[Misc] Define 'Crisis'

[abc]

Reading today about the experiences of civilians in Ukraine who have no power or heat in freezing conditions, are being continuously shelled, and now we learn have been subjected to various abuses by the Russian invaders including widespread rape, I don't think anyone would argue there is not a genuine crisis occurring there.

Here, we too appear to have an endless list of crises from an energy and cost of living crisis to a political, consumer and mental health crisis (etc etc). So, what constitutes a crisis?

Is it anything that means that things are not as good as they were or one would like to them to be, and is therefore individually subjective? Therefore, having to reduce to owning only one super yacht might constitute a crisis for the super rich, as would be only having the one skiing holiday for the 'wealthy', not being able to go the pub on a Friday night for the 'OK but not wealthy' and so on? Or are many of us (and/or the media) overusing the word and forgetting what a crisis really is?

This is partly a philosophical question, but it really concerns me that there are some people in this country who I believe truly are in crises and genuinely can't afford to feed themselves or their children, are old and alone and can't afford heat, are homeless and so on. Does the apparent mantra that virtually the whole population is in crisis risk ignoring the minority who, I would argue, have always needed help and need it more than ever right now.

 

[dazzer6666]

Really good question and I don’t know. I do think people easily lose perspective though - the number of ‘crises’ we had when I was working was enormous, the reality was that very few of them actually were - it was people trying to make them into one most of the time.

In terms of the media, headlines such as ‘One in three children in Sussex are living in poverty’ as I saw very recently are genuinely scary, but is that reality or manipulation/presentation of stats to suit an agenda ?

I share your concern re those suffering a genuine crisis……and that they may be being done a disservice by those that are simply having a tough time ? Where is the line between the two ?

 

[beorhthelm]

its a term that has been devalued through over use, now it seems any event, or state of change is a crisis. it should mean something sudden and drastic, unforeseen change. as time passes these criteria dont apply so is it a crisis anymore?

good example is covid, that began as a health crisis, we reacted and dealt with it and it is no longer. still out there, people still contracting, suffering dieing from it. similarly, we dont call spikes in flu each winter a crisis, because its predicted even though the effect may be quite significant.

 

[Randy McNob]

If Brighton lost 6 matches in a row people would call it a crisis

 

[AmexRuislip]

If Brighton lost 6 matches in a row people would call it a crisis

6 you say.........

I guess s Sussex version of crisis, would be @LamieRobertson not getting home on time on a Sat afternoon for tea and tiffin

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

If Brighton lost 6 matches in a row people would call it a crisis

3
Or the players spending less than 10 minutes clapping the fans

 

[Greg Bobkin]

A manager and a few staff leaving a football club was a crisis for some Albion fans a few months ago.

 

[Binney on acid]

It's a bit like the word 'iconic'. Some people struggle to differentiate between 'iconic' and 'irrelevant'. '

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Reading today about the experiences of civilians in Ukraine who have no power or heat in freezing conditions, are being continuously shelled, and now we learn have been subjected to various abuses by the Russian invaders including widespread rape, I don't think anyone would argue there is not a genuine crisis occurring there.

Here, we too appear to have an endless list of crises from an energy and cost of living crisis to a political, consumer and mental health crisis (etc etc). So, what constitutes a crisis?

Is it anything that means that things are not as good as they were or one would like to them to be, and is therefore individually subjective? Therefore, having to reduce to owning only one super might constitute a crisis for the super rich, as would be only having the one skiing holiday for the 'wealthy', not being able to go the pub on a Friday night for the 'OK but not wealthy' and so on? Or are many of us (and/or the media) overusing the word and forgetting what a crisis really is?

This is partly a philosophical question, but it really concerns me that there are some people in this country who I believe truly are in crises and genuinely can't afford to feed themselves or their children, are old and alone and can't afford heat, are homeless and so on. Does the apparent mantra that virtually the whole population is in crisis risk ignoring the minority who, I would argue, have always needed help and need it more than ever right now.

To me it is when events take a turn for the worse and the people who are in charge of managing such events are unable to do so.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

I mentioned the other day, shops and supermarkets have been packed recently, there's plenty of money about..

 

[drew]

It's all things to all men so to speak. You can have physical crisis, mental health crisis etc affecting an individual or more macro crises such as Ukraine, famine in Africa etc etc. You can't really narrow down the definition other than starting as a downturn in a situation and possibly escalating from there.

 

[schmunk]

In terms of the media, headlines such as ‘One in three children in Sussex are living in poverty’ as I saw very recently are genuinely scary, but is that reality or manipulation/presentation of stats to suit an agenda ?

"Poverty" is almost always defined in these matters as "relative poverty", generally defined as having an income of <60% of the median.

As the median household income is currently ca. £31,400 (2021 figure), then "poverty" is a household income of <£18,800.

 

[Wardy's twin]

an individual can have a crisis in his/her life as might a group of people or a nation - scale and depth need to be added by the description surrounding the word. When you see headlines 'NHS in crisis' it is just meaningless whereas 'NHS in crisis because of 7 million waiting for key treatment' says it all. Lots of words are used badly these days in the media/clickbait world we live in.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Really good question and I don’t know. I do think people easily lose perspective though - the number of ‘crises’ we had when I was working was enormous, the reality was that very few of them actually were - it was people trying to make them into one most of the time.

In terms of the media, headlines such as ‘One in three children in Sussex are living in poverty’ as I saw very recently are genuinely scary, but is that reality or manipulation/presentation of stats to suit an agenda ?

I share your concern re those suffering a genuine crisis……and that they may be being done a disservice by those that are simply having a tough time ? Where is the line between the two ?

I can answer the question about 1 in 3 children in Sussex living in poverty. It’s bollocks.

 

[Machiavelli]

Reading today about the experiences of civilians in Ukraine who have no power or heat in freezing conditions, are being continuously shelled, and now we learn have been subjected to various abuses by the Russian invaders including widespread rape, I don't think anyone would argue there is not a genuine crisis occurring there.

Here, we too appear to have an endless list of crises from an energy and cost of living crisis to a political, consumer and mental health crisis (etc etc). So, what constitutes a crisis?

Is it anything that means that things are not as good as they were or one would like to them to be, and is therefore individually subjective? Therefore, having to reduce to owning only one super might constitute a crisis for the super rich, as would be only having the one skiing holiday for the 'wealthy', not being able to go the pub on a Friday night for the 'OK but not wealthy' and so on? Or are many of us (and/or the media) overusing the word and forgetting what a crisis really is?

This is partly a philosophical question, but it really concerns me that there are some people in this country who I believe truly are in crises and genuinely can't afford to feed themselves or their children, are old and alone and can't afford heat, are homeless and so on. Does the apparent mantra that virtually the whole population is in crisis risk ignoring the minority who, I would argue, have always needed help and need it more than ever right now.

Good post.
To help contextualise things:
1, Collins has designated 'permacrisis' as the word of the year
2, one of Britain's leading intellectuals, Adam Tooze (whose podcast is worth a listen), has coined the word 'polycrisis' to describe our contemporary predicament
All of that suggests that you're on to something. FWIW, I think the usages of the term illustrate something about where we are, so no it's not just subjective, although subjectivity -- or, better, intersubjectivity -- plays some role in this. The core issue is that we're on a pathway that is generating and exacerbating crises and, broadly, there's an increasing awareness of this, but we are as yet unable to move onto another (less crises-laden) pathway.

 

[dazzer6666]

I can answer the question about 1 in 3 children in Sussex living in poverty. It’s bollocks.

Hence my comment re manipulation of stats….here‘s the article

One in three children in Sussex living in poverty in the run-up to Christmas

More than 60,000 children across Sussex are living in poverty, as we launch...

planetradio.co.uk

 

[BBassic]

Hence my comment re manipulation of stats….here‘s the article

One in three children in Sussex living in poverty in the run-up to Christmas

More than 60,000 children across Sussex are living in poverty, as we launch...

planetradio.co.uk

And then if you dig further into it you can find this info on how the data is collated from the 'End Child Poverty' website:

Source: End Child Poverty Coalition • This data is based on the DWP/HMRC statistics "Children in low income families: local area statistics" (March 2022). The statistics provides the number and percentage of children aged 0-15 years who are living in households with below 60% median income before housing costs. The data provided here uses the DWP/HMRC local indicators combined with information about housing costs at the local level to estimate poverty rates after housing costs.

Notes on how the data should be interpreted
The figures are based on the Department for Work and Pensions Children in low income families: local area statistics which estimates the poverty rate before housing costs. A statistical model is used to estimate child poverty after housing costs which draws on household survey data alongside local area statistics on private rent levels. The statistics are calibrated to regional 3-year averages from Households Below Average Income (HBAI) for the financial years 2018/19 to 2020/21. The HBAI figures for 2020/21 are less reliable than earlier years due to sampling issues related to the pandemic. This should be kept in mind when interpreting the statistics released today, but the impact is lessened by the use of three-year averages for regional figures. More information on HBAI is available here.
Users are advised that the data for individual local authorities and parliamentary constituencies are subject to small statistical fluctuations year-on-year and should be considered within the context of the regional or the longer-term local trend.

So, Govt data (patchy due to the pandemic) manipulated by a model. Who knows

To be fair though if even one child is in poverty that's one too many for my liking.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Depends on the context.

 

[zefarelly]

English politics . . . Thats a crisis.

 

[Lenny Rider]

Hence my comment re manipulation of stats….here‘s the article

One in three children in Sussex living in poverty in the run-up to Christmas

More than 60,000 children across Sussex are living in poverty, as we launch...

planetradio.co.uk

Through my work, I work for people right across the demographic, there clearly is a ‘poverty’ issue in society, and at times we revise our professional fees accordingly, but in certain cases surely it’s also about priorities?

For example, I don’t make any charge for a standard child’s funeral (Under 18), yet on occasions in recent years I’ve gone to see families who would be perceived to be in the ‘poverty trap’, yet they’ve all got mobile phones, nice big tellys, games consuls, a lot chain smoke or smoke other substances not available on the open market.

Haven't got a problem with these people they can have do all that if they have a degree of responsibility and clothe and feed their children, but does that always happen?

There certainly is a crisis in society at the moment and we should do everything we can to help all those who truly need it, but at times it can be a somewhat grey area.