I am sick to death of hearing the whinges of the so-called 'poor' in our country. Viewers and listeners are treated to the regular whining of single mothers with umpteen children, ill-matched couples in council houses or pensioners bemoaning their lack of income. None of these people, or those who interview them, ever remind these moaners that, regardless of what they may think, they are all infinitely better off than were their forebears even as recently as 60 or 70 years ago, Additionally, interviewers don't dare to ask questions about the paternity of children and location of absent fathers.
As recently as the 1950s, few homes in the UK had fridges or freezers; even washing machines were almost a luxury for many, while dish washers were all but unknown. Few families had a car, many did not have a television; the main source of entertainment was the radio, with just 1 or 2 BBC channels available and reception often problematic. The best alternative was a trip to the local cinema or, for children, to go on a bike ride or play with friends in the local park.
Most homes did not have a telephone, landline only of course, and those that did probably shared it with a neighbour; most had to use the telephone box at the corner of a nearby street, if there was one and if it wasn't already in use. Mobile 'phones, 'tablets', laptops, and all the other technological paraphernalia had not yet been thought of. Children sitting alone playing computer games was a nightmare for the future.
There was no such thing as the internet, while 'online shopping' and home delivery had yet to be invented. Foreign holidays were a luxury reserved for the genuinely wealthy. For most, clothes were handed down from generation to generation, designer clothes were for the rich and 'fast fashion' a thing of the future, as was fast food, excepting fish and chips. Eating out meant a pint and pie at lunchtime; family outings to restaurants were unheard of, again except for the rich. No one but the wealthy drank wine, for most men it was beer while their ladies drank gin or port on the rare occasions on which they went out to the local public house.
Men went to work from the age of 15, as did the women until they married, after which they'd stay at home, clean, cook and look after the children. Young men aged 17 to 21 were required to undertake a period of service in the armed forces, between 18 months and 2 years followed by 4 years, or 3½ years, as reservists. For good or bad, fathers provided for their families and didn't leave women to bring up their children alone or with vast handouts from the state.
Despite all of these deficiencies, trials and tribulations, people got on with their lives and accepted their lot, while striving for better days. Listening to the continual gripes of today's generation, mollycoddled as they are, weighed down with sack loads of state benefits and every 'mod con' imaginable, tripping off to foreign parts for their annual holidays (it was Southend or Blackpool in the 1950s), and dolled up in their fancy outfits, makes me see these pampered prats as the utterly self serving and self obsessed morons they are.
And these are the people who will choose our next government, lead our country forward through this century and into the next. God Help Us.
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