That's a very good observation Pericles about basing future predictions on existing 'knowns'.

Sadly I think innovation will be low exclusively in this country as far as anything to the extent of what you mentioned we used to do in yesteryear, simply because the people in charge to make these plans happen seem to actually be themselves lazy, unimaginative and hate anything that requires work, coming up with ideas, management or deep thought.

Even the way every issue is handled shows this- for infrastructural projects only quick-fix solutions to do the bare minimum required- even if immediate problems needing attention anyway are foreseen, and for constitutional change most people can only carbon-copy some other country's laws.

Your post is a breath of fresh air among the toxic fumes of multiculturalism debates and a few bits of jaded generalizations about society.

In basic terms:

(a) Facing a higher cost of living, in which many will have no choice, other than to reside in the family home for longer periods.
(b) Living within their means, ie winding back on travel, winding back on purchasing expensive or middle of the range priced vehicles,forced to innovate and engineer concepts for exports and develop more strategies along those lines, as a result of a mild 'depression' which has commenced in quite a few States and will escalate over the next ten to twenty years if swift action is not taken.
(c) Climate Change: enduring the effects of Climate Change as nothing is addressed
(d) Hospitals: Health issue dilemmas for our Children and Grandchildren relating to the Hospital systems across Australia, if new concepts are not adopted and funding not increased.
(e) Medical: Fewer health field workers ranging from Specialists/Paediatricians, Doctors, Nurses and Health Care Workers if the Uni Students fees not waived or reduced.
(f) Crime: fewer police officers staying in their careers without sufficient funding and wages. A reduction in despatching these Officers overseas would assist in a reduction of crime this century.
(e) Education: change the ruling within many primary schools that children must write up at least 50% of their projects/assignments, at the same time revert to the good old days of focussing on english maths and science primarily. Secondary education; more literature and assignments should be given, based around Books read, more plays and theatre tasks undertaken, to improve comprehension, spelling, draw out expand the imagination in Teenagers, increasing the time spent on learning in enjoyable settings, which in turn may assist in the reduction of time Teenagers spend on the internet during school terms.

Dear Foxy

just a correction to your quote:

Foxy said:

Dear Proxy,

"Religion has actually convinced people
that there's an invisible man - living in the
sky - who watches everything you do, every
minute of every day. And the invisible man
has a special list of ten things he does not want
you to do.

Carlin is incorrect and your post does not make any sense.

It's 2 things God wants us to DO and 8 things to be avoided.

"TO DO"
1/ Observe the Sabbath
2/ Honour parents.

All the rest are "don't"

Contextually, those commands had nothing to do with 'fire and brimstone'

They were a means of expressing involvement in the theocratic covenant of the time.
For a full detailed account of that Covenant, read Deuteronomy (warts and all) start to finish.

Deut 28 'BLESSINGS' for obedience. 'CURSES' for disobedience.

Amazing how this came true for a certain NSW Transport Minister last week. ie..It's about behavior and consequences.

For background, on how to even understand the structure of Deut. you need to examine "Suzerain treaties and Covenant Documents"
http://www.fivesolas.com/suzerain.htm

Please don't comment on the 10 Commandments again until you have read the background :) because without that background, your comments will come from ignorance and make you look... (fill in the blank)

Try "Edgars Track" this weekend. Not too many hills and cross the pristine Dandenong Creek.

Dear AG,

I'm sure that George Carlin would be
flattered or amused by your attempt
to correct his quote. Perhaps he'd
even give you another: "If you can't
dazzle them with brilliance, baffle
them with BS!"

Anyway, re-read my posts and perhaps
you'll be able to grasp the point
that I was trying to make.

Or better still, I strongly recommend
you read Richard Dawkins book, "The
God Delusion," which will put everything
into perspective for you, including
the quote that you're attempting to
correct. You'd like Dawkins. By nature,
he doesn't thrive on confrontation.
He doesn't think that the adversarial format
is well designed to get at the truth.
I'm sure that you'd agree.

And once again, Thank You for your concern
about my need to go for walks et cetera.
I won't offer you similar advice because
I know you probably get enough exercise
pushing your luck and jumping to conclusions.
(smile).

Global warming will not be the problem many expect due to contraction
in the economy. China will be forced to stop commissioning a power station every two weeks.

http://www.energybulletin.net/52810

We will for some years yet buy cars but eventually even electric cars
will no longer be viable due to the manufacturing costs in a contracted
economy.
People will restrict their activities to lower cost interests and
travel will be one of the first industries to reduce to very low levels.
Tourism will be virtually non existent.
Business and government travel will be very much reduced.
Video conferencing will continue, if the internet hangs on but only
the very rich and government will travel by air.
Already airlines are merging or going broke at a fast rate.
There are no alternative fuels for aircraft and even the biofuel
experiments have a problem with low temperatures. The fuel tends to
solidify. Interested in flying in a coal fired 747 ?

As we see already we are in deep trouble with most countries owing
very large amounts of money and many having no hope of repaying the
bonds on maturity plus interest in a zero growth economy.
In these circumstances Australia will be have difficulty finding the
money to electrify our railway system as well as rebuilding the branch
lines that were abandoned some years back. There is no way we will be
able to build truly high speed rail lines as the cost will be extream.

Everything will be local, manufacturing, food production and even
money will probably be local. See the existence of local currencies
such as the Totnes Pound and several others in the UK and the US.

The changes will be profound but on the bright side life may be more
relaxed and certainly more community minded.
How many people do you know in the houses you drive past ?
How many more would you know if you walked past every day ?

Dear Bazz,

Thanks for such a detailed response.

Look at Asia, South America and Africa.
Due to drought, catastrophies, food shortages,
rural communities move to the cities bringing
shanty towns and squalor.

In Australia we enjoy one of the best living
standards anywhere. However we have to be
realistic. The chronic poverty, high birth
rates and stagnating economies in the Asia/Pacific
region makes our country a very attractive destination.
Our government needs to try to help those countries
as much as they can. Good relations are crucial.
Refugee problems have existed for centuries around
the globe, and will continue to do so. Australia needs
to focus on critical refugee needs and also on skilled
migration to maintain its survival. With uncontrolled
migration we're going to be facing the same problems as
Asia, South American and Africa.

Our population is predicted at 50 million by 2050
(compared to 28 million according to our current
growth rate). We don't have the current infrastructures
to cope with that. Australia could build up desalination
plants and pipe lines carrying water to the inland.
And, build new towns populated by migrants who would
have to sign a ten year contract to remain in those
towns. This would necessitate to force industries
to move into those towns to create employment,
otherwise import the industries and the workers from
desirable countries such as Scandinavia, or Central
Europe.
We have to adapt to life or become extinct as other species
before us. The key is - to elect the type of government
that will look after the interests of the people, not only
big business coporations. We have to elect the type of
people who are interested in diverting unprecedented
energy and resources to the real problems facing us,
including poverty, health, energy, growing population,
employment, water resources, the devastation of our natural
environment, and so on. Only then can we begin to contemplate
the type of legacy we will leave for our grandchildren.