NationStates Jolt Archive

This woman is a top advisor to the British Government (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6714407.stm)

What is she advising the government about: How to increase employment? How to reduce poverty? The effects of Foreign Policy?

No, she's telling us that we aren't polite enough. Good god, have we gone back to the 1950s all of a sudden with Harold MacMillan sitting in an armchair giving an address to the nation about traditional values? There are so much more important things for the Government to address than the manner's of it's people - It's not like its something the government ought to think it can do anything about anyway.

People complain especially about teenagers - Well firstly, teenagers can be ignorant, spoiled and selfish. I should know, I am a teenager and Im a right bastard sometimes, however I try to rectify it and a lot of teenagers will when the get older and realise what they do.

Secondly, the reason that young people have become more nasty in recent years is that they are either from privilidged families where they get everything and have been coddled all their lives and not taught rspect for others or the hardships of life. OR they are from dirt poor families, given nothing, with no way out in sight (i.e Their school is a pile of shite), yet surrounded by a culture obsessed with material goods and money, then no wonder they harbour a deep resentment of society.

If we all stopped being obsessed with the society we've created in the past twenty years and try and regain a bit of the spirit of solidarity that we had after the war, and really made an effort to get rid of poverty and look after the less fortunate a bit more, then maybe people would be a bit nicer.

Secondly, the reason that young people have become more nasty in recent years is that they are either from privilidged families where they get everything and have been coddled all their lives and not taught rspect for others or the hardships of life. OR they are from dirt poor families, given nothing, with no way out in sight (i.e Their school is a pile of shite), yet surrounded by a culture obsessed with material goods and money, then no wonder they harbour a deep resentment of society.


Nothing? Really?

Well obviously not actually nothing. But close to it. Have you ever been to the worse-off council estates?

Nothing? Really?

Taking things rather literally aren't we?

Taking things rather literally aren't we?

Yeah kinda

Yeah kinda

Okay, just asking. ;)

Stop yer whining. Teaching good manners to kids will actually increase the chances of getting employed, so in a way you could say that it does help increase employment.

Your Nation's rudeness is no where near in comparison to one American City...with that I say good day...:p

Fuck manners. :cool:

This last bit...Soap Opreas really do sometimes play out like that. That's life. Cry me a river, build a bridge, and get over it.

Obviously, if you were more like the USA, you wouldn't have these problems.

Good manners cost nothing, and would go a ways toward creating that spirit of solidarity of which you spoke. Pardon me for belabouring the obvious. :)

Ugh, but that's so trite! :p

I mean, yes, we should endavour to be well-mannered. But the government isnt about to give everyone classes on holding the door for old ladies is it? And it's not just about saying good day to people, I think the observation is a general decline in people's attitude towards others and our society, and that wont be fixed just be slapping everyone on the hand and telling them to be nice.

Ugh, but that's so trite! :p

I mean, yes, we should endavour to be well-mannered. But the government isnt about to give everyone classes on holding the door for old ladies is it? And it's not just about saying good day to people, I think the observation is a general decline in people's attitude towards others and our society, and that wont be fixed just be slapping everyone on the hand and telling them to be nice.You'd be surprised. Give it a go one day, and see ;)

Fuck manners. :cool:

HEY!! Watch your Fuckin' manners! :p

HEY!! Watch your Fuckin' manners! :p

Manners are most important when attempting to engage in meaningful intercourse :fluffle:

The greatest pleasure you can give yourself is to help somebody else.

i know some things i can do to myself which give me way more pleasure than helping someone else ;):p

I can't wait to see how the Express, Mail and Have Your Say spin this one out. They'll have to actually choose between So-Called Experts (who don't know jack shit) and Kids of Today (who are all busy hanging around reducing house prices.) The agony of choice!;)

Looks like I took the wrong career path. I should've become a politician. Nice fat salary without having to ever do anything that a requires more than the minimum of brain function.

Let the kids be as stupid as they want to be - it'll provide greater job security for the rest of us.

Manners are most important when attempting to engage in meaningful intercourse :fluffle:

excuse me, may I?

of course, come in.

Looks like I took the wrong career path. I should've become a politician. Nice fat salary without having to ever do anything that a requires more than the minimum of brain function.
Being a politician requires more than a minimum of brain function. How else do they cover up their travel 'expenses' before they grant themselves exemptions to freedom of information?:rolleyes:

I think good manners are something to be encouraged. So many people have so little respect for others nowadays. It's quite sad.

I think good manners are something to be encouraged. So many people have so little respect for others nowadays. It's quite sad.
Aye, but it's not something the government can really do. It's taken generations to get the kind of society we have today, for better or worse, and it'll take generations to change it.

Aye, but it's not something the government can really do. It's taken generations to get the kind of society we have today, for better or worse, and it'll take generations to change it.

Oh, I know, I wasn't suggesting the Government should get involved. I think the problem is with parents - trying to be their kids best friend and expecting 'someone else' to take care of discipline. I suppose its a guilt complex that's developed as a by product of both parents being at work all day.

Being a politician requires more than a minimum of brain function. How else do they cover up their travel 'expenses' before they grant themselves exemptions to freedom of information?:rolleyes:
They don't. That's why we know about it.

Respect czar? :rolleyes: Does the British government not have enough to waste tax payer funds on?

This woman is a top advisor to the British Government (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6714407.stm)

What is she advising the government about: How to increase employment? How to reduce poverty? The effects of Foreign Policy?

No, she's telling us that we aren't polite enough. Good god, have we gone back to the 1950s all of a sudden with Harold MacMillan sitting in an armchair giving an address to the nation about traditional values? There are so much more important things for the Government to address than the manner's of it's people - It's not like its something the government ought to think it can do anything about anyway.

People complain especially about teenagers - Well firstly, teenagers can be ignorant, spoiled and selfish. I should know, I am a teenager and Im a right bastard sometimes, however I try to rectify it and a lot of teenagers will when the get older and realise what they do.

Secondly, the reason that young people have become more nasty in recent years is that they are either from privilidged families where they get everything and have been coddled all their lives and not taught rspect for others or the hardships of life. OR they are from dirt poor families, given nothing, with no way out in sight (i.e Their school is a pile of shite), yet surrounded by a culture obsessed with material goods and money, then no wonder they harbour a deep resentment of society.

If we all stopped being obsessed with the society we've created in the past twenty years and try and regain a bit of the spirit of solidarity that we had after the war, and really made an effort to get rid of poverty and look after the less fortunate a bit more, then maybe people would be a bit nicer.

It's been an observation, made by many people, that a rude, discourteous society is a society on the skids. I don't know whether this is true or not, but it seems to me that nothing can be harmed and a great deal can be helped if people, including adolescents, would show common courtesy in their daily lives: if only to see the shocked disbelief on the faces of those recipients of this courtesy.

Cuz I'm a 21st century digital boy(or girl)
I don't know how to live but I've got a lot of toys.

That song says it all.

I think good manners are something to be encouraged. So many people have so little respect for others nowadays. It's quite sad.
Yeah, whatever, you can shove your opinion where the sun don't shine. ;)

Yeah, whatever, you can shove your opinion where the sun don't shine. ;)

Yeah, you want some?

They don't. That's why we know about it.
True, true.

Are pregnant women cripples now? I thought that was wrong to say. :confused:

Yeah, you want some?
Yes. Yes, I do.

Yes. Yes, I do.

I'd be careful, if I were you. I have an army of chavs to do my bidding.

At least I would, if only they could work out which hole in their hoodies they put their head through.

Yeah, whatever, you can shove your opinion where the sun don't shine. ;)Ahem. "You can shove your opinion where the sun don't shine, please." Thank you.

I'd be careful, if I were you. I have an army of chavs to do my bidding.

At least I would, if only they could work out which hole in their hoodies they put their head through.
They'd be no match for my army of squirrels, wood pigeons, malnourished foxes, a confused woodpecker and a fat, elderly, ginger cat called Fatty Ginger McFatso. (That'd be the denizens of my garden).

They'd be no match for my army of squirrels, wood pigeons, malnourished foxes, a confused woodpecker and a fat, elderly, ginger cat called Fatty Ginger McFatso. (That'd be the denizens of my garden).

Now that's a great name for a cat. :p

*Feeds squirrels to the chavs*

Ahem. "You can shove your opinion where the sun don't shine, please." Thank you.

"Please shove your opinion where the sun doesn't shine", I think you mean.

Kids today :rolleyes:

Now that's a great name for a cat. :p

*Feeds squirrels to the chavs*
Almost certainly not its real name, considering it belongs to the neighbours and not me...

*feeds chavs to foxes*

Fuck manners. :cool:

I heartily agree with this motherfucking sentiment.

*Puts elbows on table*

I heartily agree with this motherfucking sentiment.

*Puts elbows on table*

*Pulls out table, sits on legs, puts elbows on table, burps, farts, and then lays back, putting feet on table.*

*Pulls out table, sits on legs, puts elbows on table, burps, farts, and then lays back, putting feet on table.*

*masturbates at the table*

I bet there's no rules against it, eh?

*masturbates at the table*

I bet there's no rules against it, eh?

*Leaves in a blinding light*

*Pulls out table, sits on legs, puts elbows on table, burps, farts, and then lays back, putting feet on table.*
*tips chair* :D

*tips chair* :D

*Sets fire to potato*
*Loads into potato gun*
*Fires*

*tips chair* :D

I already left the chair, you know.

*Throws gravy-filled balloon*

All these problems would go away if you people would just become part of the USA as the 51st state...no you'd have to much say in the electoral college...become the 51st, 52nd, 53rd and 54th state.

It probably would mess up the flag and we'd have to figure out a new pattern for the stars, but to make up for that we will take your tax money and only spend half of it on you.

The rest of the tax money can go towards building a monument for Bush that's exactly the same as Lincoln's.

That seems like a waste of government time and money, but in the grand scheme of things it's not that bad.

These (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6119452.stm), however, have me much more worried. I have a bit of a problem with the government of any country reeducating people for bad manners. Let's hope she never gets her way.

That seems like a waste of government time and money, but in the grand scheme of things it's not that bad.

These (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6119452.stm), however, have me much more worried. I have a bit of a problem with the government of any country reeducating people for bad manners. Let's hope she never gets her way.
Holy friggin' barbecued cats on a stick over an open fire! Whatever she's smoking, I want some! Gimme gimme gimme gimme!

These (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6119452.stm), however, have me much more worried. I have a bit of a problem with the government of any country reeducating people for bad manners. Let's hope she never gets her way.

Nah, ASBOs aren't handed out for bad manners. You won't get one for farting at the dinner table.

"Re-education" does have a decent amount of euphemismability, though. I like that. A bit like "retirement".

That seems like a waste of government time and money, but in the grand scheme of things it's not that bad.

These (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6119452.stm), however, have me much more worried. I have a bit of a problem with the government of any country reeducating people for bad manners. Let's hope she never gets her way.

That's just fuckin wrong.

Looking at the sort of society this government has been working to create, it'll be a cold day in hell before I listen to any of them lecturing people on traditional values. Hypocrites.

Someone telling the Brits how to be more polite? I wasn't sure that was even possible.

Someone telling the Brits how to be more polite? I wasn't sure that was even possible.

Apparently, they've been taking lessons from the French.

Robert A. Heinlein, author of such books as Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers held three opinions about courtesy with which I completely agree -

1. Bad manners should be a capital offense, the punishment to be carried out on the spot, preferably by the victim of said bad manners.

2. Bad manners are the sign of a society in decline.

3. An armed society is a courteous society.

Bring back National Service.

Good manners are a virtue, and credit for them goes to the possessor of them. And it's not a matter of expectations: you can tell when someone is trying to please, even if their chosen method is coarse humour or casualness. Expecting people to hold doors for you or give you the time of day is nothing more than asking them to fake good intentions.

I'm really dubious about trying to impose an expectation of good manners by an education program. Let people be rude until they realize it really isn't in their own best interests to piss others off. Or perhaps even develop the virtue of good manners.

Perhaps this isn't clear. To not be rude, to not abuse people nor take advantage of them nor disrespect them is a reasonable expectation. But to be polite, to make an effort for other people in exchange for nothing is entirely up to the individual. The line between them is simply "mind your own business."

Bring back National Service.

Nah, that wouldn't be good. there are probably sociological reasons, but mine is that if someone like me were put on National Service it wouldn't end well.

Yep, nuts, but...

just had a glance at the article...

do Londoners really NOT give up seats to pregnant women?

I've travelled on buses in Salford before (a city well known for knife attacks, so not exactly a lovely area, except some parts of it) and even people in Salford will give up seats to old people and pregnant women (I've even seen kids/teenagers do it) so wtf is up with Londoners?

National Silly Service. No guns, no climbing walls ... just training in bringing a smile to some random sourpuss's face.

Water pistol training perhaps. It's hard not to smile when someone gooses you a beaut ... and the weather is warm of course.

National Silly Service. No guns, no climbing walls ... just training in bringing a smile to some random sourpuss's face.

Water pistol training perhaps. It's hard not to smile when someone gooses you a beaut ... and the weather is warm of course.
We can get LG to run it...

We can get LG to run it...

Hup two three four! We love the Goofy corps!

It's just nice to know "Mi Mi" from the Drew Carey show is working...


Oh, you know you saw the resemblence too...