Preparedness for when

Charis

GreyQueen wrote: »

I'm not a racist because I'm exactly the same ethnicity as the bulk of the european migrant popluation (white), and I'm not a xenophobe because phobia means an 'irrational fear'. When I see quality of life going down the toilet because of the biggest movement of population in peacetime ever, I'm not a happy bunny, but it's a rational, not an irrational reaction.

Great post GQ. I once had a very unpleasant encounter on Farcebook with a 'friend of a friend' who accused me of being racist because I thought the local police did nothing wrong in moving a group of such people along. She got really nasty and personal about it.

I now feel that our right to have a point of view has been taken away from us. When I was young we used to be proud of living in a country where we had the right to enjoy free speech. Now you can lose a whole career for a careless Twitter comment.

I confess that I voted for the 'European Common Market', I was just old enough to vote. At that time we were seduced by the 'certainty' of better trading opportunities with Europe and reassured that our ties with the Commonwealth, including a preferential rate for food imported from Commonwealth countries would continue unchanged. They didn't. Never a mention of all that has followed or the massive influx of so called 'job seekers' and 'asylum seekers'. It's hard to stomach when my own now adult offspring are stuck with zero hours contracts and minimum wages.

Nor was there anticipation of all the EU bureaucracy that has since strangled small businesses. Rules that, when applied to a corporation can be absorbed but to a lone businessman with a small staff become nonsensical and hugely expensive. I see the whole scam as a way that the big corporations can more easily soak up all the available customers in order to leave us without the means or the equipment to become self sufficient or the wherewithal to challenge them in court. There is now that move towards a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership :eek:. I haven't forgotten Oprah Winfrey and the Texas Cattlemen.

RAS

Frugalsod wrote: »

I think a big part of the problem is that the government have pushed more into university raising expectations of graduates and lowering the pay for graduates as there are simply not enough jobs that really require graduates. Also with 50% of kids now trying to get to university it marks the rest as below average and so lowers their ability to get on.

Part of the problem is that twerp Blairby did not know the difference between an A level or 3 and an American High School Diploma.

You see, 80% of American kids go to college and get various sorts of degree.

Just that the High School Diploma is equivalent to GCSEs/O Levels, which is why American universities use tests like SATS and why they do 4 year degrees.

As it happens 80% of our students completing GCSEs go into 6th form or college and A Levels and BTECs are equivalent to the lower level college degrees in the US.

GreyQueen

RAS wrote: »

Part of the problem is that twerp Blairby did not know the difference between an A level or 3 and an American High School Diploma.

You see, 80% of American kids go to college and get various sorts of degree.

Just that the High School Diploma is equivalent to GCSEs/O Levels, which is why American universities use tests like SATS and why they do 4 year degrees.

As it happens 80% of our students completing GCSEs go into 6th form or college and A Levels and BTECs are equivalent to the lower level college degrees in the US.

:j I've got a BTEC and a BA (Hons). Wonder what that's do for me in US academic terms? Answer; hamburger and fries, please.:rotfl:

charis, yes, I felt ambivalent about posting what I did, thought about it carefully in case I got monstered. Throwing around hate words like racist and xenophobe is a cheap riposte from TPTB and their co-travellers who want to silence those of us who have legitimate concerns. Most of us bite our lips rather than say what we see as happening to our detriment, and the detriment of others in our country.

I'm a card-carrying Guardian-reading lefty and would no more racially-abuse another person than I'd chew off my own left foot. I just don't have it in me.

Trouble is, the European super-state isn't something which a lot of us want. Not wanting to be part of the United States of Europe doesn't make you a small-minded bigoted little person who should be shouted down by every person of decency who encounters your unenlightened views.

I find it flippin' unbelieveable that someone has the right to pack a bag a thousand miles away, jump on a coach or a plane and quickly acquires the same rights in my country as I have. I sure as hell wouldn't expect to tip up in someone else's country and be treated equally with the indigenous population.

I once explained it to someone thus: I am a (insert name of my particular home area within this county), a (insert county name), a (insert region's name) then an Englishwoman, a Brit, and lastly and very much leastly, a European. Those are the levels of my personal sense of place, place physically held by me and mine for countless generations. And social and cultural identity. You shouldn't get to rock up at Dover or Gatwick and get that handed to you - it's earned by blood, sweat and toil.

Frankly, I think it speaks volumes for the decency and forbearance of most people in this country that there hasn't been a lot of blood on the streets over this mass immigration by now.

[Deleted User]

GQ you have the right to hold your own opinion, you are allowed to think and you can think and reason and evaluate and form a balanced opinion, there isn't a person on the planet with the right or authority to tell you what you are and are not allowed to think and feel!!! If anyone does try to censor your thoughts or tell you you're not allowed to think or feel what it is that you do think or feel they are a lesser intellect and can't or won't see the whole picture and therefore thier opinion is flawed and invalid!!! There is an awful lot of ignorance in the population these days, and an awful lot of bigotry and misinformation and the less educated and experienced cannot see beyond thier own horizons, that's why you're a prepper and they're not old thing!!!

jk0

Someone posted something on Landlordzone today that made me laugh because it is so true:

The problem is if you think about how stupid the 'average' person is there are 50% people below that average who are even more stupid.

I'm still chuckling.

VJsmum

The way i see it is that there are several different, but may be conflicting, issues

One is the fact that we can pitch up in another (EU) country and demand the same rights - unfortunately for us, we don't want to - and the rights i imagine are not so generous.
Then there is the fact that many EU immigrants (and others, i guess) are doing jobs that many UK citizens will not do, or won't do to the same standard for that money.
then the fact that, according to the statistics, we have a net gain from immigration
But we are a very small country and don't have a lot of room left to grow into - or at least not in the places where people want to live, and where the jobs are.
there are many benefits to us being in the EU - do they outweigh the burdens? I should love to know.
Then we have a party who are focussing on one issue (immigration and the EU), which is feeding into a general racism / xenophobia feeling added to a deep recession - and any of their other policies are being ignored (do people not know their history? I am not talking about this thread or necessarily this board , by the way)
We also have an element of the population who feel they are owed something, the "not getting out of bed for less than £xxx" brigade. The "Because i am worth it"'s (for which i still blame thatcher)

I don't know the answer - I think i'd quite like to keep hardworking immigrants and send the no mark, no job, benefit scrounging Brits to eastern Europe :rotfl: (that is a joke BTW - not meant and not meant to cause offence, :rotfl::rotfl:)

Interesting debate. I am a leftie too, though voted Green in Europe as i feel it is a voice which needs to be heard.

mardatha

I hate racism - I think we are all Jock Tamson's bairns. But the whole problem is that this is an island and it's FULL.

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

I hate racism - I think we are all Jock Tamson's bairns. But the whole problem is that this is an island and it's FULL.

Who's Jock Tamson, pls?

I have (half of) an FB pie for my supper. Preptastic!

fuddle

I guess it is wrong to get to the age of 34 and not know the definition of left wing and right wing in terms of politics. I have been brought up to believe that labour is for the have nots, conservatives is for the haves and anything in between isn't worth bothering about. I have an opinion and an ever closely tuned ear. I won't be told who to vote for this time but I don't really know what I think or believe other than I agree with Mar in that I am very, very concerned about the effect of living in a country that is full to bursting and it is effecting me and mine in regards to our services.

GreyQueen

fuddle, left wing and right wing have long ceased to have any real meaning if, indeed, they ever had.

Here's a little story which is almost certainly 100% untrue;

Once upon a time there was a Chinese emperor who was tired of the endless scheming of his courtiers. So he built a left wing on his palace and installed some courtiers there. And then he built a right wing on the palace, and installed the rest of the courtiers there.

And got on with ruling whilst the left wing and the right wing schemed against each other.

It's probably allegorical. Or possibly even metaphorical.

If you want to understand politics, consider the following;

Like an over-ardent suitor, politicians will promise you anything to get you into bed. They'll despise you in the morning and won't call. In fact, should your paths cross a while after the [STRIKE]erection[/STRIKE] oops, election, they'll probably fail to acknowledge your existance.

The golden rule is; if you have the gold, you get to make the rules. Always, always look who benefits from anything. Who profits?

Very few politicians are worthy, and they often can't deliver on their promises because there are too many other forces such as vested interests getting in the way.

I'd like to propose the following; that anyone who thinks they should be in politics should be allowed to put themselves forward - and shot immediately. Or that politicians should be like Celtic chieftains of old; drawn by lot, king for a year and then executed to ensure the fertility of the crops.

Wouldn't necessarily improve politics but it'd make life more amusing.