I hate Britain [Rant thread]

[Mikeus Caesar]

Disclaimer: before i start, this is a rant that i feel the need to post about the current situation in Britain, of people building houses everywhere when really they could just stick to the cities, where there are tonnes of places to build. It's getting me annoyed. Maybe it'll inspire debate among you guys about this subject, or just get a load of people telling me i'm a hypocrite/idiot/twerp. Anyway, on with the show.

I'm fed up of our stupid society. I live on the fringes of the country, in a nice village in Yorkshire. From some of the windows you can see the Pennine Hills in the distance. All of the houses here are 50+ years old, and generally very nice, with fields and the like pretty much in your backyard.

Well, now it's all going to hell in a handbasket, and my little village is slowly becoming part of the monstrous urban carbuncle that is the town of Huddersfield.

The first sign of trouble was when they built a massive mansion in the middle of the fields nearby my house. The only way to access it is through a small lane called Stretchgates. This lane was only ever meant for people, dogs and horses, and maybe the occasional pedal bike.

Well now, the idiots who built this house drive their massive American style pickups along this little lane at 20mph. The original road surface is gone, so it's down to bare-rock, which results in flooding at the bottom of the road due to there being no dirt for water to seep into.

Just out walking my dog, i nearly got run over as there was barely a foot of clearance on either side of the truck, and ended up having to run as fast as i could, because he couldn't brake his truck while on a hill with a crap road surface. To add to this ridiculous story of capitalism destroying everything, the ******** insist on lighting up the outside of their house with floodlights, which light up the fields and woodlands for about a mile around.

Now, the capitalist scumdogs have gone and decided to build more houses for rich *****. There's a massive plot of land near my house, the wastelands, which used to be the site of an old mill. The mill was demolished years ago, and since then nature had been reclaiming the area. It was even more green than it is on the satellite photo.

Now they have completely ripped it up, and it is a giant brown scar on the landscape. There is only a bit of greenery left, saved because of there being a telegraph pole and a natural spring there. The only tree left is a small spindly oak tree. There used to be an entire developing forest there.

I imagine that instead of building lots of good but small houses that fit in with the local area for people who aren't too well off, they'll build about 5 horrendous looking houses for rich people, in a gated community, for rich people looking to get away from the cities to live in the 'nice tranquil countryside' with their brat ******* emo kids and their giant American style pick-up trucks and they're expensive pedigree dogs.

And then they'll be building on the field opposite my house, to make yet another gated community, with even fewer houses. I remember when there used to be ponies in that field. Now it's fenced off and overgrown.

So now, these rich people who escape the cities to live in the nice tranquil countryside are turning the nice tranquil countryside into precisely what they were trying to escape from - a horrific urban sprawl, from which there is no humanity, no soul, no escape.

I'm glad i'm moving to ******* Australia. Sure, i won't have any friends, a good paying job or anything, but at least i can move into the middle of nowhere, safe in the knowledge that more people won't follow in my wake.

I hate Britain.

Handy map with key to locations mentioned



1) My haus.
2) Location of the lighthouse mansion.
3) An old farmhouse knocked down so that the lighthouse mansion could have a backyard.
4) The former wastelands. Compare it to the size of my haus, which is quite a big house, and you get a vague idea of the ridiculous amount of land that has been torn up. Think of the poor wabbits and pheasants who lost their homes!
5) The old pony field opposite my haus that will probably be torn up soon i.e next week.

[CrossLOPER]

Let me guess, 1000 hours in MS Paint?

Situations like this are common in the U.S., although not as hilarious. The Russian Rich seem to prefer living in the city. Can't imagine why. You could always curse the land with satanic rituals...

[Scurvy]

I have great sympathy - similar things are happening all over the countryside, and very little is being done about it...

but i dont think its really grounds for hating Britain, just for hating a certain group of people...

[Crazed Rabbit]

So....you want to control what other people can do with the land they own?

CR

[Adrian II]

So....you want to control what other people can do with the land they own?

CR

No he just wants to kill them all with an industrial size chain saw. So would I.

[ShadeHonestus]

I believe the same thing about my country home....I'm the only one who should be able to enjoy those surroundings...damn the rest of you.

In fact the rest of you should move to the inner city projects to rejuvenate growth there, refresh the community a bit.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Could be worse:

[scotchedpommes]

Australia? Bit drastic. All you need to do is drive north for a good few hours and
you'd get back to nowhere.

[And if we take action to remove the Capitalist filth... no-one would ever know.]

[Ice]

So....you want to control what other people can do with the land they own?

CR

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[Goofball]

So....you want to control what other people can do with the land they own?

CR

I think he just wants to rant about people who are acting perfectly within their rights of property ownership, but are still offensive in how they are exercising their property rights.

However, I'm curious CR. If my house was directly across the street from your kid's elementary school, and I decided that by way of exercising my rights to do whatever I wanted with my property I would erect (pun intended) a 30' tall statue of Mohammed doing Jesus doggie-style in my front yard, would you still be entirely supportive of my rights as a property owner? Or would you sign the petition that would surely circulate among my neighbors demanding that I get rid of my modern art masterpiece?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Oh please.

If this was your view:



and someone built this:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

In front of it, you wouldn't be the slightest bit annoyed?

[ShadeHonestus]

I'm sure its anyone's right to be annoyed. Hell, they even have the right to be pissed off. However, I'm pretty sure they don't have the right to have their rantings taken anymore seriously then the homeowner has the right to build there. Either one of them acting in supposition of the existence of a greater right then the other wins a new shiny smug medal.

[Ice]

Hey Sasaki:

[ajaxfetish]

Would you explain how Sasaki's point is a strawman please? Curry has expressed his displeasure in rich newcomers building gaudy homes on the wildlands (at least as wild as England can manage) he loves, and Sasaki posted a picture of a gaudy home and a lovable wildland (true American wildland), asking whether we would enjoy having the home there. It seems relevant to me.

Ajax

[Goofball]

Hey Sasaki:

To quote Inigo Montoya:

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

(Sorry to whichever Orgah it was (AdrianII I think) who quoted Inigo Montoya recently, I blatantly stole your idea, but this situation was too fitting to pass up)

[CrossLOPER]

Would you explain how Sasaki's point is a strawman please?...

I think he's too enticed by Goofball's idea for a statue. I actually have a relevant picture in my gallery of limbo. PM me if you're interested.*








*You sick, sick thing you.

[Mooks]

If your really really pissed off. Then you can always force them off the land via vandalism. Thats only if your drastic though.

[ajaxfetish]

Or you can set up the statue Goofball suggested, and see if they still decide they want to live in your neighborhood.

Ajax

[Mooks]

There is a giant forest behind this fence near my backyard. The military preserves it, something about a training base for the SEALS. Its really quite cool, and has lots of wildlife in it. I think you have to travel really far to get to the training base though, one hopes that they dont decide to use live rounds while im wandering around.

[Tuuvi]

Oh please.

If this was your view:

and someone built this:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

In front of it, you wouldn't be the slightest bit annoyed?

Some one needs to teach those people how to put up their christmas decorations...

Back on topic, yea that would piss me off to, It happens where I live all the time.

[Ice]

Would you explain how Sasaki's point is a strawman please?
Ajax

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

One can set up a straw man in the following ways:

1. Present a misrepresentation of the opponent's position, refute it, and pretend that the opponent's actual position has been refuted.
2. Quote an opponent's words out of context -- i.e., choose quotations that are not representative of the opponent's actual intentions (see contextomy)
3. Present someone who defends a position poorly as the defender, refute that person's arguments, and pretend that every upholder of that position, and thus the position itself, has been defeated.
4. Invent a fictitious persona with actions or beliefs that are criticized, and pretend that the person represents a group of whom the speaker is critical.

5. Oversimplify a person's argument into a simple analogy, which can then be attacked.

To quote Inigo Montoya:

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

(Sorry to whichever Orgah it was (AdrianII I think) who quoted Inigo Montoya recently, I blatantly stole your idea, but this situation was too fitting to pass up)

Never used the word before, buddy.

[Ignoramus]

I think it's a shame. I mean, look at London. Greater London takes up the entire County of Middlesex. Do we really want to be living in concrete metropolis in 2050? People should leave the countryside alone. Otherwise, there won't be any left in 50 years.

[King Henry V]

5. Oversimplify a person's argument into a simple analogy, which can then be attacked.

Curry's complaint was that the beauty of his local countryside was being destroyed by the development of hideous new mansions, to which CR replied, in words to that effect, that people had the right to do anything they wanted with their own property. Sasaki's point is therefore valid, and though Curry doesn't have a great view of a mountain range which is being obliterated by large, gaudy new constructions, the principle is the same.

[doc_bean]

I'm sure its anyone's right to be annoyed. Hell, they even have the right to be pissed off. However, I'm pretty sure they don't have the right to have their rantings taken anymore seriously then the homeowner has the right to build there.

Which is probably why he's venting in a forum instead of petitioning the government. We all get pissed at other people sometimes, maybe because they're taking something which we considered 'ours' (like a view), because they're just being stupid (big brother !) and annoy us, or soemtimes just because we have a bad day.

Sure those people are in their right to mess up a beautiful piece of the countryside, that doesn't mean the rest of us have to be happy about that.

On a side note, I like the way Norway seems to handle things like this, with huge national parks everyone has acces too, while most people live in the cities. Suburbia is the curse of the modern world.

[ShadeHonestus]

I hear ya...however

Sure those people are in their right to mess up a beautiful piece of the countryside, that doesn't mean the rest of us have to be happy about that.

You're assigning your own value of beautiful as the measure. These people probably believe they are building a beautiful home in a beautiful setting. Aesthetics, after all, are in the eye of the beholder.

Not knowing the particulars, but admitting I'd like to, if there wasn't some sort of reclamation project which owned the land, then the obvious would be that the land was being held for future development. If that is true, where is the expectation that it wouldn't be developed....again.

[doc_bean]

You're assigning your own value of beautiful as the measure. These people probably believe they are building a beautiful home in a beautiful setting. Aesthetics, after all, are in the eye of the beholder.

Sure, they're entitled to their opinion, I'm entitled to mine, what's the problem ? It's not okay to disagree ?

[ShadeHonestus]

Sure, they're entitled to their opinion, I'm entitled to mine, what's the problem ? It's not okay to disagree ?

Oh of course it is, I just prefer to make clear those arguments which skew the view as only viewable through their eyes. At this point we have nothing to disagree about, except which window we would rather look through, with even that in doubt.

[macsen rufus]

Pity you don't live in Wales, Curry, I'd suggest you join the Sons of Glyndwr. You could still take a leaf from their book though

[Husar]

I think it's a shame. I mean, look at London. Greater London takes up the entire County of Middlesex. Do we really want to be living in concrete metropolis in 2050? People should leave the countryside alone. Otherwise, there won't be any left in 50 years.

Well, if you leave the countryside alone, you are living in a concrete metropolis, aren't you?
And even big cities expand into the countryside somewhere.

I also sense some prejudices against rich people in currywurry's opinion, ok, lighting up their house is a waste of energy etc., but I wouldn't really paint the ones to follow with the same brush so eagerly and then there was this comment about their kids...
Really, would you like it if someone hated you for what your parents are?

[Strike For The South]

Could be worse:

Yea thats whats happening here. I blame the yankees and the mexicans