uk, i live in the uk, it is rainy, cold, dark, misserable , overcrowded,

Well I don't know why Eskaren as I can not understand that myself Specially the People who come here from lovely warm Countries

The problem with your thesis, is that compared to the rest of the world taxes arn't high (a higher rate taxpayer pays more tax in Ireland, New York State, Australia and the rest of Europe, than in Britain, and this will probably get more pronounced when the Tories come to power). Unemployment isn't that high either - it peaked at 5.6% last year and is coming down again according to the latest figures (it fell by 100,000) - and again, our unemployemnt is lower than in Europe or Australia (though Ireland and the USA have lower unemployment than us). So to the rest of the world, the UK seems like paradise. I agree with you that life SEEMS miserable in the UK though - we seem unhappier than people in other parts of the world. I don't know why. Perhaps discontentment with Blair and Iraq. Perhaps it's the media pumping bilge into our brains everyday (ours is the most negative media in the world). If it's any consolation, I think the Jade Goody episode has made the rest of the world give a collective shudder when they think of Britain, and most will be thinking twice about coming here either as tourists or to live and work. Whether being thought of as world-class racists will make the Brits feel happier remains to be seen!

I lived in London for two years (I'm an American and worked for a political research institute there), and I loved every minute of it. Yes it does rain a lot, but I now live back in the snowy US, so no complaints from me about the UK. What I could never understand is why Brits would keep everything so cold and dark. The Brits in my office would always complain that I put the light on too often. I like to be as "green" as the next person, but really people, let's get some light! This is not to complain, just pointing out the cultural differences. I did think it was very expensive to live there, but the richness of opportunity for enjoying myself was abundant. I loved the museums, theatres, parks, history all around. You have much better newspapers than the US...and many more of them too. I like your TV much better, too. I found people very friendly once they got over my American-ness, which they all felt was a definite disadvantage! Anyway, I think that whenever we live in a place, it's easy for us to see the problems there; for others, it is a greener pasture awaiting...until they get there. Sorry for rambling on. In short, I think the UK is a pretty awesome place to live and I would move back there is a heartbeat if I had a job and a work permit.

I saw in newspapers that in UK there are a lot of critics about Romania ,saying that here are people which are not honest, and they go in Uk for stealing. It is true that there are few but a lot of people are smarter than they are ,and unfortunately their studies aren`t recognised there. So it is curious what you are saying about weather, i know that too but the rest i haven`t heard from an english people. So it is not good like it is said in England.