I am so fed up of hearing how we are all doomed that I started to think of all the good things that might come out of the current economic "crisis":

1) People won't spend money on things they don't need reducing the amount of packaging that goes into landfill.
2) Precious resources won't be wasted manufacturing and transporting stuff we don't need.
3) People will waste less food
4) People will eat less food reducing the obesity problem
5) Young people won't be able to afford to binge drink
6) People will spend less time shopping or drinking and find more interesting (and cheaper) hobbies.
7) People will get out of their cars and walk or cycle, thereby helping the environment and getting fitter/healthier
8) If parents are made redundant, perhaps they will spend more time with their children instead of farming them out to childminders and nurseries.
9) People will start to cook from scratch if they have more time and less money, instead of relying on take-aways and ready meals, thereby reducing the amount of packaging used and improving their diet.
10) People will spend more time gardening rather than just paving over the whole lot because it is "low maintenance".
11) Young people will start to realise the benefit of a good education.

Zoe

12) Neighbors will help each other and swap things.
13) Some might cancel the cable or satellite input to their televisions and actually start to think some thoughts of their own.
14) Libraries will be visited and enjoyed.
15) Museums and art galleries might need to be open longer hours.
16) Public parks will have visitors who've never been to a park before.
17) Friends will swap hair cuts, clothes, recipes, and count on each other.
18) Thrift shops and garage sales will have lots of new customers.
19) People will eat at home and discover they like it!
20) Many will discover gardening, foraging, fishing, hunting, and actual food preparation.
21) Others will actually use their ovens for baking, roasting, and such, rather than storing things.
22) It's likely that people will wear camisoles and cardigans, house shoes, scarves and such, inside, and turn down the thermostat.
23) Spending more time in their houses, families might start to do things together: chores, pray, cook, clean, play games, make up skits, sew, make music, etc.
24) Recitals and concerts at colleges will actually have people in the audience, enjoying good music!

Okay, I'll stop and see what else shows up on this topic. Thanks for starting this, Zoe!

25) *Warning this is a mean one* People who are all high and mighty about people living a good life on benefits and talking to people on them like complete scum might loose their jobs and realise it is actually very stressful and difficult and not the life of riley they currently think we lead and adjust their nastiness accordingly.

26. People will spend less this Christmas and get back to it being about the family, and Children will get less and hopefully appreciate it more.

27. The term 'housewife' will hopefully stop being used interchangeably with 'not working' or 'unemployed', and we can all stop feeling guilty and inadequate for not bringing in a 'wage' and paying earnings-related taxes.

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28. Social climbers shall fall from their ladders.
29. People will become more aware of themselves.
30. Satisfaction shall be found in the 'little' things which are all too often taken for granted.
31. Hopefully it'll put stop to those flamin' ever more expensive, 'better than the jonses kids'
themed birthday parties that have been catching on for children ( think exotic animal party
pottery party, hired limo party blah blah blah..)

Fifer

32. Houses will have front porches added onto them, and people will put chairs on them and sit in the chairs on their porches
33. Neighbors will visit each other on those porches.
34. Couples will go strolling down streets ever so nicely quiet, due to the cars being parked at home.
35. Solar-powered cars will silently grace the roadways.
36. Airplanes will stop flying and the weather will return to normal.
37. Air and noise pollution from planes and vehicles will cease, as folks will use golf carts, bicycles, electric street cars and trains, and their feet, to go places.
38. Mega-stores will disappear and local Mom-and-Pop shops will reappear.
39. Addiction to self-gratification, to being entertained, to distracting oneself will fade away, and people will begin to live their lives purposefully, and nobly.
40. Television stations will go off the air, for lack of advertising, and real conversations will return to the civilized world.

Zoe, this is great!

lovely thread Zoe
41. the 3 holidays a year families will discover the joy and beauty of their own country
42. The upwardly mobile will strive to be inwardly content
43. The 'house in the country' will return to a country lifestyle instead of a weekend retreat from the city.
44. City dwellers will work to green their own living space and walk to work.
45. The dreaded concrete and decking garden will be returned to real earth and plants
46. Children will know their way to school as they'll be walked there instead of driven
47. living frugally will be an aim rather than a social disadvantage

48. colleges start to offer courses that help people, "adapting clothes for beginners", "basic gardening" "understanding smallscale 12v windmills" and "Being Ish"

BTW

49 Everyone else will be brought down to our level and then we'll rule the world!

50. People will do more and more for themselves. Complaining and whining will fade away.
51. Houses will have windows open because there won't be loud noises coming from the streets, or the neighbors.

Wow - we're doing really well. If we get to 101 can I e-mail this thread to the BBC? Please? Please?

52. The Government will realise that their policy of building hundreds of thousands of new houses is completely wrong and will concentrate on getting the 1 million empty houses in this country back to occupation.

53. Families will realise that living together isn't a problem but a blessing.

Keep it up guys.

Zoe

Milims - can we make that UP to our level please -just a different perspective!

54: Slightly threadbare will be very trendy.

55. Frugality and self-sufficiency, and their inherent good manners, will be viewed with great admiration.

Lol! That's exactly what I meant cos I know just how darned good we are - just a pity the rest of them don't!