Britain will be a strangely optimistic place at the start of the third decade of the millennium. Strange, because the 2010s had become known as the Decade of Austerity, with its apt acronym, DOA.
Various factors conspired to make the last 10 years sober ones. Public spending had been tight as the Government struggled to balance its finances after the 2008 financial crisis, and the aftershocks which halted recovery in 2010 and 2011.
That’s just part of the first one by Julian Baggini–read it all.
The predictions in the comments are funnier than the ones in the article. Stupid. But funny.
Bear in mind that the British psyche is fundamentally apocalyptic. Brits love a good disaster. It reinforces the national passions of (1) fussing about the non-existent(!) weather/climate, (2) “mustn’t grumble”, (3) putting the kettle for a cuppa, which in turn fortifies one for the next disaster. Always take apocalyptic news about British society, economy, church, politics etc. with a generous grain of salt. The reality (since Thatcher?) has always been less catastrophic, and the ensuing upturn more sustained, than the Independent’s or the BBC’s mood music would have you believe.
As a Brit, I would say rather that we incline to the pessimistic. The apocalyptic we leave to the Yanks – it’s a little too emotional for us phlegmatic types.