I may have mentioned before how my brain does not often allow me more than a few hours sleep a night. More than four is currently a luxury. I often wake at around 0300 on the dot. Sometimes it is the male upstairs shouting at his female partner who wakes me. Other times it is the female shouting at the male. At other times it is either or both shouting at the children. Less frequently it is their smoke alarm indicating that the burnt toast is ready.
My estate really is a microcosm of what is wrong with this society. The vast majority of the people here spend their days grafting for themselves and their families. Some are more financially successful than others but most do their very best, whatever that is. Their lives are occasionally made hell by the few who ruin it for them. It only takes one person to discard a used condom next to the lifts. It only takes one person to allow their dog to defecate on the stairs. It takes two to tiff to ruin a night’s sleep for hundreds. The majority work themselves to the bone to support the minority who simply choose not to. I pay full whack to live here plus the taxes to pay for those few who have no pride in where they live or honour in how they live.
So anyway to pass the time before my conscious will slip back away I picked up my phone and see the following email from a friend. He is one of the good people.
Emigration awaits me pretty soon… I am fucking off to another continent
Another leaving this sick, sinking, stinking ship. One fewer good person left. And who can blame him? In this country where hard work does not pay who would want to stay to have the blood sucked out of him? Who would want to stay until there is nothing left but a shell and a meaningless pension? Who would want to live in a country where people discard their used condoms next to the lift and let their dogs shit on the stairs?
I tried to emigrate once when I was younger. I pretended to be going backpacking but actually I had no intention of returning to Britain. Unfortunately my would-be host country was more canny than I had credited it for. It did not need another unskilled graduate of our devalued university system. I could not even get a bar job. The only job I was offered was picking fruit for £Bugger.All a week. I came back with my tail between my legs.
These days I am in two minds. I like the idea of staying here and arguing for the kind of society that I want to live in. I can see the virtue in standing my ground and standing up for what is right. But if there aren’t enough people who agree then I will never get my way. If people really do want to live in a country that rewards that peculiarly British mix of sloth and greed then who am I to hold back the tsunami? If I had an exportable skill I might well be following my friend sooner rather than later. Maybe when the lights turn out I will be the only one left.
It may not be measurable, but when this guy leaves the country we will all be that little bit worse off. And that makes me sad and angry at the same time. I want this country to be somewhere where good people can be proud of being from. I want this country to be able to attract and retain the brightest and the best. I don’t know how we get there but I feel like we should at least try. But it seems to me that most people are willing to be bought off by a £2000 reduction on a new car or a couple of quid off their mortgage. I don’t blame my friend for leaving. I may not be far behind.
Come join me. It is good over here.
**Although they haven’t given me a job yet either.
Sadly, I know too many people like yourself; on the verge of being forced out of their home country by the creeping in[s]anity that is Brownian Socialism. If it’s of any help, I felt the same a few years ago, but I bought a narrow boat and went to live on the canal instead. It can be a tough life, but you don’t have the neighbour problem. Nor do I have rent, mortgage payments, council tax, utility bills or the Stasi of the local council looking in my bins and seeing how much I drink. Good luck; I hope you stay and keep shouting.
My children keep me in this country. To dislocate them and disrupt their education would be too distressing for them and for me.
Otherwise, I would now be a long, long way away.
Totally agree with you. I recently enquired about emigrating to Oz but, being nearly 71, I was told that there would not be much chance. I keep begging my 24 year old son to go – he is a P.E. Teacher. I realise that I can’t spend the rest of my days telling people what this country used to be like but…………..it stinks like hell now!
My one and only goal is to bring my boys up so that they leave Britain.
There is no hope. About the best we can expect is some order being restored under Sharia law. The Muslims are the only people with any balls to stand up for what they believe in – and I’m sure that many suffering on sink estates right now would prefer that to what Brown, Cameron et al has to offer.
In the meantime I recommend ear plugs. Being a shift worker I use them for different reasons – but, having two kids in the house arguing, I can vouch that they block out the frequencies that wake you up.
A lightbulb alarm if you’re worried about getting up.
Make it your goal to at least have the freedom to leave Britain if you want to.
The truth in these lines is sad, very sad for you and for all of us.
How did we get here? Where do we go from here? We got here because of a lack of political will which itself is a reflection on the struggle between, on the one hand, the social ‘liberal’ politically correct career officials, managers, council staff, diversity industry etc and their allies the socialist press commentators(Toynbee) vs regular working/self employed man in the street who is a doer and contributor.
Labour and Conservative have ignored man in the street and caved in to the politically correct bleeding heart do gooders who support the hand out industry. Because the man in the street does not complain. He has no backers, No voice.
I am more fortunate than you are in one sense. My children are grown up and in secure good employment. I earned enough in the Far East to set myself up to avoid the situation you describe. So I will stay. I arrived here in the mid 70’s and was horrified. I fear for the decade that follows as a return to 70’s.
If today I was in my 30’s I would take my young family to Australia or Canada. A country with a Govt that funds the breeding of the condom throwers has no future. And you sadly are in the front line.
This country is just a name. The living conditions for a growing % is being ruined.
Bad money drives out good.
Richard – I bet you haven’t been looking very hard! Is it true that Australia isn’t suffering as badly as the UK?
Mark – welcome to the blog. I have linked to you
Dickie – Could you not retire there? I guess they would want to know that you aren’t planning to be a burden on the welfare system.
EK – yes it is all about having the freedom to leave. I don’t want to leave but I feel I may have to.
LWG – Yup. Feel free to be long-winded whenever you like.
Well abroad isn’t always better, having spent five years recently in Spain – more violent/petty crime, more bureaucracy, arrogant utility suppliers, more micromanaging legislation, more corruption, more aggressive immigrants, everyone trying to rip you off.
Still the sun shone, which makes up for a lot.
First interview on Friday, but you are correct I haven’t been looking that hard.
All the people I’ve met have the impression that the UK is a basket case and the country most severely affected by the global recession. Oz is definitely having it’s own troubles, but I think the effects are probably on a 3/4 month lag compared to the UK.
John Bull – I wouldn’t want to move to Spain. Lovely place to look at but as you say pretty unpleasant in many ways. If I was staying in Europe I think Poland or the Czech Republic. There are two nations willing to stand up for themselves. I think probably Aus or Canada would suit me better.
Richard – in some ways it is good that outsiders can see through all the spin we have here, but in others it is terribly embarrassing to be from Brown’s Britain at the moment.
Whatever you all say, nothing a good long-stint og Tory government can’t sort out, just like the 80’s.
sad that we have reached this point, but we are where we are. I have lived abroad myself and it has much to recommend it. However, onec abroad there is much to like in the Uk too.
The best answer is to become rich enough to be an international traveller with multiple places to live and work; I am doing my best to achieve this, albeit it seems a long way off!
Hey CU. I will definitely give Cameron a while to sort the house out, but if he doesn’t win then I may just drop everything and leave the next day. I think that Thatch inadvertently laid the foundations for some of Blair and Brown’s unforgivable acts, though. She destroyed a lot of the brakes on parliament’s untrammelled power.
CU – that’s my plan too, but the hard bit is in acquiring the wealth!
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Eh??
(Blue…I think that Darcy chick just spammed you!)
I’m sorry you are unhappy with things across the pond.
I do hear good things about Australia.
I would hate to see you go, because I think you are, what I consider to be, a very good British citizen.
I would hate to see you stay, because your country is falling apart, like mine.
If you must go, you must. It is a scary time for all of us in the world.
My thoughts are with you, my friend.
Yup, I left 6 years ago, a mechanical engineer aged 26, and never considered going back to the UK, even having spent the past 2 1/2 years living on an island at the arse-end of Russia. I might have to go back if I can’t get a job elsewhere, but given the slightest choice, which I almost always have, I never will.