So there's been a lot of comparing countries to America with how much better they are. Time for Blighty to step in and pop the imperial bubble that a lot if people believe that 'the UK is the hight of western world'. I've traveled a lot and when I say I'm British they assume I'm some kind of millionaire. And although we have a high population density of millionaires they're mostly Russian or friends of the Saudi prince. Most people on the UK are broke.
Minimum wage is £9.50 an hour but patrol/gas is now nearly £2 per litre. Also if you work in schools (me) don't get payed holidays the weeks I work are spred across the whole year so now I get paid the equivalent of about £5 an hour. I'm in charge of the health and well being of developing mids and peoples most precious possessions and I sometimes skip dinner to eat it as lunch to keep up appearance so no one worries and it makes me dizzy when I teach, I'm afraid one day I'llpass out in front of the kids or worse on a kid. (Y)
All our fuel of heating our home was brought from Russia now we're being priced gouged by Iran and after what we did there can you blame them. So every time a take a shower it also costs be around £2. Good old smart meters meaning I can put a price on everything. In the middle of summer I'm paying around £3 per day just keeping the boiler going. Come winter we're in trouble because thanks to weather instability the weather is colder and more volatile than ever when you live on the edge of s giant ocean.
We have 'free' health care but rich people use the same doctors and they just pay to 'go private' again same doctors they just go first. So you can go into hospital for an over night operation and be there 5 days while people keep paying to jump the que and there's nothing you can do about it. And yes you can see a doctor for free but you pay for them to teat you, our health care that is mandatory to pay into (happy to do so if it actually worked) doesn't cover the medication a doctor prescribes you. So you can have the operation but if you want to not get an infection afterwards cough up. This wasn't always the case, the NHS used to be great before 10 years of Tories rule.
Also teeth aren't considered health anymore so that's all it of our own pocket, don't worry world the British won't have bad teeth anymore we just won't have any. I needed a filling it was going to cost £180 they said they could pull it out for £40, I had the tooth removed.
We don't have a conflict of interest rule when it comes to government, so a huge percentage of our MPs are landlords. Who refuse (surprisingly) to intervene in greedy landlords charging extortionate rent prices while also refusing or at least delaying building social housing. I currently pay £500 for a 1 bedroom flat with, mold, no bath just a tap with hose for a shower, no windows in the ” kitchen ” which is just a cornered of section of an old room. Put it this was my flat is in a house which in the 50s was build for a family, it is now 4 flats…. the going trend is to call them cosy or energy efficient.
And amounts the highest rates of inflation we've ever known, high fuel prices, high rent prices, people are calling it a cost of living crisis to rival the great depression our kind and benevolent government put up council tax. So as well as paying £500 rent, £150 on bill there also £50 more on my council tax bring that to nearly £200. I earn £1000 as a licensed professional, who is part of the civil service.
England is a fun place to be right now.
I know these are first world problems and things could be a lot worse but seeing my country change the way it has, depresses me. We used to care for our most vulnerable and great people faught very hard to get rights for the poor and to elevate all to a higher standard of living. To see that decline is a shame as one of the economic 'powerhouses' like American we should be leading by setting an example of humanism to other countries but instead any wealth this country has is being squirreled away by millionaires on luxury goods other millionaires produce. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Trickle down economics doesn't work!
So Ametica, Blighty stands in solidarity with you as a country only held together by bravado, with a widening rich, poor devide. Who will eat them first?