By HUGO DUNCAN PUBLISHED: 16:12, 30 May 2012 | UPDATED: 22:57, 30 May 2012 Poor educational standards and a benefits culture in the UK pose one of the biggest threats to the recovery in the UK, according to the European Commission. The report found that the failure to make work pay for single mothers and those on benefits meant nearly two million children were growing up in idle households where no one has a job - making it less likely that they will ever work. But some of the biggest challenges facing Britain in the long-term were around education, unemployment and welfare. âThere is a persistently large number of functionally illiterate and innumerate adults in the UK, usually with no qualifications,â the report said. âThe UK continues to have to have too many people with low skills. The economic costs of this problem are likely to increase over time if it is not effectively addressed.â Brussels said it posed a major risk to the health of the British economy as the country - reeling from the first double-dip recession since 1975 - struggles to compete on a global stage. <img src='http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/05/30/article-2152209-066493CB0000044D-971_233x368.jpg'> When he was merely Tory leader, David Cameron was 'shot in the back' by a teenage thug as he visited a crime-ridden council estate in Manchester. Illiterate school-leavers and the workshy remain a serious problem Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...sues-warning-annual-report.html#ixzz1wS8XWuwN Coming to you soon, America. Or is it already here?
Don't know for sure, but have read... "if you don't want to work in Britain, it's OK. Government will just send you a check". Is that right? How stupid can you get as a country? My Grandpa, who always said, "The world doesn't owe you a living", and "if you plan on eating, you'd better plan on working".... he'd be rolling over in his grave these days.. If you reward layabouts with a government stipend, what you expect... an intellectual, hard-working society?
Live on benefits, laze around, do not get educated, engage in thuggish behavior, breed more babies, get more benefits and teach your kids more thuggish behaviors and so on,.....It's a never ending cycle and the road to doom. The post WW2 european leaders who concocted the socialist welfare state are absolute criminals. What happened to the country that once ruled an empire and gave us Robert Peel, Benjamin Disraeli, Winston Churchill ? Now you have a bunch of illiterates and hooligans. America is probably about 10 years out from this.
America is screwed and the jig is up. s <object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3-uvtt3hiG4?version=3&feature=player_detailpage"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3-uvtt3hiG4?version=3&feature=player_detailpage" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="360"></object>
The first and second world war were devastating. They lost nearly ten percent of the male population in the first world war an almost the entire upper class. The second world war was bad too and a lot of the middle class were killed. Perhaps the situation is not so much one of government policy so much as it is the result of too many talented people being killed. What do you think is this harsh or could there be some truth to it.
It's harsh... The Germans recovered despite losing the war and having way more people killed. More importantly Britain was doing pretty well until the 2008 crisis and is in fact doing pretty well compared to the rest of Europe...! Are you saying that when they were doing well it was also the untalented low class people running the show...? Or did the upper and middle classes run the place during the prosperity period after coming out of their graves as zombies...?
Disagree. It's all government policy... the greedy, power-hungry kind. Socialism is evil, destructive, immoral. Socialism thrives upon "taking property from one citizen and giving it to another".... maybe in exchange for their vote/freedoms, or maybe "just because I said so" (Hugo Chavez style). America was great because of the LACK of socialism. Freedom to accomplish. Freedom to succeed. Freedom to fail. Rule of LAW! The American Founders were genius! But about 100 years ago, there began an assault on all that made us great... T. Roosevelt and all of the Progressives since.
There is a wonderful irony that Britain, home of the Fabian socialism movement (I believe), now thinks that it doesn't work. In truth, I doubt they really think this way. Their goal has never changed - world domination for the good of all. ( I am not talking conspiracy but the well-paved road leading to a very warm place.) They captured the education system, trained out the bad types, taught equality for all as a new religion, captured the government, judicial, media and hearts of most of the victims of society. Victims are almost everybody in some way. Find your issue and get a government cheque for it. Sadly, there are an astounding number of these youth in every country. Certainly we have lots in Alberta as per the comments of my tax friend who told me of astounding numbers of young people still living at home with mom and dad with little to no taxable income ever. No word yet on what happens when mom and dad pass on. There are many many good young people as well of course, but not enough I think to counterbalance the sheer numbers of troubled youth. I couldn't live at home like that (even if I was not ashamed to do so), my dad would have charged me rent, moved me out to any job etc. I have thought lots about how to reform the worldview situation, but see no good way out so far. World war two showed what happens when these groups seize power. While we watch the extreme right (excessive focus on history), I believe that this time the extreme left will dominate and catch most unaware. Hopefully my assessment is wrong.
Possibly a factor. I have read about that hypothesis as well. You have much of the intelligentsia like Isaac Rosenborg, Rupert Brooke killed for like 3 inches of land in WW1, they were cut down in their prime and were not able to spread their genes. However that cannot be the sole reason. If you look at say HongKong and Singapore which are populated by the descendants of poor chinese peasants. In particular, I read that in Singapore,75% of the population were basically descended from poor Southern Chinese farmers. Ironically they were both British colonies and today have one of the highest GDP per capita in the world. They are also extremely capitalist with very low/little social safety nets. I think the wars played a role in that after going through so much suffering, they wanted to ameliorate much of it by conceiving the welfare state. The modern welfare state is a very post war European creation. Unfortunately by doing so, they neglected the relationship between productivity, labor and reward, it got messed up. Once that chain broke, further generations sank into despair and hopelessness resulting in the situation today. Ultimately, European-style socialism is a road to perdition. It is a hole that is extremely difficult to crawl out of after you have robbed multiple generations of their souls, ambitions and their dreams.