Tightening the belt

It's no secret that things have been tough economically for us in the UK over the last couple of years. With the UK feeling the grip of a recession shaping up to be the worst of it's kind since before World War II, cuts have been made in a lot of areas, ranging from jobs to schools to public services, with everyone feeling the squeeze in some capacity. It has effected many of us on a family level, with many households experiencing an ever-rising increase in the cost of living.

Yes, it's bad. But please- let's put things into perspective.

Zimbabwe is the poorest country in the world. In 2010, inflation in Zimbabwe was at 87.9 sextillion percent; the largest monetary bill printed was for 100 billion dollars, which was only enough to buy a few eggs. In 2009, three of the four largest hospitals in Zimbabwe and it's only medical school was shut down. As of 2010, it's gross domestic product is only $0.1.

So then I am a bit disgusted that, on ITV News yesterday, there was a family of six (husband, wife and four children)- with a total income of £50,000 per year- who were complaining that it was now more expensive to buy fresh food for every day of the week, lamenting that they do not want to feed them on chicken nuggets and chips.

In fact, I am generally disgusted with the attitude of this country; because we are British, we expect so much. Because we are British, we expect to be simply given things by the government, to take the jobs we want and leave whatever we don't find appealing- to, rather than make adjustments to our lifestyle choices such as where we shop or how big the engine in our car is, simply complain that the economic climate we are in no longer means we can no longer live in the sort of luxury that we simply come to expect.

This country needs to wake up and get real. There are countries like Zimbabwe and Eritrea and the Niger that struggle for basic nutrition, education and health care, and yet we have the audacity to gripe about shopping at Aldi instead of Waitrose, about whether we go private or NHS for or dental care, about how expect to be able to go to university for a minimal fee or to drink our student loan.

We find what we experience in this country now in terms of cutbacks shocking because, as a nation, we expect to be given the best of everything.

That sort of attitude saddens me, when going to university in the UK is cheaper than a buying a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe.