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David 
to wish impossible things
Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: the edge of the deep green sea
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| think positive wrote: | hasnt done wonders for who? you personally?
thing is David, we have choice, You have choice. You dont like rentals and landlords but you choose to rent. So buy a house. it might not be where you want to live, but its not impossible. you have a uni degree, you should be capable of earning an income that allows you to do this, hell shop assistants manage it. but you are choosing to live the way you are, in an expensive area, you could move and rent cheaper until you can afford to buy, then just like most people you upgrade as you can afford to. thats what most people do and most people are happy with that. they simply choose to stop when they get to a place they are happy with, for some thats a toorak mansion, for some its a debt free 4 bedroom house in the suburbs (like us!) for others its a little rambling farm house. for others its living in apartments, look at docklands, thats high density but with room for a decent size tv. choice.
its not people who own a masaratti or a holiday house $�$%^%%$ up the system and causing "social services and community to crumble all around us" for the most part (yes greedy cheats exist) these are the people who pay for those services.
just think, if all the people who could get out of public housing did, and off of services, maybe the people who really need it, the sick, the old, the damaged, the homeless, might have a fighting chance. Politicians are getting pay rises, fly first class and get massive pensions, and we still have a homeless problem, fix that.
choice is a good thing, for instance if you want to live under communist rule, Australia will let you move there. From what i can see its movement the other way thats difficult and more prized.
Not many people get life handed to them on a platter. most people earn it. dont blame them for that.
your way would not work, there would be no incentive to do more, work harder. |
I'm talking about society at large. What you're describing is "the American dream", and it's a popular notion here, too. The trouble with dreams is that you have to wake up from them at some point, and I feel like the English-speaking world got a pretty rude awakening about ten years ago with the GFC.
The fact is that all the "choice" in the world hasn't helped the homeless, the long-term unemployed, those living in relative poverty on minimum wage, those living with massive debts, or those with dual household incomes just scraping by. The very rich have gotten a lot richer, and some people still make it to the top from the bottom, but what about the rest? Can it really be that so many people just "choose" to be poor, or living on the edge financially? I feel like there are much bigger forces at play here: cost of living has increased significantly compared to wages; house prices have gone through the roof; there are considerably more people than there are jobs.
What's so good about choice that we should put it on such a pedestal, anyway? Should questions over whether you have a house, whether you have healthcare, whether you can send your children to a decent school, really depend on how much you want? These are basic needs, not privileges. I have no problem with those who manage to earn more money getting a holiday overseas, or a newer car, or getting some nice jewellery (though I am sceptical over whether anyone should be able to have a holiday house or sports car, as you know). What bothers me is that any of those should come at the expense of other people not being able to afford the basics.
As for me, I'm in the fortunate situation of not having much in the way of materialistic aspirations (which is, funnily enough, how this discussion started!). I don't particularly like where we live, but I like the house we're in; ironically, it's so decrepit that it just about wipes off the "Hampton tax" – $410 a week is a little on the pricey side, but for a two-bedroom house with a backyard 25 minutes drive from the city, it's not much more than you'd expect to be paying anywhere else within that radius (personally, if I had my way, I'd relocate to your neck of the woods – inner west is the place to be). I could also earn more but I choose not to, because I love my job and don't want to trade it in for something I'd hate. So none of this comes from a place of personal resentment; I really have no issue with people living super comfortably and am fine with my lot in life so long as we're scraping by (and we are, if only just).
And neither do I think it's the people with Maseratis ruining everything (even if I do think they should be taxed more). It's the way our society is structured around choice and individualism and getting-what's-coming-to-you that's to blame. And here I'm not even talking about wealth inequality and other boilerplate left-wing ideas; I'm talking about the loss of community and solidarity in this country, and the retreat into little boxes of individuals trying to get ahead of everybody else. I don't think we have much of that sense of mutual interest that other societies have, and I think it does make us more isolated, miserable and greedy. So this isn't about blaming individuals; it's about trying to figure out what's gone wrong here and how we might go about fixing it. Because I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling this way.
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"Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence." – Julian Assange |
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think positive
Side By Side
Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Location: somewhere
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im sure your not too.
for me its not about "retreating into little boxes of individuals trying to get ahead of everybody else" its about having a place where friends are welcome, parties are plenty, and my girls and their friends are around me and not elsewhere. I have a couple of friends who really struck it rich as they lived on land that has been bought for new estates, both have my attitude, its not about crystal chandeliers, its about family, and yes, community. maybe your hanging with the wrong people, come over to the west and join the cashed up bogans! im not pretentious in anyway, or materialistic. Yes i love my toys, but i get the best deal i can on everyone of them, I mean we have a small boat for fishing, but its quite frankly an ugly boat! (sorry Bugs, but its true!) It does what we need it too!
as for private schools, the simple fact is some public ones are not up to scratch, and if your in the wrong district your screwed. which is why we chose semi private. my daughter will hopefully graduate as a high school teacher next June, and she is appalled by a lot of what our current education system is. For example she just finished a module or what ever you call it, on indigenous education, and our daily walks have held many conversations on what is so wrong with the way history is taught, and the way kids from different backgrounds are given the opportunity to learn the way they need to. I believe she will make a difference, a small one maybe, but she will try.
we only have private health insurance because we have to for tax reasons, although ive always had ambulance cover. i know a lot of people who think the same way. in saying that though, without it my husbands treatment programs could have been far different, we paid a fortune even with private health care for one lot of experimental treatment, and its bloody wrong that others cant afford this life saving treatment. thing is though, in places like Russia, do you think he would get that treatment as a normal citizen?
there is so much wrong with this world, Linda Evangelista once said she doesnt get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day, and yet top surgeons dont earn that. Movie stars, predatory directors, basketballers earning $5mil a game. the world is £$%$ed and upside down.priorities!
and how come nice jewellery, keeping in mind a rolex can cost more than my little sportscar, is ok? I dont do jewellery at all!
fact is until we get some decent politicians that dont put themselves first, nothing will change.
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You cant fix stupid, turns out you cant quarantine it either! |
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