Asia, here I come (back)

kabayiri

bendix wrote: »

I just mourn for the fact that Britain is no longer like that. In fact, HK is more British now than Britain, a place where traditional British values like thrift, reward for hard work, a savings culture and a sense of individiual responsibility are prevalent, rather like the values that made British great before we dumbed it all down and got 'nice'.

Britain has lost it's way a bit, that's all.

But when push comes to shove, everyone will dig in and we will turn it around.

The world is becoming quite an unstable place right now. Places like the UK will be seen as a stable safe haven in the future.

bendix

Are you Winston Churchill in disguise?

I think you're wrong. A genie of dependancy and expectation has been let out of the bottle and can never be put back in again. You can't pamper people for six decades and let them grow morally and physically fat, and then take away those benefits, that sense of entitlement without MASSIVE consequences. No government will ever do that. Thatcher tried to and started to succeed, but her successors lost the will and resumed the same path.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I'm naturally cynical and pessimistic and love a good moan about declining standards and the rise of the idiots etc etc. I just don't think things are quite that bad in Britain.

I have lived abroad and I always found the ex-pats who whined about what a dump the UK was, while enjoying the benefits of a UK passport, UK assets and a UK bank account just as annoying as the Australians who flock to SW London and then complain loudly in surprised, aggrieved tones about how much colder and damper it is than Queensland.

kabayiri

bendix wrote: »

Are you Winston Churchill in disguise?

I think you're wrong. A genie of dependancy and expectation has been let out of the bottle and can never be put back in again. You can't pamper people for six decades and let them grow morally and physically fat, and then take away those benefits, that sense of entitlement without MASSIVE consequences. No government will ever do that. Thatcher tried to and started to succeed, but her successors lost the will and resumed the same path.

Just call me Winnie for short

What possible reason can I have for being negative on the UK?

I have some property in Canada, and it's a lovely place there, but right now this is my home. I have no intention on giving up on UK.

I remember the rampant inflation in Thailand too when I was there. Every place has its pluses and minuses.

StevieJ

I thought sane people (who could do) were moving west to escape the radiation :eek:

ninky_2

bendix wrote: »

I love Britain. I just can't stand living here and watching it die.

i know your job is obviously really important but the relevance of this decision to the economy as a whole is precisely what?

maybe you can swap your place with a thai. i hear quite a few of them are desperate to come to britain. even in its death thoes.

StevieJ

bendix wrote: »

Are you Winston Churchill in disguise?

I think you're wrong. A genie of dependancy and expectation has been let out of the bottle and can never be put back in again. You can't pamper people for six decades and let them grow morally and physically fat, and then take away those benefits, that sense of entitlement without MASSIVE consequences. No government will ever do that. Thatcher tried to and started to succeed, but her successors lost the will and resumed the same path.

Bye bye it will be sad to lose such a pleasant sole

ninky_2

bendix wrote: »

I have paid the salaries of the school's two teachers for the past five years, as well as worked with sporting goods and IT companies to arrange free equipment (including computers) for the school which is currently giving 27 kids an education they wouldn't otherwise have had, without travelling 40km to the nearest town.

I also finance an annual scholarship for the best boy and girl student in that school to continue their education elsewhere.

i guess if they had a tax system like the uk you wouldn't need to do this because like here all the children would have access to education and not have to rely on the very hit and miss kindness of strangers.

just a thought.

julieq

I'm a great fan of the East and spend a lot of time there, but it's not all bear and skittles. If you think politicians are dishonest here, in the East there is geniune corruption, politicians taking literally millions out of the system, installing their mistresses in large luxury houses at the taxpayer's expense, etc. And very little in terms of social provision. If you're on the right side of the poverty line you'll be fine, on the wrong side and you're in trouble.

And +1 on what Ninky said.

kabayiri

Julie makes a valid point.

Wealth individuals and corporations still value transparency, even handedness, and stability, especially in a changing world.

I'm sure there are ex-pats who had made a very decent living in Libya, but who have had to make a hasty exit.

What price can you put on a relatively stable and safe homeland? I bet people and companies in Japan wished they had our solid block of rock beneath them right now. Watching events unfold makes me realise just how lucky we are.