the troubadour

I was hoping for a bite but I prefer Oak. Something you fertilise to enable its existence and continue adding manure.


With careful cultivation some of those' issues' you desperately crave will in time start to filter through and perhaps assist you in becoming an all rounder. I'll contribute my bit to help naturally.

Amazulu

No worries Herman the German

the troubadour

Just you keep slinging the bling now......

the troubadour

Well actually it is very well documented. This generation will not in general be better off than their parents. For sure they will be better educated as far as diplomas go. Perhaps more tolerant. They will likely in ways not yet clear adapt. Human survival usually insists on reaching an accommodation of present day reality.


Is the education really better? Far more have accessed it but not entirely clear if efforts will be matched with the reality.


The academics whom once ruled the roost at universities have largely been replaced with shake ups within the system, by the Jonathon's working into positions and making their lives, (academics) difficult. Mobbing, bullying, lies overloading with work, often dull non academic stuff.


Jonathon of course increased his own salary to levels unheard of in academia . He hired legions of administrators to keep the academics of his back by keeping those remaining busy with compliance, regardless of its relevance to research and teaching.


He reduced teaching standards and found additional ways to make money for himself and of course mates.






Universities of course have became for some time visa churning outlets (factories)for foreign students, which in turn as facilitated a lowering of standards in general. Selling of degrees regardless of whether student had learnt anything would ensure wealthy overseas families would pay necessary fees to gain access.


The cost to society comes from universities squandering resources by being extremely inefficient in their core functions of teaching and research.


We are of course enduring very high levels of youth unemployment in Australia. Not an entirely ringing endorsement for society at large.


What I referred to of course was not individual but society well being but the broader picture with regardless to how Bruce and Shelia are travelling in the Australia of 2018.


There have been massive changes over recent years. I don't necessary think the ability to purchase $20 crushed avocado on lightly toasted multi grain, rye bread or the growth in over priced eating establishments necessary large improvements in a nation of some of the highest personal debt in the world, working some of the longest hours in increasingly insecure working environment, in a country increasing seeing wealth going towards ever fewer a improvement for the better.

Amazulu

No worries Herman

kg2095

I agree that the standard of living is high in Australia for most but having said that I'm a software developer in Sydney who recently spent the better part of a year living in my car after losing my job a few years back. I could afford to eat but could not afford to keep a roof over my head. Even now that I am once again employed I am paying half of my disposable income to rent a slightly seedy two bedroom apartment in Sydney.

As for per capita GDP whether you look at nominal or PPP charts Australia is not at the top of the table. It was briefly near the top a few years ago due to the temporary effects of the great recession which Australia mostly escaped.

Nominal per capita GDP:

IMF (2017) places Australia in 10th place
World Bank (2016) places Australia in 11th place
UN (2016) places Australia in 10th place

PPP (Purchasing Power Parity per capita GDP:

IMF (2017) places Australia in 18th place
World Bank (2016) places Australia in 17th place
CIA (2017) places Australia in 20th place

Sadly I am not allowed to post URLs until I have more than 5 posts. These stats are from searching for per capita GDP in Google.

Wages are high in Australia but so are prices. On a recent trip back to the UK (after 15 years) I was amazed at how cheap most (not all) groceries are compared to Australia.

the troubadour

I completely forgot about this thread. Thanks for unearthing it. Very important to read just what the reality is like out there for too many folk.
Life has become so competitive in Australia with a' heavy heart' to accompany it with a welfare system that definitely hasn't kept up with the high costs of living in Australia, especially those that lose their jobs and struggle to re enter the work force.
The dole is simply too low to sustain someone without considerable savings (then no dole anyway) as even admitted by such an outfit as The Chamber of Commerce.
The total disinterest in the welfare of those being impacted on by hard times has taken a back seat, by the present awful lot on power, to further their neo liberal credentials of rewarding those in position and power. We have witnessed the fiasco of the financial system in this country, something the Feds were loathe to tackle.

Beoz

Sorry to hear about your hardship but there's a few details missing.

Did you not work after you lost your developer job? Did you try another job? There is plenty of work in Sydney, maybe not in your field of expertise, but plenty of work.

Even on the Newstart and rent assistance there should be enough to rent a room in a boarding house, and provide for food. After all its welfare and not designed to make you rich. There are also subsidies available if you need to move location for work.

Where do you rent your 2 bed seedy flat? Why not move to a cheaper area or downsize to a 1 bidder in your preferred area or flatshare?

I don't find groceries in the UK cheap when earning pounds. However, depending on what's going on with currency, it can feel cheaper or more expensive. Depends on currency fluctuations.

the troubadour

Very surprised the above poster didn't suggest camping out as an option. There are hardly plenty of jobs waiting to just walk into in Australia.
The market here is such that often references are verbally sought by phone, which allows anything to be said about a previous employee, without their knowledge.
Just another method to curtail dissent and to comply regardless with how inept manager may be.
Always' jobs are easy to find' for those without the need of one and not looking on the market for one.
Of course this is the reason net working is of at most importance in Australia. Within insider help and influence, it can be akin to bashing one's head against the wall.


Not a case of 'getting rich' but a case of existing. Something ever increasingly impossible to achieve of Australian New Start. Something which has been allow to fall over recent decades to unsustainable levels.


Groceries are very expensive in Australia with a few exceptions. A price comparison with last country in Europe worked and lived in showed a considerable margin ....

Beoz

Only if you are a vegetarian.

numbeo comparison Sydney v. London

old.sparkles

Not sure I believe all those comparisons - groceries are the easiest thing in the world to compare, just pick your stores (coles, tescos, woolworths, sainsburys, aldis, asda, etc)

Beoz

Yes cost comparisons isn't an exact science, especially with daily fluctuations on prices, exchange rates etc, but Numbeo does a pretty good job and the best there is.

old.sparkles

True - but it's all based on what data people share with the site. Bottom of the list says there are 466 contributors to the Sydney list, and 806 for the London one - both with updates this month, and with data from the last 12 months. For all of those contributions, they could have entered just one thing so not necessarily 'data' and more 'general fee;' maybe. I'd still prefer to go online and do a virtual shop.

Beoz

That could be an interesting exercise. If you do, could you let me know whether Coles is cheaper than Woolies?

old.sparkles

Yes - at least by me