I have serious doubts that a lot of people celbrating this have ever been to the UK, let alone lived there. Pubs in the UK, for better or for worse, serve an i

I have serious doubts that a lot of people celbrating this have ever been to the UK, let alone lived there. Pubs in the UK, for better or for worse, serve an important function as being pretty much the only "third place" [1] for a large number of Britons [1]. If you say "it's good because people are drinking less" or "businesses don't have a right to exist", you're completely missing the point. Is this an ideal situation? No. But UK pubs closing is really a function of the sky-high cost of housing specifically and the cost of living more generally. People have less free time because they're forced to work more to make ends meet. And pubs are expensive because they have to pay for their own commercial space. People get really excited about their home price going up because on paper it loiks like they've made a profit but in real terms you haven't: you still only own one housing unit worth of wealth. If you sell your house, you still have to live somewhere. But more importantly, that cost of housing is an input factor into every business you frequent or use. This really represents a breakdown in UK society. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place