Neighbour disputes and society
As last night’s riots in Tottenham indicate, and as many of us have been saying for some time, society is in a mess. The riots in my view are indicative of a much wider problem.
With the pace of life and economic pressures ever increasing, we have all become increasingly detached from both family and local bonds which hold society together. When economic times are good, it feels ok to operate in our own little “bubble”. When economic times deteriorate, frustration grows and our “dog eat dog” mentality increases. This is evidenced on many levels but not least in the way we are now treating our neighbours, especially bearing in mind the age old precept of “love they neighbor”.
In the news this week, the Daily Mail reported that, incredibly, neighbour disputes may have contributed to up to 1 million people in Britain moving house based on disagreements about maintenance works, noise, boundaries, parking spaces.
The Mail also reported that :-
- 1 in 5 have had a dispute with a neighbour in the last year
- 1 in 4 rarely speak to their next door neighbor
- 1 in 7 don’t know their neighbours names.
When you have this type of situation, it is no surprise that there are big problems in society. If we can’t even get on with our family or neighbours, what does this say about our society ?