Irony piled on outrage is that we are about to incur more debt as a nation to see us through this catastrophic and monumental mess which was caused by debt incurred over the past decade by the greedy or naive individual. More ironic is that the previous Coalition government spent that very decade paying off government debt of around $96billion. Our current government is about to borrow nearly half of that sum which could shackle us in debt for an indeterminate time. This fiscal albatross may be an unbearable burden on the future of our kids and theirs, if we, an ageing nation with a shrinking tax base with huge medical expenditures forecast for those of us living to be octogenarians or nonagenarians, spend this vast sum unwisely today.
Now, we'll jostle one another as we line up for a sum of money that we would have scoffed at a scant year ago when the 'good times were rolling'. We'll count the ways we would spend this munificent sum with nary a thought of who will pay for this in longer term. But the good times have rolled haven't they?
From the individual to the corporation, we'll all get in for our cheap cut of this largesse. The pensioner to the chief executive, the low income earner to the well-heeled, the needy and the greedy. After all it's our money right? It's our 'common-wealth' okay? It's where the government garners the money from in the first place .. yes, from us taxpayers both individual or corporation neither of us being co-operative when it comes to taxes.
We moan and whinge about paying taxes and wail about them being wasted on aboriginals or whales or derros or druggies or public housing or external territories or foreign aid or single-mothers or power stations.
We'll never complain when we are the recipients of the handout whether we earn 40 grand or 120 grand. We'll self-righteously and unctuously declare that we need the money to pay our debts or our bills or feed and clothe ourselves and yes .... buy TVs. But simply put we will rarely admit that our lifestyles have exceeded our commonwealth.
Will we think of what our contribution could be to helping our nation cope with this mess together? Will a Coalition government have done things differently, tightened its fiscal belt and spent money more cautiously on capital works for example that benefits the whole community in the long-term?
Capitalist systems revolve in cycles. Good times follow bad and vice versa. I suggest now is the time for building the nation in preparation for exploiting the good times that must follow.
For now, let's look after the absolutely needy only. Apply a means-test to every needy individual or ailing company and provide assistance if it's genuinely proved to be the case. Meanwhile, let's concentrate on the projects that will reinforce our future. Capital Works programs will provide employment and more vocational and tertiary education will create a wider and deeper pool of theoretically educated people who can apply the practical advantage when the good times return.
Assure more Aussies of jobs. Buy Aussie goods and services (more butter, less guns) and demand more staff where you shop or bank or fly or purchase petrol or holiday. Reduce your consumption of gee-gaws or comestibles that are wants instead of needs. Buy fair dinkum Aussie fruit that's in season instead of the imported or canned stuff. If you like a feed of prawns, purchase the Karumba variety instead of the foreign Vannamei kind. Drink water supplied by your local council (the most stringently assured quality in the world) and eschew the stuff in plastic bottles of dubious origin. Forget holidays in Bali ... too may drunks, druggies and dangers. Discover your own country and do yourself and Australia a favour for this is a safe place, stable and you can drink and behave disgracefully and party to oblivion if that's your thing and yes .... the natives are friendly and speak your lingo.
Don't let your lifestyle exceed your wealth (and your health).
Ask what you can do for your country.
2 comments:
Like most Australians, we wont be refusing any handouts even if we dont believe it's the right move by this Government. In these uncertain times most people would be postponing buying a new car, television etc... thinking more about their own job security, and paying off their debts. Flowerpot
... Not what your country can do for you ... right on Bernie. You've taken a portion of the headline from JFK's famous speech and used it most effectively to argue your case. This time It was your turn to steal my thunder and cover the topic perfectly, leaving me with nothing to add..................
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