Wow, didn't Homer Simpson teach you kids anything? My little 30 year old boy, after high school did TAFE part-time while working, became an account. Then did his Master of Commerce part-time, while working. Has just got married to a girl doing Uni part-time while working. He is currently doing his CPA part-time, while working. I'm starting to see a pattern here. I've got a BD and a MTh, but no church would have me as the first thing I'd say from the pulpit is, "The good Lord looks after those who look after themselves." As to the past and rose coloured glasses - one of my past jottings: A Boomer Bemoans. In the Fifties we shared dreams. In the Sixties we shared drugs. In the Seventies we shared body fluids. In the Eighties we shared drinks. In the Nineties we shared views. In the Noughties we shared food. In the Teens we share stories.
I've never bought into this generations bullshit. The youngies will always look back and say how easy the previous generation had it and the oldies will always complain how slack the next generation is. Each person deals with whatever circumstances they are born into No time is easier or harder, just different Lets see - the 80s Houses were cheaper but interest rates were 15%+ Top tax rate of 60% No gst but sales tax of 20% on many items Even a little crappy tv cost over $1000 A PC would set you back $5K and it didn't even have colour graphics and how could I forget - NO MOBILE PHONES AND NO INTERNET !! Today many things are relatively cheaper thanks to China and interest rates are much lower but real estate is much higher Swings and roundabouts Deal with it
A 1999 corolla with 245,000 km on it. You don't really think every 35 to 45 year old drives a luxury car do you? As another old timer said about the old days, "they were hard years but good years".
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ this! + 1 000 000 Finally somebody who actually gets it ... Can't wait for the rotten socialist/fascist system in Australia to collapse in on its rotting self! :lol: May the gubmint rot in hell
No offence meant to anyone here. Thank you for your well thought out post Mark. I am not an optimist and really see no way out of this mess. I predict an Australia where there is increased competition for fewer resources where more and more people slip from the middle class to the working poor. An Australia where living standards constantly decrease, and the majority of people are locked out of the property market and become rental slaves. I hope I'm wrong but that is where the signs are pointing towards. By all means I'm doing everything humanly possible to secure some sort of my decent future for my family but it is a losing battle even with working 3 jobs, partner working full time and watching every penny. The necessities of life, shelter, food and burdens like insurance, rates etc are going up far too much all the time. This is one problem you oldies didn't have.
I think your missing the point - its not an argument of what plauges the current younger generation, whatever the decade, because no doubt there has always been something, its about this being the first time, globally, things are reaching fever pitch, the problems you all say you have been through have accumulated to this. Saying that because you went through something in the 50s, 60s etc. doesn't make you immune to the events now does it? Im merely stating - the younger generation who are learning the worlds; political, economical and financial intricacy for the first time are currently or on the edge of throwing there hands up and saying, "F**K This!" "You just cant win." Peers I speak with of my age 18-23 are adamant they will not have the chance to own a home, with job markets being ultra-competitive, wages not rising with cost of living. Throw in the deception that our "superanuation is a safe investment" which is jammed down throats from high school age and you severely limit safe havens for these people to place there cash. No wonder consumerism blooms, its the only place you get return on an investment, albeit, not financial return, but at least some gratification*. (*That is most certainly not an endorsement of consumeristic culture - but my take on understanding it's momentum.) I just think, more and more are waking up. There has never been so much debt, uncertainty and there are no more bandaids to tide us over to transfer the problem solving to our children. Its reached the limits and change will fall in this decade. All I wished to do was draw attention to the misinformation about Australia's stance globally. It isn't getting better, and at risk of this just sounding like a doom and gloom post - I wanted to share the video so maybe people here could show it to the youth in there life to at least share a perspective that may benefit them by shifting there focus or providing them with a little grounding. SilverJay
only applicable to those in sh1t4brainsland... if you're a resident of China, Japan, or any other (fast) growing eastern economy you don't have to contend with such half baked rules setup to make life harder for you :lol:
In addition to the comments of "F**K This!" "You just cant win." , I believe with this discontent comes the drive to change and from what I am seeing, this dissatisfaction is the talk on more and more lips. SilverJay
Hopefully the younger generation will realise that 99.9% of all our problems are caused by BIG GOVERNMENT sticking their fat noses into all walks of life- which they then f.. up! Vote the barstads out ... it's the only way! Vote for a small government libertarian party ... in Australia there is only one such party and that is the Liberal Democrats. ldp.org.au Big government is a cancer ... it needs to be removed.
If you ask anybody that lived through the 1940s (you know - WW2) they would probably disagree with you about the "first time, globally, things are reaching fever pitch" bit. Going on history this is just not a feasible perspective and I am much more positive on this than you seem to be. Just because homes are expensive at the present time does not mean they will be forever. Cycles will turn, interest rates will rise, and prices will relatively fall. You only have to look over the past 100 years to see this is not true either - periods of crisis and great change have been quite common. WW1, Great Depression, WW2
Im going to level with you and say I knew that these events would be brought up and I dont want to think that this is just some fleeting comment by someone 'younger then yourself'. I have spent time speaking with people and understanding perspectives from the whole range of ages and socio-economic groups, there is a common theme among people in my age bracket AND older - ignoring it because "its happened before" just blows air into the "she'll be right attitude" entertained by too many. I think your research on how deep this global hole is falls very short for you to brush it off so quickly, especially when that video I shared had so much data based on your own country, and you have to admit the preparedness for tougher times ingrained in culture pre-1950 helped countless households during the events you mentioned, we just dont have that anymore. As an 'extreme' comparison; I believe if you compare that to now and an event just a similar size hitting a majority of households globally, it would strip that thin veneer on society off so fast it would make ALL our heads spin. I have given my reasons for sharing the video - Its purely for the younger people and hopefully adds explanation to what faces them regardless of their choices - Im going to leave it all at that. Debating as to it being useful or not because "its happened before" is a irrational argument IMHO. Its better to know than not too. SilverJay
Generational wars is not on if you want your family to survive if there is to be a financial meltdown as most of us here on SS believe. When it comes to crunch time, no one will care about you except your family and perhaps some friends. My departed dad used to always say, give today for tomorrow may be too late. Your families health is the most important thing in any era. IMO make every day, one that makes you wiser and stronger. We are all like a small fish in a mighty school, make sure you don't get caught in the net when the 4 fishermen start trawling. Regards Errol 43
I have a 22yr old step son and he is doing well in an electrical apprenticeship....Poor kid has lost his license twice due to the 5 points only law for P platers in Vic.... I have told him things are pretty bad around the world but it is hard explaining this stuff to younger gens because theyr'e not educated with politics and economies and tax systems etc.... He will hopefully realise one day soon when SHTF that his mum and i moved out of the city to a property with no debt to insure a roof over our heads and my new sons head....I warned my wife about all the doom and gloom three years ago.....Hopefully we were right?
You seem to read something different to what I am trying to say. Whatever situation the world is in, it is not a 'young people' thing - it is an everybody thing. Whatever will happen will happen - we will all have to deal with it. Don't for a minute think the baby boomers are sitting pretty with not a care in the world. They can be just as badly wiped out with a currency/financial collapse as anyone else. At least the young will have years ahead of them to make up the losses. but the world has always been that way - you deal with whatever comes the best you can and enjoy life as much as possible along the way.
