Question for the Americans - and anyone else actually

[emsley]

I was wondering how England is coming across in your news, I few guys from a few country's and lasses have all said it looks pretty bad, how is it looking from your point of view?

Be as harsh as you need to be.

[Agozer]

Drunken tourists, who are rude and loud. There are exceptions, of course.

[emsley]

Drunken tourists, who are rude and loud. There are exceptions, of course.

 

Yeah those are the assholes Most of us cant stand them arrogant fuck-wits as it is.

What I ment was Agz, was how is england portrayed on the news is england mentioned as been "Bankrupt" or the recent 100'000 people who marched in London against the current government?

Any talk of "recession fucked England" and what not.

[Robert]

I don't get to see the news much, as I'm still at work when it comes on.

 

But, the little they do say, is mostly Prince William, his girlfriend, his grandmother (the Queen). Sometimes about cold weather. Some time ago there was talk about Britain going bankrupt or something, but nothing since.

 

Oh yeah, the other day there was a violent protest march in Trafalgar Square, something to do with Govt cutbacks?

 

Apart from that, our media says little about England.

[Agozer]

There been some talk about the wedding over here, and that once instance when some protesters attacked Charles' and Camilla's car. I don't personally remember anything about the Great Britain going bankrupt.

[VT-Vincent]

To be honest, the only real coverage I've seen regarding the UK in our media is the non-stop gossip about Prince William's wedding.

[ken_cinder]

Yes and that's all we hear over here, the wedding crap.

 

Not one person I talk to here gives a rats ass about the "Royal Family", they're considered a big fat joke to us. Mostly because such a big deal is made of them, and Monarchy's haven't ruled for a long time.

[emsley]

Ha! This is what Im talking about the royal wedding while we are at rock bottom!

Many voters dont care about the the queen etc as they take from the tax payers money, if you dig a little deeper you will see half of the country who are poor are in up roar about how we are been treated.

And now if you want to climb the "social ladder" you have to pay 8,500 to attend university, when the fees were 3500 and could be paid back slowly.

 

A pack of 20 smokes is £7.30p

 

There are no Jobs - not "decent ones" anyway, the building trade is dead, they increased VAT from 17.5% to 20% (never been done before ever)

They are cutting public services like crazy, any cvil servant is looking over their shoulder at the moment.

They are reducing police numbers - before election they were "tough" on knife crime and promised to come down hard on anyone with a knife, now a massive U turn "community service to educate those who use knifes"

 

You guys are NOT seeing the full story here, they have taken billions from the services and closing down hospital's "specialist" wards where I live leeds they plan to "cut" a childs surgery ward with all the doctors and top brass saying it will costs life's.

 

I am not shitting you when I say England is in a mess and the cons are robbing from the poor and giving to the rich.

I hope you all take this on board a little and mention it here and there, international support is key. And the media puts blinkers on the outside world.

[VT-Vincent]

I think the main reason our media ignores the UK's problems is because they basically mirror our own. Right now, most states are in a budget crisis and are making similar cuts to what you've described - education, law enforcement, etc. Just here in Pennsylvania, our new governor has decided to do a massive budget cut on education. This is resulting in a lot of teachers getting laid off, schools getting shut down and college tuition to state-funded schools is going to skyrocket. Even the City of Pittsburgh itself has made some big cuts including the mass-transit system. My town is about 20 miles from the city and they pretty much cut all bus service out here. There are a lot of people who can't afford cars working at minimum wage jobs who are going to loose their jobs and be dependent on public assistance now.

 

The only thing that hasn't happened here yet has been any major tax hike. We pay a yearly income tax to the local, state and federal governments which has remained relatively unchanged and there is a 7% sales tax on most store purchases (excluding necessaries like milk, bread, toilet paper, etc.). The tax outside of my county is actually lower, it is only 6% outside of Allegheny county. Supposedly these cuts are enabling us to keep the taxes where they are. To be honest though, I would be willing to take a slight tax increase if it meant stopping this state from falling apart.

 

Jobs are an issue here as well. One of the biggest problems is that most low-tier jobs are only willing to hire employees in as part-time. They are limited to 30 hours per week or less, most of them hover around 25 hours so they don't risk going over 30. As part-time employees, they are not entitled to health care benefits at most companies. While these jobs might be fine for a college student or someone with a real job looking to make a little extra money, there is no way to support yourself on $8/hr at 25 hours per week.

[emsley]

there is no way to support yourself on $8/hr at 25 hours per week.

 

Same here. But we would do 40 hours and be no better off whatsoever.

[Skythe]

England still exists!? Holy fuck!