Everything - well nearly everything - is right in this country

So I’m a member of a destitute family. I have £140 to feed, cloth, house my children and myself.

There are 4000000 like me.

I’m struggling to find what is good about my life and the country I live in.

Nothing too wrong with our country at all! Well the weather! maybe? ha ha.

From BBC news website today:

Political refugee Ali Elmubarak became a British citizen in June 2018 after fleeing Sudan in 2008. He now lives in Bristol with his wife, Misaa Osman, and three children.
He will be voting. Not just his first in the UK, but anywhere.

"It's my first vote in my life because my country was dominated by a dictator and I was young when they ruled the country - so this is the first time in my life ever," he said.
"I think it's fair because most things are chosen by the people, add to that they've got their freedom.

"In Africa there are military surrounding the voting box so no-one can cheat, but here you
have privacy."
"In the UK you don't have to feel scared about voting as the stronger party doesn't push you with weapons to vote for them," he added.
"Also here there are many parties and you're free to vote - we had one party and our vote was every 30 years.

Yes, we have much to be thankful for.

I don't think people would disagree with you, crystaltips but the op was asking us to list what we think is great about this country and that is what posters, by and large have done. Yes, there are many things to be dissatisfied with, and some things mentioned don't apply to everyone, sadly, and there are many threads highlighting these things, but here, it is an opportunity to say what we think is good.

Here are some of my thoughts (which probably echo what others have said).

The freedom to come and go as I please,
to wear what I please
to drive a car if I choose
to embrace further education if I choose to
to be able to vote
to be able argue a point without fear of being locked up
to be able post on an open forum
to be able to use the internet
to see so many beautiful places within relatively easy reach
to have water at the turn of a tap
to have a roof over my head
to have access to a wide choice of food and clothing from shops without restrictions
The NHS and other public services
Our beautiful countryside
Our seasons
The generosity of strangers
I could go on, but will stop there. ?

crystaltipps - you've missed the point about this thread haven't you?

“Everything “ is not right or wrong in this country - it’s all relative surely? If you’ve a decent income, comfortable home, live in a nice area, great. If you struggle with poor health, disability, low income, live in a run down high crime area, not so great. I’ve lived in several countries and they all have some lovely people, some beautiful cities, coastline and countryside, also many not so desirable areas. I live in the U.K. and am fortunate in many ways but you can’t pretend it has no problems, many historical and political like most places. Nowhere is perfect and we shouldn’t feel smug or superior just by accident of birth. Neither should we be complacent and use our personal good fortune to not strive for better services, or give more help to those less fortunate etc.

I think most people in the WORLD are kind and helpful and want the best for their families. There are loads of beautiful places all over the WORLD. Ok we like the ones we are most familiar with.

As most of you know, I live in New Zealand but I am immensely proud of being English. Yesterday when I had to give my cultural status on a form, I said, 'English Kiwi' as I'm a citizen here. That does not devalue my Englishness at all, or my pride in my country of origin.

There is no such thing as the perfect country but the way I look at things is this:

For every disaffected young British person, there are many working voluntarily at home and overseas for those less fortunate.

For every young British person affected by drugs, there are 1000+ who've never touched them.

For every fault to be found in the NHS, it is still a fact that you would not be turned away from a British hospital because you can't pay (you should hear my US friends on this subject).

For every educational drop out - there are many more who go on to college, university and work.

In fact, whatever you choose to moan about in England, or any country, there is always, always, the other side of the coin with people generously helping, giving, loving and saving lives.

Volunteer rural fire brigades; lifeboat staff; willing workers on organic farms (WWOOF's); hundred and thousands of people who give time and energy to run Charity Shops (at a time in life when they could be putting their feet up); Chrisis at Christmas and the many regional Christmas Dinners and food boxes supplied to the needy and/or homeless all through the year.

Yhe churches, Buddhist Temples, Synagogues, mosques and Hare Krishna centres where people are fed, for free every week by volunteers - who have also given the food.

The non-religious centres, also run by unpaid staff, who have wide-reaching, caring services for those in need.

For every griping, miserable doomsayer, there are, thank goodness, many more Gransnetters and people of similar ilk who can see how damned lucky we are to live in a society where we are not oppressed by the State.

Where we do not have to wonder if our neighbour will betray us to the Secret Police; where in the main we will not be shot in our offices, streets and schools by disturbed persons who have free access to firearms.

We have access to a marvellous range of multi-cultural experiences, foods, festivals and arts if we choose to value them.

We have a long, long heritage which is shown in our castles and museums, spectacularly beautiful cathedrals and National Trust/Heritage properties and gardens.

ALL this is BRITAIN and whilst it is true we should always work towards improvements (rather than just sit on our bums constantly moan about what we don't have) we should thank our lucky stars we have the right to live in peace here.

And no apologies this time for a long post - I could have written three times as much.

Be grateful for that too!

All of the above. And all the people who volunteer, in whatever capacity, to help others. And the squirrel (we only have reds in this part of Scotland) who occasionally visits our garden. Hares. Our wonderful dentist! Shepherd’s Pie. Eccentricity!

What a wonderfully refreshing thread. It's so good not to click in and find the usual spite/vitriol/negativity that accompanies many of the political threads, and is usually down to a handful of posters. Yes, I can decide not to read them but now and again a thread heading catches my eye and I click on to have a look - sad to say I'm nearly always faced with much of the same.

My thanks to all who have contributed so far on this thread and especially to Opal for starting it.

Thank you to all who provided thread contributions.

I have not found all the negative political campaigners from environmental to political parties - good for the mental health.

Ooh yes BlueSapphire, you're right about always being glad to be back home. I always enjoy our holidays but by the time I get back after a couple of weeks, it's always good to be home.

And Sunday Roasts! You can only get a really good Sunday Roast in the UK! My mum's were the best ever. She sadly passed away a few years ago, I miss her so much, but blimey could that lady cook a tasty roast! And her spuds and yorkshire puds were supreme. Happy memories.

All I can say is what a wonderful thread. I love our great country and no matter how many times I go abroad on holiday I am always pleased to come home. Of course the grass is always greener when you are somewhere else for a short time and you do not see the true country, or have to live there day to day.

But having lived abroad for three extended periods I can say we were thoroughly glad to be going back home, and really longing to be on the plane on our way back. It was a wonderful experience to live in a different culture for an extended period, and for our children too, and we really tried to fit in, but as the saying goes, there is no place like home. (Although I think our two DC, given half a chance, would have opted to stay in Australia. But they were both very young and could not remember much about life in the UK.)

And I agree about the sausages, the ones in Oz were dreadful! Neither can they make a proper pork pie, and don't even mention Vegemite! And chilled red wine.....

I'm like you Hetty . 1 of ours is in NZ. I love NZ but it is too far away.

Here in Scotland we still have some wild places. German visitors are thrilled with it - that you can walk for miles on uncultivated landscape.

Free museums and galleries. Quirky people. Tolerant and friendly people.
Yes there is plenty to be grateful for Opal

Another one grateful for this thread.And heartened.I'm absolutely fed up with the relentless negativity by some people -some members of our extended family included.There is so much to be grateful for.Least of all our NHS which recently saved our daughters life.Yes it's not perfect -how can it be with a much larger population and huge increase in what's expected treatment wise.
And I still believe most of us are tolerant,kind,positive and proud to be living here.

I’m with you. There is so much to be thankful for. Personally I love our spring, I love gentle rain after a period of dry, I love living rurally and I love my friends and family. I enjoy meeting new people that appreciate most everything in their lives. But I am sucked dry by those pressing their beliefs and issues onto you, criticising, arguing, not contributing, grasping, all in a rude and dominating manner. I love sausages and mash too, something only right when you eat it here.

The NHS is one of the great things about UK. Let's hope it keeps going.

I can't add much more to the lists above of all there is to be grateful for in our country. There seems to be a minority belief on this forum that positive affirmations = political naivety. It is so far from the truth as to be laughable. Thank you for this thread Opal, what a breath of fresh air

We are free to attend public demonstrations without fear of being arrested.

We are free to practice any religion we wish without persecution.

We have a "right to roam" and explore our beautiful country without fear of a feudal landlord charging us with trespass.

What I love about Great Britain........

We have the freedom to go on any social media sites and say exactly what we think about our politicians, royal family, news and topical events without fear that there will be a knock at our door and we will "disappear".

We have laws protecting minority groups and we're getting better at enforcing them.

Our health service is under resourced and over used but there are thousands of people who, every single day, recieve life saving treatment.

We are pioneering in medical research and we take in people, from all over the world, who cannot access life enhancing/life saving treatment in their own countries. Safa and Marwa Ullah, from Pakistan, are just one example.

How I love this thread. Thankyou Opal

So fed up with all the doom mongering and slagging off our wonderful country.

Nothing else to add but agree with all the positive posts so far

Oh, and the RNLI - mostly manned by volunteers
Please support them!

Positives

Rewilding Britain
Our generosity to those in need
Have-a-go heroes
Four seasons and our beautifulmscenery
National parks and AONB
Freedom of speech, within certain correct restrictions, without the fear of being arrested or even gunned down. We can criticise our politicians
Our justice system
Our NHS

We are so lucky to live in the best country in the world in my opinion.

There’s beauty everywhere , whatever part you live in. Mountains, moors beautiful coastal areas and trees. We live in a leafy road which is beautiful all year round.

We have freedom of speech thank goodness. Despite some comments the vast majority of us lead comfortable lives in warm homes with decent food to eat.

We do travel abroad on holiday, and thoroughly enjoy exploring other countries and cultures , but I can actually feel quite emotional when I see the white cliffs of Dover from the plane window!

We are truly privileged to live here and that’s why it’s so horrid to read the doom and gloom merchants chuntering on.

I used to think that New Zealand was the Utopia that we missed due to certain circumstances. Having visited recently, yes it is lovely but has its advantages and disadvantages just like the UK.

New Zealand does, however, have a dual healthcare system and does not appear to suffer from the 'sacred cow' train of thought which in fact beleaguered some advocates for our NHS