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Welcome to Grappy's Soap Box - a platform for insightful commentary on politics, media, free speech, climate change, and more, focusing on Australia, the USA, and global perspectives.

Sunday, 7 September 2025

The Decline of Prosperity: An Introduction





Across the developed world, people are asking the same question: Why does life feel harder than it used to?

In the UK, Canada, and Australia — nations once known for their stability and prosperity — the signs are everywhere:

  • Rising costs of living

  • Falling real wages

  • Housing slipping out of reach

  • Protests in the streets

  • Growing distrust of government and media

It’s tempting to look for conspiracies — to imagine some shadowy force pulling the strings. But the truth, I believe, is simpler and more sobering. The decline is not being orchestrated. It is the natural result of incentives — the rational decisions of governments, corporations, and media acting in their own interests, without regard for the bigger picture.

Over the next three posts, I’ll explore this theme in detail:

  1. Why are the UK, Canada, and Australia all getting poorer?

  2. What are the incentives driving this decline?

  3. How can society change course and reverse it?

If we are to understand what’s happening — and more importantly, if we are to stop it — we must look past slogans and short-term fixes, and ask hard questions about how our systems are structured.

This series is my attempt to do just that.


Would you like me to also create a series graphic or image prompt (something simple but recurring, like a symbolic illustration of decline and renewal) that you could use across all three posts to visually tie them together?

"The Decline of Prosperity: Why Living Standards Are Falling in the Anglosphere"


Post 1

Title: Why Are the UK, Canada, and Australia All Getting Poorer?
Subtitle: Falling wages, rising costs, and fraying trust — the shared symptoms of decline.


Post 2

Title: The Incentives Behind the Decline: How Self-Interest Drives National Decay
Subtitle: Governments, corporations, and media are acting rationally — but the result is misery for households.


Post 3

Title: Turning the Tide: How Society Can Reverse Falling Living Standards
Subtitle: Changing the incentives is the key to restoring prosperity and social cohesion.


Do you want me to also draft a short introduction post (like a prologue) for the series, so readers know these three articles are linked and should be read together?

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