Apart from the offensive snobbery embedded in the article, i.e. that blue-collar work is inferior to white collar work and that low-paid work is less valuable to society than high-paid work, the upward social mobility model is rendered meaningless as more and more people move from low to high class-wealth-status.

The article also promotes the equally offensive cliche that those who occupy a lower class-wealth-status position are there because they chose to be, or because they lack the ability or motivation to lift themselves out of it. Conversely, those with high class-wealth-status must deserve to be there because of merit, i.e. innate superiority combined with the right work ethic.

I suspect that this was not the original concept of the ‘fair go’, which was more about the minimisation of class, wealth and status as the measure of a person's worth – or, better still, doing away with them altogether

Killarney, you stated "Apart from the offensive snobbery embedded in the article, i.e. that blue-collar work is inferior to white collar work and that low-paid work is less valuable to society than high-paid work, the upward social mobility model is rendered meaningless as more and more people move from low to high class-wealth-status."

I am a little confused, Australians, if that is whom you are referring to, are not moving from low to high class-wealth status in any sense of the word.

Private debt in Australia now exceeds GDP (not always a good measure I must state but one that is oft quoted) and as such, I would suggest that since the early 1980's this so called high-wealth status is an illusion, one that is vanishing at an ever increasing pace as each day passes.

You can't have a country where everyone is equal, it just does not work that way, unfortunately.

Realists, like myself, recognised a long-time ago we are slowly but surely losing our individual net worth at an ever increasing pace, based mainly on resource constraints (e.g. cheap energy-oil) and a fractional reserve banking finacial system that has become a ponzi scheme and is in the early stages of decay and rot.

I am happy to be where I am, with what I have, I want my children to have every opportunity they can muster, but I don't expect the government or anyone else to serve them a future on a silver platter either.

It's all a matter of risk and reward, one just needs to open one's eyes to the reality to know where all this is really going

Cheers

Geof

Sloth is it's own reward hasBeen.

I never understand this right wing obsession with people paying their way, or wanting everyone to be aspirational. And mow their lawn every week.

This Protestant work ethic is so passe.

I have no qualms with my tax dollars going to degenerates who cant be assed working. I really couldn't care less. I'm doing fine, I pity someone without even the desire to do something constructive and is happy to live off the pathetic welfare entitlements. They're probably depressed, or even if they aren't I don't begrudge them their life choices.

I don't understand what they want done with these people. That poster Individual? keeps going on about national service or something. Why? They're not even on my radar unless they steal my VCR, even then it's covered by insurance.

It's really irrational this obsession with work and identity and status

In the news this morning, was Australia's richest woman, a toffee nosed, plump Gina Reinhardt, claiming Australia is using mining as an ATM.
Well, it does seem that mining has contributed far less tax dollars, in spite of rising profits, since the Introduction of the super profits tax!
So much for the ATM!
This coming from the same woman reportedly depriving her own children of their lawful, mining wealth inheritance.
No ATM for them either, it seems?
She also went on to say, some Africans were earning just $2.00 a day.
Apparently, she thinks that's okay, given she indicated, she'd like to import some African workers, given their, better work ethic?
One would imagine, she is typical of the privileged class, and one who basically inherited all her wealth, privilege and power.
Unlike Clive Palmer, a self made man, who was born in the log cabin, he built with his own two hands.
One can be absolutely sure, she would never ever accept South African slave wages and working conditions, and a tin shanty hovel, for herself or her children.
I mean therefore, her own work ethic is questionable?
I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if she lasted less than five exhausting minutes on the hand held handle of a Mexican banjo, shovelling coal.
Let alone, match the ten tons an hour, bagged and stacked, I managed as a callow youth.
People like her, generally think others can do double or triple what they could manage, at their youngest and fittest.
The problem for the Gina Reinhardts of this world, they simply don't possess the relevant work experience, to know and understand, the time and work effort, required to accomplish any task.
Everything was handed out on a silver platter, meaning, every work related subject, is conceptional and or conjecture?
Nor are they, it seems, willing or intelligent enough, to lay out the capital investment required to increase production?
They'd rather, it would seem, employ cheaper slave wage labour?
Rhrosty.

Houellebecq Like you, I'm OK mate. I had enough sense to go & get a bit of paper, even when we had to pay the full cost ourselves, which set me up. However for me that is not enough. You see not everyone is OK mate, although they have put in very hard.

When I see my neighbors, & some relatives, struggling like hell just to hang on to what they have worked for & earned, it is then I get really snaky at the bludgers ripping them off. When I look at them, I see my couple of kids still to get started, & dislike bludgers.

When another neighbor is really worried that he will be caught paying cash in hand for a day's work, to the slobs who will not take a proper job when offered, I get grumpy.

When I first made it to average weekly earnings, I was paying 7.25% tax, & 3.5% interest on my home loan. I had it easy. Many younger ones have not had it so easy. When I see them shopping for clothes in the charity shop, I want to knock the bludgers off their backs.

So sorry mate, but the "I'm all right" doesn't do it for me.

Hasbeen,

I think most people who are unemployed are likley to try hard.

Why do i say this? Well because most welfare recipients also supported work-for-the-dole in the early years of the Howard govt.

To me, this suggests that most people want to get ahead and work for a living, but sometimes there is little opportunity. Gone are the days when you could leave one job and start another on the same day.