Thursday 29 September 2011

Hit Me Baby One More Time

The UK is the worst place to live in Europe, with people getting a "raw deal" on quality of life and high cost of living, a study has revealed.

Comparison website uSwitch said that things were getting so bad that one in 10 people in this country were considering emigrating.

France and Spain came out on top of its Quality of Life Index, with the UK bottom of a 10-country league table, covering working hours, VAT, holidays, spending on health and education - and hours of sunshine.

The UK also came bottom of another table based on the cost of energy, petrol, food, alcohol, cigarettes, and life expectancy.
That's very depressing. It's puzzling how the proud British public have allowed their country to get itself into such a mess, so it is.

There's a clue in the poll in the article's sidebar, though.

An example of learned helplessness? Or collective amnesia?


10 comments:

Mark Wadsworth said...

I can understand it.

When things are shit, people blame 'the government', and confuse 'the party which happens to be in government' with the fact that there is 'a government' in the first place (once in power the parties are largely indistinguishable).

Me, I am just anti-government.

Trooper Thompson said...

The junkie blames the cold turkey, not the scag.

Sam Duncan said...

Only one in ten? When they say “considering...”, I bet they mean “on the point of actively planning...”. I'd be off like a shot if I could afford it.

And yes, that poll is downright weird. Did they ask people who've been in a coma for the last fifteen years or something? (In a manner of speaking, I suppose they did: everybody knows it's all the bankers' fault, innit?)

Zaphod Camden said...

"The only alternative to Tweedledum is Tweedledee. Anything else is a wasted vote."

That mentality pretty much explains the results of that survey.

Anonymous said...

Dick -- As always, an informative post.

However, I think a lot of French people would be surprised that they rank so highly in standard of living. From what I hear on RMC (Radio Monte Carlo -- from Paris) and read on their fora, a LOT of people there are hacked off and think that even (gasp) the British are doing better than they are!

Churchmouse

TheFatBigot said...

There is a twisted logic behind thinking things are awful after 13 years of Labour government and trusting Labour with the economy.

Those who believe government has magical powers are likely to think anything shitty in their lives is due to insufficient government, so they will support the party that tells them (more loudly than the other parties) that more government is the answer to their problems.

I know it defies belief for anyone with even a touch of common sense, but there you are. Two generations of teaching the young they cannot function without nanny is bound to have consequences.

Anonymous said...

Considering "the economy" these days is beginning to resemble money circulating in a round-about from taxpayer to government back to fake-charities and with fake-charities providing so much employment - then no wonder people are saying Labour is best for helping the current economic situation. They'd simply be best at doing what they always did which is expand social programmes larger, increase taxes, legislate more draconian legislation requiring more government red-tape and workers to enforce endless provisions, bans and regulations - and in some peoples' minds still, that ever growing leviathon of government bureaucracy combined with enslaved workers doling out in high taxes to support it, against their will, while the other half lazes about on a lifetime of dole, probably does make sense to a lot of the indoctrinated dumbed down many having graduated the current government and leftist infiltrated forced schools system. Either that of it's reached the tipping point and over half are on lifetime dole and know Labour is best for keeping it going by Labour's tyrrany over the taxpayers.

Angry Exile said...

'Learned helplessness', eh? Not come across the term before but jeez it explains a hell of a lot.

Mariothegreat said...

I love England guys and I'm from Italy, France, Spain etc are nice places to go on holiday but to live and work.... I think we need another couple of Labour terms so after to have destroyed the country we could destroy them....

neil craig said...

When the person taking the poll limits the choice they are, to a greater or lesser degree, fixing the answer.

You don't have to believe in any miracles to think UKIP would do better. If only because they don't want to spend £10s of billions on windmills. Inteed as a totally inbiased person ( ahem) I would think it difficult to believe UKIP would not do better, at least in economic terms. I grant some people don't put economice terms at the head of the list.

What would be interesting would be to see, of that alternative had been put, which of the 3 alternatives would lose most - my guess would be Labour becase most of their votes are protest ones.