I wrote this blog four years ago when I returned from China. I never published it as I needed time to think. Is Britain broken?

First things first, look around, even during a recession we’re fighting strong and generally living in luxury. The ever negative media play the non-productive blame game, viewers go on the moan and whine and politicians in their fight for approval, play point scoring. What we really need to do is to take a good look at ourselves as a nation and ask the following questions of society:

What happened to the Great British gentleman and gentlewoman of yesterday?

Where did all the good manners and respect for others go?

Where did neighbourship go?

Why does alcohol seem to be our answer to happiness?

Bournemouth recently celebrated 200 years of glorious history. The town can arguably boast to be one of the most beautiful locations in the UK. Rich in nature and beauty, Bournemouth is blessed with all the grass, trees and fresh air one could wish for. We have the best weather around and a beach that would rival most. We have houses, gardens, central heating, double glazed windows, insulated walls, clean water, cars and relatively safe streets all year round.

So I went on a mission to discover more about the history of Bournemouth. My audience was the people who seem to make Bournemouth famous; the gentle folk who have free bus cards.

Apparently Bournemouth isn’t quite like the place it used to be. In denial, I went on the defence and discussed all the recent developments, nature projects, housing improvements, environmental improvements and relatively sensible local governments.

I failed and then sulked for a bit. I needed to understand first hand, questions weren’t cutting it. I therefore adopted a new high definition outlook on life and took to the streets for a browse. Unfortunately my fears decided to slap me in the face. I sulked again.

In terms of the environment, we are blessed that the surrounding beauty elegantly conceals what can actually be seen beyond the postcard result. The truth exposed a very hidden anti-social decay. With every empty beer can and broken bottle of alcohol I found, seemed to be a very broken Britain. Cleaning it up I might add, was very rewarding, I sulked much less after spending a few weeks cleaning litter from the streets.

I figure that the results I unearthed are two decades of pain finally seeping from the magnificent foundations our families established. Looking back, I remember my generation of twelve to thirteen years old generally still being young, happy and keen. Even then though, there were a handful really starting to think that life offered no more than alcohol and cigarettes. As each year of senior school passed, a new generation followed, each more caught up in the thrills of smoking, drinking, drugs and intimate relations, all in vain to be noticed, accepted and desired. Add modern social networking and boom, a new level of human insecurity is born.

Fifteen years later and my old school was recently on the verge of being closed down. The school was once the most successful education establishment in the south and as a result built a brand new complex which we moved into in my second year. The school is a beautiful place to be with the best facilities around, but a name change later and things look dire. Kids are no longer interested in learning. Young teachers are giving up the battle and fifteen years later, 1/5^th of our children nationwide are illiterate.

Take me as an example. I can barely put a good sentence together, my quality of speech is very average and my accent is lazy. I’m not a good writer, yet I was employed by IBM to develop quality technical information. I am a product of the Great British education system, and as a relatively good, well-motivated student, am concerned for future generations. Life is too easy and too good in the UK. We have everything and are spoilt rotten, yet we still continue to moan, groan, claim and complain.

Stop right there though. Not all is so negative. I’ve seen sparks of excellence and sheer determination. I’ve seen fight, spirit and appreciation. So despite the slightly dreary tone of this blog, good things are to come, hey, Kinson is being heavily invested in, there’s even a new Co-op on Kinson road and the Bournemouth Cherries are almost in the top flight of English football!

I’m going to finish now and recommend a film introduced to me by a good friend I met abroad. His name is Sam and the film is called Idiocracy, a comedy which talks about the dumbing down of man. It’s hilarious but actually quite scary. Watch it and then take a look around.