It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

taplady

Gigervamp wrote: »

Taplady, what job was your son going for that he had to be on the radio? How did he do? And congrats to your other son.
QUOTE]

he was going for a job as a radio presenter(dj) and they wanted to try him out so decided to let him stand in for a presenter who was off for the day. He did really well and we're very proud of him.He did a 4 hour show this lunchtime.:)

D&DD - glad DS went off to school happily, hope he had a great day! x

katholicos

Taplady, that sounds brill about your son. How cool listening to your own son on the radio!

Forgot to say, Congrats Gailey on your happy news!

Virtual hugs to all who need or want them!

Yes I do like exclamation marks!

Charis

Gigervamp wrote: »

Ceridwen, I think you need to stop thinking so much!

I remember those days too and deplore the use of agricultural lands for building new houses. We've got a large new development near us that was grazing fields for sheep. Trouble is, with these new developments, they have to set aside a certain number of houses for "affordable" housing, (which in my mind aren't affordable anyway) and the rest seem to be either *executive* housing or at least just below that, with 3, 4, or 5 bedrooms and the same amount of bathrooms!

The county council are doing just that to the market town where I live. They intend to increase the population from 9,000 to possibly 12,000 (it will then have doubled since the millennium) and the situation is just the same here, 40% 'affordable' (in reality 8% affordable to buy, 32% housing association) the remaining 60% private have to be expensive enough to pay for all the roads, a new primary school and the landscaping of a park.

Apart from that private investment, there will be no contribution to the infrastructure of the town, we have not had the promised new library, there is insufficient green space for the population, according to the statutory guidelines (unless you count gazing at someone else's fields). Our ambulance and fire station are earmarked for closure and our hospital only has a minor injuries unit that can't even attend to a fracture. My neighbour's child was bitten by a dog (tiny injury which healed itself without surgery) She was told to take him to Birmingham Children's hospital, 45 miles away. We hear a lot about the 'Third World' and I used to wonder where the 'Second World' was. I think I've moved there.

D&DD

Hippeeeeeeeeeee!!! I so love Swanage its our (adopted)second home jealous I am now
Started to go there with my parents at 2 and now take ours there most years and its not changed one bit!

Taplady so glad he did well on the radio show when will he hear? When does DS2 start his new job?

Uh oh being summonsed to watch Lord of the Rings catch up tomorrow after I've done the second floor..

Night all XX

Hippeechiq

D&DD wrote: »

Hippeeeeeeeeeee!!! I so love Swanage its our (adopted)second home jealous I am now
Started to go there with my parents at 2 and now take ours there most years and its not changed one bit!

Wow!! Small world eh? It is a lovely little town, one of those magical places to visit that's good for the soul

nobodyspecial

katholicos wrote: »

Re: being green, i'm not an eco-nut, but i like to recycle what i can, reuse what i can and refrain from spending when i can. I take what i can so long as it doesn't negatively impact on others and I like to give what i can, back to the world, the people blah blah blah (isn't that a Stevie Wonder song...or michael jackson maybe?)

I'm a firm believer in having a generosity of spirit and doing what good you can for others, that may not be in a monetary capacity, but via a thoughtful and kind word, giving away surplus, running an errand, using talents we have to benefit the lives of others without asking for something in return. Fundamentally, one has to think of themselves first, but not to the detriment of others and wherever possible i think it beneficial to at least attempt to make the world a more pleasant place to live in.

With regard to the adult:child ratio, i strenuously believe that children are blessings. I happen to believe in God, there are many who don't, but my faith shapes my belief that children are a blessing and that we should be 'open to life'.

Re: The argument of overpopulation and the need for child:adult ratios...well it seldom seems to take into account the immigration factor, nor the fact that with a future majority of the UK's inhabitants being elderly, there will need to be a veritable army of younger people in the workforce to pay for their healthcare etc.

The whole idea of an adult:child ratio is preposterous to me since many women choose not to have children or alas, are unable to have children...in addition to this, sadly, millions of children die each year from the consequences of war, from disease, from starvation.

Start bandying about ratios and you have to answer some tough questions...for example, must all women produce 1.2 children for example, even if they don't want to? What if women choose not to have children.... the ratio is negated. Do the women who want children then have the option of having a further child to produce the required individuals to sustain the necessary factors of provision for the masses of retiring and long-living elderly members of our future society?

Where humanity stumbles, is in its propensity to selfishness.

The overpopulation theory has been floating about for a couple of hundred years (or more), the world is still turning, there are still enough resources to provide for all....once again, it is human error, human failing, not overpopulation that is the reason we are screwing up so badly.

A link that may be of interest: the overpopulation myth.

:T:T:T:T:T

A well thought out post.

I was reading ( but now cannot find :mad::mad:) a dissertation about how it is the propensity of single person households that is the drain on the world's resources. Families are not a problem. Makes sense when you think about it. A cooker cooking for one person or 4,5, 6 more even. A washing machine being produced for one person or for many people. A carpet being produced..............well you get the point. Much of the "carbon impact" is from the PRODUCTION of household appliances, furnishings, houses themselves etc. That impact is lessened when more than one person avails themselves of the same source, but is escalated by single person use. Long live multi-occupancy :T:T:T:T

Gigervamp

Hippeechiq, I'm another who loves Swanage. My parents used to take us there when I was a child and I took my own children there too. Haven't been back for years unfortunately.

Taplady, wow, your son was really thrown into the deep end wasn't he? It must have been lovely to hear him on the radio.

Katholicos, excellent posts.

sammy_kaye18

Morning all

well I have a nice day out shopping with my sister in law today to swansea so think I will get some winter prep done if I can.

Today is bens first day back in school too so hes landed as he gets to use his new WWE lunchbox!

Am also sat feeling sorry for myself for 3 reasons

1. Holly refused to go back to sleep at 4am this morning so now I'm feeling poo although it is almost 7am and I have done the dishes, made Owens lunch, ironed his shirts and got him out the door, made bens packed lunch box, got all his uniform ready, fed holly (who is now sleeping again and had a hot cup of tea for the first time in months.

2. Wednesday was mine and owens anniversary - 8 years together - we met the day we became a couple and OWen forgot it It wasn't until I asked him if he was going to say happy anniversary too me that he realised the date - although he did apologise but hasn't made it up to me yet.

3. Went to the dentist yesterday as something didn't feel right and I have an abcess come back. Its in the front of my mouth - tooth after the canine on my right side. Its not hurting just feels uncomfortable and a bit tender to touch, it flarred up whilst I was pregnant so they gave me antibiotics as they couldn't do anything else. Well went and saw dentist yesterday and she said I have two options - --- Root Canal VS Extraction. I am swaying more towards extraction because the tooth that's bad is 90% filling anyway and chances are they'll destroy what's left of my tooth trying to get to the root.

She told me come away and think about it and they will see me on the 16th but she didn't give me any antibitoics this time but she knows Im funny about taking pills (its such a palarva you wouldnt believe) but she was touching tooth and moving my lip around etc and there was no pain so Im wondering if that's why I had nothing to take. She said put a cold compress on it and massage it to a head and it will probably pop and drain itself! :eek::eek::eek: but warned me it didnt taste very nice

so Im having a rubbish few days but oh well shopping today.

ceridwen

Katholicos

I've not read Malthus myself. Just had a quick glance over t'internet to see what he said - and couldnt spot anything about people being killed:eek:. Scanned several things and saw no evidence of him saying anything like that.

Who are the Population Institute? (ie the ones that produced that video-ette). Who funds them? I've never heard of them.

What I go by is basically the evidence of my own eyes and the increasing population count and the fact that - across the world - most of the population congregate on the most favourable spots.

Having read the first local Energy Descent Plan (ie Totnes Energy Descent Plan for instance - online free for anyone to read) I certainly noticed how much surrounding land Totnes needs to feed itself - followed instantly by the fact that other nearby population centres will be relying on the same land...I suspect many of the other EDAP's (when they come out) will reveal a similar quandary.

My personal viewpoint - one of the reasons I didnt have children personally was because I knew that I couldnt have afforded them with most of the men I might have married (as I certainly dont earn much myself). If I hadnt - then I knew I would be trapped in poverty for decades scraping for pennies - and I couldnt face the thought of being so poor for so long. I knew that having children would have meant that I and they would have even had to do without necessities sometimes - visions of not being able to afford a healthy enough diet, enough fuel to heat the home, any medical necessities that cropped up that weren't covered by the NHS, having to put up with any old treatment/salary employers cared to dish out and lucky if I could change things or even protest about it as I would have to make sure the children were fed today (rather than think about tomorrow), etc. Hence the financial part of the reason for not doing so personally.

I've watched couples with children arguing about literally a few £s (ITRW and latterly on MSE) and been shocked and vowed never to be in a position where I had to literally count the pennies if I could help it. I always assumed that any husband I had would have taken the same view of things as my father did - ie he always felt strongly that the money he earned was for his wife and children, as well as himself and wouldnt have dreamt of taking something for himself at the expense of his wife or children. I have a particularly UNselfish father I know - but I still watched my mother struggle with an inadequate income for the number of children she had and felt the effect (as one of those children).

Thats me - and some of my personal reasons...

*Maya*

ooh I find this debate dead fascinating. I personally would love as many children as I could afford and see them as a blessing. I think some people are saying that they have stayed childless for the environment but reallly just didn't get the urge to have kids.
I remember a debate like this one before and you yourself Ceridwen said you had no maternal instinct and no want for kids. That's why I don't get when I see you always telling people about overcrowding and saying how you never had children. It's misleading when you say it coz it makes us think you did it out of eco reasons but you said in your post above that one of the reasons was coz you would have needed to marrya rich man. I think Katholicos made some good points and I agree with them. I am still hoping for a big family.
Good luck to everyone on here whose facing tough times. My wee job seems secure enough but who knows these days.