Paul 1405
You're right of course - coal production since 1814 has vastly increased due to technology. However, so has demand for it through increased world population needs. Also, despite new technologies, so have wages in this country for those in that industry. Am I missing a point you're trying to make?
You must also know that to use Ethiopia as an example again does not compute. They were an agrarian society which due to many factors was virtually destroyed, there is still conflict with Eritrea, they have few natural resources, and they cannot be compared with this country in any way except maybe that they also have to cope with drought. Oh, and we are fortunate that we have in place a formula to cushion those not working too, including those in genuine need as well as dole bludgers.
This does not alter my point that we are uncompetitive on the world stage because of our high wage structure. To further upset you, it is my understanding that for every month worked in the U.S., should you become unemployed you're entitled to the equivalent pay for the same number of months when unemployed. {I understand that has recently been capped since the number of unemployed has risen dramatically over there.} After that the payment becomes standard 'dole' money, and food stamps are issued. This means that in theory it ensures a person doesn't go hungry if they use their stamps wisely.
This gives youth who have never worked since leaving school an incentive to work and build up what I guess you would call 'equity' should they become unemployed in the future, and an incentive to present themselves well at interviews. Sounds to me like a better system than ours to encourage youth to seek work.

Producer,

first, you totally misunderstood my point in making that accusation, many of my other posts provide full context.

I do think that the wealthier white classes in Australia are very racist, classist etc. whether right or left. Actually in many ways the extreme left are the biggest bigots and racists, as they constantly patronise coloured people as if they think all non-whites are somehow braindamaged etc.

What other viable reasons are there for –
(a) wealthier white classes have the power and ability to have decided to implement the massive immigration changes over the last 60 years;
(b) wealthier white classes must have deliberately set-up the whole procedure so that 99% of non-western immigrants will end up settling in and living long term in areas where they themse;lves traditional do not reside – namely the suburbs where the working class live.

How is such a move not racist, classist and many other things?

I see the same exclusionist attitudes in politics, media, business, entertainment where the 99% majority is filled by white middle class or wealthy Anglos and sometimes other Europeans. This is despite the fact that these days more than 50% of the nation is not white or Anglo. Where is their presence?

I presume most of you all here did not read between the lines of what
I wrote a few days ago about our energy risk and problem.
The dole bludgers, and yes there are a lot of them about, as you can
see for yourself, if your prejudices do not blind you, will just have
to survive without any entitlements.

One way or another the old age pensioners also will have to do what they
can do in what will become local community efforts.
The trend has already started by the building of the Transition Town Movement.
There are several already in Australia and hundreds around the world.
There is another movement that I have only just heard about and this
movement sets up to repair all sorts of appliances, furniture, things
that would otherwise be thrown away. They are already in many countries.

The community garden movement is another there are two near where I live.
They mainly concentrate on vegetables etc.

So you can see that when the crunch comes, the dole bludger will get short shrift if they do not contribute.

It sounds very sustenance living but while we keep some features of
our industrial economy we will be relient on community much more.

Hasbeen,

I am not an apologist for “dole bludgers”, I merely dislike unequal treatment and oppression - or masters and slaves societies.

. . . . and talk about getting one’s facts correct . . . .

. . . . ask anyone who lived in 1950-70 and/or other experts etc. this:

1) in 1950-60 just around the beginning of the massive economic-political reshaping by increasing the population by 20 fold and by making [as today it is] the nation with a majority of workers from cultures that may have people more willing to accept worse conditions [perhaps some businesses hoped], was the average price of land and houses 100 times lower than today?
answer will be definte YES.

Now, the reasons are because we had way less people competing to buy land etc.

2) in 1950-60 many like Has been somehow have the gravely ill-informed belief that people got jobs more often [even the poor] because less welfare existed. But again ask any person from that time and like my grandparents told me often – jobs were everywhere such that people could quit one on 1 day and then get another the next day. Also as some did note here, almost NO short training/certificate courses were required so access was easier.
Most of all though is that simply the jobs were there back then, the low-skilled, factory jobs that now all exclusively exist in Asia.
My grandparents on both sides managed to have mostly one worker [male] in a low-skilled job and still they had kids and managed to buy a house/land by age 35.

I am quite certain that 99% people who mock some as ‘dole bludgers’ themselves have not come from the lower classes that copt full brint of the national changes. The wealthier traditionally professional classes did not lose anything they were used to in the 5 decades of change – only the poorer people did, they lost their entire traditional working base and also on top of that they lost the possibility to be able to have a family and buy a house.

Nhoj, difference is, my money is 'earned' not gifted, so I can do with it what I choose.

Furthermore, as one of those who actually pays more in tax than I draw, I don't see it as being unreasonable when wanting my tax dollars to be spent on more important needs, especially when kids are often the big losers with welfare waste.

Jotiiki, some of the tings you said are correct but others are way off.
First the major expansion that occurred in those years was pumped
along by cheap energy and the low cost of land & houses ended because
government forced lending institutions to lend on both incomes.
This enabled developers to push up prices to match the new level of
money in the market.
It is not true that formal qualification were not needed. The system
was more rigid on qualification then than it is now.
It is true however that you could quit one job today and have another
tomorrow. I did that twice actually, but you really had to have qualifications
and experience to achieve that.

You said;
99% people who mock some as ‘dole bludgers’ themselves have not come from the lower classes

The people who have the greatest anger to the dole bludgers are the
lower paid workers who object to their taxes going to the bludgers.
I suspect that you have never worked among them.