At 14, I was told, by the year 2000, society would be humane and tolerant and our lives would focus mainly around our leisure time. So where did it all go wrong?

More and more of us seem to be asking, through our 40s and 50s, Well, is this it then, life?   And, how the hell did I get to be here?

Inspired by others, writing about their feelings and experiences, hopes, fears, disappointments, I’ve been pondering these questions myself, of late...

I recall being about 14, and in the media and in day to day life at school, people were talking about how, by the year 2000, the vast majority of our time would be spent on leisure activities, due to the mechanisation of all the traditional industries.  It was felt that we’d always need teachers, medics, policemen, politicians and journalists, but even these would be only part-time positions, to allow everyone to have a few hours work each week and maintain a high level of employment.  An increasing number of us would work in the arts, enriching our society, and some people would spend their whole lives in education; learning, for its own sake, would be a perfectly acceptable life choice.  Energy would be revolutionised and sourced from clean, renewable means, and society would be much more tolerant, and much more healthy, as stress in people’s lives was replaced by contentment.

The world I live in, in 2013, is not much like that utopian teenage dream.  Those who are lucky enough to have jobs, are often not working sufficient hours to enjoy a decent quality of life, and frequently find themselves scraping through to the end of each month; through abject desperation, many resort to loan sharks and legal pay day lenders. An increasing number find themselves with no alternative but to access charity handouts at community food banks, in the ongoing struggle to feed their children.

Job security no longer exists as it once did. Unemployment is high in our failing economy, and despite the minimum wage, pay and conditions for a great many workers, are poor due to Margaret Thatcher's callous erosion of worker's rights, and Tony Blair's failure to repeal her anti-union legislation.  In the last few years, the introduction of zero hours contracts, and the unpaid workfare scheme, where claimants (including those with fairly severe physical and mental disabilities) are forced to work for their benefits, give people few rights and destroy their dignity, and naturally, are frequently likened to slavery.  And far from tolerance, any of us dependent on housing benefit, or tax credits to help meet our family’s needs, can expect condemnation and demonization from those in the media and politicians... particularly politicians.  

Work itself, sees more and more of us under pressure,  as targets are set and need to be met, and while we have more education about health and wellbeing, the level of stress we’re all under, puts us at increased risk of heart disease, cancer and a whole range of mental health problems, often making family life unbearably difficult, so that more and more of us end up divorced and trying to bring our children up without any support from a partner.  Mental illness is now the biggest single cause of disability in the UK, and psychiatric problems are set to continue rising, with the World Health Organisation predicting that by 2030, more people will suffer from depression, than suffer from cancer, heart disease, diabetes or malaria.

As a nation, we're not more social than we were back in the 70s.  A record number of people are living alone, and loneliness among the elderly has hit a point of national crisis.  Because women are required now, to work full time, well into their 60s, they are no longer available to take care of elderly relatives and yet residential care for the elderly has been plagued with case after case of neglect and abuse - the source of more worry for many families.

Not only have successive governments failed the green energy challenge, but ruthless energy bosses, given a free reign by ministers, have hiked up prices for gas and electricity so obscenely, that middle and low income households are officially being advised to wear extra jumpers around the house, as an alternative to turning the heating up.  

Homelessness is evident in all our towns and cities now, because politicians have refused to build social housing, and private sector rents have soared, just like utility bills, as fat cats exploit those with few options available to them, again, completely unchallenged by their chums in government.

The arts budget has been slashed by the current government, and local councils have been forced to reduce library opening times, or close them altogether, as if free access to books is some sort of luxury, society can no longer afford to provide! 

And then there’s the recent attacks on the migrant population.

My children’s generation will be the first, in the UK, who can expect to be poorer than their parents.  Now, I can see why aristocratic Tories would be slavering at this prospect; for them, it is fait accompli, I am sure.  But how the hell could Labour have allowed this hideous social disaster to have occurred completely unchallenged, and who on earth has the intelligence and the skill to reverse this trend, so that my children, and their children can fulfil their potential and actually realise their dreams, not their nightmares?...