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Post by Scrumtrulescent on Mar 1, 2010 22:57:27 GMT -5
So for my Geography test I have to write a short essay (ahead of time) on two social or economic problems in Great Britain, and possible solutions. I could do my own essay but life is balls and I have a Calculus test on the same day and as a teacher, I am a big fan of taking the easy way out/cheating. I don' t need references.
Any ideas?
(Emma, I'm looking at you. I may go back and see if I can find those epic GGMB pm essays we did, lol.)
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Post by Emma on Mar 2, 2010 13:31:12 GMT -5
I'll just list some common ones and you can choose I'll go into more detail on the ones you choose if you want. Industrial Revolution is an obvious one. That was late 1700s, early 1800s where the factories suddenly popped up and we made loads of profit but obviously there was a social crisis. Appalling working/living conditions, kids working etc. Great Depression in the 1930s - Wall Street crash affected us as well. Second World War is another obvious one. Exchange controls were put up everywhere, we refused to sell certain things to others. We lost loads of money and sold loads of our gold reserves and needed help. Margaret Thatcher, another obvious one. Complete cunt. Destroyed the unions and sold a lot of government owned services (like trains, British Telecom, Rolls-Royce and British Steel) to private companies. Now instead of one train company we have 50 million with 50 different rail lines and ridiculously high fares. She encouraged people to buy buy buy houses and everyone went bust in the end. It lead to a mini recession in 1980. She cut funding to education and therefore is the only Prime Minister EVER to not be given an honorary doctorate by Oxford University. They didn't like her. Us being in the European Union is also a big issue. A lot of people think we put more in than we get out - aka the smaller countries benefit from being a member with us but we gain nothing off them. Since Poland has become a member of the EU, 1 million Poles have moved here. There are 3 at my high school and they speak no English and are very...conservative and judgemental. It's weird. The government claimed they wouldn't stay and they'd go home but of course they haven't. There's now a Polish aisle with Polish foods in Tesco. The EU is straining our economy and a lot of people wonder whether we should just leave the EU.
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Post by Emma on Mar 2, 2010 13:35:23 GMT -5
But wait...reading your question again do you mean CURRENT problems? Damn it. Well the EU problem still stands. Economic recession obviously - we spend so much on war and we're in so much debt it's gross. Social issue - maybe teenagers and the media affecting them? That's the same kind of problem as the US.
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Post by Turcote on Mar 2, 2010 16:10:11 GMT -5
You should do a Doctor Who themed essay, and talk about how all the recent alien attacks on London have forced the British to adopt new economic and social policies.
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Post by Scrumtrulescent on Mar 2, 2010 16:32:57 GMT -5
But wait...reading your question again do you mean CURRENT problems? Damn it. Well the EU problem still stands. Economic recession obviously - we spend so much on war and we're in so much debt it's gross. Social issue - maybe teenagers and the media affecting them? That's the same kind of problem as the US. Yeah it's supposed to be current but my professor is approximately 112 years old so 'current' is kind of relative - the EU thing/Polish immigrants sounds good! The Margaret Thatcher thing was interesting, I had it my head she was an Umbridge but couldn't say why. I figured with the recession and all too - I'm not sure what I could say about solutions though. That the UK ditch the EU and focus on it's own self more? That would sure be the U.S. solution. Are taxes an issue? Foreign debt is a popular one here - how China basically owns the U.S. financially and we'll never be out of debt or able to properly fund social service programs (the 4 that the Republicans allow us to have, anyway). I think I'll just put that Dr. Who and his screwdriver can fix everything. And that he has a very strong Anti-Dalek policy that would go over well with the war hawks.
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Post by Turcote on Mar 2, 2010 16:35:44 GMT -5
If they made weed legal and taxed it, we could probably pay off like half of that foreign debt, hahaha. It's the biggest cash crop in a lot of states. Not to mention the money we'd save by not paying for 18 year old kids with a joint to go to court/jail.
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Post by Scrumtrulescent on Mar 2, 2010 16:45:50 GMT -5
I SO agree with that! Everyone does it anyway, at least make money off it. Some people argue that the fees/money in costs the legal system would lose would outweigh the potential tax benefit, but I just don't think so.
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Post by Turcote on Mar 2, 2010 16:53:23 GMT -5
Especially when you factor in the money that would be saved in jail costs alone. I mean, it costs like at least 60 dollars a DAY or so to keep one person in prison.
And it's not really any more harmful than alcohol, and when have you heard someone say "Yeah, he got really high and smacked his wife around?" It's more like "Yeah, he got really high and ate an entire containor of frosting."
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Post by Emma on Mar 2, 2010 18:47:16 GMT -5
Thatcher was TOTALLY Umbridge. Such a good comparison.
Foreign debt is obviously a huge issue here too. They're pulling stupid shit to raise the money like increasing car parking costs, taking away free parking, firing public workers like councillors and making university places less available when the population is increasing so we actually need more places. It's creating resentment. A lot of people are anti EU because members of the EU can travel easily between each other. I have an EU passport meaning I can easily just travel to Spain/France/Germany etc. whenever I want. This is great for trade of goods and holidaymakers, but shit because everyone is moving to Britain. I'm talking in their millions, and we aren't that big of a country and we can't cope. The government didn't expect such a sudden influx. So yeah maybe you could say get out of the EU - I know Margaret Thatcher made the EU pay us money back in the 80s cuz she said we paid too much LOL. She was such a bitch. But the only reason the EU exists is so that we can compete trade-wise with countries as big as the US and China. It simply isn't "fair" because GB is so much smaller so we have to make a group to be competitive if that makes sense. Like lots of little kids teaming up against one big kid? I dunno. There's lots of pros and cons of the EU.
Tax is definiely an issue, as in pensions. That's a HUGE issue because the post WWII baby boom generation (aka my mum) all need their pensions and it's becoming a worry whether they'll be fully paid. A lot of people disagree with the Iraq war and still think we followed America into it, so don't want their taxes spent on it but we have no choice. So yep you could definitely do that. I know the US owes China, but Britain owes the US and China maybe 50/50 which again creates resentment because the big ol' US is bullying and controlling us poor Brits you see. So yeah I'd definitely go for the EU and maybe taxes - taxes here are a very similar problem to America with the recession and war.
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