Wildcat, making a living somehow is part of nature. Everyone
does it their way. Those who don't, starve in nature. A fox
which runs alot slower then rabbits, will have problems making
a living etc etc. I make a living too, enough for my needs.
Now what is your problem with money? I don't work for the
sake of money, what I do now I actually do as I enjoy it
and would rather do it then go play golf.
Thats why to me its a hobby.

Regarding the rest, you have to separate what is a feelgood
exercise to satisfy your emotions and what is rational.
Fact is that if Australia never exported another thing
and was wiped off the map, in a global sense we hardly
matter. Thats the reality. The problems with humanity are
global problems, not regional ones. Its one big ecosystem
now, when it crashes, as they do when overstretched,
it will affect everyone. It probably won't happen in
my lifetime, but it will eventually happen. We humans
are clever enough to invent all sorts of things, not yet
clever enough to use them wisely all the time.

I've learnt long ago to stop worrying about the things
that I cannot change. I try to make a difference, where
I think I can. So I try to enjoy every day, heaven
is here and now, its all too late when the worms move in :)

"I would rather dig cesspits than take unemployment benefits."

Yes Mr. Rouge, I feel pretty much the same way myself. There's been times in my life when I've almost sweat tears of blood simply trying to keep a roof over my two boys heads whilst at the same time feeding us and keeping clothes on our backs. I think I did a pretty good job and was too proud to accept a Government "handout." I had many friends who used their kids to obtain welfare and it used to piss me off no end. I often bit my tongue while they told me they were out of smokes and could I lend them a packet until "pay day." Pay day? PAY DAY? Paid for what? Sitting on their bums smoking, but I bit my tongue. I started down a rebellious path at an early age and for decades never had tuppence to rub together, my friends all being of low social standing, but out it came two fine, strong lads who now have good jobs and great families of their own. Yeah they've got "atitudes" too, but they were the sons of a biker after all. However, I had originally had a sound education and so one day about 7 years ago decided to better myself in life's ratrace and left a poorly paying job to do so. Because of circumstance, I was forced onto the dole for two years and hated every minute of it. I saw first hand what some people go through and felt sorry for them, but only some of them. Now I'm doing fine again, but my love is writing and I'd dearly love to quit work so I could pursue my hobby to bigger and better things, but at 53, I can't quite figure out how to survive while I type my short stories except to go back on the dole......and that I refuse to do at all costs.

Wildcat “I started down a rebellious path”

Me too, whilst possibly appearing fairly conservative, the rebellion still flows through the veins. I just channel it to where it will be more useful to me.

“decided to better myself in life's ratrace and left a poorly paying job to do so.”

The right to Dream and aspire never stops. We should all follow our dreams.

“but at 53, I can't quite figure out how to survive while I type my short stories.”

24 hours a day, we work for say 8-10 of them, sleep for 6, it still leaves you a few to devote to your passion.

I recall a story I heard about 40 years ago. It was a fellow who worked as a sweeper-up in a factory. He enjoyed his job because it placed no demands on his mind and left him free to think through and plan his real purpose and passion, which was as a designer silver-smith.

We work to live but we live to follow our hearts.

You can find a way resolve the need (top earn) with the want (to write your stories). Best of luck with it.

From The Age

January 24, 2007 - 6:44AM
AdvertisementAdvertisement
Nearly 30 per cent of working-age male Australians - more than 2.2 million of them - were not in a job at any one time in the past year, it has been revealed.

The rate at which men are outside the labour force, neither in work nor looking for work, has increased fourfold in the past century, a Productivity Commission report found.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Over-22m-Aussie-men-not-in-workforce/2007/01/24/1169518742421.html

Billie “Nearly 30 per cent of working-age male Australians - more than 2.2 million of them - were not in a job at any one time in the past year, it has been revealed.”

your post establishes nothing unless you can find comparable figures for say 5, 10 , 20 and 30 years ago.

I would expect more people to be momentarily unemployed in any given year than say 40 years ago because the workforce is far more flexible now, Work attitudes have changed, we no longer look for a job and stay there until we retire, as was the practice with previous generations.

Maybe the reason
“The rate at which men are outside the labour force, neither in work nor looking for work, has increased fourfold in the past century,”

Is because

there were no social security benefits 100 years ago
Nowadays, men complete with women, who used not to “work” 100 years ago.
The rates of “self employment” influences statistical measures.
People have a different attitude to leisure time and travel pursuits than our great grandfathers.

Ok so unemployment is low for the current period, granted.

Yabby in my recent analogy I did not use any employee analogy, I only compared the government’s performance to that of the board of directors of a company. Also like you I am not a control freak, but I do however believe that the government has responsibilities to make laws and regulations to ensure the wellbeing of the people and protect the value of the currency for the good of the common wealth. I feel that only a part hack (Liberal, National, or Labor) cannot see that things are amiss.

We are in a period of unemployment now that is only equalled in the 20th century by period of the great depression.

We are going into debt at a faster rate than the current economic growth rate.

We are dependent on skilled workers in China etc who are paid only $50 per week.

We borrow $54,000,000,000 per year or about $52 each per week each.

We have almost completed a period of dumbing down and we have little more to offer technologically than third world countries.

We are dependent on a controlled communist economy (China) for our “prosperity” both to provide dumped goods and buy our dirt.

At the URL below I have posted the unemployment graph from the RBA site with lines added showing average rates for the various periods. Note up to the mid sixties the statistics were prepared by the union movement and as such are likely to be exaggerated after this the they were prepared by the ABS defining “employed” as one hours work in the survey week and as such greatly understated.

I wonder where Mr Rudd expects the very well educated people he intends to produce will find employment when we have no “industry” that produces significant quantities of high tech products, I feel the one reason that some process jobs (eg abattoir workers) goes unfilled is that people consider themselves over educated already. Perhaps a Labor party hack out there can enlighten me.

http://users.tpg.com.au/bobarmst/unemploymentrate.jpg

Source: Document at Reserve Bank of Australia website, http://www.rba.gov.au/PublicationsAndResearch/Conferences/1998/BorlandKennedy.pdf.