IS THE UK A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY NOW ?

by Hairyhegoat 43 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  thetrueone

  It isn't necessarily the fault of companies already established highering this cheap available labor,

  its also a problem of immigrants themselves setting up companies then exploiting their own countrymen

  who have also immigrated..

  Who loses, well the basic consumer for they mostly get substandard work and the exploited laborer

  for they lose for not being trained or paid appropriately.

  And the draw from the health and welfare services for from each individual country's resources and

  you have some serious problems, diminishing the established quality of life and living conditions to the

  whole body of the citizenship.
• 

  TD

  ..every poster on this board, faced with the same circumstances as some of these immigrants, and certainly many 3rd Worlders... would do the exact same thing; cross whatever border, at risk of breaking whatever laws... perhaps even personal injury... or death... to feed themselves or their families.

  Well said, Shelby
• 

  dgp

  ..every poster on this board, faced with the same circumstances as some of these immigrants, and certainly many 3rd Worlders... would do the exact same thing; cross whatever border, at risk of breaking whatever laws... perhaps even personal injury... or death... to feed themselves or their families.

  Actually, that's what Europeans did, by the millions, when Europe was desperately poor. It's easy to forget that now.

  I can perfectly well understand the feelings of the Brits. I just would like to say that, bad as things are going, you're not yet where the real Third World countries are. Haiti, anyone?

  Did you ever eat grapefruit peel steak? That's what Cubans (not exactly the most backward of the lot) ate for some "special" time.
• 

  jean-luc picard

  I agree with dgp when he said:

  I think you're way above Third World in more than one sense. And it would be very difficult for the UK to slide down that much.

  I have often thought of past world powers ( as viewed by WTB$, because there are others):

  Egypt: where are they now?

  Babylon( Iraq): where are they now?

  Persia (Iran) where are they now?

  Greece: where are they now?

  Italy even: where are they now?

  Anglo-America: where are they heading?

  I think its just the natural cycle.

  And that other countries can have a share of the cake is called solidarity. We mustn't be too selfish, though I accept that it could be anguishing.
• 

  kurtbethel

  The voters of the USA and UK also have a lot to answer for in causing the current state of events. For decades they kept voting for people who implemented these policies of allowing nearly unrestricted immigration, while using taxpayer subsidies to set up manufacturing in other lands. The voters were warned about what was going on, and what the consequences would be, and yet they kept voting the same policies into place over and over again. Even as it got worse, instead of turning from that course, they kept voting themselves more of the same. Now they got what they kept voting for, lack of sustainable jobs, crumbling infrastructure, wars, corporate strip mining of national wealth, and a debased collapsing currency. They did it to themselves, and it is a sure bet that the next election will show that they will still vote for more of the same. Complaining about it is a great spectator sport, much like a meth addict complaining about being broke, having bad skin and rotten teeth.

  
• 

  Bangalore

  UK Poverty facts

  http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/ukpoverty/povertyfacts.html

  Nearly 13 million people live in poverty in the UK - that's 1 in 5 of population.

  3.8 million children in the UK are living in poverty.

  2.2 million pensioners in the UK are living in poverty.

  7.2 million working age adults in the UK are living in poverty.

  70% of Bangladeshi children in the UK are poor.

  Women are the majority in the poorest groups.

  London has a higher proportion of people living in poverty than any other region in the UK

  The UK has a higher proportion of its population living in relative poverty than most other EU countries: of the 27 EU countries, only 6 have a higher rate than the UK.

  Bangalore
• 

  dozy

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_Kingdom

  The definition of "poverty" in the UK is somewhat misleading - it is earning less than 60% of median income - so about £200 per week after tax , national insurance , rent / mortgage , council tax & water rates. Many people in other wealthy countries would love to have that kind of standard of living. By definition you will always have many millions "below the poverty line" and millions above. Labour admitted that much of their fiscal policy was aimed at moving as many people as possible just above this arbitrary line by tinkering with benefits and taxes. ( Off topic , but we had a service overseer who always used to say that "the society says that every publisher should be putting in "above average" hours". I often tried to explain to him that you would always get people who were below average , as the average would be raised if everyone did more , but he never got the point. )

  I know many people living "in poverty" who nevertheless go abroad twice a year on holiday , have a good car , live in a lovely home , have an iphone4 etc.

  As far as the UK being a 3rd world country , a bit harsh , methinks. While public debt is very high , we aren't quite the basket case that Greece , Portugal or even Ireland are. And we do have world leaders in some industries - notably defence , financial services & pharma. The public services can be poor , but still a lot better than many countries. Not too many earthquakes or tsunamis here , though we do get the odd ash cloud from Iceland's volcanos. All told , despite the weather , one of the best countries in the world in which to live.
• 

  slimboyfat

  The definition of "poverty" in the UK is somewhat misleading - it is earning less than 60% of median income... By definition you will always have many millions "below the poverty line" and millions above.

  Unless we have a far more equal distribution of income, such that none are below 60% of the median of course. But I guess that inequality is just so ingrained that a distribution that leaves no one under 60% of the median appears so out of the question that it doesn't even register as a possibility! Ugh.

  A measure of poverty that is pegged to median income is not misleading, in fact it is precisely the point, since it is the distribution of income in an industrialised society, much more so than its overall wealth, or basic minimum, which determines socially desirable outcomes such as cohesion, low crime, literacy, good mental and physical health and longevity.

  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spirit-Level-Equality-Better-Everyone/dp/0241954290/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308225733&sr=1-1
• 

  FifthOfNovember

  Third world countries have nothing to do with poverty.

  First world: Countries allied with democratic countries (the U.S., U.K., France, etc)

  Second world: Countries allied with communist countries (China, North Korea, Cuba, etc)

  Third world: Countries that are not allied with either

  Being a third world country has nothing to do with wealth. I know it doesn't really have anything to do with what your talking about, I just wanted to throw that out there.
• 

  serein

  i think having benefits for the most part is a bad thing as most people were i live cant be botherd to go work feel thye are better off on benefits and so go and have like 10 kids and live off the state, i think it should change and make it so benefit is only paid if youve worked,and benefitr should only be paid for the first 2 children,also i think coicil housing should only be given to people who can pay the rent and not the 16 yearold who desided to get pregas so she could get a free house free money and free rent i think life has been made to easy for peopel in uk and it should change so that the lazylayabout youth will get a kick up there asses and learn what hard work is and apreciat what working gets them instead of being drug addicted loser scronges who dont give a dam about anything cos they dont care ,im not harsh its cos all around me were i live thats all i see,theres jobs out there if they realy want one my husband came over from usa he got a job with no quolifications becouse he wanted a job he not a loser layabout and he looked for one,were poor but pay our way ans that means somat to me,there realy is to much of the dernt say anything when it comes to imigrants and what ever but i feel that yer everyone should be able to be able to come work to feed there kids i do know that if we couldnt for deff find work here and our kids were starving and there was a sucker country out there willing to give me a job and money and schooling for my kids id go so they arnt to blame the goverment is for making it all so available and free.