Poverty in Britain – Why are millions of Brits so broke? – DW Documentary [video]
1–10 of 14 posts
Re: Poverty in Britain – Why are millions of Brits so broke? – DW Documentary [video]
#2Am on FF on Android with uBO in UK via Virgin Media (fixed line), I just get "This video is not available" with no further explanation.
Re: Poverty in Britain – Why are millions of Brits so broke? – DW Documentary [video]
#3Import the third world, become the third world
Re: Poverty in Britain – Why are millions of Brits so broke? – DW Documentary [video]
#4short answer....Brexit and a political class that hates the populace
And an economy that doesn't really manufacture anything. I know that others will have more statistics than me but Britain isn't really known for producing anything is it.
Re: Poverty in Britain – Why are millions of Brits so broke? – DW Documentary [video]
#5[flagged]
Re: Poverty in Britain – Why are millions of Brits so broke? – DW Documentary [video]
#6Am on FF on Android with uBO in UK via Virgin Media (fixed line), I just get "This video is not available" with no further explanation.
Just below the title (on YT page) it says "...more". Click / tap on that to expand into a summary.
Imho: out-of-control capitalism, and the resulting wealth inequality with all its negative effects.
Ok, the world obviously isn't (yet) ready for a Star Trek style utopia where money isn't important & people work 'for the common good of humanity'.
And yes, globalized capatalism has served humanity well to make efficient use of resources, innovate, and drive down the cost of mass produced items to near-zero.
But conditions have changed. GDP is a poor yardstick for measuring a population's overall well-being. Nor need I explain how greedy corporations & their advertising has enshitified the web. Or how much human talent is wasted when poor people can't afford a proper education, their lives wasted in sweatshops making cheap T-shirts.
Going forward, we need something better as a base for our economies. 'Capitalism 2.0'? A good pinch of socialism? Universal basic income? Bhutan style GNH?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness
I don't have the answers. But 1 thing is for sure: free-wheeling capitalism in the form of multinational corporations creating 'shareholder value', is NOT it.
Re: Poverty in Britain – Why are millions of Brits so broke? – DW Documentary [video]
#7short answer....Brexit and a political class that hates the populace And an economy that doesn't really manufacture anything. I know that others will have more statistics than me but Britain isn't really known for producing anything is it.
Brexit is only the last few years, whereas this has been an ongoing situation for decades. Brexit probably hasn't helped but didn't cause it either.
I can't view the video, but honestly I think characterising millions of Brits as "broke" is probably misleading. I grew up (and still know many people) in this part of our society.
Broke in the UK doesn't mean the same thing as broke in the USA or most of the world. Broke here typically means: although you may not work or have any money left at the end of the week, you still have food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, education, kids, a bank account, a car, etc. You can exist in this twilight state for your whole life, having never had a job from leaving school all through to retirement. If you do have a job, it's probably informal or low skill work, possibly under the table. It's not an enjoyable life, but it's comfortable enough that, for many people I know, they don't have any real motivation to change it. Certainly not enough motivation to get an education, move to a city and get a 9-5 or start a business.
Some demographics of the UK native population have worse life outcomes than first and second generation migrants from poor countries. As someone who has managed to break out of that demographic, there's a real crabs in a bucket mentality. I was discouraged from following the path of education and a white collar career, because, as poor working class folk, our mortal enemy was The Manager. Now that I have joined the ranks of The Managers, I am now the enemy.
Re: Poverty in Britain – Why are millions of Brits so broke? – DW Documentary [video]
#8short answer....Brexit and a political class that hates the populace And an economy that doesn't really manufacture anything. I know that others will have more statistics than me but Britain isn't really known for producing anything is it.
Brexit is only the last few years, whereas this has been an ongoing situation for decades. Brexit probably hasn't helped but didn't cause it either. I can't view the video, but honestly I think characterising millions of Brits as "broke" is probably misleading. I grew up (and still know many people) in this part of our society. Broke in the UK doesn't mean the same thing as broke in the USA or most of the world. Brok…
you're talking about a mentality among people, and I'm not in a position to dispute that.
But if you do watch the doc you will hear the stats they site about poverty. It's pretty damning. Brexit has certainly made things worse. And broke is becoming more and more accurate.
Re: Poverty in Britain – Why are millions of Brits so broke? – DW Documentary [video]
#9short answer....Brexit and a political class that hates the populace And an economy that doesn't really manufacture anything. I know that others will have more statistics than me but Britain isn't really known for producing anything is it.
You don't need to manufacture anything if other countries can swap their manufactured goods with importer's sovereign currency and if importer's country can dole out money to everyone to cover healthcare, housing, and food. Of course, the second order effects such as housing inflation, healthcare inflation, etc, across that country.
Re: Poverty in Britain – Why are millions of Brits so broke? – DW Documentary [video]
#10short answer....Brexit and a political class that hates the populace And an economy that doesn't really manufacture anything. I know that others will have more statistics than me but Britain isn't really known for producing anything is it.
You don't need to manufacture anything if other countries can swap their manufactured goods with importer's sovereign currency and if importer's country can dole out money to everyone to cover healthcare, housing, and food. Of course, the second order effects such as housing inflation, healthcare inflation, etc, across that country.
Maybe, but the advantage of manufacturing over, say, financial services is that it creates working-class jobs.