Is there a poisonous entitlement culture slowly permeating the UK which disdains care for others and puts self first? Should the Government, and anyone with influence be challenging and addressing this malaise?
Lack of productivity in the workplace and work shyness appear commonly as critical problems in commentary on the economic malaise and stagnation besetting the UK. But is there an underlying cultural development of which these features are symptoms, which is a self -centred driven attitude of “couldn’t care less” or “not my responsibility”, fuelled by social media? This is exemplified perhaps by trends ranging from an apparent unwillingness of people to fight for their country to other smaller but telling behaviours. There seems to be little appreciation of relatively good fortune.
EVERYDAY BEHAVIOURS – RECENT REPORTS
Couldn’t care less is manifested in numerous ways.
Is shoplifting ok? There is a retail epidemic of abuse by the public. News stories of shopkeepers and bigger stores complaining of being overwhelmed by thieves shoplifting are common. Statistically, the Annual Crime Survey by the British Retail Consortium states that there were some 20 million incidences in 2023/24, and incidents of violence in shops of some 2000 per day. Some may blame the police for not catching and prosecuting enough people to deter others, but they have little enough numbers to deal with more serious criminality. It seems that where the law is not enforced there is a level of cultural disdain for the law which makes such crimes almost acceptable in communities.
If people approach the law on the basis that breaking it is ok if one will not be caught or penalised, our society is in real trouble.
Fare-dodging on London transport has, according to TFL data, grown 50% in 2 years, costing about £190 million per year. It seems 1 in 20 travellers dodge fares on the tube. This is another form of theft which goes relatively unpunished. It reveals a growing criminal tendency and acceptance of it.
And now, in addition, London is the capital of Europe for mobile phone theft.
Is there also an epidemic of littering public spaces? An article in the Sunday Telegraph of 20 July is headlined “The litter bombs blighting our prettiest landscapes”. Representatives of Clean Up Britain say “There are too many antisocial, lazy selfish people in this country”. The article cites numerous cases of beauty spots and beaches becoming victim to litter carelessness. Fly-tipping is rapidly rising, with 1.15 million reported incidents in 2024. The tip of an iceberg? Today, simply walking the streets of many areas of London, for example, will reveal a disregard for tidy disposal of waste as so many people simply discard rubbish for others to clean up after them.
It is rare today to see a resident cleaning the street outside their home, or a shopkeeper to tend the street outside their shop which once was a commonplace reflection of pride in one’s own space. Streets are dirty, often with rubbish piled high. England’s second City, Birmingham, due to strike action, is a rat ridden waste site. These behaviours tell a story of a growing carelessness for others in society, which, if it continues to spread, undermines unifying culture, which is the glue which binds societies together.
CHILDREN LET DOWN?
Do not parents have to take responsibility for their children, not palm it off on the State?
Many blame lockdown for serious prejudice to a generation of schoolchildren. And many children were undoubtedly damaged. But it is down to society now surely to minimise that damage. rather than look back in anger. And, where children are concerned, while schools play a key role in education, the care of children is primarily a matter for parents. Yet there is a school absence epidemic according to certain experts.
And a newspaper article “The truancy time bomb threatening to blow up Britain” recounts extreme examples of absenteeism; also, that Department of Education data shows that in Summer 2024 173,000 children were absent from school more than they were present, 3 times the number in the autumn before lockdown. Lost learning it is generally thought is a life- threatening issue which is a strong determinant for future poor behaviour and performance. And 1.6 million children last year were classified as persistently absent, and such children the DofE says are 60% more likely to be unable to hold down a job for a year. Surely parents must get their children to school, and there should be penalties if they don’t? Many such parents are among the poorest in society, often single mothers with absent fathers, but does that absolve them from the parental responsibilities which accompany the choice to have children?
In addition, suspensions and exclusions from schools have risen to a record high. These are used often for the more difficult children, classified as SEND, but there is arguably some incentivisation for schools to use suspensions and exclusions to rid themselves of problems.
The schools’ provision for special needs children is getting Government attention for reform and attracting public interest. Recent articles address concerns such as “ Whisper it, but “educational needs” are becoming an unaffordable racket”, with scepticism for the astronomic rise in diagnosis of “conditions” such as ADHD for children: ADHD and autism referrals have risen apparently five-fold since the pandemic: needless to say these conditions attract funding which sceptics believe may explain certain “normal” behaviours being pathologized.
Another article “Special needs pushes councils to breaking point” cites how specialist schools for those children offloaded out of mainstream education are exceptionally expensive. So are EHCPs, educational care and health plans. Perhaps changes to ensure a great many more SEND children are kept in mainstream schools will emerge.
There does seem to be missing from the debates on these issues a considered analysis of what causes the difficult behaviours. If it is to any material degree poor parenting, then, until that is acknowledged and addressed, any changes will not resolve underlying causes.
ENTITLEMENT
When there is rife petty crime or truancy or rioting or people otherwise behaving antisocially, it is common for media, and indeed individuals when interviewed by the media, to lay the blame at the door of the police or social workers or someone other than the perpetrators themselves: the people to blame are those perpetrators and the big question is why there are so many people who are so patently out of control or sync with decent behaviour. Blame merely diverts attention from underlying deeper issues.
It appears we live in a society where people feel entitled, with an emphasis on “rights”, like a right to benefits where a person cannot support themselves. Entitlement denies responsibility and duty. Entitlement fosters division. Entitlement leads to cheating, like students in exams who use ChatGPT rather than work, so disadvantaging others unfairly. As a person exercises their rights, other people absorb a corresponding burden. Rights and modern entitlements would better be seen as privileges. But that is not how politicians and activists talk. Every Pro Palestine protest, a valid exercise of free speech when not violent or anti-semitic, means others pay through the provision of police or disruption: that freedom should be seen as a privilege too when compared to many modern nations.
The poisonous infection of entitlement means a growing lack of care for others, a growing lack of responsibility and an increasing lack of understanding about the need for all members of society to be contributing instead of taking. “Couldn’t care less” has to be reversed. Condemning entitlement and those who do not contribute, and who defile social norms rather than respecting their community, requires plain-speaking: without that and the courage to take a tough line and reversing the trend to entitlement and the UK decline, predicted and almost relished by some people, will be a perpetual reality.
See also: –
Is the Nuclear Family Core to Prosperity?
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