Yet we still cant afford to live comfortably....and arent that happy. Comparing ourselves to the US doesnt do us much good. When I went to Thailand I felt free for the first time in a long time. I could smoke where I wanted, drink on the streets, not ride with a helmet if I didnt choose to, chat to everyone who had a smile and was down to earth, surrounded by beautiful mountains and palm trees everywhere. and you know what? I never felt safer in my life. I didn't see one act of violence the time I was there. The Thai people werent corrupted by meaningless celebrity news, jersey shore, 4WD and double garages, they were real people. Theres a trade off between freedom and rules but Australia definitely has the pengalom too much on the rules side and it makes for a depressing existance in many respects. Having said that I was on holiday so my experience isnt exactly the same as a Thai citizen obviously... Having said that, Australia is a pretty decent place for a person to retire and all the benefits and "high wages" we get are appreciated but with the cost of living these days, most arent living it up anyway... Anyway If you havent been id highly recommend going to Phuket (especially if you're single), it really opens your mind up to what we are missing out on (and fairly what we should be appreciative of too), I use to think holidays were just a waste of time/money:lol:
Ernester been a while - welcome back. Traveling is very important, you can tell people that have not traveled, they are usually the most ignorant people out there in our society.
I felt exactly the same way in China in Guangzhou. It felt like a thousand rules and regulations that serve only a few people had been lifted from my shoulders.
When you add up the wish lists of the Greens, Hard Labour and to a lesser extent the Coalition we are headed for third world status unless we get our overheads under control. As a small business I use to employ 9 people. No more... I employ no one now and I no longer pay those nine people's; PAYG tax, no super, no work cover, no holiday pay, no long service leave, no penalty rates...nada Kind Regards non recourse
If you look closely you can see all the signs that we are descending into socialist hell. The economy is malfunctioning and only works with massive injections of liquidity. Small business discouraged. A vast and increasing public sector feeding off an ever smaller base. Ever increasing welfare that is more and more encouraging a system of dependence. And then you have the classic social central planning when it comes to banking and schooling. People start blaming the malfunctioning economy on immigrants (they take our jobs). Can't see as how all this is going to be supported when the commodity boom eventually busts. Well, you'll see a vast expansion of the govt balance sheet initially I expect and then we'll be on the road to Europe. Like I said earlier Australia just lags the rest of the western world by a few years.
Well... nothing to be proud of... but it could be worse I think it's really hard to compare one continent, which is a single country with one of the lowest population densities in the world, to such a tiny country like Germany, with a high population density and 9 neighbour states. Using some of the things that have been mentioned and discussed (Public transport, Mobile Coverage...) as the basis for such a comparison does not make much sense, IMHO. One could say that it's hard to compare Australia to any other country, considering the history and role of Australia. In fact, I knew much less about Australia one or two years ago, but it was premarily this forum which caused me to read a little bit more about it. For example, the wikipedia articles. And... maybe the guy who called Australia a "third world economy" would be surprised when he also took the time to look at the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
However we could use some of Singapore's zero tolerance approach to crime. There's nothing i'd like more than seeing these western Sydney, M.E. crime syndicate, scumbag drug dealers and drive by shooters, get their asses caned. That's the only thing those animals would understand as jail here is no longer a deterrent.
They are amateurs compared to the government and the unions. The criminality of this government does more damage every day to all of us than any other crime syndicate.
True, but at least we're getting better value for our taxation money than some. Our overall level of taxation is on par with the US (the wealthy pay less tax in the US, but lower and middle-incomes pay about the same once you consider Federal and State income taxes, sales tax for the states that have it, etc.), but we seem to get a lot more for our dollar out of it. I certainly enjoy my 4 weeks leave + 10 public holidays a year, and when I was working in retail jobs during school I certainly appreciated making $18-19 an hour instead of the 8 bucks I would have got in the US (especially back then when the price of living hadn't increased to the level it has now). I liked that I could get Youth Allowance to help me pay for the insane (for a student) cost of rent, and an essentially interest-free loan (HECS/HELP) to pay for my degree. And for all the whinging about the state of Australia's infrastructure, I dare say it's worse in much of the US from what I saw during the several years I spent there. Australia's economy may be less 'advanced' than the US and Europe, that is true - our productivity is a bit lower, our industries less diversified. But who cares, because at the end of the day, the actual quality of life in Australia is fantastic compared to most places. Most 'quality of life' surveys place us in the top 5 countries in the world (up there with the usual suspects like the Scandinavian countries). But people will always think the grass is greener elsewhere. Europe and the US do some things better than us, I won't deny, but there's also a lot that's better here, too.
I just don't see what we are doing as sustainable at all. I'd sooner accept lower pay and no holidays for saner cost-of-living and - in the end - far better quality of life with less parasites handing out 'benefits' at our expense.
I couldn't agree more with you mate! but let's get one thing clear ... the third world bludgers I'm referring to are not immigrants in the normal sense of the word (no selection criteria/standards (eg ability to converse in English) applies to them) - they come here purely and simply to milk our moronic welfare system from the day they set foot here until their last day on this earth.
That would be a good start, but the death penalty is the only way to stop murderous scum from killing again (as many do once released). It needs to be re-introduced.
I seriously doubt that! The US does not have some of the insanely high levels of taxation which we have here in Australia on property (which is one of the two causes of us having the highest property prices on earth) and on motor vehicles (where around 50% of a car's price is tax). Another case in point is our completely insane "rego" fees! There's much more, but this will suffice to make the point... It's no use making double the gross income if everything here costs 3 to 4 times as much as it does in the US! Again - the insanity surrounding the price of a roof over one's head here in Australia is very much a result of government meddling in the property market!
