Off Topic Politics Thread

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It is 1974. Until he resigns in August, the American president is an out-of-control alcoholic and criminal whose Secretary of Defense has (illegally, I might add) directed that no use of nuclear weapons is to occur without his agreement, as he was afraid that a drunken and depressed Nixon would order them fired. The recently-elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom holds a tenuous grip on the job, with a hung parliament and a second election of the year looking likely. The German chancellor, scandal-ridden and drowning in booze, has just resigned in disgrace. The Greeks and Turks are on the verge of war after the coup and invasion of Cyprus. A bomb is detonated in Westminster Hall, and several large car bombs rip through Ireland as the Troubles reaches its zenith. Italian neo-fascists bomb a train, killing dozens; other terror attacks perpetrated by Japanese communists, Palestinian militants, Puerto Rican nationalists, soon follow. Inflation rages unchecked, as it has for several years, in part a ripple effect from the oil crisis that consumes the first few months of the year.

But this isn't western civilization in huge decline. No, that'll have to wait 50 years, for some dipshit to leave a gram of blow in the White House.
Beautiful.

But stop re-writing the narrative with sensible thoughts!
 
Unless the thief is holding up their driver's license beside their face, while chanting "I am committing a crime, this is an illegal thing I am doing!" they sadly will probably remain unmoved.
I wonder if the above examples of police not taking action whether it be in the UK or across the pond is, or will, lead to vigilante attacks
 
Not working today so we had people over for dinner last night. I came up with a question that was genuinely intriguing. We were discussing it on and off all evening.

Can you name an aspect of life where things were better fifty years ago? 1973 v 2023.

We came up with a handful but not many.

Vin
 
Not working today so we had people over for dinner last night. I came up with a question that was genuinely intriguing. We were discussing it on and off all evening.

Can you name an aspect of life where things were better fifty years ago? 1973 v 2023.

We came up with a handful but not many.

Vin

Music.
 
Not working today so we had people over for dinner last night. I came up with a question that was genuinely intriguing. We were discussing it on and off all evening.

Can you name an aspect of life where things were better fifty years ago? 1973 v 2023.

We came up with a handful but not many.

Vin

I grew up in the 80s. It felt like a time of abject poverty. Everything was grey, except the ridiculously bright fashions.

The films were better, but, as I just said to LTL, we still have those so they enrich the present. The biggest difference is that social media has ruined childhood.

I got bullied at school, but I was safe at home. Now you are bullied 24 hours a day. I had no connection to the depravity that kids see constantly. I grew up in a time where a little boy could stay a little boy until his teens. Where the internet hadn’t corrupted everything into fear and sex and fear of sex.
 
The music industry was miles better, and the music produced as a result now isn’t.
But like I said, we still have it. The industry being worse I accept, but we haven’t lost the music of the 70s.

A thing which is worse for sure is festivals. My parents had a little caravan and sold vegetarian food at all the big festivals in the early 80s and left us kids wandering about. You couldn’t do that now.
 
The music industry was miles better, and the music produced as a result now isn’t.

My son would disagree with you. He'd call you a boring out-of-touch old fart. He certainly does me.

I got bullied at school, but I was safe at home. Now you are bullied 24 hours a day. I had no connection to the depravity that kids see constantly. I grew up in a time where a little boy could stay a little boy until his teens. Where the internet hadn’t corrupted everything into fear and sex and fear of sex.

But there's a balance. My son and daughter have more connections to more people than I ever imagined. I lived a long way from my school and I remember summer holidays where I never saw a person from school. Our kids lived a similar distance but were always in touch.

It's a rare technology that only has negative impact. (And equally rarely that one is only positive).

Vin
 
My son would disagree with you. He'd call you a boring out-of-touch old fart. He certainly does me.



But there's a balance. My son and daughter have more connections to more people than I ever imagined. I lived a long way from my school and I remember summer holidays where I never saw a person from school. Our kids lived a similar distance but were always in touch.

It's a rare technology that only has negative impact. (And equally rarely that one is only positive).

Vin

And I would respond that I am currently only managing young bands, no heritage ones, so therefore I know of what I speak! I’d also point him toward the streaming charts, and album charts, which are dominated by older music. So thats what his contemporaries are listening to as well.
 
My son would disagree with you. He'd call you a boring out-of-touch old fart. He certainly does me.



But there's a balance. My son and daughter have more connections to more people than I ever imagined. I lived a long way from my school and I remember summer holidays where I never saw a person from school. Our kids lived a similar distance but were always in touch.

It's a rare technology that only has negative impact. (And equally rarely that one is only positive).

Vin
There is. I see a lot of damage and a lot of positives from the net. But at its worst it is really horrifying.
 
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But like I said, we still have it. The industry being worse I accept, but we haven’t lost the music of the 70s.

A thing which is worse for sure is festivals. My parents had a little caravan and sold vegetarian food at all the big festivals in the early 80s and left us kids wandering about. You couldn’t do that now.

I loved festivals until they became more organised (and yes allegedly safer) in the late 80s. Favourites were Glastonbury before they became 'policed', and the early Fairport Convention ones.

I can't convince myself that motorcycles have improved (apart from emissions?) since the 70s/80s. My ex-police Triumph 650 Tiger from 1980 remains a life highpoint.
 
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Not working today so we had people over for dinner last night. I came up with a question that was genuinely intriguing. We were discussing it on and off all evening.

Can you name an aspect of life where things were better fifty years ago? 1973 v 2023.

We came up with a handful but not many.

Vin
We could walk up to Lords and other sporting venues on the day, buy a ticket and have a reasonably priced glass of beer or two.
 
It is 1974. Until he resigns in August, the American president is an out-of-control alcoholic and criminal whose Secretary of Defense has (illegally, I might add) directed that no use of nuclear weapons is to occur without his agreement, as he was afraid that a drunken and depressed Nixon would order them fired. The recently-elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom holds a tenuous grip on the job, with a hung parliament and a second election of the year looking likely. The German chancellor, scandal-ridden and drowning in booze, has just resigned in disgrace. The Greeks and Turks are on the verge of war after the coup and invasion of Cyprus. A bomb is detonated in Westminster Hall, and several large car bombs rip through Ireland as the Troubles reaches its zenith. Italian neo-fascists bomb a train, killing dozens; other terror attacks perpetrated by Japanese communists, Palestinian militants, Puerto Rican nationalists, soon follow. Inflation rages unchecked, as it has for several years, in part a ripple effect from the oil crisis that consumes the first few months of the year.

But this isn't western civilization in huge decline. No, that'll have to wait 50 years, for some dipshit to leave a gram of blow in the White House.

Schad, It’s not clear to me what point your making here.

There will always be geopolitical strife. Unfortunately world peace is a long way off.

I’m talking about the fundamental building blocks of how UK society is functioning.

For example:

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There are many, many more stats which point to the decline of overall of living standards and society in general. We used to be a great country that led by example.

Now we outsource manufacturing, we consume more than we spend, living standards are declining across the board when compared with countries that we should be competing with.

Yes I agree that technology has improved life exponentially and that we live in technically the best time in human history.

But what I’m saying is that the current system is not allowing us to feel the full benefits of the technological advances. Most of the benefits are being eked away by those closer to the money spigot.

Waiting times should be DOWN. Roads should be improving. Trains and services should be MUCH better than 1974 based on the rate of change in technology. Yet we are being held back by a broken financial & political system which is no longer fit for purpose.
 

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Not working today so we had people over for dinner last night. I came up with a question that was genuinely intriguing. We were discussing it on and off all evening.

Can you name an aspect of life where things were better fifty years ago? 1973 v 2023.

We came up with a handful but not many.

Vin
Biodiversity and the state of the environment?
 
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Schad, It’s not clear to me what point your making here.

There will always be geopolitical strife. Unfortunately world peace is a long way off.

I’m talking about the fundamental building blocks of how UK society is functioning.

For example:

You must log in or register to see images


There are many, many more stats which point to the decline of overall of living standards and society in general. We used to be a great country that led by example.

Now we outsource manufacturing, we consume more than we spend, living standards are declining across the board when compared with countries that we should be competing with.

Yes I agree that technology has improved life exponentially and that we live in technically the best time in human history.

But what I’m saying is that the current system is not allowing us to feel the full benefits of the technological advances. Most of the benefits are being eked away by those closer to the money spigot.

Waiting times should be DOWN. Roads should be improving. Trains and services should be MUCH better than 1974 based on the rate of change in technology. Yet we are being held back by a broken financial & political system which is no longer fit for purpose.

The profound irony that you are complaining primarily about public services while also preaching that taxation is theft.