Feel Good Factor

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Richard
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Feel Good Factor

Postby Richard » Tue Feb 20, 2018 7:06 pm

That elusive Feel Good Factor - a quality in something that makes people feel happy and positive about their lives. Youth has it, as I recall, looking back at all my years.
Some older people still feel very positive and enthusiastic but typically it dims with age, ill-health and the sheer grind of the News that is ever-so-negative.
Why is the News relentlessly bad and rarely do we hear about the good side of things?
Youth is positive and even during the relentless (50's 60' and 70's) Vietnam war there was a lot to feel happy about.
Global tensions are different now of course and terrorism has gained a hold.
Money and employment was always cyclical but we are told by older people that even though they were really poor they were happy in their communities, especially so during War time.
Now young people cannot buy properties because of market conditions and how can nurses and ordinary shop-floor workers afford to live in places like London?
Where did 'happy' go to then?
Perhaps also the misery of a long wet Winter drags us down - I notice that some races, from the Caribbean especially are so amazingly bright and happy that it makes me wonder if climate is a factor too.
Seasonally affected disorder has its place in the medical broom-cupboard and as soon as Spring flutters down to meet us we will all shine again.

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seahermit
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Re: Feel Good Factor

Postby seahermit » Wed Feb 21, 2018 1:31 am

Feel Good Factor .. in a dump of a town like Hastings? Asking a lot aren't you?!

Cracked pavements, remote and uninspired Council, distant MP, homeless souls everywhere, shabby buildings, rain every day and another cold spell forecast. What is there to feel good about?

"Youth is positive" - do you mean the youths who hang around in Queens Road late at night, hands deep in pockets and looking for troublle? Or the ones who smashed up the bus shelter near me last week?!

There are of course a FEW nice things about living in a coastal resort .. but only those with the right attitude would perceive them. Happiness has nothing to do with material wealth and comfort. If you go around blaming others for your problems or bemoaning the fact that you cannot afford all the luxuries you would like, then you are doomed to be depressed a lot of the time.

If on the other hand you bless the fact that you are even alive and free to live in whatever way you wish, in a relatively free society, then you will end up in a more positive mood and, if you are short of money or have a few problems, you will buckle down and do something about it.

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Richard
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Re: Feel Good Factor

Postby Richard » Wed Feb 21, 2018 9:07 pm

Yes! A dumping ground from London unfortunately, as has been the case for other coastal resorts in the south east, our council ever-eager to win cash bribes, has admitted London's numerous purges of its poor in recent times and not without consequences.
But Hastings has always had a fair share of vagrants, poor and dispossessed anyway.
Wealthy Victorians moved in to St. Leonards, in its heyday, and set up a vast array of charities of which many still exist today, so again the problem has been ever-present.
Villages and streets of 'the jewel in the crown' of London have had serious problems of their own too historically and immigrants have been welcomed and have contributed (and profited) from opportunities.
Now we see high numbers of foreign shop-keepers in Hastings, growing in numbers, on the cusp of a potential growth opportunity in Hastings.
As in the story of London's long history it seems to be the immigrants who can see an opportunity, it must reflect on our own laziness and inability to work long hours in dedicated family units somehow.
But I am not entirely convinced that our own youth are entirely lazy, they have been promised job opportunities via college courses in all manner of silly subjects just because the funding is available to run them.
A lot of these college courses are nothing more than fat lies about the chances of success in, for example, Graphic Design, TV and Drama courses, promising riches that involve nothing like the hard work and long hours needed to make a real living, which the immigrants are prepared to endure.
Of course some few talented individuals can make a lot of money in these areas, but like the chance of becoming a professional footballer the odds are not very promising for large numbers ever to succeed.
I see some advertising at the college by the station prompting attitudes such as 'I am as positive as a proton' what kind of dumb rhetoric is that?

As for our conservative MP, Amber Rudd, her job will really be on the line soon as she only remained as an MP in Hastings literally on a handful of votes, so if she loses next time around then could she still remain as Home Secretary?
She also sees Hastings as Benefits Town and promised better rail links but none of this has yet come to pass.

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seahermit
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Re: Feel Good Factor

Postby seahermit » Thu Feb 22, 2018 1:42 am

Your appraisal of the problems relating to Hastings (and to numerous other coastal towns where the local economy has suffered change and degeneration) could have been written ten years ago. All the same issues were at stake, all the same promises by local and national politicians were waiting to be fulfilled.

There are very good things about Hastings but until political leaders take responsibility and make a real effort to tackle the social and economic problems, putting aside self-interest and the obsession with merely chasing Government handouts, Hastings will remain a backwater in some respects.

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Richard
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Re: Feel Good Factor

Postby Richard » Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:10 am

Hastings has ever been a backwater, at least the Victorians kicked into town (after Waterloo) and brought money and employment in.
There is no real industry here, apart from tourism and it also seems to be 'disability town'.
Transport links are tedious at best.
I know many professionals are moving here because they can get an awful lot more property for their money compared to elsewhere and beautiful scenery too.
If toads and train commuting becomes easier, then the property prices would increase, but will the poor and vagrants go away?
I have new 'graphic-design' neighbours now who said they used to live in Brighton (and then Eastbourne) but these days you can't walk down the road from the station towards the sea without encountering dozens of beggars on sleeping bags in doorways. Brighton is London-by-the-sea and has a lot of industry and expensive properties? Or is it just the fast commute to London that pushes the prices up?
I believe there are now plans to make Hastings into something of a Sports Hub town with athletics facilities, whether that will work is anyone's guess.

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seahermit
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Re: Feel Good Factor

Postby seahermit » Thu Feb 22, 2018 12:28 pm

As I said, all the same old problems and really there is no concerted plan to change things and improve the quality of life.

I do not wish the beggars and tramps to be made to just "go away" and disappear from view, they do of course have as much right to live here as anyone else. But people with those kind of problems, or those who are causing problems for other people, should be getting proper help and encouragement to live in a better way and sort themselves out. It is notoriously difficult to persuade tramps/beggars to accept change (and get off alcohol) but there has to be some measure of persuasion mixed with help - the Council would like them to just disappear and bother some other community.

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Richard
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Re: Feel Good Factor

Postby Richard » Thu Feb 22, 2018 6:58 pm

Well it looks like they are here to stay, the tramps and poor and homeless and none of us want
people to have to suffer and there are many charities and some help available, but for people with drug, alcohol and mental health problems then caring for their issues can be problematic.
Government cutbacks and so-called care in the community and the recent reduction in funding to local councils, from central government, has made the current situation worse.
Hence the rise of Corbyn and his cohorts.
Whether giving more money to the poor and dispossessed or people with certain issues will solve this is another matter. How much money can you throw at people with reckless lifestyles and intractable problems?
I have an HMO near my house where the council have housed young women, with the urgent need for a home, but they have drug-dealers parking across the road in flashy cars, every so often and then get up to all manner of mayhem, so even if generous help is available then they may just abuse the chance instead of being truly grateful for a secure place to live in.
Meanwhile hard-working tax-payers are disturbed in the wee hours by their antics and feel a grudge against the council and Corbyn demanding more in order to dole out tax-payers money to help the poor as described.
The reality is that there will always be people who cannot take the opportunities given and end up wasting precious police call-out time in dealing with their social nuisance issues of a very irresponsible nature.
Unfortunately then, many people with problems simply cannot benefit from help and so we are left wondering what exactly the answer is.


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