Bugging Out Of The UK

[Tarrel]

Wow, bit of a "Pandora's Box"!

Interesting range of responses, reflecting a lot of different views. Personally, I think it is reasonable to question "why would you want to leave?". But it's also important to be aware that one's judgement might be coloured by "comfort zone" as MB mentioned above, or by thinking along the lines of "it could never happen here".

My original post was triggered by the images of these desperate migrants (some of whom are doctors, business-people, professionals for goodness sake) struggling to survive and maintain dignity, and being totally out of control of the events affecting them. I found myself thinking; "If I was one of them, and I could have wound the clock back a few months, what if anything could I have done differently to avoid ending up in a boat in the Med or a shanty town in Calais."

Many of the responses have assumed that a major problem in the UK would be replicated elsewhere, hence the argument about not wanting to be an outsider in a country when TSHTF. Fair point. However, although it's likely that the kind of events that would affect the UK will be global in nature, it's not guaranteed. I don't want to appear unpatriotic, but we do have some deep underlying problems in the UK which could affect us alone while the rest of the world carries on regardless (or, at worst, is less badly affected).

Financially we're in a mess. We have a huge debt relative to our GDP, which is growing daily. Our GDP is largely based on service industries and internal consumption, rather than export. We saw during the Scottish referendum how even the prospect of disruption in the country caused the currency markets to get nervous. It would only take a fall in confidence and consequent change of a few points in government bond yields for our debt to become much more difficult to service.

Fault lines in our society are becoming increasingly stressed. The pace of immigration over the last decade has exceeded our capacity to absorb it culturally, leading to enclaves and "ghettos" of different cultures rather than true integration. The difference between the have's and have-not's is widening, leading to dissatisfaction. Austerity is leading to the reduction of public services and support structures that disadvantaged people rely on, leading to an increased sense of desperation.

Our energy supply is increasingly under stress. The last 2-3 winters have witnessed threats and warnings from energy firms, that the "lights might not stay on". It hasn't happened so far, but there's no smoke without fire.

The above are just three examples of triggers that could affect the UK while ROW carries on pretty much unscathed. I'm fairly confident of our ability to withstand shocks like this and get back on an even keel over a period of time that regular preps would cover. But I'm not totally confident. There could well come a time when the picture of a prosperous, thriving country overseas, full of opportunity for me and my kids appears in stark contrast to the grinding poverty / threat of civil war / increasing oppression (delete as applicable) that I face day-by-day at home. Then I might decide that it's worth the risk to make the move. In which case, how could I do it without ending up on a beach in Libya, waiting for the next boat to oblivion.

After all, isn't that the choice facing those would-be migrants coming to us?