It cannot be denied that we are currently living in a period of rapidly rising prices especially energy prices food prices and fuel prices. The rate at which these items have risen in recent months is incredible and is in my view more than the stated rate of inflation which is I believe is said to be around 10 percent now.
To read most newspapers or to listen to the television, they are telling us that we are in a cost-of-living crisis and that people cannot afford to eat, heat their homes, buy fuel et cetera. The news portrays a doomsday scenario that we are all suffering.
I wonder from my experiences if that is correct or not. It is no doubt the case that a lot of people are finding it harder to make ends meet. I am not for one minute suggesting that that is not the case. What I am queering is whether it is as much of a doomsday scenario as the media would have us believe.
Back in 2007 when the financial crash hit Britain, and the world. One of the things that I observed was overnight the “ boy racer” types were no longer driving their cars on the roads. You know the sort of person I mean with the souped-up cars speeding from traffic hold up to hold up and wasting fuel and burning rubber.
In fact, overnight in 2007 the number of cars on the road reduced whether during rush hour otherwise stop those were my observations from the many hours I spent leisure cycling and cycling to work each day in central London. Clearly in 2007 people certainly were not using their motor vehicles stop I believe the only explanation for that was that people could not afford to use their cars owing to the financial crash.
Let us look forward now to 2022 and the situation and now. I have not noticed any reduction in the volume of traffic on the roads since the early part of 2022, before the rampant inflation. Indeed, the roads are getting busier, both at rush hour, and more significantly on evenings and weekends when people are more likely to be out in that lecture time. It may well be that it is because of the time of year, namely summer, but the number of boy racers driving around the east London stroke Essex border area are increasing. There is a considerable amount of ridiculous acceleration from Bourne hold up to another and very wasteful driving scene. This would suggest that certainly at least amongst at that age group stroke title person they are not feeling the credit crunch and feel able to afford to waste fuel unnecessarily.
I accept that not everybody is in that position. However back in 2007 there was a rapid reduction in the number of people I saw driving compared to 2022Ulster
An even more significant feature, and warn that did not exist in 2007, are the number of Deliveroo / Just Eat type of delivery drivers. I noticed as I returned home from work this afternoon. There were seven such motorbike riders sat outside the local subway store waiting for orders to deliver. There were a similar number if not more outside the local McDonald’s. Outside of many fast-food shops, especially the chains there are always numerous delivery drivers. These drivers are regularly collecting and delivering orders. I appreciate the pay they receive is minimal and it is not an attractive job, and my comment is not a reflection on the delivery riders. However, people are obviously willing to pay to have food delivered to their door. If the situation were as bad as the media would have us believe, then even if people were able to afford takeaways, they would not be paying for them to be delivered. We have here but two examples of people spending money unnecessarily:
1. buying takeaways rather than cooking food themselves, which would be cheaper and
2. the fact that they are willing to pay for people to deliver that food to them rather than walking to the local shop.
This to me seems to suggest that the current cost of living crisis is not as bad as the media make it out.
I do not live in an area that could be described as posh with people on high salaries. It is an area with poor housing mediocre quality of health and some of the least financially well-off people in society. Despite this those around me seem to have money to spend unnecessarily on fuel by driving in a wasteful manner and they can both afford takeaway food and to pay for its delivery.
If the cost-of-living crisis was as bad as the media painted to be, then how are people able to afford to waste fuel and to not only by takeaways but pay for delivery of them rather than walking to the takeaway shop to collect them.
For some time now I have been volunteering and helping at a Community Food Surplus Hub which distributes food to people in the area. Whilst it is correct that since around March 2022, we have seen an increase in the number of clients attending, we have not seen the huge increase in numbers that might be expected from reading or listening to the media. Speaking socially with our clients, it is correct they are finding things harder now than they did before the cost-of-living crisis hit. However, from what has been said to me by numerous clients it is a case of finding things more difficult rather than not being able to eat at all.
Society changes overtime and whilst in the past even a household telephone was considered a luxury, today a mobile phone is considered an essential given so many things are only available online. However, when paying for Netflix, Cable TV et cetera people make choices of where their priorities lie. Certainly, living in London having a motor vehicle is not an essential. The public transport in London is exceptionally good, and cheap, when compared to elsewhere or alternative options. People may choose for their convenience to have motor cars. Some people may choose to buy football season tickets and other items that cannot be considered essentials.
It is also correct that some people cannot afford any of these things at all. I do not want to suggest that people are not finding things harder now than they did say 12 months ago. People are generally having to make choices and do not have as much disposable income as in the recent past. That is undeniable, but it doesn’t necessarily amount to a crisis.
However, when you look around this situation is not the crisis stop the media painted to me it is a difficulty rather than a crisis.
Bobby Shaftoe's Gone to Sea 