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360degreesasthecrowflies · 5 months

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London is a city that has always been deeply uneven, with plenty of cultural treasures to hide the poverty in the Tower Blocks and the underpasses. London is effectively the main of the UK economy, and everything is geared towards it. Hence it retains a degree of economic dynamism that allows a degree of optimism, after all there's always a new restaurant, new exhibition, new flagship store, new play. Sure most workers are dirt poor, living on mashed avocado, and hoping the landlord gets visited by 3 Ghosts at Christmas, but there's the dream of making it in the big city.

Outside the London bubble, large parts of the country are either in despair, or have totally given up. Roads, bridges, hospitals, and schools are crumbling. Police have almost disappeared outside traffic stops. Courts are backlogged, prisons overfilled & well past their designed lifespan. Companies face significant trade barriers with the EU. The water industry is essentially operating on leveraged debt and mostly owned by oversea's pension funds, whilst the infrastructure collapses and raw sewage is being pumped into the rivers/seas. Everyone is underpaid compared to the cost of living, but also compared to many comparable roles in other countries.

In the shires, the more well paid commuter class can still have a nice life, but they are feeling a sharp pinch. Holidays cut. Cars held on to much, much longer than before. Meals out being reduced. Optional extras like music or sports for the kids cancelled. Impulse purchases stopped. All of which sounds like "oh poor Emma can't get her daughter Lucinda piano lessons boo hoo" but think about the economic impact. That is money that would have gone to a piano teacher (usually self employed), to the coffee shop whilst Emma waits, to a music shop for music, perhaps a CD or concert tickets to something Lucinda played at a lesson. Then when Lucinda grows up instead of having a career in arts or entertainment, even at her local bar or church, she doesn't know how to play piano. So society as a whole has lost a musician, and Lucinda as a person flourishes slightly less. The UK arts sector is one of our biggest economic powerhouses, yet it is routinely ignored and hammered by the govt. Art & music are regarded as luxury items, despite contributing £1.6 billion to the annual economy (2021 at 5.6%). That's huge, bigger than the fishing industry which contributes £1.4 billion (2021 at 4%). Yet with rents sky rocketing, and school budgets in utter crisis, arts/music get dropped and creative talent has to switch to more routine jobs to survive. UK Musicians are dropped from EU events following the botched visa system, and international work is increasingly harder for them to get.

Outside the diminishing middle class, the real difficulty and poverty of the UK hits home. People are not sure whether the next rent payment or electricity will quite literally bankrupt them and leave them homeless. Wages are mostly static, with few rises outside a number of key sectors. Some areas have seen wage growth, but that has been concentrated in a small number of jobs (especially finance/management). The population is aging, and the care system is left almost entirely to private companies in a very disjointed, expensive manner. For most people the only credible hope of a financially better life is to inherit or to win the lottery or to commit crime. This is strikingly similar to the pattern seen in many developing world economies.

For example, I have worked in the public sector for 20 years. In that time I have trained, gained professional qualifications, led larger teams, upskilled on IT/project management and become more productive. Since my pay has been capped at a 0.5% rise, it is a real terms wage cut. So I've become more productive yet I'm paid less. Why should I 1) carry on trying to be more productive, & 2) stay in the job? Productivity increases from workers have to be linked to a personal reward, as well as a benefit to an employer or there's no point for the employee. Hence "quiet quitting".

So the UK is in the dire position of poor infrastructure, rampant poverty, and a population that no longer believes hard work or being productive will improve their own lives, only maintain their survival. This is not a recipe for a flourishing economy or nation. The worst thing is that the UK has started to lose hope that things can get better without a magical solution. Without at least some hope, we are doomed.

Saved via reddit from user 'AgeOfVictoriaPodcast' - as an excellent (if depressing!) summary of the UK's economy and society in 2023 / the 2020s / post Brexit

#uk politics #united kingdom #british politics #2020s #2023 #quotes #age of victoria podcast #uk society #quiet quitting #tory failures #failed state #uk #poverty #society #cost of living crisis

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inkcoveredpoet · 4 months

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Winter school season>>

All images are from pinterest

#chaotic academia #dark academia #academia aesthetic #chaotic academic aesthetic #dark acadamia aesthetic #romantic academia #the secret history #dead poets society #tsh #coquette #winter #january #February #exams #exam season #uk schools

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fuckyeahwomenfilmdirectors · 3 months

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Top 10 of 2023

Polite Society dir. Nida Manzoor

Rye Lane dir. Raine Allen-Miller

Showing Up dir. Kelly Reichardt

Blue Jean dir. Georgia Oakley

Reality dir. Tina Satter

How to Have Sex dir. Molly Manning

Anatomy of a Fall dir. Justine Triet

Past Lives dir. Celine Song

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret dir. Kelly Fremon Craig

A Thousand and One dir. A.V. Rockwell

Honourable Mentions:

Fair Play dir. Chloe Dumont, Priscilla dir. Sofia Coppola, The Pod Generation dir. Sophie Barthes, You Hurt My Feelings dir. Nicole Holofcener, Bottoms dir. Emma Seligman

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nostalgicacademia · 2 months

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Romantic Academia

By: danielapardor

My articles on Dark Academia:

Dark Academia aesthetic

The imaginary of Dead Poets Society

The Secret History a key fandom

#aesthetic #moodboard #edit #dark academia #aes #light academia #academia #literature #art #chaotic academia #romantic academia #dark acadamia aesthetic #light academia aesthetic #donna tartt #the secret history #dead poets society #oxford #cambridge #uk

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anavie-12 · 2 years

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my life was better before

I watched these

#the perks of being a wallflower #thirteen movie #the virgin suicides #requiem for a dream #gone girl #call me by your name #speak (2004)#dead poets society #beautiful boy #girl interrupted #all the bright places #skins uk #donnie darko #fight club #midsommar #american horror story

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k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9 · 11 months

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𝔒𝔷𝔷𝔶 𝔒𝔰𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔫𝔢 ♰

#ozzy #coffin #heavy metal #casket #ozzyferatu #vampire aesthetic #back on earth #Themes: War Fantasy Madness Society Love #UK

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spookiedmango · 7 months

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Team Miguel!

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ganjalifestyle · 4 months

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Ice Cream Cake 🍰 ⚡️🔥🌪💨

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richardarmitagefanpage · 5 months

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Richard at the RTS Midlands Awards 2023 at The ICC in Birmingham, UK. (November 24, 2023)

📷: Royal Television Society Midlands

#richard armitage #rts midlands awards 2023 #royal television society #th icc #the international convention centre #birmingham #uk #november 2023 #new photos #photos #news

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reallyhardydraws · 2 years

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after all these years of being a mischief fan - finally some fanart! hoping to give prints of these to the cast on saturday too 🥰

💖my commission info💖

#draws #mischief theatre #the play that goes wrong #cornley drama society #cornley polytechnic drama society #if ur in manchester (UK) or near to #the original cast is performing this week! closes on sunday #then they're doing a week in newcastle and that's it

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redtail-lol · 1 month

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Hey

If you're Jewish, this post is about you

I know it's gotta be shit right now. Antisemitism is on the rise. People are using Israel's genocide as an excuse to perpetuate antisemitic ideas. If you acknowledge that you're Jewish, someone will take that as an excuse to accuse you of Zionism and supporting the genocide. Celebrating your holidays? Same result.

And then on the other side, if you try to speak out against the genocide, to stick up for and show your support of the Palestinian people, your own people label you as an Enemy, and an antisemite. Your own Jewish identity is ignored or denied.

If you say nothing because you've realized nothing you say seems to be the right thing, you're accused by everyone of not caring, or secretly supporting one side - any maybe you do, but you can't say anything because you can't win no matter what side you're on.

The entire world has been equating Judaism with Israel on both sides and it isn't fair. It isn't fair when Jewish people are being arrested for antisemitic crimes in Germany - making up 37% of arrests despite making up a significantly smaller part of the population - because they weren't going to be quiet about genocide after their own people were met with silence during the Holocaust. It isn't fair when Jewish people are vocally denouncing the actions of Israel and calling for an end to the ruthless bombing. It isn't fair when even some Israelis risk everything to speak out against the state and their horrible crimes. It isn't fair when Jewish people are simply existing as Jewish people, either. Even when they aren't "proving" their support, it's still unfair to make such assumptions about someone because they're Jewish

And if you're one of these people who's shown hostility towards Jewish people over Palestine when they hadn't indicated they supported Israel at all, fuck you.

#to specifically address one idea:#the jews control the media is bullshit and israel-palestine doesn't “prove” it #y'know who controls the media? The West. Especially America #the USA benefits from Israel's existence. the UK benefits from Israel's existence. Most major Western nations do #That's who controls the media #They're pushing Israel's propaganda #there is no secret top jewish society that controls everything #israel just asks the usa for help and we do so as a fellow imperialist state #jewish #judaism #israel #anti israel #palestine #free palestine #anti zionisim #jewish antizionism #antisemetism #if you're making leftist spaces hostile to Jewish people I'm biting you. don't do that

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360degreesasthecrowflies · 1 year

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Some rambling thoughts on British society in 2023 & the stratification of people into 'workers' or 'non-workers'...

I don't understand why UK society seems to be structured in such a way that you can either work OR do anything else. It feels extremely anti-civic spirit, and by extension, discouraging of good community health and healthy non-work based relationships in your local area.

Taking myself as an example. I have a full-time job 9-5, often more like 8.30-6 depending on how much travelling I have to do.

In my free time, now that I have the time and we are no longer in lockdown, I looked into volunteering, and signed up to a part time college course for leisure learning & to do something creative to relax. All good, you'd think, working, and also in their free time, doing something interesting to relax and also to give back to society.

WRONG!

I cannot for love nor money find volunteering opportunities that do not take place during my working hours. The entire sector seems to organise itself around the concept that the only likely volunteers will be those too young to work, the unemployed, or the retired. Emails come through to me asking if I can support a stall at 11am on a Tuesday, an event at 3pm on a Thursday, or go to a training conference on Monday 10-4! I feel almost guilty or like I'm being rude constantly having to decline but I'm a normal worker, I can't afford to literally take time off my job in order to help out!

As for college, why offer part-time and evening courses if you also won't offer any support structure? We have 'homework' which we need to go to the library to complete...which is open 9-6 in the week and not at all at weekends! 🙃 University support staff work a 9-5. Its 9-5, weekdays, to pick up your student ID card, or to attend other college events. Despite the fact that all students at the college are adults!

All in all, this dynamic actively discourages all but those either with ample free time, or those forced to by external circumstances, to educate themselves or to volunteer their time. And that I would argue increases our insularity as a society and reduces our chances of coming across or working with/alongside people from different backgrounds!

I would be very curious to know if this has long been the case or (yet) another creation of our anti-society Tory government. I think we'd be so much healthier as a populace if it wasn't like this.

#text post #british society #society #uk society #uk politics #volunteering #adult education #economy #capitalism #sociology

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personinthepalace · 2 months

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Peter Pan Goes Wrong UK Tour: Before and After the Show