Whatever Happened To The British?

I ended my last blog entry by posing the question as to whatever happened to the English. I'm still wondering. Perhaps a more appropriate question would have been whatever happened to the British?

There was a time when the British were the envy of the world. We had an Empire and were responsible for a civilisation that has yet to be surpassed. We were responsible for giving the world much of what is now taken for granted in the fields of communications, transportation, health care and so on, yet most countries now look upon us as a joke.
So what has happened to us and why have we let it?

There was a time not so long ago when we felt safe in our own homes and also whilst out in our local communities. We knew that we had quick and easy access to the police and would see the local bobby out and about on his beat. Crime was something that affected few, now it seems to affect almost everyone.

There have been changes in education as well. When I left school I can't recall there was anyone who was illiterate or "dyslexic", yet now we often hear about people leaving school and being unable to read and write. Standards are dropping all of the time, I was watching the BBC news the other night and not for the first time I noticed a spelling mistake in one of the captions, this time there was a reference to the "Falkands", you know, those islands down in the south Atlantic. This was on the BBC, our national television channel, on our national news programme. The BBC, once the envy of the world!

Health care has changed from a system where the patient knew he came first, to a target based system that puts targets and funding before the needs of patients. We see obesity and drug and alcohol abuse at all time high levels yet the opportunities to keep fit and to do whatever we want in life are greater now than ever.

The countryside, in which we produced everything we needed to feed our nation is dying as more of it disappears under concrete and our farming communities face extinction as the government and the superstores work together to squeeze what they can for the minimum return.

Our town centres are dying. Where we were able to once purchase everything a family could want we now find empty and decaying shops, charity shops and takeaways. Families travel out of town to the local superstore.

Industry has all but died. Where we once produced everything this country needed and exported so much to the rest of the world, we now produce hardly anything and import from China and India where goods can be made cheaply and yet we still support these countries with aid.

So what went wrong? Have the British finally ceased being the proud and strong race it once was?

I wish I had the answer. What I do know, is that if things continue as they are we don't have much time to put things right. So what will it take to wake the British from this slumber?