8 ms·

They didnt lose aspirations. A lot of the UK seems to be struggling with their loss of Empire even 80 years later. They ran out of money, 2 world wars bankrup

by tempest_ 10mo ago

They didnt lose aspirations. A lot of the UK seems to be struggling with their loss of Empire even 80 years later. They ran out of money, 2 world wars bankrupted them.

bArray 10mo ago
[flagged]
- iamacyborg 10mo ago
  If you’re that keen, go join the reserves? https://jobs.army.mod.uk/army-reserve/ https://jobs.army.mod.uk/army-reserve/
  - bArray 10mo ago
    Nobody in their right mind is keen for a war. Nobody would fight in one unless they believed they really had no other choice. I don't blame the people who would runaway to relative safety if the option is available. But. It's clearly a massive security issue. > If you’re that keen, go join the reserves? There is not currently a war, and if there was, there wouldn't be a choice but to join.
    - iamflimflam1 10mo ago
      Anyone who thinks war might be fun should watch some of the interviews with veterans from the “great” wars on YouTube.
      - jacobgkau 10mo ago
        That's a valid statement that nobody in this comment chain was disputing. It is exactly why the person you're responding to is assuming anyone who can leave, will leave, in that event (and why "you should join the reserves if you're that keen" is an irrelevant comeback-- nobody was saying anyone's keen, only that people aren't keen and will leave to avoid it if able).
    - deleted 10mo ago
      [deleted]
bilekas 10mo ago
> They ran out of money, 2 world wars bankrupted them. With the second war destroying a lot of the country and calling to rebuild at home. This is a fundamental difference with the US. I don't blame the UK for focusing at home for a while to rebuild.
- vkou 10mo ago
  > With the second war destroying a lot of the country and calling to rebuild at home. WW2 did not 'destroy' the UK. It wasn't subjected to any of the horrors of ground warfare, and the Blitz failed to inflict any meaningful damage on it. What WW2 did destroy was the UK government's ability and will to finance the sort of repression that was necessary to maintain a globe-spanning empire. Churchill in his pigheaded hubris could scream from the rooftops about India forever remaining British, but Clement wasn't going to kill people over it. (In contrast, France lost the ability, but not the will, which is why it fought a few wars in Vietnam and Algiers, instead of letting their colonial subjects have self-rule and independence sans bloodshed.)
  - bilekas 10mo ago
    > and the Blitz failed to inflict any meaningful damage on it c. 40,000[1]–43,000 civilians killed[2] c. 46,000–139,000 injured[2] Two million houses damaged or destroyed (60 percent of these in London) Sure.. Okay.. France was worse, France is also no longer a world influence it was once.
    - vkou 10mo ago
      40,000 dead[1] and two million houses damaged in a country of 40 million people (presiding over a global empire of a billion souls) over six years is not meaningful... Especially in the context of the largest and most destructive war the world has ever known. > Sure.. Okay.. France was worse, Don't look at Metropolitan France, two thirds of it got to sit the war out as a puppet state. Look further east. How many houses were 'damaged or destroyed' in Germany, Poland, the USSR..? This isn't a suffering Olympics, but compared to war expenditures, the cost of rebuilding the damage inflicted to the Isles was a rounding error. Those expenditures (and their associated debts) were what crippled Britain's ability to maintain an empire, not the cost of rebuilding. --- [1] That sort of thing was a normal day over there. A normal one - not even a bad one.
nradov 10mo ago
They didn't run out of money just because they fought two wars. For some bizarre reason the UK has simply chosen to be (relatively) poor instead of embracing a growth policy. Despite all their potential advantages their GDP per capita is about equal to the poorest US state.
- fakedang 10mo ago
  Because everything in the US is inflated thanks to rampant printing of the USD. Healthcare? Inflated. Education? Inflated. Day-to-day stuff? Inflated. Property values? Inflated. Most of Europe has lower GDP per capita than the poorest states of the US, yet the lifestyle of European citizens in those countries is much better than the lifestyle of the poorest Americans. American growth is built on the backs of piss-poor healthcare, shoddy education and an overinflated perception of the tech sector which holds the rest of the world hostage (but not for long).
  - mgfist 10mo ago
    UK has higher inflation than the US, and has had so since inflation first picked up in 2022.
  - dangus 10mo ago
    I think you are making broad generalizations, so broad that the only statement it's clear you're trying to make is "The US is bad" and the broadness of your argument weakens it greatly. Cost inflation isn't unique to the United States. Europe isn't a single country. > yet the lifestyle of European citizens in those countries is much better than the lifestyle of the poorest Americans Does this include the Romani people? Does this include the Ukranians being attacked by Russia? Greece's housing cost burden is higher than 30 US states. Not all regions in the USA have faced serious property cost pressures. [1] [2] "Day to day stuff" is a very broad category, and that includes items that are flat or decreasing in cost. In that sense I will point out that VAT is much higher in the EU than sales tax in most US states, with VAT rates of >20% being very common while the highest combined sales tax in the USA is just over 10%. Sales tax/VAT is a very regressive tax that harms the poor the most. For someone on the poor end of the spectrum in Europe, buying something like a computer or television is a greater burden than someone in the US. I'm reminded of the natural gas price spikes in 2022 in Europe, and of how the EU's average electricity price is about 2-3x higher than it is in the US. The US has an extremely stable supply of basic needs like energy and food. Education costs have been flat or lower than the rate of inflation in the US since roughly 2016, so for the last 10 years the idea that education is becoming more expensive in the USA has been squarely false. [3] Healthcare, I'll give you that one, the US is not faring well. But we can look at some systems in Europe having their own difficulties like the UK and Spain and it's not like healthcare isn't a challenge elsewhere. I will also point out that the US does have public healthcare for the poorest (Medicaid) and for all people over 65 years old (Medicare), and Medicare is a standout in quality among public healthcare systems in some outcome categories. [1] https://www.visualcapitalist.com/europes-housing-cost-burden-by-country/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/europes-housing-cost-burden... [2] https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/cost_burden https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/cost... [3] https://educationdata.org/college-tuition-inflation-rate https://educationdata.org/college-tuition-inflation-rate
SilverElfin 10mo ago
Like they can’t survive without the money from their empire? It’s hard to imagine how plundering trillions (in things, labor, etc) can lead here.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]

They didnt lose aspirations. A lot of the UK seems to be struggling with their loss of Empire even 80 years later. They ran out of money, 2 world wars bankrupted them.

bArray 10mo ago

[flagged]

iamacyborg 10mo ago
If you’re that keen, go join the reserves? https://jobs.army.mod.uk/army-reserve/ https://jobs.army.mod.uk/army-reserve/
- bArray 10mo ago
  Nobody in their right mind is keen for a war. Nobody would fight in one unless they believed they really had no other choice. I don't blame the people who would runaway to relative safety if the option is available. But. It's clearly a massive security issue. > If you’re that keen, go join the reserves? There is not currently a war, and if there was, there wouldn't be a choice but to join.
  - iamflimflam1 10mo ago
    Anyone who thinks war might be fun should watch some of the interviews with veterans from the “great” wars on YouTube.
    - jacobgkau 10mo ago
      That's a valid statement that nobody in this comment chain was disputing. It is exactly why the person you're responding to is assuming anyone who can leave, will leave, in that event (and why "you should join the reserves if you're that keen" is an irrelevant comeback-- nobody was saying anyone's keen, only that people aren't keen and will leave to avoid it if able).
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]

bilekas 10mo ago

> They ran out of money, 2 world wars bankrupted them. With the second war destroying a lot of the country and calling to rebuild at home. This is a fundamental difference with the US. I don't blame the UK for focusing at home for a while to rebuild.

vkou 10mo ago
> With the second war destroying a lot of the country and calling to rebuild at home. WW2 did not 'destroy' the UK. It wasn't subjected to any of the horrors of ground warfare, and the Blitz failed to inflict any meaningful damage on it. What WW2 did destroy was the UK government's ability and will to finance the sort of repression that was necessary to maintain a globe-spanning empire. Churchill in his pigheaded hubris could scream from the rooftops about India forever remaining British, but Clement wasn't going to kill people over it. (In contrast, France lost the ability, but not the will, which is why it fought a few wars in Vietnam and Algiers, instead of letting their colonial subjects have self-rule and independence sans bloodshed.)
- bilekas 10mo ago
  > and the Blitz failed to inflict any meaningful damage on it c. 40,000[1]–43,000 civilians killed[2] c. 46,000–139,000 injured[2] Two million houses damaged or destroyed (60 percent of these in London) Sure.. Okay.. France was worse, France is also no longer a world influence it was once.
  - vkou 10mo ago
    40,000 dead[1] and two million houses damaged in a country of 40 million people (presiding over a global empire of a billion souls) over six years is not meaningful... Especially in the context of the largest and most destructive war the world has ever known. > Sure.. Okay.. France was worse, Don't look at Metropolitan France, two thirds of it got to sit the war out as a puppet state. Look further east. How many houses were 'damaged or destroyed' in Germany, Poland, the USSR..? This isn't a suffering Olympics, but compared to war expenditures, the cost of rebuilding the damage inflicted to the Isles was a rounding error. Those expenditures (and their associated debts) were what crippled Britain's ability to maintain an empire, not the cost of rebuilding. --- [1] That sort of thing was a normal day over there. A normal one - not even a bad one.

nradov 10mo ago

They didn't run out of money just because they fought two wars. For some bizarre reason the UK has simply chosen to be (relatively) poor instead of embracing a growth policy. Despite all their potential advantages their GDP per capita is about equal to the poorest US state.

fakedang 10mo ago
Because everything in the US is inflated thanks to rampant printing of the USD. Healthcare? Inflated. Education? Inflated. Day-to-day stuff? Inflated. Property values? Inflated. Most of Europe has lower GDP per capita than the poorest states of the US, yet the lifestyle of European citizens in those countries is much better than the lifestyle of the poorest Americans. American growth is built on the backs of piss-poor healthcare, shoddy education and an overinflated perception of the tech sector which holds the rest of the world hostage (but not for long).
- mgfist 10mo ago
  UK has higher inflation than the US, and has had so since inflation first picked up in 2022.
- dangus 10mo ago
  I think you are making broad generalizations, so broad that the only statement it's clear you're trying to make is "The US is bad" and the broadness of your argument weakens it greatly. Cost inflation isn't unique to the United States. Europe isn't a single country. > yet the lifestyle of European citizens in those countries is much better than the lifestyle of the poorest Americans Does this include the Romani people? Does this include the Ukranians being attacked by Russia? Greece's housing cost burden is higher than 30 US states. Not all regions in the USA have faced serious property cost pressures. [1] [2] "Day to day stuff" is a very broad category, and that includes items that are flat or decreasing in cost. In that sense I will point out that VAT is much higher in the EU than sales tax in most US states, with VAT rates of >20% being very common while the highest combined sales tax in the USA is just over 10%. Sales tax/VAT is a very regressive tax that harms the poor the most. For someone on the poor end of the spectrum in Europe, buying something like a computer or television is a greater burden than someone in the US. I'm reminded of the natural gas price spikes in 2022 in Europe, and of how the EU's average electricity price is about 2-3x higher than it is in the US. The US has an extremely stable supply of basic needs like energy and food. Education costs have been flat or lower than the rate of inflation in the US since roughly 2016, so for the last 10 years the idea that education is becoming more expensive in the USA has been squarely false. [3] Healthcare, I'll give you that one, the US is not faring well. But we can look at some systems in Europe having their own difficulties like the UK and Spain and it's not like healthcare isn't a challenge elsewhere. I will also point out that the US does have public healthcare for the poorest (Medicaid) and for all people over 65 years old (Medicare), and Medicare is a standout in quality among public healthcare systems in some outcome categories. [1] https://www.visualcapitalist.com/europes-housing-cost-burden-by-country/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/europes-housing-cost-burden... [2] https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/cost_burden https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/cost... [3] https://educationdata.org/college-tuition-inflation-rate https://educationdata.org/college-tuition-inflation-rate

SilverElfin 10mo ago

Like they can’t survive without the money from their empire? It’s hard to imagine how plundering trillions (in things, labor, etc) can lead here.

deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]