The Institute of Public Affairs has released a report titled, ‘The Fair Go – Going, Gone', dealing with a "nearly 30 percent" decline of the Australian way of life, in less than a generation (2000 to 2020).

The IPA's Director, John Roskam, says:

" .... our political and cultural institutions have abandoned the values that made our country great". "In place of values like freedom, equality, and democracy, we now increasingly have censorship, identity politics, and the sway of unelected bureaucrats.”

Elites are pushing divisive and alien ideologies onto mainstream Australians who are without a voice and without institutional power.

The scoreboard shows that there has been 28.5% decline since 2000 in 23 of the 25 relevant measures.

The decline is in the areas of home, work, enterprise, governance and lifestyle.

Everything is worse than it was 20 years ago. Australians are not living as well as before. There is probably nothing in this report that has not been sensed by thinking, experienced Australians who have been around since the end of World War 11.

There is a tendency, in Australia, towards technocracy and a "strong impetus to defer to experts". This rebalancing of power towards bureaucrats could be a reflexive response to the decline in our way of life. Almost nothing the political class has done in the last 20 years, especially the last 10, has been aimed at bolstering the Australian way of life. Politicians are opting out; evading their responsibilities. But, Individuals could be as much to blame as governments.

The Australian way of life has been neglected and taken for granted. Anyone doubting this can find the 58 page report at ipa.org.au.

Well, from my perspective, I reckon life has never been better.

having said that, I am employed, have a 12 year old daughter, play sport, and watch more television from around the world as never before.

At the end of the day, John Roskam offers his opinion. That is all.

Chris,

How old are you? Old enough to remember what I remember? I'm in my 78th. year, and I assure that things were much better - unless you are hooked on materialism.

With due respect to some of the arguments of the centre-right, if they had their way I suspect life for many ordinary Australians would be far worse given the IR and tax reform they generally support.

The IPA offers a biased centre-right perspective on many matters, as does the centre-left.

The pragmatic balance/outcomes is reflected by both parties generally supporting the middle ground to win elections, merely tinkering at the edges when in power to meet some of their aims.

ttbn,

I only offer my opinion.

what I remember has shaped my opinion.

I remember homosexuality being illegal, something I could never understand.

I remember being harassed by police for no reason.

I remember Australia being far less tolerant to non-Anglo celts.

I remember a much more boring sport context, mainly AFL and cricket.

I remember, as a ward of the state, being powerless against govt appointed guardians who were corrupt and abusive.

I remember Australians being rather ignorant about environmental issues.

Yes, there were some good things about the past, but overall I reckon today is better.

Chris Lewis,

I remember not being Asian.

Materialism? I think that has always governed the minds of many families. Most I knew aspired to own a home and buy whatever was available whether it be a home, entertainment and white goods.

Only difference in old days is that most had far less resources to buy so many things, as is the case today with offshore manufacturing and technology delivering so many more consumer products.

I quickly read report, impressive research of data.

But nothing about how and why we got there, and what can be done to avoid the situation.

Chris,

It's not John Roskam's "opinion". If you read the report, you will see percentage declines in 23 of the 25 areas. The report is not right or left; it is based on statistics.

As you won't reveal your age, I have to assume that your experiences are limited. We are talking about a decline over 20 years only, here, so your memories appear to be very limited.

Your list of grievances against the past are personal and ideological, not connected to Australia and Australians as a whole. And we don't know if they are first or second hand.

Nevertheless, if you are happy with the way things are, and the way they are going, it is not my place to try to convince you otherwise. You will have to put up with whatever is coming our way a lot longer than I will.

ttbn,

I am in my 50s.

Yes, I understand the research, but all it is a list of statistics. There is nothing intellectual at all about the research.

I want to know what the IPA proposes to avoid the negative data it presented.

It talks about prison rates and car ownership, but there are many stories that could be told to explain the trends.

It depends on your employment situation. Public Service = full time without the burden of accountability vs private sector = being screwed by bureaucrats, fleeced to no end & job security nil !

ttbn,
If you've read the report rather than just regurgitated the press release, why didn't you provide a link to it? It's at http://ipa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IPA-The-Fair-Go-Going-Gone-Jan-2021.pdf

Having looked at the categories they chose, I see many of them have far more to do with the IPA agenda than a fair go.

I'm too busy to write a meaningful response right now, but any questions you have I'll answer tomorrow.

ttbn,

Why worry? We all know Australia has a Chinese future.

Dear Chris Lewis,

I'm inclined to agree with the premise of the title.

Do you really think our returned diggers from WW2 who shed blood and lost their lives would have stood for the kind of anti-Semitic, cross burning, thugs our right wing loons have fertilised with the crap they have been spouting?

http://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/we-do-not-need-to-wait-for-a-christchurch-grampians-cross-burning-spurs-call-for-action-20210128-p56xer.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3wYESZc-UGyg2hA7Fihx24vncR5kZiA8D-0vBwnESa5FEXtsyvlOe7jac#Echobox=1611796522

They would have been given short shrift very smartly.

Yup, our little mummy's boy, small penised, knee knocking, Trump worshiping lot including those of that stripe on OLO are showing what they want for this nation and it ain't pretty. All in the name of free speech no doubt.

Aidan,

I did provide a web address on the very last line, and I certainly do not have any questions for you. I've already told you that I would never again make the mistake of responding to you, but you don't seem capable of taking a hint, you disagreeable oik.

This is Australia's future:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9tqusSXnYw

Embrace your Asianess.

As well as being Communist, China is a technocracy, which blends elements of socialism, fascism and corporate crony-capitalism to come up with a hybrid system. Xi is a champion of the Great Reset.

After the Reset, people will rent the things they need – vehicles, living spaces, farmland, sources of information and entertainment, furniture, any tools used for work, etc.

Somebody has to own these things to rent them out, and those people will be wealthy oligarchs - people with names like Gates, Rockefeller, Soros, Sachs, Bloomberg, Bezos, Buffet and Zuckerberg, along with foreign investors from China and Saudi Arabia will own pretty much everything. Plus Xi Jinping.

All this will drastically affect the Australian way of life even more, but Australians will still be saying, "She'll be right mate". Particularly people like Aidan, who don't read what other people write because he has made up his mind in advance that he is going to disagree no matter what.

ttbn,

Technocracy ?

Where did you dig this one up from?

I think you've been watching too many Terminator movies at the nursing home.

Here's the future Australia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX7Jina-C8Y

And this is pretty typical of most of Sydney.

I told you all that Australia is now an Asian nation-state.

Ni hao Mates!

Here's Chatswood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCmZbOyiGxY

And yet more of Sydney. This time Cabramatta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBmD676OYJQ

Anybody who thinks that Australia is not an Asian nation-state has to be on drugs.

Mr. Opinion,

Never heard of technocracy? What a dummy.

What about somewhere different?

How about a major Australian university campus UNSW (Sydney):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfZAiI7Fclk

Yep looks pretty Asian to me . . . . . . . . Well this is Australia!

Peta Credlin isn't impressed with Australia's position either, saying that we are 'just managing our decline'. Who to blame? A "rather timid government that needs to reassert fundamental Coalition values versus a totally wrong-headed opposition".

Dear Mr Opinion,

I really haven't bothered addressing this obsession you have about Asians up until now but mate it has become borderline psychotic.

So what if a walk through of our university campuses shows Asian faces. Our education sector brings in large volumes of foreign cash, or at least had, which beat agriculture exports by a mile.

"Education is Australia's largest service export and third overall behind iron ore (worth $62.8 billion in 2016-17) and coal ($54.3 billion). It is larger than gas ($22.3 billion) and gold ($19 billion)."

This has most certainly contributed to your lifestyle to a degree.

I get that you have worked yourself up in a lather over this but do try and not go completely overboard otherwise people will just switch off.

Dear SteeleRedux,

His aim is to demoralise, terrorise and bring us to despair: psychotic would be a compliment - more likely a Chinese Communist agent. He has no ability to scare us, but he does succeed in making this forum, this bastion of democracy, an unpleasant place.

Regarding "Education", everyone knows that it is just a farce, cash for Australian residency. Why not just call it what it is and maximise the income without wasting human resources?

I thought there was supposed to be a limit on the number of posts one poster could make on a single subject in a single day, & a limit on the total number from a single poster per day. This rule does not appear to be applied.

Dear Yuyutsu,

My understanding is around 15% of international students apply for work visas after completing studies and less than half of them go on to apply for permanent residency.

The government is happy because the economy gets job ready people whom it hasn't has to pay educating them.

I certainly agree it stinks however.

Dear Hasbeen,

A count back does show him within the rules but certainly hard up against them most of the time.

SteeleRedux,

I don't know what your problem is. All I'm trying to demonstrate is that Australia is now an Asian nation-state by showing examples of life in Sydney which are readily available from Youtube.

Here are some more videos from youtube showing how Asian Australian society has become:

Sydney CBD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96QPB9fnKzA

Burwood (suburb inner west)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxIYSpUIdPI

Sydney (George Street - main street of Sydney)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emfQ23nZvao

I think the youtube videos show Australia as an Asian nation-state but obviously you don't. I think you're wrong and I think it's time for you and a lot of others on The Forum to embrace their Asianess that has resulted from the Asianization process (aka Australian Multiculturalism) during the Great Asianization Period (1980-2020) in Australian history.

ttbn,

Can you please give me some examples of a Technocracy that have existed?

Dear Hasbeen and SteeleRedux,

Well it is 6 more of them bombs that we need to endure in this blitz today.
We got over Hitler and so we will also overcome Xi and this servant of his.

---

Dear SteeleRedux,

«The government is happy because the economy gets job ready people whom it hasn't has to pay educating them.»

But why should government pay for people's education in the first place?

Oh yes, by encouraging universities they raise the bar for everyone else, so good people are unable to make a living without being required to show an ever-increasing pile of formal certificates. You then complain about government not helping people to carry that burden - that which they laid themselves.

Yuyutsu,

Did you take a look at the Sydney street scene videos I found on Youtube and posted above?

What do you think? Do you reckon we're an Asian nation-state now?

I think those videos show that we are.

And like I've been saying for a long time: Australia has a Chinese future.

5 more - put on your PPE and take cover!

In 2018-19 there were 650,700 Chinese born people living in Australia. They have not made any particular contribution to the 'Decline In The Australian Way Of Life', and it was stupid to start gibbering about them in this thread. The decline in our way of life has nothing whatsoever to do with Chinese people or any other immigrant group, all of whom are subject to the same Australian laws as the rest of us. The people who can be blamed are Australian politicians, and apathetic voters of all types.

ttbn,
Correct !

ttbn and individual,

As you can see from the videos above, Chinese only account for 1 in every 20 people in Australia.

It's obvious. I'll mind more videos from the web which prove this.

Here's one for Sydney Fish Market:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zihj1rRs2U

Just admit it, Australia is now an Asian nation-state.

Village Idiot,

Chinese-looking people - Thais, Vietnamese, Koreans, Filipinos/Filipinas, Indonesians, Australian-born Chinese, central Asians, Burmese, Malays, Japanese - buying fish at a fish market ?!

Good god, they must be all Chinese ! They all look it. Well, they all sort of look it.

You really do give 'moron' a bad name :(

Back to your wall !

Joe

Foul-Mouth,

The point I am making is that Australia is now an Asian nation-state.

And that is what the videos above demonstrate.

There are plenty more where they came from.

It will be my pleasure to find them for you.

Dear Joe,

There is no point staying outside when the bombs fall, he has just two left today, wasting the ammunition which he could have used on other fronts to scare other people. Your responses might help him target his bombs more accurately - better keep the fog and turn off the lights.

---

Dear Ttbn,

«They have not made any particular contribution to the 'Decline In The Australian Way Of Life', and it was stupid to start gibbering about them in this thread.»

Oh, he just tries his luck everywhere - he must have received instructions from the party to terrorise innocent civilians at random: it may just as well been a discussion about tropical fish... http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=9379#316600

And since I am here, perhaps a word on the topic itself:

Are you aware that in Australia, between 2000 and 2020 smoking rates more than halved from 24.5% to 11% and life expectancy increased from 78.84 to 83.2 years? Also, as a vegetarian, I enjoy a huge increase in the number of products and places where I can find something I can eat.

Hi Yuyutsu,

Yes, you're right, trolls can always find something to stir about.

And yes, about smoking: I gave up at the end of 2019, so no wonder the rates dropped :). That ad on TV of what looked like worms moving through a bloke's body did it for me.

Cheers,

Joe

Foul-Mouth,

I don't understand why you and others refuse to acknowledge that Australia is now an Asian nation-state.

Here's another scene of Australia life I found on youtube:

Bankstown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q2ITpLdnwI

Mr 0,
>I don't understand why you and others refuse to acknowledge that Australia is now an Asian nation-state.
It's probably because it's a nebulous term that's geographically inaccurate (there's some disagreement on where Asia ends, but it's generally regarded as somewhere in Indonesia).

Demographically there are far more Europeans than Asians in Australia. Not that it matters - nowadays not even Pauline Hanson thinks they're not like us (except perhaps the ones who are Muslim).

But since you're so keen on Youtube links, enjoy this one:
http://www.youtube.com/v/0YM9Ereg2Zo&hl=en&fs=1

___________________________________________________________________________

ttbn,
> I did provide a web address on the very last line,
Only for the IPA's home page (as if we couldn't all guess that anyway). You didn't link to the document, and I wonder why not!

And I certainly didn't make up my mind that I was going to disagree no matter what. I was very skeptical because of the IPA's track record, but a good unbiased report would have dispelled my suspicions. However when I looked at this one, it quickly confirmed them. And rather than just expecting anyone to take my word for it, I posted the URL so they could see for themselves.

I can go into detail if the other readers want, but I doubt there's any need now - most of them are either uninterested or can see for themselves the problems with the categories chosen.

>I've already told you that I would never again make the mistake of responding to you
Yes you have, but I thought by now you'd've seen how stupid such a refusal makes you look.

>you disagreeable oik.
I know you'd prefer a board full of sycophants so you can stay ignorant, but life's not like that!

What a load of nonsense from a righwing think tank, put up by a Trumpet. Measuring the Australian way of life based on mostly economic factors. Government spending and debt levels are no indication of quality of living Australians enjoy. Where is health and education mentioned, nothing on inclusion or equality, nah, its more important to own a flash car than to be healthy and educated. I was "shocked" not to see beer and meat pie consumption as a leading indicator of Australia's way of life.

Aiden, thanks for the link, ttbn would be too ashamed to let people read the "report". I did a quick read, but it was laughable.

p/s "The number 42 is, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything", calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought over a period of 7.5 million years. Unfortunately, no one knows what the question is."

I think 'Deep Thought' got it wrong, personally I put the answer at 87, what do you think Aiden? ttbn, there is a case put up by many Trumpsters like you that the answer is 74 the age of the Great Donald.

Aidan,

Asians see Australia as geographically part of Asia. It's all about culture, ethnicity and economy, not geography.

What did you and others think Australian society would look like at the end of 40 years of protracted Asianization (aka Australian Multiculturalism) or what I call the Great Asianization Period (1980-2020) in Australian history?

We are now an Asian nation-state and I'm only asking that everyone should acknowledge that fact.

Actually, it might be just the reason for Australia stop being a British dominion and become an Asian republic.

How does the People's Republic of Australia sound?

Aidan,

Anybody smarter than you (just about everyone) would have opened the IPA site and clicked on 'download the research report here' for the 58 page report, which, apparently is well above your reading ability. I even spelt out that the report showed the decline in 23 of 25 areas named. You couldn't absorb that, either.

You are 'skeptical' (American spelling) of the IPA because you are a Left-wing bigot. You know nothing about their 'track record' because you concentrate on leftist, mainstream media to tell you what to think, you puppet. I doubt that you have ever read a book.

You marked yourself as an idiot long ago when you started talking about "sovereign debt" and other economic matters that you are totally ignorant of. You embarrass yourself every time you post.

ttbn,

I asked if you could give me some examples of a Technocracy that have existed?

You have been unable to do so simply because it is an imaginary concept invented by some slow-minded engineer who had no training in the Arts things, especially sociology.

Apart from that, how are things down at the nursing home? Don't forget the Noon bell - gruel time!

Mr.Opinion,

I don't know why you think it is tricky to suggest that people live in nursing homes when they do not. It is insensitive to people who have to live in them, and overlooks the possibility that you could end up in one yourself; although your current rants suggest that you might need confining to a more secure institution than a nursing well before old age.

Your requests to provide you with information on something that began in the 1930s, was subdued by the defeat of fascism, was resurrected in the the 1970s, and is now going full blast at Davos, continually in the WEF, is proof that your claims about your education have always been one of the biggest lies ever told on OLO. You are as ratty as Number 1405 and Aidan.

ttbn,

You are an allusive little devil.

Just admit that you cannot give any historical examples of a Technocracy.

Simply because they only exist in your imagination.

ttbn,

>Anybody smarter than you (just about everyone)
Certainly not on this board!

>would have opened the IPA site and clicked on 'download the research report here'
Except that it wasn't the IPA home page which said that. Of course I did find the page with the "download the research report here" link, but not before the distraction of the banner ad saying "Saving
the Australian Way of Life" which turned out to be an unrelated boast that Tony Abbott had joined them.
Of course most Aussies know that Tony Abbott's values are very different to their own.

>for the 58 page report,
Well at least that shows you've read the report not just the press release. But would I be correct in surmising you got the link through their mailing list rather than finding it on their website?

>which, apparently is well above your reading ability.
The above inference is evidence of your poor comprehension ability.

>I even spelt out that the report showed the decline in 23 of 25 areas named. You couldn't absorb that, either.
What exactly do you mean by "absorb it"? I understood and accepted that that's what the report showed. But when I read the report it confirmed my suspicions that some of their categories were irrelevant to the Australian way of life, and some others were only indirectly related.

>You are 'skeptical' (American spelling)
Yes, and also the spelling used by the Austraian Skeptics.

>...of the IPA because you are a Left-wing bigot.
Incorrect. You only presume me to be a left wing bigot because you are a right wing bigot.

>You know nothing about their 'track record' because you concentrate on leftist,
>mainstream media to tell you what to think, you puppet.
Absurd allegation, easily refuted by my opposition to SSM.

>I doubt that you have ever read a book.
Yet more evidence of your rightwing bigotry!

ttbn (continued)
>You marked yourself as an idiot long ago when you started talking about "sovereign debt" and other
>economic matters that you are totally ignorant of. You embarrass yourself every time you post.

Are you referring to the "Why are interest rates so low" post of 2015? I pointed out a few obvious flaws in the author's argument, and provided a concise but comprehensive explanation for why interest rates were sl low, whereas you had nothing to say beyond "because the economy is stuffed."

Anyway, if you think I'm ignorant on that topic or any other, you're welcome to explain why. I can't recall you ever doing so without resorting to false assumptions. The problem appears to be your unwillingness to consider other positions. Thus whenever you read something that contradicts what you think you know, you assume it to be an example of ignorance on the part of whoever wrote it rather than yourself.

Many other people would be embarrassed if they made the kinds of posts you do, but you seem oblivious to that, let alone the reasons behind it. I'm always wiling to discuss my position and to reconsider it if errors are discovered or new information is found; you consider even responding to me a mistake! Your bigotry is plain for all to see.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Mr 0,

>Asians see Australia as geographically part of Asia. It's all about culture, ethnicity and economy, not geography.
Evidence?

> What did you and others think Australian society would look like at the end of 40 years of protracted Asianization..?
When? At the start of that period the closest I'd been to Australia was India!

> We are now an Asian nation-state and I'm only asking that everyone should acknowledge that fact.
But you've provided no evidence - you seem to be under the delusion that repeatedly asserting something makes it a fact!

In order for it to be acknowledged as a fact, you need:
• Precise definitions
• Evidence that those definitions are correct (or at least widely accepted)
• Evidence that Australia fits them.
0/3 so far!

Aidan,

Here are some videos I found on youtube which show how some of the principal areas in Sydney have been transformed over the past 40 years:

Sydney CBD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96QPB9fnKzA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emfQ23nZvao

Burwood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxIYSpUIdPI

Bankstown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri4eDdOXd6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q2ITpLdnwI

Chatswood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bA4cAAawlg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w8V8GlsL5A

Hurstville
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkgCyxBveiU

It's pretty typical right across greater Sydney. There are dozens of these on the web for other suburbs in Sydney.

I would describe Sydney as Asianized with fringe dwellers of Bogan Australians. I'll try to find some videos of Bogan suburbs for you - but don't hold your breath because they're like hen's teeth.

Aidan,

I found some youtube videos of Sydney’s Bogan Australian Suburbs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVIyapq850o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyDLxnoAKEo

The Bogans now tend to be the fringe dwellers of Sydney especially the beach areas like Manly and Cronulla above.

As a simple model I would describe Sydney as having an Asian core surrounded by a Bogan periphery. But I think before long the core will expand to displace the periphery making Sydney fully Asianized. And I think Sydney's Bogans will drift out to the regions especially up and down the coastal communities where they will feel more comfortable living amongst other Bogan Australians.

Idiot,

My first ten years were in Bankstown - Chullora and Bass Hill. We used to go to pictures on Saturdays in central Bankstown - from memory, the picture theatres (I think there were three) were the Plaza, the more up-market Jewel and another one, maybe the Star or Criterion. Also Yagoona had a picture theatre.

Your videos: so, dumb-dumb, Vietnamese are Chinese ? That's the sum-total of your knowledge ? Are Thais Chinese too ? Filipinos ? Indonesians and Malays ? Burmese ? Japanese ? Koreans ? Get an atlas, Idiot, and see if you can get an eight-year-old to explain it to you.

So which of those groups do you want us to surrender to ? You really are more pig-ignorant than I ever expected.

Joe

Foul-Mouth,

You must definitely see a big difference in Bankstown.

I assume Bankstown was populated by Bogans when you lived there.

Actually I used to go to Bankstown swimming pool and I'm pretty sure back then just before the Great Asianization Period (1980-2020) that it was a Bogan community.

Foul-Mouth,

I bet this will bring a tear to your eye:

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/the-history-of-bankstown-pool-20131127-2y97v.html

Yep, definitely was a Bogan Australian community prior to the Great Asianization Period (1980-2020).

Isn't it amazing how 40 years of Asianization (aka Australian Multiculturalism) has altered the demographic landscape of Bankstown.

If you ever decide to give up your job as President of the Adelaide Hairy Arses Association you could buy a house in Bankstown and live out the rest of your days roaming the streets of Bankstown in search of your lost youth.

Two more slabs of guff from Aidan trying to justify himself. Didn't read it Aidan. I formed an opinion of you long ago; it has not changed; it will not change, you silly old fellow.

Asians, bogans; how about Hillbillys from the Blue Mountains like Mr. Opinion.

ttbn,
That proves my point!

___________________________

Mr 0,
Still 0/3

___________________________

Yuyutsu,
The real point of universities is what you learn there, not the bit of paper you get at the end.

ttbn,

How dare you!

We're not Hillbilly Australians in the Blue Mtns.

We like to think of ourselves as Euro-Bogan Australians thank you kindly.

Dear Aidan,

There are indeed people, a minority, who are genuinely thirsty for knowledge, unrelated to jobs, employment and all that.
These may find universities useful, although they could probably find ways to learn with or without them.

I was not referring to them.

Yuyutsu,
Nor was I.

Dear Aidan,

When I was studying in university, some professors would refer to this phenomenon of students coming for the sake of gaining a good job, as "prostitution of this temple of science".

Well, I do not share their views about the sanctity of universities and I realise that the vast majority of students come for different reasons apart from making science: to socialise, to have fun, to avoid work, to find romantic partners/spouses, or simply to obey their parents. In some countries it was also a way to escape conscription.

The problem about expecting people who are ready to work (apart from that minority who are truly thirsty for knowledge) to first obtain degrees/diplomas, is that it creates a vicious cycle, a spiraling pressure of competition, that only makes life more stressful and complex. Gone are the days when a diligent young person could simply and cheerfully jump in to become a cobbler, or a school/kindergarten-teacher, or a carer, etc.

Apart from the enormous resources wasted in higher-education on those who do not truly seek knowledge, this contributes to the unhappy, competitive society we now live in.

Yuyutsu,
I think you're misattributing the source of the "spiralling pressure of competition". The reason the competition's so fierce is because there aren't enough jobs being created. This is because the combination of fiscal and monetary policy has been set too tight.

Of course the IPA, in their ivory towers, not only fail to recognise that, but also strongly advocate policies that make the problem worse!

When did they allow unqualified people to become school teachers?
Whenever it was, good riddance to those days!

Yuyutsu,

What did you do at university?

Dear Aidan,

Most of my teachers in primary school did not have formal qualifications. Instead, they had high ideals and felt the calling to educate, to pass on their knowledge and morals to the younger generation. Later on, the unions obtained higher wages for teachers with tertiary degrees, even more to teachers with masters or doctorates, so by the time I was in high school most teachers had a degree or two, but still not all.

I will not comment on things I have no knowledge of, such as fiscal/monetary policies, or the "IPA" which I don't even know what these initials stand for.

Was my education lacking? whose isn't, sure I was not taught in school about making money and profits or about economic policies, but I did learn about kindness and values and that is not something one learns in universities. One thing I can only be grateful for is, that they never taught me materialism!

In my times, any person who was honestly willing to work, could find work, or better still, create work for themselves. Even the non-intellectual types, even those who failed to complete school, they could all start a trade and earn an honest living without any qualifications. The intellectually inclined could similarly become teachers or laboratory-assistants, learning at work and eventually ending up doing science and engineering with no formal qualifications.

I don't know about this "IPA": perhaps they contributed too towards our competitive misery, but it is mainly the machines, computers and robots that took over and robbed us of the simplicity and joy in service we once had, especially those of us who were not designed from birth for highly intellectual exploits.

Yuyutsu,

So are you telling me you did nothing at university?

Please, tell me something I hadn't already worked out.

After seeing this I am absolutely convinced that Australia has a Chinese future:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/feb/02/chau-chak-wing-awarded-590000-in-defamation-case-over-abc-four-corners-episode

Chris Lewis - you wrote - in response to TTBN - which I over-fill.

I only offer my opinion.

what I remember has shaped my opinion.

"I remember homosexuality being illegal, something I could never understand."

Yes, I agree as was Aussie Policy in the 70's.

"I remember being harassed by police for no reason."

I am unaware of any reason for such harassment.

"I remember Australia being far less tolerant to non-Anglo celts."

I am unaware of any reason for such harassment, we all had friends - as children - growing up within Multicultural Societies - I still firmly believe today, it was us kids that changed society, as kids we saw "no colour, no creed, nor religion"......and just played together.

"I remember a much more boring sport context, mainly AFL and cricket."

Oh hey - OUCH - AFL, Cricket, and Rugby League are the Icon institutions of traditional past history.

You just "got me" as a true blue St George Supporter..... lol

"I remember, as a ward of the state, being powerless against govt appointed guardians who were corrupt and abusive."

Chris - As a Ward of the State - nothing I can say here will atone for any abuse you suffered as a child.....an innocent child who deserved to be brought up with love and "safety", under appointed "guardians".

No child asked to be born - no child deserved to be placed into any home of corruption or abuse.

I do hope you have sought legal representation as to avenues of compensation for such abuse.

"I remember Australians being rather ignorant about environmental issues."

No, Australians have never been ignorant about environmental issues.

"Yes, there were some good things about the past, but overall I reckon today is better."

I agree, today is better, and Chris = tomorrow will be better also, and the day after that, and the day after that.

So I write an "Open" note to all Forum users and friends that have posted me over many years in the past.

I simply ask the following -

1. It doesn't matter if one has a university degree or not, this does not detract that this person has an opinion - on any topic.

2. There are people on this forum who have been abused as children whilst in Government Institutions and others - who are seeking to communicate with "normal people". Sometimes their truth will be told within this forum.....look out for it and assist.

3. There are also Indigenous Aussies - who join this forum as a chance to "voice their views".... look and assist, and follow such member.

3. There are Vietnam vets on this forum - be mindful and compassionate in views, as they reach out - we can be mindful of their views and discuss ours - whether it be the same or diverse.

4. There are also "young" people on this forum who seek guidance from "older heads" in discussions.

We all have a job - so let's give all Aussies - a "hand up" and not a "slap down".