I call this the two p's. Pensioners v Prisoners.

Its a pretty sad place when our prisoners are more secure than our pensioners, but that's pretty much where we are currently at.

We now live in an era where manufacturing is pretty much gone, our greens and the likes are doing their level best to shut down mining, and we are seeing more and more automated services, all at a time when we will need more jobs, not less.

How on earth did you get in such a mess, and more importantly how on earth will we ever recover.

Dear rehctub,

Perhaps we need to have another election soon?

I watched Q&A last night on the ABC. The panel
was made up of George Brandis our Attorney-General,
Brendan O'Connor - the Shadow Minister for
Employment and Workplace Relations, Janet Rice - the
Greens Senator for Victoria, Stephen O'Doherty -
Christian radio broadcaster and Jacqui Lambie -
outgoing Independent Senator for Tasmania.

Jacqui Lambie was her usual feisty self - telling it
like it is. And she made it quite clear what a mess
the Parliament is in currently. Now whether an
election will solve the problems, I'm not sure.
But it may be worth trying, because by the look of
things something needs to be done.

As a part pensioner, I can assure you that I am a lot better off than a prisoner. I really don't know what you are talking about.

On Q&A, I agree wholeheartedly with Peter Smith:

“... Q&A panels and audiences … appear to me to be mostly populated by aliens; and particularly nasty ones”.

Foxy,

I've wondered if you have a problem, watching "Q&A" is probably it.

Dear Is Mise,

Did you watch last night's program?

I was particularly impressed with Stephen
O'Doherty the Christian radio broadcaster.
I've seen him earlier on The Drum. He's
very fair.

If being impressed by fair-minded people
is a problem, then I guess I've got one.
It is the way I was raised and it is also
what my religion teaches me and which I
do try to practice, although I don't
always succeed. (My Russian ancestry sometimes
takes over).

ttbb, I'm happy for you as most self funded, or partially funded pensioners deserve what they have because they have generally worked for it. However, there are a lot our there who don't own a home, not always their fault, and sit there often deciding whether to swelter/freeze or turn the air con/heater on as they can't afford the bill.

Prisoners on the other hand never have to worry about a power bill, where their next meal is coming from so on and so on.

So enjoy your happy retired life, but do spare a thought for those less fortunate, and yes, I know many only have themselves to blame. But surely our own pensioners should not have to worry about where their next meal is going to come from.

Foxy. A change of government wont help because what we need is a complete change of direction. That's not going to happen because we are already seeing self serve everything and soon to be driverless cars, which i'm sure will include busses, trains and cabs at some point.

What then!

Dear rehctub,

I've spent the afternoon in my mother's nursing
home. She's in the dementia wing. We had a
meeting with the new manager. It was a resident's
and family meeting where people voiced their concerns
and shared their stories.

It mad me realise that some of us need to count our
blessings with what others have to put up with in life.
We are so lucky in this country to have the excellent
health-care system that we have. We really don't have
that much to complain about in life if we were totally
honest. Our governments must have been doing something
right over all these years. And I'm sure that we will
survive the latest set of hiccups - as we've always done
thus far.

Pensioners are like everybody else. Some manage better than others. Some have just the pension but still manage OK, and often better than some with private means as well. People who rent, get allowances for rent, so home ownership doesn't figure: in fact home ownership is often a hindrance. There is a tendency for many pensioners to live beyond their means just like anyone else. No extra sympathy needed.

Ok, so pensions come from taxes, and taxes are down and falling no doubt in the future. On top of this we have more bums on seats as the vast majority of immigrants, illegal or otherwise are not working, and if the are, are most likely not earning enough to pay income tax of any real significance, so, moving forward, where is the funding going to come from and how will we ensure our pensioners are better cared for than our prisoners?

Just saying things will turn around will not work. There has to be something to generate more lots more jobs and taxes. What, where, and when?

Mines are under pressure to shut, along with coal fired power stations. The push is on for driverless vehicles, we already have some in mines, and we are seeing more and more automation resulting in less jobs and less taxes. Enlighten me!

rehctub,

Where did you get the idea that the vast majority of immigrants are not working?

As for where the jobs will be, the government doesn't have to pick winners. As long as there's enough money in the economy, there will always be enough profitable opportunities for business to employ them. But because of the deflationary impact of automation, the required amount of money in the economy does have to increase substantially.

Dear rehctub,

The following link might clarify things for you:

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6250.0

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