UK has deteriorated to a great degree from just a few years ago. Many more people beg, there are lots of refugees and shady-looking individuals. There are many people with mental and physical disabilities as well, but this has always been the case with this country.

My friend is a police officer. He told that there are many more stabbings in London and this city is the number one place for stabbings whilst this had always been the case with New York, according to him.

My best friend’s wife is Sri Lankan (they are newly married) and she’s afraid to stay at home alone. My mom’s rented house in the UK (she lives in the North) got burgled just a few days ago so all expensive things are gone.

Listen to “Personal Update: Hell in the UK?” on Spreaker.

Just a month or so ago some suspicious people were in the neighborhood where I’m staying now (and it’s a good neighborhood), checking if anyone has left car doors unlocked. My friend got them filmed on CCTV, but because they wore hoodies their faces remained unidentified.

So the situation is the UK is bad. Many people live soulless lives, trying to stuff the emptiness they feel with bought goods or one-night-stands. It’s such a difference to come from a country where life is based on spirituality (India). Here life is based on consumerism.

People work in jobs they hate in order to buy the stuff they don’t need, and then there are many of those who try to steal that stuff. The souls of certain cities are also gone; many towns begin to look identical, with grey streets and uniform chain stores everywhere.

Streets are often empty, and when you see people, many look criminal-like, and many women dress in revealing clothes. Maybe they think such looks make them feel empowered, but I see this kind of self-expression to be based on what they really think about themselves, and sometimes it’s just a blind following of trends.

Some say Brexit will make everything right but what I see is that the city living itself is not right. The whole value system is wrong. The most important thing in people’s lives is money and many wake up to the uselessness of the material lifestyle too late.

It’s who you are as a human being is what matters. How you treat others, whether you provide value and whether you live a meaningful life is what’s going to be important in the end. What’s the point of living in seeming wealth if you hate your job and are nasty with other people. This is hell the way that I see it.

Like in any other developed country, many in the UK are in debt just to impress others with their lifestyle. I’m reading an 1867 book on wealth principles (by Thomas A. Davies) and he wrote about the very same type of people whom he labelled “poor”.

He said poor people sometimes try to deceive others about their lifestyle by living above their means. But he said that’s like an ostrich hiding its head in the sand whilst its ugly body is for all to see.

If the mind is poor it will show. Expensive clothes will not cover up bad manners and the mind of poverty will manifest through behavior. The whole mindset must be changed to look really wealthy.

Someone is not rich because she wears expensive clothes or even has a million in a bank account. One is rich who lives on his own land and owes no one, according to the author.

Others just act rich, but if they’re in debt, if they hate their jobs but they have to work to pay for all the expensive stuff they own, that’s not wealth but slavery.

So life in the UK is mainly based on consumerism. I don’t feel any spirituality here. Whilst in India life is based on relationships and spirituality, here it’s based on work and stuff. In India people go to temples in their free time, whilst in the UK they go to shopping centers or pubs.

I hope there will be a movement back to nature, away from those soulless depressive cities. But that could only happen if the value system shifts; if health, spirituality and relationships become more important than money.

And it’s not only the problem in the UK, of course. In many parts of the world the disease of materialism exists. Many people creating YouTube videos show off their newest gadgets and just stuff in general. This encourages viewers to crave for similar gadgets and the slavery for money therefore continues.

Buying “doodads” is a poor man’s game. It’s what Robert Kiyosaki calls things that don’t make money. Poor people spend most of their money on stuff that doesn’t generate income in any way.

Most people would be much happier earning much less but leading meaningful lives. Usually it’s the fear of being judged by living a less lavish lifestyle that stops them from escaping the rat race.

Now it’s much easier to create financial independence thanks to the internet enabling you to reach consumers directly, without any middle-man. Yet what stops most is the judgment of “others”.

You will never feel really happy unless you are a free human being (owing no one) doing that which you love. And that is truly possible today. So the way that I see it, this is one of the most important things in life – to create independence and to live a life of purpose and meaning.

I very much hope more people in the UK will move away from the trend of mindless consumerism and stop caring what others think. Unfortunately, as one of my readers put it, the UK is fast becoming a zombie place. Self-awareness is hard to find there now.

So that’s what I see in the UK today. What we can do to help is to personally change and make our lives into the examples of how to live. That’s the only way that I can see things changing.

Each of us should feel personal responsibility to improve this world, and this improvement starts from making the best out of our personal lives.