crash. The turmoil resulted in the 2nd World War and ultimately brought about a new beginning, albeit an extremely costly one. It also saw the rise of America as a superpower.

 

In my opinion the only thing which can stop history repeating itself, or a slide into third world status is for the debts across Europe and America to be written off, and a major review of Capitalism, which in its current form is just not sustainable in the long term. And no, I don't want Communism, but neither do I want all the wealth of the world hoovered up by a few mega mega rich individuals, which is the inevitable outcome of the system at present. We also have to think about the sustainability of the planet, rather than just raping it of its resources.

 

Definately time for a major worldwide rethink...

[MrSmith]

I think yes. Funnily enough I asked this question just after the banks collapsed in 2007 /2008 and the general conscensus was that I was crackers. But all the signs pointed to it then and they still do now, even more so. It's hard now to remember what it was like pre 2007, or how quickly we have fallen to this level.

It isn’t much different than before the crash, with some people trying to live within their means and other people trying to live the dream life by taking on more debt than they can afford. The country is still spending more than it can afford and there still seems to be an obsession with house price growth and economic growth which both require more debt.

 

 

 

The mark of a third world country is a large impoverished majority and a small powerful (often ruling) elite of the super wealthy. The divide between rich and poor in this country is growing wider, faster and more extreme. Those at the top end of the scale are becoming disconnected and out of touch with those lower down. Social mobility has all but come to a stop.

 

That’s always been the case, when was there ever a time in history when everyone was equal? A few hundred years ago the land was owned by a smaller group of people, they live in castles and on huge estates whilst the rest live in poverty, things have improved and more of us own the land and there is less poverty.

 

 

 

 

The other common denominator is debt. We are now so indebted it is impossible to get out of. This is what has held the third world back for years. We are now so indebted we can never get out of it. One day the interest alone will be greater than our GDP. All investment in our country will stop. We have already hocked most of the family silver, there will be little left to sell.

Debt is what has driven our country forward without which there would be more poor people.

 

 

The country is already becoming poorer and less able to afford the things we used to take for granted. Cuts are having undesirable effects across the board. Standards are falling in Healthcare, Education, Policing, the armed forces, public services etc. Soon we will be having power cuts which will depress the economy further. We are lacking basic housing and up-to-date infrastructure which will only get worse.

 

We could never afford those things without debt, debt enabled us to build the NHS, schools, armed forces, pay for police and public services, we just took on too much debt and spent more than was sensible so now they need cutting back.

 

Unemployment will rise, and those in work will find their wages effectively cut, and job insecurity will be taken advantage of by employers, (who, to be fair, will be competing in international markets.) Inflation will mean more and more people will be on the breadline and below it. The welfare safety net is being eroded so we will be seeing real third world poverty and homelessness affecting more and more people.

 

That’s an inevitable consequence of over population and depletion of the world’s resources.

 

 

 

As desparation grips more and more people we will see escalating social unrest and conflict. Political instability will follow. Draconian measures will be used to keep the populace in check. Politicians will not have the answers or the power to implement change, and new groups will rise promising solutions but diluting the democratic process.

You could be right, that can only change if human nature changes, if people become less greedy, less envious, less jealous we might survive.

 

If all this seems far fetched and unlikely, just look at Germany in the 1920's and 30s following the great crash. The turmoil resulted in the 2nd World War and ultimately brought about a new beginning, albeit an extremely costly one. It also saw the rise of America as a superpower.

 

In my opinion the only thing which can stop history repeating itself, or a slide into third world status is for the debts across Europe and America to be written off, and a major review of Capitalism, which in its current form is just not sustainable in the long term. And no, I don't want Communism, but neither do I want all the wealth of the world hoovered up by a few mega mega rich individuals, which is the inevitable outcome of the system at present. We also have to think about the sustainability of the planet, rather than just raping it of its resources.

 

Definately time for a major worldwide rethink...

 

If debt is written off everything you are unhappy about will get worse, unemployment will rise faster, poverty will affect more people, social unrest will increase and gap between rich and poor will still exist.

[Shogun]

This country will never be like a third world country we are to clever and industrious for that,we might go through good and bad times we are usually a stable country,the problem with this country now is there are to many foreigners here scrounging and taking the ****.

[andyofborg]

the problem with this country now is there are to many foreigners here scrounging and taking the ****.

 

there are far more non-foreigners doing that

 

---------- Post added 09-03-2013 at 09:10 ----------

 

If all this seems far fetched and unlikely, just look at Germany in the 1920's and 30s following the great crash. The turmoil resulted in the 2nd World War and ultimately brought about a new beginning, albeit an extremely costly one. It also saw the rise of America as a superpower.

 

 

while there are some similarities between the economic conditions there are plenty of political differences which would make a conflict on that scale unlikely. if one did start, then one of the participants would eventually use nuclear weapons and that would be game over

 

you are right about the need for a controlled debt write off though.

[Anna B]

This country will never be like a third world country we are to clever and industrious for that,we might go through good and bad times we are usually a stable country,the problem with this country now is there are to many foreigners here scrounging and taking the ****.

 

We are indeed clever and industrious, but what makes you think that the people in the third world are not also?

 

It's all about opportunity. The majority there never get the chance to shine, they are too busy trying to survive, and that may happen here. Since the introduction of £9,000 tuition fees many are now choosing not to go to University because of the debt, how many would-be geniuses are among them? The next James Dyson perhaps? Or maybe the kid with the answers?

[tinfoilhat]

We are indeed clever and industrious, but what makes you think that the people in the third world are not also?

 

It's all about opportunity. The majority there never get the chance to shine, they are too busy trying to survive, and that may happen here. Since the introduction of £9,000 tuition fees many are now choosing not to go to University because of the debt, how many would-be geniuses are among them? The next James Dyson perhaps? Or maybe the kid with the answers?

 

There must be something or alot of them wouldn't be third world countries. You might not think we do wealth distribution well in this country but a trip to India for example where you have slums and immense wealth only a few miles apart will show we aren't that bad.

 

We don't suffer from extreme weather either.

[Glamrocker]

We are indeed clever and industrious, but what makes you think that the people in the third world are not also?

 

It's all about opportunity. The majority there never get the chance to shine, they are too busy trying to survive, and that may happen here. Since the introduction of £9,000 tuition fees many are now choosing not to go to University because of the debt, how many would-be geniuses are among them? The next James Dyson perhaps? Or maybe the kid with the answers?

How hard is it to dig and maintain a well,most of the water aid given by Band Aid was left to deteriorate and fell into disrepair hence the need for yet more aid on a regular basis.OK thats not the main factor but surely you would think they could make the effort

 

---------- Post added 09-03-2013 at 13:17 ----------

 

Wait until the bedroom tax "kicks" in and answer this question then.Homelessness will rise along with the minor crime rate making a impact.

[MrSmith]

We are indeed clever and industrious, but what makes you think that the people in the third world are not also?

 

It's all about opportunity. The majority there never get the chance to shine, they are too busy trying to survive, and that may happen here. Since the introduction of £9,000 tuition fees many are now choosing not to go to University because of the debt, how many would-be geniuses are among them? The next James Dyson perhaps? Or maybe the kid with the answers?

 

 

Many successful people and inventers didn’t attend university; a genius will succeed without it.