It’s not so cold in London, just now. Apparently we’re due for a bit of sleet. We live in an old and somewhat draughty Victorian house with cold ceramic-tiled floors…soon to be remedied with underfloor heating.
In the 1940s, after the devastation of the second world war, the British government went to town fixing stuff…and the welfare state was the only logical way to go: (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/britain/welfarestaterev_print.shtml.).
They set about fixing things so that: healthcare was free at the point of use for everyone; so that towns and housing were carefully planned; so that there were benefits for people unable to help themselves; so that there was free primary and secondary education; fixing it so that we had better access to jobs, and a suitable transport system so that people could move and get to work, and be supported if there was no work. I love the British way of doing things…with (usually) just the right amount of state control. This is amazing. I live here in this wonderful country….where I didn’t have to walk 3 miles to school in freezing temperatures, to a school building with no heating, as this young chinese ‘snowflake’ schoolboy did: https://uk.yahoo.com/news/chinese-snowflake-boy-gets-245000-donations-hair-turns-ice-walking-school-9c-165853267.html.
Even with climate change, the climate, in London at least, is pretty middle-of-the-road…we don’t do extremes. We never used to name our storms…they just weren’t worth naming…they still aren’t for the most part….the ‘storm of October 1987’ will do. Love it.
I love it that our regular policemen don’t carry guns and don’t need to be bribed. I love it that I can get around on an increasingly brilliant public transport system. I love it that if I needed expensive medical treatment, I would get it, at no direct cost to me. I love it that I have a supermarket on my doorstep and that there are food banks, if I needed them. I love it that we love animals and have the RSPCA and RSPB and the Woodland Trust. I love the National Trust…that we preserve and look after parts our landscape, grand houses and coastline without state funding. I love it that my mum has a ‘Blue Badge’ so we can travel by car and park practically anywhere, if we need to. I love our old churches and that I don’t have to be scared about attending church. I love that there are few pot-holes in the road because the Council takes care of it. I love it that the Council helps us to recycle….in fact, we’re so keen on re-using stuff, we will almost certainly do something quite unheard-of…we may re-use our old, wooden, near 20 year-old kitchen units and even the existing appliances in our new extended kitchen!!
There’s no real point to this post. I just love what we have in Britain…it’s not actually fashionable or even the ‘done thing’ to say it…but it’s Great.
jx
Ain't we got it made? 
You have a lot to be grateful for. Our politicians could learn much from your example… too bad they probably won’t.
We are incredibly fortunate. jx
Lovely
>
Indeed. jx