Great Britain

[Scary]

Stop being negative.

Golf Greenkeeping studies has a vocational element to it. Do you know how hard it is to get the perfect green?

I'm in favour of vocational courses for those that don't get on with acadaemia. Perhaps golf greenkeeping could stay (well maintained golf courses will attract the moneyed and their money to the UK), but not as a university degree.

[Mich the Tester]

Ban joke degrees like Media Studies, Golf Greenkeeping and Psychology.

Instill values such as having a stiff upper lip, being determined, working things out for yourself etc.

I would take this as a given. The stiff upper lip and a sense of gumption are great characteristics, not inborn but nurtured through lessons in perseverance and success against the odds; values that can be taught to schoolchildren in a great variety of ways, not least through sporting endeavour and outdoor pursuits, but also through the inspiration afforded by great endeavours like engineering projects and scientific research.

[TimberWolf]

Do you know how hard it is to get the perfect green?

finest

[bingobob]

Perfect green? Most men can't discern the bloody colour!

Is it red?

[shaunbhoy]

Half the problem is you have a government that would appear to be embarrassed by British history.

But not for much longer............hopefully.
Maybe then we can stop apologizing for every historical misdemeanour and start moving forward again.

[Mich the Tester]

Stop being negative.

Golf Greenkeeping studies has a vocational element to it. Do you know how hard it is to get the perfect green?

When golf was invented it was played on the rough and rugged grounds of Caledonia by tweed jacketed chaps who had no care for ‘the perfect green’, not least because, as the learned Mr Churchill states, men don’t see colours very well, but also because they were hardy chaps who saw each irregularity in the ground as a challenge to be conquered, and didn’t expect grass to grow in the direction of man’s desires.

The wicket at Lord’s is a different matter altogether, but even there a slight slope is accepted as an idiosyncrasy of the ground rather than an inconvenience to be bulldozered by machines.

[Churchill]

Is it red?

If it is then thank your mother!

[bingobob]

If it is then thank your mother!

Cheers mum.

[JimBobTwoTeeth]

I'd say that there is still an undercurrent of innovation & invention here but the appetite for risk taking is low. The culture is one of getting a safe corporate job & work for someone else. There is a general attitude of don't try in case you fail.

How do we change this?

First recognise that these things work on incentives & disincentives. The UK has way too many discincentives to people who want to strike out on their own. To list but a few:

1) Red Tape Galore. From tax code to health & safety. A huge distration from the principle purpose of a business or enterprise.

2) Internationally uncompetitive Corporation Tax. This needs lowering beneath that of our competitors.

3) Vastly over regulated society. People aren't 'free' at the micro level which creates this mental inability to step outside stupid rules.

The Great Britons among us will then step forward & the innovators of the world will arrive on our shores.

[SueEllen]

I'd say that there is still an undercurrent of innovation & invention here but the appetite for risk taking is low. The culture is one of getting a safe corporate job & work for someone else. There is a general attitude of don't try in case you fail.

How do we change this?

First recognise that these things work on incentives & disincentives. The UK has way too many discincentives to people who want to strike out on their own. To list but a few:

1) Red Tape Galore. From tax code to health & safety. A huge distration from the principle purpose of a business or enterprise.

2) Internationally uncompetitive Corporation Tax. This needs lowering beneath that of our competitors.

3) Vastly over regulated society. People aren't 'free' at the micro level which creates this mental inability to step outside stupid rules.

The Great Britons among us will then step forward & the innovators of the world will arrive on our shores.

I think the last one is the reason why people aren't taking risks.

There are other European countries that have more red tape and health and safety then we do, but it doesn't stop people taking risks.