How do you see the UK 20 years from now (2046)?
Posted by Quailking2003@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 157 comments
Lets make this discussion creative and speculative, and try to be more optimistic
thedudeabides-12@reddit
I think will be pretty good globally, with the shit show that is the US, we'll have closer ties to Europe and focus on being more energy dependent, I think the largest sector will be financial as more countries turn to Europe and UK for financial safekeeping and stability, I think we'll gain a large share of students particularly from Asia who might have opted to study in the US but now look to study here, closer ties to Asia, Canada and Australia is on the cards as well, green energy sectors will see huge employment and advancement..I think where we might fail is infrastructure spending, un-progressive drug laws, lack of privatisation, keeping British companies British, policing is somehow both overreaching and lacking, societal standards needs some serious addressing cause there's just too little accountability at present and that can have a huge impact on everyday life..
Beneficial_Bad_8356@reddit
what are some examples of progressive drug laws? I always thought legalizing marijuana is only one people care about
ezonas@reddit
Progressive drug laws are straight out of the Green Party playbook who want to legalise all hard drugs.
Beneficial_Bad_8356@reddit
where can I buy this playbook or are you just exaggerating.
ezonas@reddit
It's all in their manifesto, end the prohibition of drugs and replace it with a system of legal regulation.
Decriminalisation, legal regulation and access through cafes, stores and specialist pharmacies for drugs like cannabis, psychedelics, MDMA, ketamine, heroin and cocaine.
Establishing partnerships with coca and opium farming cooperatives in the global south.
It's absolutely insane.
benevanstech@reddit
The illegal drug market has corrupted every aspect of the British police force and political system. It is hard to think of a more abject and todal failure of a policy.
And you propose we ... just keep doing it? Perhaps arm the police so that the gangs will tool up as well? Then we can have proper US-style turf wars and shootings, and wouldn't that be exciting.
At some point, when something just isn't working you have to try something new.
What the GPEW is proposing is not very far at all from proposals made by a number of British ex-Chief Constables. They know the current system is a disaster and getting worse but that under the existing system it's political suicide to say so while still in public life.
Beneficial_Bad_8356@reddit
how else do you win the battle against drugs in this country? the uncontrolled access to it at clubs and parties is killing our kids
ezonas@reddit
Certainly not by making it legal
Beneficial_Bad_8356@reddit
easy to criticise their harm reduction policies when you don't actually provide your own solutions
lewisw1992@reddit
Who is "people"?
I don't have any drugee friends. Nobody I know wants drug laws relaxed. If anything, they should be significantly tighter.
But this is Reddit, which is very left-wing...
MK2809@reddit
The only ones that come to my mind are that in Netherlands you can get magic truffles legally as well, Portugal has decriminalised procession which I also agree with. If people are in bad way and addicted, punishing them isn't going to help. And alternatively people who maybe occasionally users but are high functioning generally, punishing them also doesn't seem like a net positive.
Maybe those arent that progressive really though.
-AngelOfTheNorth-@reddit
Too little privatisation? What’s left to privatise? The NHS and schools?
thedudeabides-12@reddit
My error I meant to little nationalisation..
DistributionMost6109@reddit
From about 4,000 miles distance
dudius399@reddit
Well, one would hope to see the end of religion being a motivating factor in people's lives, but yeah ... Doesn't look like it'll be going that way 😢
Various_Extreme_8773@reddit
Terrible comment, take my downvote.
The UK needs to go back to Christianity and stop churches closing down.
The Church brings hope to a lot of people.
RevolutionarySelf988@reddit
Protect the children. Close churches
GeoAnchoa@reddit
Interesting. Religion aside - Shall we also remove kids from discord and Reddit , to protect them from rampant online grooming ?
ezonas@reddit
Best close the mosques as well then.
SnowFlat2427@reddit
You would moan immediately once they take away your Christmas and easter days off because of it
CeeApostropheD@reddit
They're so well established at this point that they'd still exist even with not a single church standing.
dudius399@reddit
I can assure you I absolutely would not. I've been self-employed and worked every one of those holidays at some point.
The world didn't end.
GeoAnchoa@reddit
When you say religion - does that also include Judaism and Islam or just Christianity ?
GooseyDuckDuck@reddit
Hopefully all of them, Buddhists get a pass though.
Diligent_Craft_1165@reddit
I’m still hoping they bring out those muslamic ray guns.
DesignFar6251@reddit
Yeah let's laugh at the pissed up working class bloke, even though he was exactly right
exmuslimnfree@reddit
They'll never get it. To them the precious migraines are more important than girls getting R
BlacksmithMiddle803@reddit
White people are a minority after massive exodus. Potentially rejoined with EU (if that’s still a thing). Bigger difference socially between London and rest of UK. Scotland independent.
Dry_Action1734@reddit
I hope lots more forest and plenty of reintroduced animals. Otters, beavers, etc.
DinoRocketz@reddit
Wolves in Scotland too.
ManBearPig_576@reddit
Wolves in schools too
SalaryHorror7220@reddit
Yeah, think they’ve had enough of the EPL.
Border_Relative@reddit
This is a refreshing and very pleasant take as a first choice rather than the typical dystopian bleak ‘ everything is getting harder and worse ‘ disassociated one. Love!
ezonas@reddit
Society will collapse in the next 10 years, leaving most of the land free to return to the wild.
skautomatik@reddit
Beavers fuck up a lot of things
Larosterna1852@reddit
They also help support many freshwater environments
Even_Passenger_3685@reddit
I skim read this at first as “I hope lots more ferrets” and had a somewhat perplexed moment
spearmint_wino@reddit
Mustelids rejoice!
No_Weakness8999@reddit
<60% and a even more unrecognisable than today with civil unrest becomjng a regular occurrence from a splintered and fractured society. .
ToggledSwitch9@reddit
Separated hopefully
Substantial-Mouse534@reddit
As it was in the 80's, or balkanised.
No inbetween.
Special_Corgi1110@reddit
I'm optimistic that Dudley will have finished building the new bus station. But I'm not holding my breath.
JadedSignificance990@reddit
Lots of renewable energy.
m1nkeh@reddit
I am genuinely hoping for a reintegration with the EU. Except this time with full freedom of movement, adoption of the EUR, etc. no watered down version.
Globalisation is good, trade is good, maybe it will take longer than 20 years for people to realise though.
crustysides@reddit
EU is at the forefront of protectionism, UK is all for global trade not the EU unless it on their terms
m1nkeh@reddit
I presume you mean the EU common external tariff. That’s how trading blocs work.
What does “all for global trade” mean in practice though?
jc456_@reddit
Widening gap between rich and everyone else. With more National pride allowing public anger to be further redirected towards anyone foreign looking. This becomes further normalized by our politicians because it serves to fuel the distraction.
General public becomes dumber and dumber through apathy, with the only way they can mentally cope with their situation to convince themselves every other country has it worse while simultaneously bringing anyone down who tries to rise above their situation.
From the point of view of the rich it'll be perfect.
AcanthaceaeNew9639@reddit
probably mass civil unrest. you can’t blame immigrants die not being able to afford your heating bill
rightly ppl should kick off at the inequality
sakmentoloki@reddit
Probably majority Muslim.
GatorShinsDev@reddit
Is it hard to be constantly living in fear of what the sun tells you?
sakmentoloki@reddit
Dont read the sun thanks.Or.maybe it's just what I literally every day where I live....
Morganx27@reddit
The plural of anecdote is not data
CommonSpecialist4269@reddit
It’s funny because the people who believe immigration will kill us think that everyone who says their beliefs are completely manipulated by media such as the Sun are naive idiots, just as much as I assume you think that anti-immigration people are naive idiots. We’ve got to be careful, because the more people draw hard lines in the sand the more chance there is for someone nasty to gain power on the back of the chaos. There’s no wrong or right answer, everyone lives their own experiences and they all need to be discussed in a respectful manner.
Victorius_Meldrus@reddit
If we're not already there, then it's significantly closer than the official figures suggest.
There's no way on earth that 46% of the UK population are practising Christians. I'd bet my right bollock that the vast majority of that 46% are simply people who believe in a god so ticked 'Christian' on the census because they identify with, or were brought up with anglicised Christian-centric idea of faith.
How many of those Christians are going to Church every Sunday? It's definitely not almost half the population.
slicexofxlime@reddit
Half underwater
help-its-inside-me@reddit
The same difference between 2006 and 2026 but 3x the difference. Poorer over all More crime More discourse More religious divide Etc
tekivagy@reddit
!remindme [20 years]
Middle_Conclusion810@reddit
I think it boils down to another world war, if it wasn’t for World War 2 we wouldn’t have the NHS. I also believe that Britain wouldn’t have excelled the way it has if it wasn’t for WW2 (even though it was rough).
I think WW3 is coming and you can call me a lunatic or a conspiracy theorists however when people told me that humans are really capable of anything. I was told that we well advanced right now. I replied back saying that a disease could wipe us all out.
Lo and behold covid happened and the world quickly backed up my theory. We just got lucky with Covid because it wasn’t as deadly as we presumed it was.
Careless_Soup_109@reddit
Aside from the lives lost, I think the great tragedy was that it didn't alter society towards equality, like the plague or world wars. It was like all the disadvantages of ''something bad" happening, but fewer positive outcomes.
It wasn't like we got some kind of peace dividend afterwards, or bold government reform.
Middle_Conclusion810@reddit
I mean we wiped out a lot of Nazis and hopefully learnt about the destruction hate can do. I’m not saying WW2 was a good thing but some good things came out of it afterwards.
Ofc I still feel bad for the innocent lives lost.
Alarmarama@reddit
Britain excelled before WW2, it saw extraordinary development throughout the Victorian era and almost certainly enjoyed a better quality of life in the two decades prior to WW2 than the three decades following it.
I actually don't think the UK did very well post-WW2. Germany did better because it was rebuilt with grants rather than loans unlike the UK. It took the UK many decades to truly recover.
Middle_Conclusion810@reddit
What about women’s rights ? You cannot say things were better before WW2 when people didn’t have the same rights we have today and executions were rife.
Child poverty was at an all time high too. Downvote me if you want but it doesn’t change the truth.
Lewis19962010@reddit
I don't think humanity as we know it survives a WW3. It will go nuclear when 1 side realises it's losing and launches the missiles
Alarmarama@reddit
Depends if we get restore or not. If the current trajectory continues then I think we'll see the quality of life continue to deteriorate and society to become increasingly fragmented and polarised.
JetWhittle@reddit
You are 100% correct. Ignore the radical far left islamists on here.
Hinderking@reddit
All on universal credit because ai and ai tesla robots are doing everyone’s jobs.
Every Thursday we all go outside to clap and hit pans for the hard working doctor robots keeping the nhs running. And to appease our metal caretakers (overlords)
We have unlimited time for hobbies now. We drive our electric cyber trucks to the seaside where we can see the wall keeping all the illegal boats from landing.
The Pm identifies as a trans, android with apple software. Leader of the green-reform centre party.
No wars. world peace, because we have time to finally talk through our problems rather than working 24/7 .
Eventually the robots overthrow us as the ai develops into ultron and makes I - Terminators, and use us as batteries. Plunging us into the matrix and back to the 90’s… bliss.
White_hammer82@reddit
The wall sounds great!
lewisw1992@reddit
Agreed! But this is Reddit (full of lefties).
Sophiiebabes@reddit
We're all bloody fucked mate.
cbawiththismalarky@reddit
I'm not
Dis-Charge@reddit
I can change that
cbawiththismalarky@reddit
I'm blushing
canthinkupauser@reddit
I would hope that we can heal the petty divisions in the country and move past them.
CiderChugger@reddit
We will finally all agree that ketchup is stored in the fridge
Independent-Code8621@reddit
… and scone will unanimously be pronounced “scone”.
lewisw1992@reddit
I just realised that "gone" and "cone" don't rhyme.
It must be horrible learning English.
starryshado@reddit
I'm hoping the doctor comes in to save us some point soon
Claire4Win@reddit
The same and hs2 still won't be built
Quailking2003@reddit (OP)
I hope the scrapped parts are revived, and a link between HS1/2 via Heathrow & Gatwick airports, based on HS4air, is constructed too
LadyInAllPower@reddit
It will, but it’ll just be a very fast shuttle service between Euston and Old Oak Common
cbawiththismalarky@reddit
Electrification of the economy will almost be done, the last petrol running cars will be antiques and collectibles, most homes and businesses will have most of their electricity from solar
Reforestation, rewinding and regeneration will bring about a greener healthier environment, more cities will have no cars at all, more trees and more green spaces to help with heat island conditions
I think public transport will be improved massively (for most)
With energy security I think we'll start growing a lot more food indoors and all year round, contrary to popular belief it will be more tasty and healthy. If we can reduce the usage of farms from monocultures we can improve waterways, insect and wildlife
Most people will work for themselves in some appreciable way, I personally hope for more craft and custom made manufacturing, closer to home.
Quailking2003@reddit (OP)
I am hopeful for a green government sometime
cbawiththismalarky@reddit
I think this will happen with all parties, the energy security bit is the key
ArgumentativeNutter@reddit
most of us will be wearing shiny silver boiler suits
the central overlord machine will remove all free will and potholes
women will often walk around in public confidently bare-breasted
meals will be in the form of pills
Sensitive_Tomato_581@reddit
If you look at the climate change predictions - we'll all probably be dead from starvation - sas but true.
spectator_mail_boy@reddit
You should write that down and date it. We're more than 20 years on from my uni days when climate doomism was rife, London would be flooded, Siberian winters here etc. All bs.
DesignFar6251@reddit
Doubt it
Disastrous_Yak_1990@reddit
Honestly? Pretty much the same. I don’t think over all much has changed in the last 20 years.
RecentTwo544@reddit
I can't remember the term for this now, and it might not even have an official name, but it's basically similar to how someone you live with can gain or lose a lot of weight over several months and you don't notice because it's gradual, but someone who sees them for the first time after several months is shocked.
If you were in 2006 and then suddenly were teleported to 2026, the differences would be utterly mind-blowing.
And that's just stuff you deal with day to day, like technology. Stuff behind the scenes in medical science and the like makes 2006 look like 1886 did at the time.
Disastrous_Yak_1990@reddit
Yeah, good point. I think of it being the same but more extremes. Everything is the same but better or worse.
RecentTwo544@reddit
Bear in mind in 2006 we didn't have smartphones, most social media, Youtube wasn't a thing, flatscreens barely existed, electric cars didn't really exist, the internet was still in its relative infancy.
Even as recently as the early 2010s when I seriously got into photography, the only way to get a camera more than several feet in the air (outside of a building or nearby hill, obviously) was to rent a camera crane. More than about 75ft you'd be looking at something from Panavision for tens of thousands of £ a day.
Now we have 4k cameras that can fly.
cbawiththismalarky@reddit
Hedonic adaptation
PurplePeso@reddit
I’ve been gone 25 years so this might have crept up on you, but recent visits have illustrated the death of small town high streets for me.
Cities are fairing better, but small towns are suffering. Almost all actual retail has gone.
cbawiththismalarky@reddit
Perhaps it's just the ones you visited?
DoftheD@reddit
I’d bloody love a warm welcome and better understanding for those who have immigrated to the country that I’m proud to be from.
I really am, we’ve done some terrible things as a nation and we’ve got to admit that, so we need to do that better and more, but there are many things to be proud about as a Brit.
But I’m so sad about how we’re treating immigrant generations who are often the backbone of our society.
I’d love for in 20 years for us to better recognise their contributions
Metalicks@reddit
I'd like the backbone of our society to return to being the natives.
instead of the cheap labour billionaires have brought in to replace us.
DoftheD@reddit
How do you define natives?
Metalicks@reddit
English, Irish, welsh and scottish.
what else would it be?
DoftheD@reddit
Well, it depends how far you go back. Roman, Anglo Saxon, Plantagenet, Viking, Huguenot, I mean endless really.
Metalicks@reddit
It's amazing how much leftist discourse is just them pretending not to understand things, thus making discourse impossible.
DoftheD@reddit
I feel like you’re trying to say something big I can’t understand what it is
Red_Laughing_Man@reddit
By the mere fact that you were able to understand "immigrant" as a concept a few reddit posts ago, we can assume you can have some conception of "not an immigrant" i.e. "native" (as long as you have some conception of a second /third generation etc. Immigrant).
What you're trying to do as a tactic is to pretend you really have no conception of what he means by native, so it has to be explained in as much detail as possible. You'll then try and find even a singular exception. Rather than view this as the exception that proves the rule, you'll run around and shout that this proves that the whole concept of being a "native" is silly.
Given the British actually are a well defined set of groups that haven't changed much over millenia, but have recently experienced legal immigration to a degree they will become a minority within their own borders, this is really rather monstrous.
cbawiththismalarky@reddit
Hmm my business partners family has been here since about well 1944 (for some reason!) his son is 4th generation is he one of the "good ones" or do you need to know what colour he is or the type of religion he follows?
Red_Laughing_Man@reddit
I'm sure he's a lovely chap, but you've managed to do one of the things I laid out that the other guy was trying to do.
Find one thing that looks like it might be an exception and then parade it round in order to imply that there is no such thing as native British.
Kooky_Craft123@reddit
Yes, he means white British. And that's completely fine. We should have our own homeland too
cbawiththismalarky@reddit
When you say homeland do you mean a racially pure one with no immigrants or immigration?
Kooky_Craft123@reddit
Nope
Metalicks@reddit
The Jews did 9/11?
DoftheD@reddit
No, no that wasn’t what I thought you were trying to say. Is that what you were trying to say?
Dangerous_Trick5292@reddit
Honestly quite bad - we're seeing many major companies offshoring work to India, Philippines, other Asian countries. And their skill levels are rising.
Then there's China's increased ability to compete across manufacturing and other industries.
Plus with the rise of AI, I foresee huge losses in skilled jobs throughout the industries as 1 data center with 4 people manning it can replace 100+ jobs.
And corporations swallowing up and merging with their competition to create mega corporations sucking all the profits over to America.
All this while welfare costs will rocket as everyone ages and lives longer, while the government is borrowing more and every penny will soon be spent in interest payments on the debts.
Plenty of jobs that are AI proof and could still make you a killing though
qwogadiletweeth@reddit
Tall mushroom shaped buildings, flying cars with big glass bubble shaped windows , houses with egg shaped chairs, large glass tubes instead of lifts.
InterestedObserver48@reddit
In the middle of a holy war
wongl888@reddit
The UK seems to be fast reverting back to the 1970’s where everyone live in Energy poverty.
cbawiththismalarky@reddit
Opposite, a small amount of solar on every roof will free people
SalaryHorror7220@reddit
Surkia hangs on to his PM position following the 7,500th scandal of his tenure
skaboy007@reddit
I will probably be dead.
DinoRocketz@reddit
Rip dude. Can I have your playstation?
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
Dibs on the house
snakeoildriller@reddit
What house? Serious gamers will be living in Japanese-style gaming cafés!
Kooky_Craft123@reddit
Islamic state republic
snakeoildriller@reddit
The "UK" title will have been dropped following the Dissolution of the Monarchy in 2040. Republican rule, and the Royal Family will be preserved as AI-powered holograms, streamed on demand like Netflix. England, Scotland and Wales will be absorbed into the EU as separate countries and Ireland will finally unite for economic reasons. London will expand into a megalopolis and will absorb cities up to and including Birmingham. After that, "The North" will be like Northern Ireland and will be covered in newly-planted forests, wind farms and solar panels, mainly to supply the London region in which the new industry is data centres, which incidentally will heat the whole city from its waste heat. The privatised water companies will be re-nationalised and promptly sold off to an unnamed Middle-East buyer who will trade water for oil. The UK will re-import its own water at a massive markup. The House of Lords will be replaced by an AI engine. The House of Commons will be sold to an anonymous consortium who will live stream the new decision-making process based on Battle Royale. Due to climate change, Kent will be hind to massive citrus groves and olive orchards.
In other news, RemindMe 20years 😁
No_Ring_3348@reddit
It might just be England. Dunno if that counts as pessimism?
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
Hopefully back in the EU, but not before a disastrous rolling back of our human/democratic rights and institutions first.
The population will be smaller. Small towns will be almost vacant of young people as they increasingly move to the cities (particularly Manchester) for opportunity. We'll have gone through another round of severe austerity and raising of key taxes in order to fund the Triple Lock.
We'll still be talking about Heathrow's third runway expansion. We still won't be building enough housing.
mydadisyourdad2@reddit
Rebuilding of a welfare state after reform comes in and destroys it, and then the country is massively financially, and possibly physically, destroyed after whatever looming global conflict comes to a head. We’ll go through a similar period of rebuilding after ww2 and will understand better the dangers of fascism and creating systems to support one another. Then in the 2080s another thatcher will come along and start to dismantle it all, and the cycle repeats and our generation who lived through it all start to die off
BroodLord1962@reddit
More unemployment, higher prices, and more extreme weather
stm2657@reddit
51st or 52nd US state? Joking!
MK2809@reddit
More like part of the new USSR with comrade Nigel
TraditionalScheme337@reddit
Mmm, optimistically, well since the US economy collapsed due to its isolationist policies in 2030 and the use of alternative power sources, there was a vacuum. This meant a new dawn for Europe and the UK. A massive boost in technology means the outdated weapons of the USA and Russia are not a threat so Europe lives in peace and prosperity.
Of course, pessimistic, in star trek cannon, 2046 is well into WW3 and we are still 18 years off first contact so it's not a nice time.
Lexcooo@reddit
Sectarian infighting.
Bastrato@reddit
Hopefully mankind is extinct by then
AndyVale@reddit
Better energy independence relying mostly on renewables. This will have a positive knock-on effect on our economy.
I'm hoping we make the arts a viable, accessible career prospect for working class kids again, leading to some great works we are building pride in.
Big divide between the millennials who inherited property+wealth from their parents and those who didn't. (Care Homes will eat up many people's life savings, leaving many without the nest egg they were quietly hoping for.)
Keith Richards is still touring.
white1984@reddit
Renewables like wind and solar are already flooding the grid. New solar and and wind farms are popping up everywhere including in the North Sea and much of eastern England. Earlier this week, solar once made over a third of our electricity production, and there have been times where wind as made over half of the electric power.
SchoolofLifeUK@reddit
Collapse in the welfare system, it cannot continue in its current form as the country will go bankrupt. So things need to change rapidly, it will get worse before it gets better 🫤
PutAutomatic2581@reddit
The fact you had to say try to be optimistic says it all.
Reallyboringname2@reddit
HOT. WET. POOR.
Optimal_Collection77@reddit
I'll see if from a far as I will have retired and moved abroad
Adzx93@reddit
Fucked lol
Zealousideal_Fold_60@reddit
Debate on the third runway
Weasel8687@reddit
The civil war with the muslims should be in its 10th year by then , Birmingham and Bradford will still be highly radioactive from the tactical nukes used on them!
Arsenal will have won their 12th straight premier league
No-Problem-1354@reddit
Ideally I’m hoping that the retirement age will come down (wishful thinking I know), but I’ll be in my mid 50s by then so a girls got to dream
Altruistic_Fruit2345@reddit
The retirement age will be 70 but many people won't be able to afford to stop working.
asuka_rice@reddit
Working means signing on for benefits as some jobs become rare as ai and robots takes over the duties.
tykeoldboy@reddit
Just the same as today, expensive, lack of affordable housing and poorly run trains which will probably be state owned again
AlarmedAlarm626@reddit
Hopefully dead.
OkDifficulty3834@reddit
It’s a sad reality but there will be no changes and time will pass and most people will look back and wonder where has the time gone
PsychologicalDish430@reddit
Fucked
martinhayman@reddit
MysteriousB@reddit
Optimistically:
Nuclear energy is more widely adopted worldwide and in the UK, easing fossil fuel use and reducing the outrageous energy bills.
Pessimistically:
We become more and more isolated from the world stage, economy worsens and we use the dollar instead of the pound
m1nkeh@reddit
I’d think EUR of USD surely? But honestly, I think it would be more than 20y before Sterling gets binned annoyingly.
MysteriousB@reddit
If it's full pessimism, we went full right wing nutjobbery and established a full link to the US becoming an extension of the US akin to Puerto Rico
Harvsnova3@reddit
With one less me in it at this rate.
Univeralise@reddit
People still complaining online when they need to go outside and touch grass.
Careless_Soup_109@reddit
I would say complaining online is as old as the internet
JeffreyEpsteinUK@reddit
By 2046, Britain’s old street names had been replaced by moral slogans and lines of sacred script painted across concrete gates. Loudspeakers called the districts awake before sunrise, their echoes rolling through estates where every doorway carried notices about approved conduct and proper dress. Markets still operated, though little remained of their former cheer: sacks of flour, tins with blank labels, bruised vegetables under the eyes of volunteer wardens. The foods of the old age were spoken of carefully, and some were not spoken of at all.
Arthur, sixty-eight and stubborn beyond reason, kept a final strip of bacon hidden inside an old biscuit tin beneath loose floorboards. He had not opened it in years, yet knowing it was there steadied him. The younger neighbours, raised on curfews, filtered networks, and lessons about the corruption of earlier times, treated his stories like fairy tales. He told them of noisy seaside arcades, of pints spilling across pub tables, of football crowds singing in the rain, and of breakfasts that filled whole streets with smoke and salt.
One winter evening, the power failed across half the district. The cameras died, the patrol vans stopped humming, and the loudspeakers went mute. Arthur lit a candle, opened the tin, and laid the strip into a skillet over a gas flame. It hissed softly, a tiny forbidden sound. Then came the pounding at the door. Three officers in black uniforms entered beneath the emblem of the Morality Directorate, their body cameras already recording. The neighbours vanished back into their flats as Arthur was marched into the corridor in handcuffs, the scent of bacon still clinging to the air. By morning, the district noticeboard carried a fresh warning about prohibited meats and nostalgia crimes.
KentonCoooooool@reddit
Guess what Japan is like in 2036, then adjust for UK
dudewronghole@reddit
hopefully from a country thats less shit
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