As to our spiraling out of control, we still have far lower serious crime (rape, murder etc) rates than the US, and I just don’t quite see how higher church attendance makes yours a better society (Have you watched MTV lately?!)? Seriously though, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.
It is useful to remove race from the equation where poverty is concerned, but clearly black Americans and native Britons are markedly different peoples in every way imaginable, and where does your white underclass fit in?
I do, however, agree that marriage is key to stopping the rot, though the fact that the US has both higher church attendance and a higher divorce rate than Britain, begs further questions.
Anthony Daniels, who writes under his own name and the pen name Theodore Dalrymple, is a serious man treating serious subjects — too uncommon these days. You can find samples of his work here, keyworded with anthonydaniels, dalrymple, or theodoredalrymple.
Of course you’ll find areas of disagreement, but IMHO he’s always worth reading.
England has worst crime rate in world
"England and Wales have the highest crime rate among the world's leading economies, according to a new report by the United Nations.
The survey, which is likely to prove embarrassing to David Blunkett, the Home Secretary. shows that people are more likely to be mugged, burgled, robbed or assaulted here than in America, Germany, Russia, South Africa or any other of the world's 20 largest nations. Only the Dominican Republic, New Zealand and Finland have higher crime rates than England and Wales."