tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post335565518211671786..comments2024-03-27T09:27:33.931+00:00Comments on Idiotic Hat: SeptembristMike C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-19282721549419360902009-09-10T17:46:03.284+01:002009-09-10T17:46:03.284+01:00Tim -- you mean there's no escape? Let's ...Tim -- you mean there's no escape? Let's all move to France, while it's still OK, and agree to pay LOTS of taxes!<br /><br />I didn't comment on the States (I have a number of readers there, and don't want to offend them -- at least, not yet) but... My partner was in New York and Minneapolis last year and was shocked at the decayed state of the public infrastructure. We stayed in Oakland for a while in 1980, and back then even the grimmer parts where locals would shoot out the streetlamps at night seemed pretty tolerable.Mike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-83802236558204978682009-09-10T17:34:24.224+01:002009-09-10T17:34:24.224+01:00I'm an older American (68) who has lived in th...I'm an older American (68) who has lived in the UK, Ireland, and Canada and travelled extensively in Latin America (on business). I have been back in the US for the last 30 years. I believe you are lamenting the "death of civility" as someone more clever than I put it. I believe this is a near-universal phenomenon which has come about partly as a result of demographics (rapidly increasing populations) and the "dumbing down" of education and the death of absolute standards, which have been replaced by "deconstructed", "non-judgmental" measures of achievement and value. The US I grew up in in the 40's and 50's was a much more pleasant place to live than it is today, in many ways, even though the standard of living was much lower in the material sense. <br /><br />I agree with your sense of loss, and would argue that is not restricted to the UK.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03769065576187088866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-66719105685140750132009-09-10T14:14:27.552+01:002009-09-10T14:14:27.552+01:00Doonster, I don't know how old you are, or whe...Doonster, I don't know how old you are, or where you're from in Britain, but those things will make a difference. The world looks very different to a strong young person than it does to someone coming to terms with human frailty and mortality. Gender makes a difference, too.<br /><br />If you've grappled with getting your elderly parents into care and paying for it, or getting young children through state school (coping with bullying, for example), or noisy neighbours, or had up close experience of hospital treatment, etc. your views can change quite quickly, believe me.<br /><br />Obviously, "Europe" is no more uniformly good than "Britain" is uniformly bad, but it's my observation that something quite important has been broken in Britain's social framework that is not (yet) broken in, say, France. If I knew what it was, I'd dedicate my remaining years to fixing it.Mike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-43952751697760649772009-09-10T11:42:23.179+01:002009-09-10T11:42:23.179+01:00I'm not so sure it's all that bad. There i...I'm not so sure it's all that bad. There is something of a british mentality to talk our own down which i don't see so much in Europe and there is also the familiarity of exposure that has a native see so much more.<br /><br />I've live many years in Europe now, and travelled all over. I cannot say from my experience that healthcare, public transport, youth behaviour, attitude to the arts is any much better overall.<br />There are pockets where it is or appears better and large areas where it's worse. <br /><br />I find standards in the more rural parts of Europe just as poor as rural parts of Britain. Your Salzburg example isn't really fair, being a town almost totally devoted to the musical arts.<br /><br />I'm currently visiting London again which has, in my experience and to the praise of my European colleagues, probably the World's best public transport system.<br /><br />Spend enough time anywhere and you'll get exposed to the faults as well as the fixes. Things always seem much better when exposure is limited.doonsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04558926453149764893noreply@blogger.com