Why are people in this country so stupid?

divadee

our 15 year fix is portable if we choose to move. but like MJMum has said the fees for paying off early our quite high for us approx 2,200. We dont plan to move at all, this house more than fits our needs as a family, we couldnt afford to pay off our mortgage in full at all in the near future, unless we get a very unexpected windfall which if it was for that much i am sure we could find the extra 2k to pay the fees.

It suits our needs for the foreseeable future, we love knowing exactly what amount we have to pay for the next 12 years.

nogginthenog

If you give people enough rope they will hang themselves.,it is a old adage!
Many of our population are conned by the term...Freedom!
Freedom only really benefits... the spivs,the loan sharks,wheel clampers,the conmen,cold calling salesmen,AND the advertisers who promise to make our lives heaven on earth,etc etc.
Many people in the UK are not spupid,but it is also true many are not equipped to deal with the complicated consumer driven world we live in.
Untill we get some ethical regulation in the uk by the people we vote for! we will be split into two groups of people ...the ones who can think for themselves,and the ones who think they can think for themselves and shout about personal freedom,but are really being manipulated by greed the advertisers and the market.
This latter group are always the ones to blame everybody else when things go wrongs in their own lives
When we all go to vote,most of us think it is democracy, but the people we vote for are really in the sticky palms of the real people who rule our world the ones with the money

deary65

Hi nogginthenog,
You might be interested in watching this:
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=8702

nogginthenog

We are conned into thinking we would be happier and more content if we have the latest gadgets,and life IS made deliberately complicated by our masters.
Without being unkind i know people who have full scale family arguments deciding what ice cream they want,what chance do they have buying a financial product?
people are not stupid just naive!

mingymoo

ukbondraider wrote:

I thought I would just add some spice to the mass of house price crash threads and ask why people in the UK are so dumb?

We all know that house prices are at their peak and we all know that interests rates can rise so why as a nation have we not adopted the mentality of fixing our mortgages when we buy our houses? I dont mean a 2yr fix or a 5yr fix but a fix for the duration of the mortgage e.g 25yr or 30yr? Why have we never fixed our mortgages for a long period in the past as standard? We would all know our costs and regardless of fluctations in rates we would all still be able to pay the mortgage off and live through any turbulence meaning mass repossesions and crashes would not occur.

Why do people in this country also max themselves out? i.e why does everyone buy a bigger house than they can afford only to equip/decorate it with rubbish?

Why do people always spend carelessly? The number of £30-50K cars sitting outside £100-200K houses just amazes me as does the number of council flats with a sky dish.

Why does everyone buy brand new cars and with finance? You are better off losing the cash at a roulette wheel.

Why does everyone take out loans? If you cant afford it dont buy or do it.

Also why as one of the great countries in the world are we relatively speaking so under skilled? We are on the whole rubbish in our communication skills especially when compared to the US and we arent as smart academically as our European or Asian friends. With the "old boys network" gradually being replaced with true talent in the business environment it is no surprise why in the current generation, we find that most of the top firms in this country are run and largely staffed by non british people. Of the small british folks that are indeed present in these big firms they are usually British Asian and not British white.

This country always amazes me and yes I am British White.

Have you read this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Affluenza-Oliver-James/dp/0091900107/sr=8-1/qid=1170610407/ref=pd_ka_1/202-2685941-6961426?ie=UTF8&s=books


Affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more. (de Graaf, 2002)

affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. (PBS)

cwcw

hobo28 wrote:

I know a couple a bit like that. They have combined income of £100k+ yet have no savings and huge mortgage. Every few years they remortgage and add to it for holidays, cars, gadgets, whatever. Their attitude is to enjoy it now and when her mother dies, the inheritance will pay it all off! :shock:

Their kids don't know the value of money at all. He'll happily trash his ipod and expect another. They'll spend £200 on DS's birthday then another £100 on DD to make sure she's not disappointed. Then little swine will break his present so they'll take him back and get him more. Then they wonder why their kids misbehave!?!?!

What do DS and DD stand for? This forum is a minefield of acronyms.

free4440273

debt is no longer a 'dirty' word. nothing wrong with that i say. trouble is 'common sense' is no longer in many people's vocabulary either nowadays. these are dangerous times we live in yes, but they are also ridiculous times. i have absolutely no idea how people on 'average' incomes afford property, new cars (some people i know have a new one every few yrs) etc. i must be 'missing' something - a large salary perhaps. hope everyone has a good monday week

Hereward

cwcw wrote:

What do DS and DD stand for? This forum is a minefield of acronyms.

DS = Dear Son
DD = Dear Daughter

stolt

mingymoo wrote:

Have you read this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Affluenza-Oliver-James/dp/0091900107/sr=8-1/qid=1170610407/ref=pd_ka_1/202-2685941-6961426?ie=UTF8&s=books


Affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more. (de Graaf, 2002)

affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. (PBS)

thanks, going to order that, will make some interesting reading while on my way to work.

competitionscafe

Sounds like an interesting read. I enjoyed this article too:

As a nation, we are more affluent than ever. Yet, strangely, we only seem to be getting gloomier and more pessimistic.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2163700.ece