Privatisation of the Motorways

[monkeybarry]

My Council Tax bill hit my door mat this morning, ?ú1717.98 for 2012-13, ?ú4.71 a day.

i thought that when i wrote my post!!!
the comfort came when i remembered we pay that no matter what local council services we choose to use!! yay!!! :special: ](*,)

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

i dont want to go down the whole "define what it is to be English" etc as that would just become political debate

but when you say "natural roots" - what/when are you refering to? and how do you think it
a) fits in with modern society and societies needs (society as a whole - not just certain sections) and
b) how you think it was benefit society (when weighing the positives vs the negatives it would create)

im not stirring, genuinely interested to hear your views

Who said anything about English? I am talking about the natural roots of the human race.
a) Modern society is a myth. We shoehorn everything into it. But right now modern British society isn't about being better anymore (being better is seen as an evil thing) and is about ensuring that those not capable of being better are given as much as possible by those that work hard or are better. Basically the society view is if you have a million, you don't deserve it. If you have nothing, you deserve a million. How you came to have a million or zero is irrelevant. We are a society ruled by jealousy.

b) Best thing for society is allow the strong and successful to flourish, and to weed out the weak.

It may not go with modern day thinking, but that's because modern day thinking is flawed. Two basic facts that people no longer "want" to believe are true.

1) Life isn't fair
2) We aren't equal

 

[Dorothy]

Survival of the fittest or those that just get on with their own lives.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

Survival of the fittest or those that just get on with their own lives.

I made an observation 20 years ago that we were 10 to 15 years behind the States on social trends. The whole "I deserve something for nothing!" ethos hit there in the late 80's, early 90's. It hit us in the mid 00's and unfortunately the States still has that ethos, so no doubt we will for the next 15 years (at least) too. Instant gratification is where it's at. That and jealousy of the haves.

It always brings to mind to me that viral flimflam from the early 00's. Bill Gates didn't say any of the below, but damn does it ring true.

Rule 1: Life is not fair -- get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping -- they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

 

[Leeds Spur]

That is quality mate - stolen.

Between the ages of 13 and 22 I worked and did every brick job imaginable, cleaning toilets, warehouse work, supermarket, market stall, Bingo caller, pub I didn't give a fudge...if it paid a wage I did it.

 

[monkeybarry]

oddly enough Moonlit Knight - im actually of a similar mindset to you

we just have different ways of sorting it out

The problem with "survuval of the fittest", as Dorothy said above, is there is too much potential to screw over the people in the middle;

if someone wants to become "the best" (whatever that may be!!) than let them go do that - i have no issue with that.
if they want to become the best and as a result have a negative impact on the people that are just "getting on with everyday life", thus having a negatvie impact on social stability, then i have an issue

the same goes with the feckless and their entitlement culture that you summed up perfectly above - they need a huge reality check (i would actually extend that to a large proportion of present UK society tbh) and learn the value of earning something.

regarding the scroungers however, we need to change social attitudes and help empower and motivate people - at the end of the day they are part of our society