Society/Culture What's up with Australian youth culture?

[madmug]

They like generations before them, they will run around in circles, wave their arms, have fun, have opinions, make mistakes and then go on to become as, if not more, successful then the generations before them.

Yeah maybe. I think the pressure on youth is far greater now than it was in my little suburban, local footy driven, social media & generally international corporation free life.

It was much easier to get a job in 'my' younger days. A job usually meant full time. A career even. I should know, I had a few of them.

And somehow no one has woken up to me, so I still do.

The massive changes to the nature of work & of employment itself has lumped a burden on so many young school leavers. The massive rise in the cost of a house, both as a roof & as an asset has become a near impossible aspiration for so many. Access to super as a wealth growth mechanism is also proving more difficult for so many young & for women.

The changes to work will soon really hit us with disruptive technologies taking over (or proposed to) so many jobs. So where will the jobs of the future be?

This must affect their psyche & explain a fair bit. Their view of the world would be far different to that which I had, have.

 

[Power Raid]

Yeah maybe. I think the pressure on youth is far greater now than it was in my little suburban, local footy driven, social media & generally international corporation free life.

It was much easier to get a job in 'my' younger days. A job usually meant full time. A career even. I should know, I had a few of them.

And somehow no one has woken up to me, so I still do.

The massive changes to the nature of work & of employment itself has lumped a burden on so many young school leavers. The massive rise in the cost of a house, both as a roof & as an asset has become a near impossible aspiration for so many. Access to super as a wealth growth mechanism is also proving more difficult for so many young & for women.

The changes to work will soon really hit us with disruptive technologies taking over (or proposed to) so many jobs. So where will the jobs of the future be?

This must affect their psyche & explain a fair bit. Their view of the world would be far different to that which I had, have.

I agree with everything you say.

Growing up in SA (a busted arse state), getting kicked out in year 10 and entering the work force with 35% unemployment for young adult males. Fortunately I managed to get a few things right with open learning (university without year 12 requirements) and then the military which was my ticket out of Adelaide. Then the passage of time, experience and luck, no one ever asks about a non existent high school certificate.

In short it was easy to pick yourself up, as there was no social media to plaster your failings for all to see. The only price I had to pay for a fresh start, was the requirement to leave my family back in Adelaide.


Now days your right housing is more expensive but people have to look at housing and life's progress different. Who wants to find a partner, buy a house, have kids, lock yourself into a 30 year mortgage and a job you hate 1980s style anyway? Why not live the life you really want and then pay for your house in cash? It sounds ridiculous but it's easy if you look at life differently!

The time to make money in the west was the 1950s and 60s. Sure we have spurts like the 1980s and 2000s (20-25 year cycles means we aren't far away from one here again). However the 1950s and 1960s are still here on this planet, just not in the west. All an Australian has to do, is jump on a plane and head to a developing nation and they can benefit from everything the 1950s and 60s had to offer.

So the same way as I had to leave Adelaide, young kids need to leave Australia. It sounds hard but which would you rather......a wife, kids, mortgage, house, divorce, child care payments, rent and a mortgage, a shitty job and misery. Or travel the world, leverage of your western education, leverage off your knowledge of western capital, bang hot chicks and then come back to Australia (or where ever you choose to call home) and settle down.


oh and disruptive technologies and automation will only effect monotonous and repetitious jobs. Who wants to do that anyway? There is more work than there are people to do them, so why not redeploy human capital towards fun, exciting and creative one off projects? Get kids ready for this work environment and they will have better lives than you or I could ever imagine.

 

[Taylor]

There is nothing of substance to complain about.

There is no hardship. We move the goal posts to keep from realising the paradise we live in.

We have to invent problems, but deep down we know that conquering them doesn't satisfy our internal void. We set new standards for ourselves over and over to keep a special status, trying to keep ahead of the wave of fashion to give ourselves a pat on the back but deep down we know it doesn't make us worthy.

We aren't wired to live in paradise. Hardship makes for strong people and we don't have them anymore.

 

[ShanDog]

There is nothing of substance to complain about.

There is no hardship. We move the goal posts to keep from realising the paradise we live in.

We have to invent problems, but deep down we know that conquering them doesn't satisfy our internal void. We set new standards for ourselves over and over to keep a special status, trying to keep ahead of the wave of fashion to give ourselves a pat on the back but deep down we know it doesn't make us worthy.

We aren't wired to live in paradise. Hardship makes for strong people and we don't have them anymore.

To the Peterson thread!

 

[Frank Bunn]

There is nothing of substance to complain about.

There is no hardship. We move the goal posts to keep from realising the paradise we live in.

We have to invent problems, but deep down we know that conquering them doesn't satisfy our internal void. We set new standards for ourselves over and over to keep a special status, trying to keep ahead of the wave of fashion to give ourselves a pat on the back but deep down we know it doesn't make us worthy.

We aren't wired to live in paradise. Hardship makes for strong people and we don't have them anymore.

We seem to be hard wired to forget hardship - in order to be able to proceed in the world. Even extreme adversity such as being held in a Gulag for many years such as Varlam Shalamov.

It was as if I had just awakened from a dream that had lasted for years. And suddenly I was afraid and felt a cold sweat form on my body. I was frightened by the terrible strength of man, his desire and ability to forget. I realized I was ready to forget everything, to cross out twenty years of my life. And when I understood this, I conquered myself, I knew I would not permit my memory to forget everything that I had seen. And I regained my calm and fell asleep.
​

But the invented problems you refer to are possibly rewarding, in that they draw attention, or provide status by victimhood. There's even hardship by proxy, in that people identify with the problems of other people. Problems of this kind will prevail rather than be forgotten and overcome.

 

[bfff]

There is nothing of substance to complain about.

There is no hardship. We move the goal posts to keep from realising the paradise we live in.

We have to invent problems, but deep down we know that conquering them doesn't satisfy our internal void. We set new standards for ourselves over and over to keep a special status, trying to keep ahead of the wave of fashion to give ourselves a pat on the back but deep down we know it doesn't make us worthy.

We aren't wired to live in paradise. Hardship makes for strong people and we don't have them anymore.

This is simply not true.

3 million people in Australia live below the poverty line including 740,000 children.

 

[Taylor]

This is simply not true.

3 million people in Australia live below the poverty line including 740,000 children.

And all of them have access to free healthcare where they will be fed, watered, treated, medicated and housed.

We don't have "real" poor living in squalor and starving to death with TB.

We have discount air tickets to countries that do though.

 

[bfff]

And all of them have access to free healthcare where they will be fed, watered, treated, medicated and housed.

We don't have "real" poor living in squalor and starving to death with TB.

We have discount air tickets to countries that do though.

You don’t consider anyone in that situation to be dealing with hardship?

 

[Taylor]

You don’t consider anyone in that situation to be dealing with hardship?

Historically? No.

It's an example of the goal posts being shifted with time, biology doesn't move that fast.

Less than 200 years of low child mortality and we have forgotten. And that's just one facet of the horror of homo sapiens existence

 

[bfff]

Historically? No.

It's an example of the goal posts being shifted with time, biology doesn't move that fast.

Less than 200 years of low child mortality and we have forgotten. And that's just one facet of the horror of homo sapiens existence

Not being able to buy food is a fundamental problem, no matter what era or society you live in.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

And all of them have access to free healthcare where they will be fed, watered, treated, medicated and housed.

Most of it is not free.

 

[Taylor]

Most of it is not free.

I've only ever received a bill for the elective medical treatment.

If you fell and hit your head, you'd be treated without even confirming that you are Australian.

That's the culture we live in and it's a miracle

 

[Bomberboyokay]

I've only ever received a bill for the elective medical treatment.

If you fell and hit your head, you'd be treated without even confirming that you are Australian.

That's the culture we live in and it's a miracle

Being treated doesn't mean free. If you need an ambulance you'll likely be billed. Scans in radiology will be billed. Crutches you'll have to buy. Medicines you'll have to buy after the stuff the hospital gives you run out. Follow up appointments. And none of it was miraculous. Labor governments fought hard against conservative opposition to improve on the previous status quo of dying in the street.

 

[EasternTiger]

All that needs to happen is we legalise marijuana, and we are legit living in Utopia.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Dentist isn't free and if something needs fixing that's even less free.

 

[Taylor]

Being treated doesn't mean free. If you need an ambulance you'll likely be billed. Scans in radiology will be billed. Crutches you'll have to buy. Medicines you'll have to buy after the stuff the hospital gives you run out. Follow up appointments. And none of it was miraculous. Labor governments fought hard against conservative opposition to improve on the previous status quo of dying in the street.

...except when none of that happens.

I've had at least four scans at hospital, my appendix cut out, nasty cuts stitched etc and never seen a bill for them.

You will not be left to die, you can be wheeled into an ER and they will work their butts off to save you, never handing you a bill.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

...except when none of that happens.

I've had at least four scans at hospital, my appendix cut out, nasty cuts stitched etc and never seen a bill for them.

You will not be left to die, you can be wheeled into an ER and they will work their butts off to save you, never handing you a bill.

Lies or childhood.

 

[Taylor]

Lies or childhood.

Does childhood extend to early twenties?

 

[Scotland]

And all of them have access to free healthcare where they will be fed, watered, treated, medicated and housed.

We don't have "real" poor living in squalor and starving to death with TB.

We have discount air tickets to countries that do though.

I hate the word poverty when used as above.

Our Poverty in Australia 2016 report uses as the main poverty measure the number of people living below the poverty line of 50% of median household income. This is the poverty line used by the OECD, and in 2014 (the latest year for which figures are available) equated to a disposable income of less than $400 a week for a single adult.

https://www.acoss.org.au/poverty/

Having a disposable income of $400 a week is not poverty. That's a ridiculous definition.

You are right, though. The better things get, the more narrow your negative focus becomes. I mean pronouns are a big deal these days FFS.

 

[Taylor]

That will mean there are always people in poverty because the definition requires it.

Convenient for organisations dedicated to making a living advocating for them.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Having a disposable income of $400 a week is not poverty. That's a ridiculous definition.

$20,748 a year will not go far.

 

[Taylor]

$20,748 a year will not go far.

89.44% of the world has less money than you.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

89.44% of the world has less money than you.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

This is where Liberal Party voters are at. Poverty simply isn't real.

 

[bfff]

I hate the word poverty when used as above.



https://www.acoss.org.au/poverty/

Having a disposable income of $400 a week is not poverty. That's a ridiculous definition.

You are right, though. The better things get, the more narrow your negative focus becomes. I mean pronouns are a big deal these days FFS.

That is not true. That report says that the 50% of the median weekly income after housing for a single person is $343. That $343 is not disposable income.

That will mean there are always people in poverty because the definition requires it.

Convenient for organisations dedicated to making a living advocating for them.

Oh yes they are raking in the cash.

89.44% of the world has less money than you.

It is shameful for a country that is so wealthy to have people in this situation. No matter how you reframe your argument, people experience hardship in this country. Maybe not you or anyone you know, but people do.