State of the nation

We ought not to think of Britain as always coming last at everything. After all, it does have:

• The highest level of teenage pregnancy in Europe, and rising.
• The highest obesity level in Europe, and rising.
• The highest prison population in Europe, and rising.
• The highest incidence of binge drinking in Europe, and rising.
• The highest consumer debt in Europe (double the European average).

It also has:

• A rising rate of violent crime, with twice as many offences as in the last decade.
• A worryingly high number of illiterate adults and school leavers.
• A declining manufacturing output with the lowest number of people working in the sector since records began.
• The lowest place in Europe’s child well-being table.
• A falling over-all fertility rate.
• A declining rate of marriage (now at its lowest rate since records began).

I wouldn’t look into or list these things, if it didn’t actually seem that way on the streets.

What, broadly, are the causes of these problems that threaten Britain? Affluenza, status anxiety, selfishness, political correctness, the embrace of a “rights before duties” attitude to life, apathy, the safety net of the welfare state, a culture of instant gratification and a widespread abandonment of personal integrity and responsibility. Akrasia.

I won’t discuss the issues any further here because they are analysed in detail in many excellent books I have mentioned on my site. If politicians would only read them and act on their findings, they might be able to reverse the self-destruction of a once great nation.