Kartiya –
Importing skills is fine – I was allowed to migrate only when “demand” for my skills were unable to be met from the local “supply” (I had to wait 8 years until that occurred).

I recall Joan Kirner (labor premier who oversaw the rape of the Statebank, imposed a fuel levy to cover the promise her treasurer (woefully named Jolly) had made to bale out Pyramid – typical socialist strategies of disastrous proportions) who also closed the technical schools in Victoria and then debased the schools exam system to the point of uselessness.
So note, the TAFE budgets are administered and controlled by the state (labor) education ministries.

I would additionally recall Beazley thinks we should all have university degrees, presumably to enable us to “qualify” to scratch our own ar*e holes.
Then there are the union officials who demand fulltime adult wages for someone who is being trained (apprenticeships).

I still am not convinced that to be, say, a nurse requires a university degree any more than to be a plumber would need one.

So you better get it right, State Technical schools and TAFE s are the responsibility of the (labor) state governments – not the federal government. I would further note the federal government is working to try and get states to accept simple things like electricians and certain other trades licensing to be recognised and automatically acceptable between different (labor) states. This is to facilitate a better servicing of the market, instead of tradesmen being unable to ply their craft (reciprocal acknowledgement of qualifications), should they want to move interstate (commonly called a massive “restraint of trade”).

If there is a demand for certain skills, we are as well serviced by getting them met from overseas intake. The alternative is to let market forces push wages through the roof (tried to get a plumber recently?) and is a better national solution to taking in the flotsam and jetsam of “non-English speaking” wanna-be economic refugees who fall off leaky Indonesian fishing boats and only add to the underclass of the unemployable and useless.

tus your desire to be an independent thinker and thereby demonstrate your superior understanding of the world is admirable. I understand that you function well and think that if you can do it everyone can.

Clearly, you understand all the financial aspects of making good choices about home loans and superannuation and other financial decisions that determine how 'wealthy' we can be.

You obviously are easily able to resist the very cleverly constructed messages from advertising (this includes all the lifestyle shows and magazines) that tell us that we need certain products to be happy and feel wealthy.

Unfortunately, few of us are as intelligent as you and so sure that we know it all.

Many of us feel quite out of our depth and not confident that we are making the best choices or that we will be able to be self-reliant in the future if we make bad choices now. That is very stressful.

There was less stress in the past because we did not feel that we had to make so many choices. Back in the 60's and 70's we were confident that we could afford health care, that the local school was good enough for our kids that we would have a pension when we were old. These things are no longer secure.

The effects of this type of stress has effects that are only just being realised. For example, recent research shows that babies born to mothers who feel stressed are more likely to develop depression in adolescence. This may also relate to the growing incidence of schizophrenia.

Use your intelligence to weigh up the options rather than assert your individuality by arguing for the sake of it.

Mollydukes
“Unfortunately, few of us are as intelligent as you (t.u.s.) and so sure that we know it all....

Many of us feel quite out of our depth and not confident that we are making the best choices or that we will be able to be self-reliant in the future if we make bad choices now. That is very stressful...

Use your (t.u.s.) intelligence to weigh up the options rather than assert your individuality by arguing for the sake of it.”

Why?

What fealty does t.u.s. owe you or all these depressed mothers?

Why should t.u.s. curb his individuality? – It will not make you feel less stressed and will only cramp or constrain t.u.s. in pursuit of his own truth, reality and the fullfilment of his own aspirations.

Go for it t.u.s. I have always valued your insightful commentary and would commend you to excel because we will all benefit from you being your best, rather than settling for the mediocre level of performance which will keep the self-esteem of low achievers in their comfort zone.

There are those who “can” and those who “cannot”.
The world advances and is a better place when the ones who “can” actually “do”, rather than being held back by the ones who “cannot”.

Mollydukes - stress and depression are issues we can all suffer from and all struggle to overcome. You suggest Schizophrenia might be a result of some mothers feeling insecure – but they would be "insecure" regardless of how “individualistic” t.u.s. aspired to be.
They would likely be less insecure(and by your analysis, less likely to produce schizophrenic offspring) if they were to follow t.u.s. example of self-reliance and individuality, instead of dwelling on their own depression.

t.u.s.

I have been nursing since 1971. The assertions that you present about diseases are quite erroneous in the main. And the figures that you contend are simply not true.

I was drafting a lengthy reply to you and then I came across Kevin Pittman's article which says all of the things that I would have suggested to you. It is an accurate article on another thread in this Forum, vis a vis: "The Frightening Reality of Chronic Diseases". I will be interested to read your thoughts on same.

Regards
Kay

Whew, a lot to get through here.
Col thanks for the nice words
Mollydukes, what we are talking about here is not feeling confident to do things it is about prioritising. If people do not spend first their income on shelter and food and instead choose wants (vices) over needs, that is not my problem.
I have been in a situation where I had a low income, I was at uni, my wife and i had a baby and we were renting a one bedroom unit. I didn't have enough money to drink or gamble or smoke and we got by, even if we only had a small tv and no dvd player.
Contrast this to some families I know who complain about money yet they have a huge TV and drink a carton of beer a week. Not my problem if they are in debt.
i am not going to apologise for using my intelligence and common sense and hard work to get where I am.
Kay, saw the article about chronic disease and don't see where exactly it makes me wrong. The author mentions that some diseases get worse because of ageing (you have to die of something) and it also says medicine helps people live longer (something about living twenty years after a heart attack.). Similarly- asthma and diabetes are easier to manage than TB, as i said.
He also mentions lifestyle disease which again is not my concern - if someone eats crap and smokes - not my problem, they knwo the risks.
as for obesity. the latest research from the States shows being a bit overwieght is a lot healthier than being underweight and there is no such thing as the obesity epidemic. The evidence is simply not there that our kids are going to die younger from obesity.

t.u.s

LOL Col, I have just as much right to tell tus what to do as you do to post your silly comments.

Do some reading and thinking rather than making obvious your simplistic and naive view of what would solve all the problems.

Did you realise that scientists have found out a lot of things about how the brain works and about genetics?

It is clear that some people are more vulnerable to certain diseases because of their genetic inheritance. Now you might think that we should do away with all the 'bad' and 'weak' people - the ones who are not like you.

But scientists think that a diversity of genes (ie lots of different genes)is a good thing because it makes us more likely to survive as a species because we are able, as a species, to adapt to different environments. This means that some of us might be different to you. Some of us might not be able to ignore things that you probably don't even notice. It does take all kinds - lucky for you.

So life in this increasingly complex world is not a level playing field where the 'good guys' get what they deserve and the bad people go on welfare.

Furthermore, try to be truthful when you quote people. Beasley did not say that we should all have uni degrees. He said that we should all be able to go to uni if we want to.

RE nurses not needing to go to uni; once upon a time doctors didn't need to go to uni either. They just did an apprenticeship. Are people who went to uni as bad as welfare bludgers?

I suppose you think that nurses are just doctors' handmaidens and should stay where they belong, making beds and emptying bedpans? Have you noticed that nurses perform very complex and technologically demanding tasks these days? Not surprising, if you haven't as not many doctors seem to notice this either.