*Nobody is hiding the information that being a nurse or a teacher pays poorly *

Life is relative I guess. As Foxy pointed out, our experiences
form our opinions.

Are nurses and teachers really so badly off, if you look at the
global scheme of things? Perhaps us Aussies are just too
spoiled to appreciate how good things really are here.

Farming has taught me some huge lessons in life, one of them
is to appreciate what we have and to take nothing for granted.
It is hardly being reported in the press, but WA is right now
facing one of its worst droughts ever, whilst the rain is pouring
in the East.

The ramifications, for the people involved, are huge. People
stressing out, as they are about to lose their farms. Millions
of sheep needing to be fed for the next 8 months until the
new season, nobody knows how it will happen. Already trucks
are moving thousands of sheep across the country, in a desperate
attempt to deal with the situation.

Tonight I got a bit of rain on my roof. It was unexpected, only
1-2 mm had been forecast. I'm not sure yet, but we got maybe
8 or 10 mm.

I can tell you that the sheer joy of hearing that bit of rain
on the tin roof, after such a long dry, makes all these petty
arguments about who earns a bit more then the other, seem
totally insignificant.

City people are spoiled, but they don't know it and don't appreciate
it. That is my perspective on things right now.

Dear Yabby,

Thanks for that.

Alone among living creatures, human beings
are fully self aware - capable of inquiring
and reflecting about themselves. Throughout
history, our ancestors pondered human nature...
why is the way of life of one group so
different from that of another? What makes
one group go to war with another? The list
goes on.

I love to listen to the rain on my roof at night,
but I didn't equate its importance to farmers.
I'm going to pay more attention in future.

Foxy, I think animals are "fully self aware", just like us.

The difference is we have a very important skill to to express that awareness that they don't, language.

Because we can't express our awareness to an animal in such a way that the animal understands, and vice versa, does not mean the animal does not possess full self awareness.

I reckon a day spent as a dog or a whale or an eagle would open up the eyes of any human.

I think it is worth repeating Foxy's words (and mine) earlier-

"The Australian Council of Trade Unions,
3rd Sept 2010 has made it quite clear that:
"The unacceptable pay gap between Australian women
and men widened in the last financial year with
full-time working women earning 18% less than men..."

I don't mind the genders having a go at each other about unequal pay levels, although the trade union MEN have the correct, up to date details, so there should really be no arguments should there?

Maybe we should listen to the Trade Union figures, because those big guys don't like being called liars?

Antiseptic <"It shouldn't be surprising that librarians, nurses and the like find maths difficult: what's disturbing is that they're regarded as "professionals" worthy of being paid as though their opinion was worth listening to and they have obviously taken that to heart."

CJ, you wondered why Anti septic has a problem with Nurses?
It's because we are predominantly the dreaded female profession and he feels threatened by our vastly superior intellect, and healing hands!

Ok Foxy, try to see it this way :- if your hubby only brought
home a paycheck, in months where a certain amount of rain falls
on your roof, in other months it would cost him to go to work,
you might pay huge attention to that rain!

I know the old line is that these people do it willingly. But
OTOH, if they were not out there, taking these risks of nature,
the rest of you would starve, for that food would not be grown.

Most of the people out there, taking these risks, in fact say
nothing or very little. They just face these challenges, try
to find solutions, battle on as best they can, somehow.

Over the years, I have developed a huge respect for their
courage and fortitude, against all the odds. When I then
read posts on OLO, complaining about how rough things are,
because x is earning 10% less, I can only smile.

No that's not it. He just resents any woman who has an opinion that does not concur with his opinion, whether the woman is of high intelligence or low intelligence. For him, the important 2 things are (1) she's female and (2) she doesn't share his opinion.

When those 2 conditions are met, he then goes on sarcastic attack, with personal put downs and various types of anti female rhetoric and language.