Yuglamron wrote:

 Personally I'm sick to death of the human race. Yes I may be  G.O.M. (Grumpy Old Man)

 

 

Yeah Trevor,Im with you all the way,which is why I am 100% self-contained and Im off to live in the bush....FOREVER. Will keep one house in case my health says that I must stop travelling,but in a couple of months I am out of here! Too many do gooders pandering to minority groups who are too lazy or useless to look after themselves.Social welfare bill seems to hover around $300 million...PER DAY! Cheers

 

-- Edited by yobarr on Tuesday 8th of January 2019 03:33:00 PM

yobarr wrote:

---

Yuglamron wrote:

 Personally I'm sick to death of the human race. Yes I may be  G.O.M. (Grumpy Old Man)

 

Yeah Trevor,Im with you all the way,which is why I am 100% self-contained and Im off to live in the bush....FOREVER. Will keep one house in case my health says that I must stop travelling,but in a couple of months I am out of here! Too many do gooders pandering to minority groups who are too lazy or useless to look after themselves.Social welfare bill seems to hover around $300 million...PER DAY! Cheers

---

Gday...

Social Security and Welfare payments for 2019-2020 will be $191.9Billion ... which is actually about $545.5million per day.

With our annual GDP sitting on $1,300Billion, $191.8billion is only 14.7% of GDP. 

And as you will see by this breakdown of the figures, the Age Pension and support of Seniors attracts the most from the welfare budget -

Even though the most emotive Welfare payment is always Unemployment and sickness benefits - it is minuscule compared to what we old pharts get out of the government. 

https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook45p/WelfareCost

Despite all the above, I too much prefer to be domiciled out in the bush away from the madding crowd - forget the TV, radio, newspapers and internet.

That way I can make the best attempt at being a recluse that I can.

cheers - John

-- Edited by rockylizard on Tuesday 8th of January 2019 04:49:10 PM

Personally speaking I don't think the boundaries of a civil society (as we knew them) are any longer being pushed - I see them as well and truly breached. The abyss we're now rapidly descending towards has no definable boundaries, therefore society can (will?) only get as ugly as the human animal is capable of enacting. Many say that it will take another world war to sort society out again (heaven forbid), although the next one is more likely to quieten humankind for good, as foretold in many prophesies.

Anyhow, when the fight looks hopeless, the urge for flight and isolation is entirely understandable!

I find it hard to understand that people of our age still think the pension is a "gift" from our Government. When you work you pay taxes all your working life and when you retire you get an age pension. You have paid in all your working life and expected to retire on a pension that would let you enjoy your retirement.

That pension which in this day and age is a pittance, and allows you to live (Survive,just ) below the poverty line.

 

This is from the UK but the principal is the same. Figures are different of course but the "Pension" is something you have paid for already with your taxes.

It is something earned not given by a benevolent Government, although taxing your funds and raising the retirement age just lets them take more and more of Our money.

By raising the retirement age here in Australia it means that 97,000 people will die between the ages of 65 and 67. Less people to pay a pension.

 

yobarr wrote:

---

Thanks for those figures John.As you say,we older folk get a fair slice of the pie,but the difference is that we have contributed for more than 50 years.Today it is not uncommon for me to meet third generation families where nobody has EVER worked,but they still bleat and moan that the GUMMINT doesn't give them enough for smokes and McDonalds every day.Times certainly are tough. Cheers

---

Gday...

I really understand how ya feel yobarr ... many of us feel the same.

However, all those taxes we have been paying for the past 50-odd years has not been held in some magic fund and then drip-fed out to us old pharts.

The taxes we paid were applied to all those other old pharts that went on the pension while we were working. Similarly, any pension we now get in our 'retirement' will be paid from the taxes the current working population are contributing.

We all complain how hard it is to live on the old age pension which is (full pension for single) $768/fortnight. Newstart/unemployment benefit is $489/fortnight.

There are about 858,000 people on Newstart allowance -The number of job vacancies in Australia in August 2018 was 240,900.

There are about 1,952,000 people on Old Age Pension - part or full.

Not saying those you refer to as "third generation families where nobody has EVER worked" are worthy of ongoing, continuous welfare support. 

For all of us, in many ways, the world is a hard place.

Cheers - John

rockylizard wrote:

---

yobarr wrote:

---

Thanks for those figures John.As you say,we older folk get a fair slice of the pie,but the difference is that we have contributed for more than 50 years.Today it is not uncommon for me to meet third generation families where nobody has EVER worked,but they still bleat and moan that the GUMMINT doesn't give them enough for smokes and McDonalds every day.Times certainly are tough. Cheers

---

Gday...

I really understand how ya feel yobarr ... many of us feel the same.

However, all those taxes we have been paying for the past 50-odd years has not been held in some magic fund and then drip-fed out to us old pharts.

The taxes we paid were applied to all those other old pharts that went on the pension while we were working. Similarly, any pension we now get in our 'retirement' will be paid from the taxes the current working population are contributing.

We all complain how hard it is to live on the old age pension which is (full pension for single) $768/fortnight. Newstart/unemployment benefit is $489/fortnight.

There are about 858,000 people on Newstart allowance -The number of job vacancies in Australia in August 2018 was 240,900.

There are about 1,952,000 people on Old Age Pension - part or full.

Not saying those you refer to as "third generation families where nobody has EVER worked" are worthy of ongoing, continuous welfare support. 

For all of us, in many ways, the world is a hard place.

Cheers - John

---

 A

Thanks John...that all is useful information,but what many people do not realise is that the percentage of population who are not working or have never worked is increasing while the number of workers,as a percentage of the population,is decreasing,so that there is less tax revenue being generated. And because pensioners are only a small part of the population it is better to upset them than it is to upset the workers and their families by increasing taxes.My thoughts are that pensions will not increase at anywhere near the inflation rate,so each year pensioners will effectively be receiving less.I despair for those of us who have not accumulated a decent sized nest egg as trying to exist solely on the pension will become more and more challenging as time passes.My thoughts.Cheers.

 

I fully understand why people reject society. I tried several times. 

As a 21yo I rode to the Smowy mountains on my Suzuki 550 with my winchester rifle strapped on. Live off the land as a hetmit away from crowds and concrete. I didnt last long. The reason? I was being too reactive. I had to find a balance between being reclusive but maintaining an income. An income is a necessity as bare personal needs like shelter, toiletries, meds, creams, clothing and so on can't be done without.

 

Eventually we settled in a bush town of 200 people + farms. Then a new problem arises, old age and the need for close by facilities found in larger towns. So this hermitting idea has its limitations.

 

Far better to accept that the undesirable human behaviors will always be there and the media focus on that more than good news stories. Its a case of getting it all in proper perspective and seeking the best balance- hence regular caravanning. Over react by pushing away the TV, Internet,  phone and a solid bit of shelter might see you in the bush with other issues...boredom, loneliness and other unforeseen problems.

 

Balance is everything.

Tony

At least one pollie sucking hard on the public purse is making an effort to come up with ways to get people off welfare www.news.com.au/national/politics/pauline-hansons-radical-plans-to-kill-cane-toads/news-story/8522c85164152bd3ffedf3866d478d44

Iza

Tend to agree with most of what's been posted here. Haven't read the other thread (yet), but suspect that I know the article to which it refers (which I did read).

None of us are perfect, but in saying that, a bit of respect for your surroundings goes a long way.

The Mrs and I went for a walk the other day...I stopped to pick up a discarded lanyard - mostly to see what was on the "ID" card attached to it, in case someone had lost it. Couldn't quite bring myself to put it down again until I found a bin to put it in.

On the other hand, we have people who are quite happy to buy "cheap" camping gear, and simply discard it after (presumably) a single use, along with the rest of their waste. Probably some of the same people who are either:

A) Up to their eyeballs in debt, with little hope (or in some cases intention) to repay it, or

B) Some of the "inter-generational unemployed" referred to above,

(Or both)

*shrugs*

What do you do?

I mean, "Bad news sells", which is why the media is full of it. Yes, the problems are out there, but if one's perspective is solely media driven, then it's likely that one would throw their hands up in despair and "go bush" (like some are suggesting they will).

On the other hand, there are actually a lot of decent people around. The majority (at time of writing ;) ) in fact. No press coverage for decent people going about their daily lives/struggles.

So, yes, there are crappy people out there. But as someone else pointed out, a degree of balance is required in one's assessment of just how many of them there are/how bad the problem is (and hence, one's response to that problem).