Depessing news

Herbie_Hancock_I_wish

We often hear about youngsters who are jobless . Benefit bashers please stay off this thread . I know plenty who are desperately seeking work . I mentioned in a thread before about a friend with a degree landing a job as a lollipop lady . A very bad state of affairs to be saddled with student debt and that is all , after 3 years of hard work you are good for .

On the other hand the over 50`s also find themselves in a perlious place .

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/slump-shuts-over-50s-out-of-job-market-1.1120364

Often a time when finances are not great . Also expecting a further 15 years in work to build up money behind them . Kids at school or at uni . Quite likely still with debts and a mortgage . Do also remember that less companies pay into a pension fund .

Now with the average age of a first time buyer being 35 think what that would hold if this is a pattern .

Savings are rubbish , annuities halved over a couple of decades and a stock market that is no better than a yo yo . Yet many , even at retirement age cannot afford to give up work . Yet the toffs say , we might all have to work a bit longer . They didn`t quite say where these jobs are coming from . To me this is not acceptable .

Tax payers are picking up a lot of bills . Underfunded state job pensions whilst many of these same tax payers look forward to a much reduced income in retirement . Start your own business , don`t make me laugh . I speak from a long time being self employed . If you are a small trader there is little help . However costs are soaring . The state is intruding everywhere . Next door put out there rubbish a day to early . The refuse police came around and fined them £50 !

House prices shot up way beyond where they should be . With the likes of kirsty and co ( was she really an advisor on housing for the Tory party ) , people were inflamed to buy a nasty little gaff in case they missed the boat .

For people on benefits who require housing , so much more has to be found by the tax payer to pay the market rental price .

I could go on . I cannot see a way out of this dreadful state of affairs .

smamst

I blame Thatcher.

Thrugelmir

Herbie_Hancock_I_wish wrote: »

I could go on . I cannot see a way out of this dreadful state of affairs .
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Either jump off Beachy Head or collectively work together to fix broken Britain.

Obama's speech the other night was interesting. Addressing the whole mentality of US culture. Appreciate its election year coming up. Nevertheless he appears to be bringing the real issues out into the public forum for debate.

Better than the Tories vs Labour continual Punch and Judy show.

Herbie_Hancock_I_wish

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Either jump off Beachy Head or collectively work together to fix broken Britain.

Obama's speech the other night was interesting. Addressing the whole mentality of US culture. Appreciate its election year coming up. Nevertheless he appears to be bringing the real issues out into the public forum for debate.

Better than the Tories vs Labour continual Punch and Judy show.

Certainly not going to jump off anywhere . I am very intrigued on how we work together to repair broken Britain .

Oh just found this http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2011/sep/06/welfare-post-riots-video

Love to see the " toff " sorting it .

pqrdef

Herbie_Hancock_I_wish wrote: »

I am very intrigued on how we work together to repair broken Britain .

First thing is obvious. Get more over-50s retired to create jobs for young people.

If the government wants to save a fortune on benefits, and a whole bunch of other problems, the best thing it can do is get people into work before they have kids.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ronaldo_Mconaldo

What's the point in trying to fix anything. This country is a shambles and collectively I doubt we could decide what the problems are. How about the recent riots, you could compile a list as long as your arm for the reasons for them starting if you asked people. On top of that there's the attitude that the riots were nothing compared to Rupert Murdoch/MPs expenses.

I think the biggest problem with this country is that if you identify a problem then some sector of society are going to take it personally and start up some kind of campaign to defend their case and lay the blame somewhere else. Face it, deep down we pretty much hate each other. It's a race to the bottom, i'll see you at the finish line...or Beachy Head.

kabayiri

Before we spend vast amounts of money to change, and create serious upheaval, I think we have to ask ourselves, what sort of a society does modern Britain want, with a close eye on achievability as a second Q.

I have argued before that the National Census was a missed opportunity to ask everyone loads of Qs, and gain a picture of the outlook of Britains everywhere. Not just how many bedrooms you have, but about schools and health and job security etc.

If you have ever been to the Scandanavian countries like Denmark, you realise you can have both a relatively high tax but also happy society. I am not saying they have some kind of utopian set up, but it seems more balanced and sustainable.

Finally, go for a walk in Snowdonia, or the High Peak, or the Yorkshire Dales, or vast parts of Scotland, and you will see just how much beauty and wealth there is in this country. It's not all gloom and doom.

undetterred

Uni should be open to the gifted,seems nowadays any chav can sign up.

Pennywise

For a start, we need to get back to where only the best go to Uni. Rather than the ridiculous 50%, how about the top 10%, and I personally think that's till too high. Let's get back to where employers only insist on a degree where it's relevant and necessary - not as we have today, as the baseline standard for virtually any half decent job.

Then plough all the money saved into converting the redundant Uni's into technical colleges, polytechnics, etc., with an emphasis on hands-on trades and professions such as the building & trades, engineering, and a whole host of other jobs, such as hairdressing, hospitality & catering, etc. Things that the less academic can do.

We should also greatly bolster our pathetically small resources for training doctors, dentists, nurses, etc. It's ridiculous that we still have to rely on "importing" people trained overseas, simply because we don't have enough training places in the UK. The "closed shop" must end. We need to double, even treble our uni places for healthcare professionals. It's crazy that we restrict the number of entrants by requiring top grades, then don't produce enough so we have to rely on immigrants. Let's utilise the premises of a few redundant unis (when we abandon the 50% stupidity) and convert them into medical unis.

Let's concentrate on basic reading, writing and maths in secondary school for those that aren't up to standard with non academic subjects alongside. Pointless making someone try to learn French if they can't read or write properly, or physics if they're not numerate. After 10 years compulsory education, it's a travesty that so many young leave school being not up to the standard in the basics and then just abandoned by the education system.

At the end of the day, we have to start being more reliant on our own home-grown labour force. If, today, we have to rely on immigrants, then let's spend a decade bolstering up our education & tranining system to train our own for the next generation. Crazy to have mass immigration when we have mass unemployment - we have to match the jobs to the unemployed and that means some decent training and education.

I think academia has a lot to be blamed for. The academics who control the education system have for far too long just cast aside anyone who isn't academic. We need joiners and plumbers just as much as we need doctors and accountants, yet the educational establishment seems to want to get rid of the potential tradesmen asap to fend for themselves and be trained up by employers - yet they're happy to keep the potential doctors and accountants within the education system for another five years at least. I'd far rather my son knew how to re-wire a house than be able to recite a page of Shakespeare!

qetu1357

Gradually cut public spending. For example costs around £7k a year to educate each kid. Give each parent £5k for each kid and let them sort out their kid's education.

Tell people that they have to take responsibility for their lives.