IPPR Survey
Aug 1st 2006, 10:31 pm
#1
Islander
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: Toronto, woo!
Posts: 953
IPPR Survey
Not sure how many people have gone along to share their views (via the thread in the 'Connections' forum linked to from the homepage) but I'd be interested in those that have.
The comments I left actually turned out to be reasonably lucid so I don't feel too ashamed to share my own....
----
I'd point out that even had I not met someone from abroad I'd probably be leaving. I've had experiences, and met kinds of people I've simply never had the opportunity to here in the UK. Listening to one of the world's foremost authorities on Israel in a McGill university lecture room, and following it up with a lively and horizon-broadening debate with Masters and PhD students from Mexico, England, the US, Russia... over a beer or two is something that I don't think I ever could have done here in England as a university education was beyond me (security on UK uni campuses, at least my local ones, seems to be much greater too =p).
I think that most of the reasons families leave our shores for, pretty much anywhere else aren't that valid. Immigration into Britain is always cited (ironic??!) along with the 'hoody' culture, lack of space, cost of living, etc. But as far as I see, the first two are vastly exagerrated - nobody points to the Sri-Lankan doctor carrying out hip replacements on the NHS when they decry immigration - and older people seem much more content demonising the young rather than celebrating their achievements or encouraging them to reach further. An extension of the 'golden days of yore' attitude that, happily for them, is borne out in reality every time they read about yobs stealing from pensioners, or see the vandalism on their streets.
Economic opportunity in this country is almost second to none too, so whatever your cost of living with enough hard work and/or the right qualifications you can be comfortable. Or perhaps people in Britain have a warped idea of what the cost of living is. I certainly don't see three cars, four holidays a year, a massive detached home with acres of land and a second home in some unfortunate villager's once thriving high street as necessities, yet plenty of people seem to.
Personally, like most people my age, I'm eager to grasp the opportunity to travel in a way that no other generation previously has been able to (and the way the price of oil is heading may never be able to again - has anyone yet come up with a viable ethanol-powered jet engine?) and feel experiencing other peoples' ways of life only increases the quality of your own.
-----
... all the above is pretty much moot as I'm following my heart to Canada, and I'd be doing the same were it necessary to pretty much any country on the planet, but I doubt the government is planning on evaluating the effect of gorgeous foreigners stealing British citizens away from our special little islands.
The comments I left actually turned out to be reasonably lucid so I don't feel too ashamed to share my own....
----
I'd point out that even had I not met someone from abroad I'd probably be leaving. I've had experiences, and met kinds of people I've simply never had the opportunity to here in the UK. Listening to one of the world's foremost authorities on Israel in a McGill university lecture room, and following it up with a lively and horizon-broadening debate with Masters and PhD students from Mexico, England, the US, Russia... over a beer or two is something that I don't think I ever could have done here in England as a university education was beyond me (security on UK uni campuses, at least my local ones, seems to be much greater too =p).
I think that most of the reasons families leave our shores for, pretty much anywhere else aren't that valid. Immigration into Britain is always cited (ironic??!) along with the 'hoody' culture, lack of space, cost of living, etc. But as far as I see, the first two are vastly exagerrated - nobody points to the Sri-Lankan doctor carrying out hip replacements on the NHS when they decry immigration - and older people seem much more content demonising the young rather than celebrating their achievements or encouraging them to reach further. An extension of the 'golden days of yore' attitude that, happily for them, is borne out in reality every time they read about yobs stealing from pensioners, or see the vandalism on their streets.
Economic opportunity in this country is almost second to none too, so whatever your cost of living with enough hard work and/or the right qualifications you can be comfortable. Or perhaps people in Britain have a warped idea of what the cost of living is. I certainly don't see three cars, four holidays a year, a massive detached home with acres of land and a second home in some unfortunate villager's once thriving high street as necessities, yet plenty of people seem to.
Personally, like most people my age, I'm eager to grasp the opportunity to travel in a way that no other generation previously has been able to (and the way the price of oil is heading may never be able to again - has anyone yet come up with a viable ethanol-powered jet engine?) and feel experiencing other peoples' ways of life only increases the quality of your own.
-----
... all the above is pretty much moot as I'm following my heart to Canada, and I'd be doing the same were it necessary to pretty much any country on the planet, but I doubt the government is planning on evaluating the effect of gorgeous foreigners stealing British citizens away from our special little islands.
