The closure of yet another bank branch as I walk past it the other day was a sad one. It highlights a troubling shift toward a fully digital economy. While digital payments offer convenience, they also often carry challenges and issues not thought about.

There were 575 bank branch closures between 2017 and 2021 in Australia, and more than a third of ATMs in rural areas were removed. Things in my view will only get worse.

As cash use declines in Australia, consumers are increasingly dependent on electronic systems that fail in so many ways. During power outages people are leaving supermarkets full of abandoned groceries and shopping.

We are facing fees and charges with electronic payments and fees with the use of private, non-bank run ATM machines per transaction.

With less face to face customer service at a bank branch, we are being pushed onto call centres in places like India and robot style services online, with customer enquiries not dealt with.

I believe it is time people demanded action in this area before it is too late - but what are the answers to this problem?

There are no answers to this problem. With 93 seats, plus the help of the Greens and Teals, and control of the Senate, and no real opposition, the Albanese Socialist/Communist government can do as it pleases.

On top of that, As Ramesh Thakur writes, “no matter who they ( the people) vote for, the blob – the network of mighty quangocrats, technocrats, activist NGOs and unelected and unaccountable judges – always wins”.

“The old left-right divide is passé. The new divide is between the international technocratic elite in alliance with national elites, against the interests, values and policy preferences of national populations”.

This came to a head during the pandemic years. An elite class of technocrats networks seamlessly cross sovereign borders to advance their self-interest contrarily to the wishes of their electorates.

If you think it is bad now, wait till the blackouts start !

This is called progress and fortunately for older people like us, we progress faster towards the grave and will soon blackout. That will solve our problem!

I do not envy the younger generations:
by 2021, 22% of Australians aged 15-34 were clinically depressed compared with only 9% in 2009 and extrapolating from the graph, today it would be around 28% - not including the undiagnosed.

Look Nathan, our older generation suffered more from chemical toxins like asbestos, tobacco and lead - while younger generations suffer more from mental digital toxins. Sadly they hide behind screens and cannot appreciate and don't know how to handle the simple joys of physical human contact. Both governments and commercial corporations discourage it, because lacking physical contact increases the dependence on them.

George Orwell, having lived in a different era, believed that by 1984, people will drown their helplessness and isolation in a physical toxin: Victory Jin - he failed to foresee the advance of electronic gadgets other than the telescreen.

When a vile government like Albanese's gets reinstated, it can do whatever it wants to. Australians, particularly the young ones, deserve everything that is going to happen to them. As Yuyutsu seems to be saying, we old nuisances won't have to put up with it for much longer.

We should understand that it's difficult for some old folk to adjust to modern living. Modern technology brings benefits, which are not always easy to accept or understand. I know there are some here who can't accept the fact that spats and straw hats have had their day, and its time to move on.