The UK Politics and EU Referendum thread

I think self-image and the decline of working class jobs are some of the factors that contribute but there are many more. Sense of community has declined hugely over the last generation and there are many variables that have caused that reality, probably too many to mention. Just touching on a few would include such things as a decline in religion, rise in commercialism, immigration (specifically the lack of integration), terror, council red tape, health & safety. I think back to Sundays as a kid when all shops were closed, everybody sat down as a family for dinner and many went to church. Or the silver jubilee when all the roads were closed and the neighbourhood came together to celebrate a greater good. Contributing to social welfare, the community pot was more readily embraced. These days people have been driven to be more inward looking, I mean do people even talk to their next-door neighbours now?

The list goes on from the financial crisis to the pension fiasco to the rise in benefits and even MPs expenses. As people we are innately selfish but over the last few decades it's been driven home to us that the road to success these days is to look after yourself, don't trust anybody but yourself. If you want a decent pension these days rely on nobody but yourself. I mean people have been let down, lied to and cheated so much, the state included, that trust has ebbed away, life has changed, community has been eroded. Commercialism does have a lot to answer for and even today when I had a bacon sarnie the rashers I took out the packet were so wafer thin I felt a sense of loss.

I could go on and on but one thing's for sure and that's left wing ideals work well in theory, they always have, but they DO NOT work in reality. Perhaps back in the day more traction was possible but today there is just no way. Due to the fact morality plays such a big part in left idealism there will always be the finger-waggers, those who jump up and down with frustration at the selfish and stupid as they see it, but voters have been driven to the centre and to the right and there is no way back. There may be some nostalgia for community again and if an ultra-charismatic leader taps into that in the future perhaps the left may have a modicum of success. But Corbyn spouting left wing idealism against the back drop of the modern world is ludicrous really. Times have changed but hey we can all buy gravy on a Sunday morning these days so it's not all bad for the lefties.