Re: Our Wonderful Govenrment
Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 12:29 pm
?But we need to do something.?
I agree.
"Where have they all come from, why do THOUSANDS of people have to travel south from Birmingham to Oxford or London, when 15 years ago they did not."
Well, apart from the general increase in the UK population (including extra economic migrants and 'asylum seekers?) the economy has grown massively during the last 20-25 years. That means more people buying, selling, doing deals, having meetings, and shipping goods. It also means that people are much, much, richer that they were during the seventies when, to have a car (any car), was a big deal. People can now afford cars and now that they have had one, and experienced the positive feelings of wellbeing and freedom that a car confers, they of course want to indulge themselves as much as possible.
"The improvement of motorway networks, in such a small country as the UK, has encouraged people to make journeys they would not have made in the past."
"Encouraged"? Hey, if someone opens a new motorway in my vicinity I don't automatically feel 'encourage' to go out and gratuitously drive on it. But I would definitely use it to go about my business and leisure activities, as it would be much more agreeable than sharing clogged urban roads with those dozy fuckers in their 1000 cc cars who can't really drive.
As I have just pointed out we live in a different world now. It is an economy based on personal mobility - and hey, we like it like that. No one wants to go back to the dark days of the 60' & 70's when you worked at the factory at the bottom of the street, a factory where your dad worked, and his dad worked. No one wants to go back to waiting to catch the bus and then have to sit in close proximity to a lot of nutters, divis, and smelly bastards, now do they?
What are you suggesting - that we go back to a non-industrialised, agrarian, society? Hey, we wouldn't need our cars and lorries then, would we? We could just sprint down the lane to farmer Giles's gaff and pick up some bacon, eggs, carrots, tats, etc. There are aspects of that idyll that are still immensely appealing. Yes, we want that. But we also want to keep our 21st century gadgets and machines. So, it seems to me that we have to look at ways of maintaining our freedom and combining the best aspects of both 19th century and 21st century lifestyles.
"MANY of these journeys are not needed and could easily be achieved by phone calls, conference calls, electronic based meetings or whatever."
This is true. But we like getting out for the day. Breaks up the monotony of the office, makes working life more interesting, less of a drudge. It we did not have that option we would feel hemmed in, trapped, depressed, irritable, and ultimately, violent.
"We need to do SOMETHING to stop this lemming like desire to drive all over the place by car when often if is not needed"
Well, you top driving if you want, but the rest of us like driving. The only problem is all those other people clogging the roads up and getting in our way.
Of course there is a problem here. But I see a simple answer. Population control. The UK is more densely populated than China. We have around 60 million people here and that is expected to grow to around 70 million in the next 60 years. If we are to maintain the quality of our lives, this projected growth will be unsustainable. There are already questions about water supply in the southern counties. The only way population growth can be maintained is by us all staying very still and using as little energy and recourses as possible - i.e., don't have a life. WELL, FUCK THAT!
Some NGO's have worked out that the optimum population for the UK would be around 30 million souls - about half of what it is now. Just imagine, the next time you are stuff in a traffic jam, how much more agreeable it would be if by some mystical means you could wave a wand and half the vehicles in the jam would disappear. The traffic would start flowing again - instantly reliving your stress and soothing your furrowed brow. Imagine how much more agreeable it would be if there were 50% less people in the supermarket on a Saturday morning. You could browse the shelves with a smile on your face. Because, hey, there would be no one in your face! You wouldn't feel stresses out and have a barley suppressed desire to twat the person next to you because they were breathing your oxygen and getting in you way. Yes, in short, if there were less folks here, there would be much more room and resources for us to do what we want, when we want. Now, wouldn't that be nice?
Officer Dibble
I agree.
"Where have they all come from, why do THOUSANDS of people have to travel south from Birmingham to Oxford or London, when 15 years ago they did not."
Well, apart from the general increase in the UK population (including extra economic migrants and 'asylum seekers?) the economy has grown massively during the last 20-25 years. That means more people buying, selling, doing deals, having meetings, and shipping goods. It also means that people are much, much, richer that they were during the seventies when, to have a car (any car), was a big deal. People can now afford cars and now that they have had one, and experienced the positive feelings of wellbeing and freedom that a car confers, they of course want to indulge themselves as much as possible.
"The improvement of motorway networks, in such a small country as the UK, has encouraged people to make journeys they would not have made in the past."
"Encouraged"? Hey, if someone opens a new motorway in my vicinity I don't automatically feel 'encourage' to go out and gratuitously drive on it. But I would definitely use it to go about my business and leisure activities, as it would be much more agreeable than sharing clogged urban roads with those dozy fuckers in their 1000 cc cars who can't really drive.
As I have just pointed out we live in a different world now. It is an economy based on personal mobility - and hey, we like it like that. No one wants to go back to the dark days of the 60' & 70's when you worked at the factory at the bottom of the street, a factory where your dad worked, and his dad worked. No one wants to go back to waiting to catch the bus and then have to sit in close proximity to a lot of nutters, divis, and smelly bastards, now do they?
What are you suggesting - that we go back to a non-industrialised, agrarian, society? Hey, we wouldn't need our cars and lorries then, would we? We could just sprint down the lane to farmer Giles's gaff and pick up some bacon, eggs, carrots, tats, etc. There are aspects of that idyll that are still immensely appealing. Yes, we want that. But we also want to keep our 21st century gadgets and machines. So, it seems to me that we have to look at ways of maintaining our freedom and combining the best aspects of both 19th century and 21st century lifestyles.
"MANY of these journeys are not needed and could easily be achieved by phone calls, conference calls, electronic based meetings or whatever."
This is true. But we like getting out for the day. Breaks up the monotony of the office, makes working life more interesting, less of a drudge. It we did not have that option we would feel hemmed in, trapped, depressed, irritable, and ultimately, violent.
"We need to do SOMETHING to stop this lemming like desire to drive all over the place by car when often if is not needed"
Well, you top driving if you want, but the rest of us like driving. The only problem is all those other people clogging the roads up and getting in our way.
Of course there is a problem here. But I see a simple answer. Population control. The UK is more densely populated than China. We have around 60 million people here and that is expected to grow to around 70 million in the next 60 years. If we are to maintain the quality of our lives, this projected growth will be unsustainable. There are already questions about water supply in the southern counties. The only way population growth can be maintained is by us all staying very still and using as little energy and recourses as possible - i.e., don't have a life. WELL, FUCK THAT!
Some NGO's have worked out that the optimum population for the UK would be around 30 million souls - about half of what it is now. Just imagine, the next time you are stuff in a traffic jam, how much more agreeable it would be if by some mystical means you could wave a wand and half the vehicles in the jam would disappear. The traffic would start flowing again - instantly reliving your stress and soothing your furrowed brow. Imagine how much more agreeable it would be if there were 50% less people in the supermarket on a Saturday morning. You could browse the shelves with a smile on your face. Because, hey, there would be no one in your face! You wouldn't feel stresses out and have a barley suppressed desire to twat the person next to you because they were breathing your oxygen and getting in you way. Yes, in short, if there were less folks here, there would be much more room and resources for us to do what we want, when we want. Now, wouldn't that be nice?
Officer Dibble