On the news tonight they were talking about Councils cutting back on bus services amongst many other things. In the 1930's I lived in the next village (moved here in 1939). We had no electricity, mains water or sewage. Our water was from a well which my father dug, Our lighting was by paraffin lamps and our waste disposal was 'bucket and chuck it' (at least the vegetables got the benefit). There was the great depression from 1929 to 1939, the only thing that got us out of it was 1939-45 war. When this depression started, I told my wife that it will take ten years to get out of it. We are now nearly two years on and I see nothing to change my opinion. In fact the bus service the next village had in the 30's was better than they have now.
I agree with you that we are going backwards instead of forward. Another item I heard on the news was that shoplifting in the over 65s has risen sharply, all the stolen items were food which the pensioners said they could no longer afford to buy!!!!! How depressing is that!!!! Val
Hi Larkshall, I've had my suspicions on this too. Funny how the BBC had a "Dig" campaign last year, giving away free seeds, supposedly to get people gardening again. More like, dig for victory as we know this is going to take a long time to get out of & we'll need to get self suffficient. Not that i'm not greatfull for the seeds, still living off the results I'm just seeing hidden agendas here.
I think transport in the UK must be the worst in the developed world. The roads are full of craters, the buses are slow or non-existent and dont connect with other forms of transport. Petrol/ diesel is sky high in price. The trains are the worst they have ever been. And everyone is expected to travel further and further for work. What a way to run a country. Until some investment goes into transport in this country its going DOWN, big time.
I have mixed feelings on all this. I know my view on this might not be popular, and I certainly don't think the present situation is a good thing, but maybe it is the kick up the behind that the nation, or maybe the whole of the 'developed' world needed. For far too long now we've collectively held the attitude that we can have what we want, when we want, with no compromises or consequences. Now it has been driven home that we can't carry on as we were. We have to save our money because inflation is rising faster than wages, so we're all getting more skint. While getting more skint is not a good thing, the creativity and ingenuity that comes out of that is a good thing. If it makes people grow their own food when they wouldn't previously have bothered, or makes people think more about reducing waste (of any kind) then that's good, and the habits that will form while we're in the recession will hopefully last a long time once we eventually come out the other side. My grandparents, and to a lesser extent my parents, were/are very different to my generation. They wouldn't waste anything if they could help it, and always found a way to achieve what they needed to achieve despite how skint they were. As for pensioners stealing food because they can't afford to buy it, I really feel for them. But as pricing is driven by the age old principle of supply and demand, wouldn't it be great if demand dropped drastically due to people being more self sufficient and less wasteful, so with demand reduced, prices would have to reduce accordingly, and those that simply couldn't grow their own would then be able to afford to buy it rather than having to suffer the indignity and shame of stealing it. (I'm not being self riteous, I'm one those folks that has to adapt and become less wasteful, and struggling but slowly succeeding to get into less wasteful habits)
This subject is a bit like standing at the end of a maze because once once you step into it you can end up going in all directions and ending up in a dead end. The thirties were not a good decade, nor was the 40's or 50's. I can remember when my parents struggled to pay the rent, buy food and clothes for my brother, sisters and I before they thought of themselves. I don't think having to struggle to survive as a way of life day and day out is something my parents or yours should have been subjected to. People have always struggled for a decent life for themselves and their family and that will always be so. The people who couldn't control themselves with a credit card or with a loan didn't bring about the world wide recession. The people inside the banks and other speculative financial organisations willing to risk money that wasn't their own contributed greatly to our position. When people in Banks can speculate in a hugely risky venture for the sake of a quick buck [in their own pocket] where they can get a huge bonus before the deal has even proved it will make a profit and in some proved cases actually knowing the deal would fail, a practise that was standard, thats when the house of cards collapses. But then if you've just made a couple of million in bonus do you care? Being thrown back to the era of mend and make do is not good for the soul. Real people and real families are going to suffer. Back in the 30's there were only about 20,000,000 people in the UK, now there is approaching 70,000,00. We'll never be self-sufficient as a country. Again, back in the 30's people lucky enough to have a small plot of land could attempt to feed their families to some extent. Not now, because the majority of the population don't have, and never will have, the opportunity to grow their own People since the dark ages have aspired to a better life. We have succumbed to the temptations of the commercial world in the effort of leading a better life then the previous generations - and that's a human trait. Poorer services, when they were pretty poor by other countries standards, are not something that will make a stronger and better set of people of us - they're a tragedy. This scene has been played out again and again over the centuries and history shows that those that can't afford will suffer and those that can ..... well, finish it off for yourself. There are hidden agenda's, that true, but that's another turn in the Maze.
We can't keep spending money we don't have. However I think the cuts are too deep in the wrong areas. They are looking to close libraries around us, I think even in the 30s depression that was never an option. Our council is happy to post us all a biased 'news' paper full of all their 'achievements', it's just an excuse for them to get their ugly mugs in front of us and blow their their own trumpets, that could go for a start. I'd also cut funding to the theatres and art groups, it's terribly unfair that they receive council funding yet the local scout group I help with doesn't get a penny. We survive thanks to our own fundraising efforts, so could all the folks who enjoy sitting in a subsidised theatre seat.
The problems with the 'past' is the very fact of the progression of society through invention, exploitation and whatever. Born in the 30's we did not have computers/TVs/cars (most of us), also no Credit Cards and largely speaking no money!. No use to try to compare living in the 21at century with life in the 30's, 40's, etc. and I shall be long gone when people are looking back at the 20's (i.e/ the 2020's) saying the same things. When I was younger my father who was a rather argumentative type would always start with the line 'there is nothing new in the world' - I now think I understand what he was getting at, people are always looking back (there's no future in doing that).........
The trouble is that the youngsters always know best, so they are always going to make the same mistakes again. Provided that the mistakes of the past are recorded, it is wise to look at them to avoid doing it again. We used to have a free issue of 1/3 pint of milk at school to prevent rickets which was a serious problem in the years previous to 1930's. At the beginning of the 1914 war when they called up men for National Service, they found that the majority were unfit, due to having the wrong foods and not much of it. The same thing is happening again, the wrong foods but too much of it.
History does repeat itself, sadly we don't learn from the past. I recall my Mum telling me about rickets and how many were affected by it, such a simple thing to hand out free milk to make an enormous difference. Doesn't seem possible that people still eat the wrong things, it's more down to ignorance (or poor education) rather than money. I read this week that Scots are being encouraged to eat food in season: "According to the Scottish government most people no longer know which foods are in season, having become accustomed to all food being available all year"
That is very true, I've been experimenting recently with ready meals (mostly Kershaws, 4 for £5). They include some very nice dinners at £1.25 each plus the cooking, you can add other vegetables too if you want. Today I had cod, chips and mushy peas plus home grown frozen runner beans, cost approx. £1.50 with cooking. My breakfast= 1 egg (10p) 1 rasher bacon (25p) 2 slices of toast 5p = total 40P plus cooking. Teatime = 2 slices bread (5p) four slices garlic sausage (14p) 1 slice bread and jam (8p) Total 27p. So that's £2.17 for a day, plus tea and coffee. I can manage nicely on my pension.
Just look at the size of the buscuit, crisps & chocolate isles in the supermarkets :DOH: I've checked out 3 different ones for a packet of dried peas this week, no chance. And the dried pulses shelf was only a metre wide in each shop. Now if I had wanted cakes or crisps, I had about 30 metres of choice.
I'm not sure your Father did mean that "people are always looking back" when he said "there is nothing new in the world", Barnaby. I think he mean he'd seen it all before because generations keep making the same mistakes in some form or another and because of that history repeats itself i.e. cyclic financial depressions, wars, etc.
I don't know what to say about any of this All I can say is - yes, I know some people are having a tough time - Ive lost a lot of income myself |BUT - as a child of the 40's (yes, 1940) the standard of living people have now compared with what was usual then, is just phenominal. If anyone had told me then what we would all have I would have wondered what planet we would be on and how we were going to get there.
I think you've got it right, Larkshall. I cook as many fresh veg as I can, making stews etc and try to eat a balanced diet, whatever that is! I hate McDonalds, Burgerkings etc but they obviously appeal to the kids. There's a farm near me that has school visits and the staff there are now longer surprised that every year children turn up that have no idea what a cow looks like, how milk is produced, how crops are crop and that they don't come out of a tin!
