Australia has the largest size homes in the world. Round here in our middle class estate, 20 year old houses average A$1,000,000
Average homesize has more than doubled despite family size declining by 28% in the past 60 years. Plus we send the old fogies off to live in aged care homes, so they are no bother.
Not only that, storage facilities are booming and are a serious investment option!
What does that say?
It says to me that we are rabbits in the headlights of marketers. Our lives are continuously cascaded with marketing messages and information.
We are driven to buy the bargain, its so cheap. We each have 50 shirts, 10 pairs of shoes, 50 dresses and a million knick knacks. Our televisions grow in size by the year. We have speakers in every room and 12 different appliances in the kitchen. We have so many types of insurance we need a broker
Our houses are so cluttered we buy sheds and park the cars in the road. We hire storage space to accommodate our possessions.
Why? We don’t need most of the stuff we have…
I am reminded of the riots in London in 2011 which was sparked by police shooting an armed suspect. It led to wide spread looting. My thoughts at the time (just after the 2008 recession) were that despair and futility and lack of money coupled with incessant marketing messages could lead me to do some looting too.
That’s when I began to dislike marketing.
It’s sad because we won’t be able to stop it without a cataclysmic event or events which could lead to radical recalibration of our values and drives.
Covid was clearly not sufficient.
A world war would do it – and that is not too remote an event….
We respond to our perception of others’ actions, despite not knowing their motivation, intention or the accuracy of execution of their intended action or how our response will be understood.
We perceive monsters which are just mistakes or gifts which are poison to the touch. Our interpretation of the world that others live in is based on surmise and is skewed by our own attitude and experience.
We should not assume intention or motive without question. Such question needs fine crafting to avoid accusation.
Yet pain and misery make some lash out and hurt regardlessly, maybe somehow to ease their pain. They make relationships hostage to their wellbeing without regard for the damage, to salve their wounds, which are often imagined, nevertheless painful.
Happily conversations between familiars are usually open and easy, not requiring deep scrutiny as to meaning and motive.
How do we deal with suspicious, unhappy, antagonistic or rude acquaintances who are in our social circle?
I asked Dr Google:
No one can hurt you without your consent. It is not what happens to us that hurts us. It is our response that hurts us.
Ships don’t sink because of the water around them; ships sink because of the water that gets in them. Don’t let what’s happening around you get inside you and weigh you down.
Just keep it superficial, keep your interactions brief, keep it positive…and move along quickly.
Don’t try to fix them, don’t give them ammunition, and move on.
It takes a great degree of self-control not to respond to accusation or insult from an unhappy person. Somehow find a way to deflect, duck or ignore the lashing out, which is a way of making you feel the pain being suffered. Not easy and often a lack of response acts as a spur.
Some people need to be persuaded that there are better views of themselves and the world.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy helps one to take a different view of history which enable more positive feelings.
The trick is to persuade the person that there is help. Pride is a terrible thing and is a defence against being laughed at or pitied, which are almost the worst social experiences.
In order to allow both parents to enter paid employment, governments subsidise child care services, in which we willingly enrol our children, some as young as 3 months old. (This is permitted!)
As people get older, they need more care, so instead of caring for them, we allow them to be sent to aged care homes, also subsidised by government.
Out of sight, out of mind?
I bet this will surprise you …. NOT!
Over 50% of aged care residents have significant levels of depression.
Around one in seven Australians take antidepressants
Institutional old age and child care services are convenience services designed to remove caring support roles from the family unit and free up more people to enter the labour force.
The distress and toll on families that this causes is apparent.
In primitive societies, the elderly and the young were kept in the family home, with the bulk of caring falling on female household members. Oooh! I need to tread carefully here…
In modern times, females have demanded and been granted greater access to and equality in the labour force. Which governements support and encourage for a number of reasons.
So the modern solution is to outsource our caring duties. Is there any wonder that so many are on anti-depressants?
What can be a greater source for despair than daily abandonment of children and the marooning of their grandparents, our own parents?
We know the effect on the elderly – what about the effect on our children?
One solution is to stop chasing the ‘own home dream’ and promoting the shared home. Subsidise home carers, not care homes; incentivise one working parent households.
A 24-work day would enable both parents to work and to care for the children and grandparents.
The pace and demands of our society is causing its disintegration at the edges.
We institutionalise the young and old, almost certainly deteriorating their mental health. We allow the drug addicts, destitute and depressed detritus of our commumities to sleep in the streets.
Is it not time we open our eyes and put our foot down?
It seems that insults or slurs are subject to fashion and context.
“You little monkey” is often heard from proud mothers beaming at agile, mischievious infants. However, it is a gross insult for dark skinned people, particularly hulking great sportsmen!
As an African I am keenly aware that the K-word is a definite no word and is felt as a terrible insult by black Southern Africans. Yet Afrikaners frequently referred to their own chubby little children as klein kaffertjies, as a sign of endearment.
I recall some years ago yelling out in exasperation “O you baboon!” at a rugby game when one of my son’s team mates dropped the ball, missing a certain try.
After the game, I was delicately taken to task (I usually gave lifts to the players and was a faithful fan). It was said that exasperation was acceptable and they were happy for the exchange of hairdresser for baboon.
I suppose one should not use even that as exasperated critique at a rugby match these days….
I am sure if I called my wife a cabbage, she would resent it, yet in France it is a term of endearment.
In a change of direction we see that Sam Kerr, who has an Indian grandmother, was arrested for calling a cop a stupid white bastard.
I wonder which word makes it an insult ?
There is a whole list of ethnic slurs in Google for almost every country or ethnicity: quite enetertaining reading and in a way an account of history.
Identity slurs have become a political weapon, capable of being exaggerated and sensationalised until the fallout stuns the nation. How did simple words get so over inflated into righteous causes? You bitch is not a nice thing to say; you black/white bitch is a mortal sin, likely to entrance the nation for a week!
Back in the day, if one was insulted, one returned the insult or biffed the insulter on the nose or walked away. Now we huff and puff and the house is blown down by the selective Mother Grundy zealots determined to impose their values and solutions on our world. And the media pumps it up with suitable tones of horror and barely suppressed outrage.
What happened to “Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words will never harm you”??
It really is a matter of choice – but there seems to be so much ado about nothing!!
It is time that the nanny response to such small stuff is shelved and we need some brave politicians and editors to say so.
A hen had just laid and egg and proclaimed her pride and satisfaction for all to hear, as I passed on my early morning ride.
I again feel sad that I have no live chickens of my own. In urban areas, roosters are not permitted because of their intemperate calls. I was given some substitutes as a consolation, but sadly, they are silent, eat no caterpillars and don’t poo on the lawn.
Personally, I am an early riser, so am grateful for cock crows at dawn. When there is a full moon rising, I am delighted when vigilant roosters are fooled, thinking here comes the sun”!!
We fed weeds to our chickens when we were young; always keeping a look out for the head rooster, Mziki, who was a beautiful, vicious bastard! We fed him a dead boomslang and he choked on it and died. My Dad was very sad, so he was buried and not eaten. We tried to be sad…
Tsabetse, our convict gardener, was the chicken executioner. We youngsters were enthralled. He would catch the convicted fowl, place its head under its wing and turn a circle three times, disorienting the bird. He then stretched its neck on a wood block and chopped its head off.
Once, he let the body go too soon and it lurched to its feet, headless, tottered around gouting blood, scattering us like sparrows, squealing and twittering!
Swazis take great pride in the beauty of their chickens and some have acquired proud long legged Malay Game fowl. The Malay Game cock has a vicious hooked beak, and spurs like lances.
Back in the day, my elder brother and friends spent hours driving to remote kraals to buy prize specimens for secret, nefarious entertainment.
They had cockfights.
Blood and feathers and the guilty joy of indulging in a prohibited activity. We youngsters were enthralled, revulsed and fascinated, proud to be allowed to watch, but slightly appaled too.
That practice was ended on threat of prosecution after a complaint by some Mother Grundy. He/she probably doesn’t like boxing either!
My younger brother also loves chickens and he taught me the danger call: a Crrrrrrrk! uttered from the back of the throat, which sends all the hens scuttling under cover, with one eye skyward, looking for the chicken hawk.
His chicken run on his bushveld farm has to be pretty robust to resist attacks from pythons and egg eaters such as the imbolwane, a mongoose, which once provided much entertainment, when the chicken man had to catch it.
I was very happy to see feral gamefowl and bantams on roadsides in New Zealand.
Chickens are wonderful – they provide eggs and meat to many across the world. They are beautiful, make economical pets, eradicate garden pests while fertilising it in the process.
This word has been echoing in my mind of late. I am concerned as I cannot figure why it is there.
Do I have some deep seated resentment? Who is the subject cause? It’s always a person, of course. If it’s not a person, then it’s God and He/She is not a good choice for blame.
Resentment is a secret feeling, cousin to envy and jealousy. I feel bad because I have been mistreated (not my fault, of course) or I haven’t got what I want, what others have.
I suppose it is akin to pride, the worst sin. It is based on comparism – one can only judge one’s own worth in the light of others. It is a failure to examine one’s own position and accept that we are the authors of our own fortune.
It takes honesty and courage, which are not easy, as they are quite easy to evade. Rationalisation as to why I failed becomes a habit and that’s where resentment sneaks in the door. Shifting the blame … it wasn’t me…
Meditation and introspection can help. But the mind is so agile it will pick up speed and leap over any awkward lumps in the way, unless you brake and reverse and re-examine them, this time wearing your glasses.
If you don’t deal with resentment, it festers and can blow up in an uncontrolled confrontation, or implode in a dark depression …. neither good for you or your loved ones.
“Never talk to strangers” was an admonition for young children. It was intended as a caution to be wary of the unknown; a portmanteau of the plethora of advice/warnings a parent gives: don’t take lollies from a stranger, don’t go anywhere with a stranger, don’t get in a stranger’s car…..
Seems to be still good advice. Take care with the unknown.
When a stranger wanders into our housing estate, warnings and photos are posted on community websites. I usually go out and ask if I can help.
My intention is primarily to help, but also to confront, to say I have seen you, so if you intend mischief, know you are being watched…
Europe, the US, Australia and South Africa are magnets for strangers who pour into their perceived rich territories, fleeing their less comfortable homelands.
The generation which has been taught that diversityand inclusion are holy duties and moral imperatives, faces political turmoil and dilemma as their homeland is flooded by alien peoples who have nothing and need support.
Suddenly refugees receive more support than pensioners, hospital access is clogged, crime rates increase with increasing unemployment. Welfare and employment of native citizens is vastly diminished…
In London, the last census reports a minority of white British people in 22 out of 33 boroughs …
In the Midlands of UK, churches are rapidly being converted to mosques.
The US Presidency will likely be decided by who will keep the most refugees out of the country. Many European countries are seeing political swings to the right because of the lack of political xenophobia.
In South Africa massacres of foreign migrants have to be prevented just 25 years after the end of apartheid. If you are white, you are unlikely to get a job, unless you have an extra special skill or a connection or start your own business., which must have a majority of black employees!
Of course taxpayers object if much of their taxes is spent on people who steal into a country.
Legitimate migrants have to jump through bureaucratic hoops and offer skills and money to be accepted. And God help you if you make a mistake!!
Refugee peasants just need to sneak in by boat and have a better chance of support from the government agencies.
So how can refugees be refused without offending the compelling Social Responsibilty imperatives which now dominate our corporate and political policies? How can we ignore the years of applying affirmative action and employment equity …?
I say we must protect our community by ensuring people who enter can support us and contribute positively and not be a drain on our resources.
Discriminate fairly: scrutinise strangers, ask where are you from, why are you here, what can you offer? before you invite them to stay.
Send the boats back – don’t let them in.
Soft, warm fuzzy attitudes and the inability to say no will ruin your country!
I have just realised that it is Friday and I have not written anything… some may say that is a relief – I acknowledge that I have been ranting lately!
So just a random spray of thoughts.
My week has been dominated by the reading of The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith who you may know is also JK Rowling.
It is a detective novel about a cult/religion which bewitches and fleeces many people. The description of the religion, its dogma and rituals and ability to ensnare intelligent people provides a detailed, thought provoking literary artefact. The worlds of the wizardry in Harry Potter stories and Tolkien’s Middle Earth come to mind.
Her depiction of the ease with which our fellow humans are beguiled and converted to blind faith is all too real. The fact that new cults and religions flourish faster than second hand car salemen retire is a tragedy and clear indication of the need for meaningful spiritualiy in today’s world
There are estimated to be more than 45 000 Christian denominationswith new prophets and witnesses, each with their own interpretation of the Christian God. This suggests religion has been a fertile field for creativity … and a comfortable living?
The story includes the experience of a beloved relative developing dementia, which provoked urgent thoughts about personal life plans and wishes …
Rowling is a serious social commentator and a literary treasure – I love her work.
Onto less valuable artworks…
I wrote this nearly 4 years ago about Married at First Sight:
What morally bankrupt, banal, conscience-less executive producer agreed to that? How can these people justify the immoral drivel they feed into people’s heads . Tempting people with TV exposure and cash to perform questionable, objectionable, offensive and immoral ceremonies is disgusting.
Do you remember the film of the Depression-era dance marathon of the desperate for the amusement of spectators:“They shoot horses, don’t they?” Why don’t they re-open the Colosseum in Rome and feed Christians to lions?
Finally, I despair that it is so easy to divide societies so easily and so damagingly … the Australia Day furore just deepens the chasm opened by the ill-considered Voice referendum.
Herself is away this week, on the otherside of the continent, grandson tending. The house is quiet in an empty way…
It’s getting to the point where I am no fun anymore
I am sorry
Sometimes it hurts so badly I must cry out loud
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes: Crosby Stills Nash & Young
Some time ago, I started collecting quotes and expressions of many different people which resonated with me.
I thought I would share some of them.
There is a lot of stuff to process, take it easy – if you try to swallow it in one lump, indigestion is certain!
The state of our world
“In the West, we have been withdrawing from our tradition-, religion- and even nation-centred cultures, partly to decrease the danger of group conflict. But we are increasingly falling prey to the desperation of meaninglessness, and that is no improvement at all.”
Jordan B. Peterson
For now, just think about how we seem to have the most cowardly, corporatist, incompetent and self-serving ruling elites of any of our lifetimes. And weep.
The core issue is that changing political mores have established the systematic promotion of the unqualified and sidelining of the competent.
James Allan, Spectator
The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
William Butler Yeats
a country perhaps deserves what it tolerates.…
‘There must be no privilege of origin.’
Bob Hawke 30 November 1988
in the world of Woke, or the modern Maoism, the individual must bow to the will of the collective, as determined by the cultural elites. This is a complete perversion of democracy.
In this ‘brave new world’, the media are now our censors. The collective will crush you. Universities are intellectual gulags. Leftwing ideology is our persecutor and our inquisitor. Language has become our jailer, where say the wrong thing and you are branded ‘hateful’, and cast out.
Rowan Dean, Spectator
Welcome to country
It is a story presented to Australians as though we are being granted a privilege to be here despite all of us being equal citizens.
Why is there any special treatment based upon heritage (instead of need)? Why are the majority made to feel as if they are aliens in their homeland?
The re-write of Australia: straight out of the Marxist-Leninist handbook Bryan Phillips
Aboriginal leader and activist university professor Marcia Langton, declared that if the Voice referendum failed there would be no more Welcomes to Country. (She) clearly sees Welcome to Country as a privilege to be bestowed upon grateful trespassers on her people’s land. She would, presumably, be appalled to know that a great many Australians now want to take her at her word, and be left alone.
Terry Barnes, SPECTATOR 20 January 2024
Identity Politics
‘the spiritual consolation provided by the dogmatic assertion of their collective identity’.
‘In effect, identity politics has come to serve as a substitute for religion – or at least for the feeling of self-righteousness that is so commonly confused with religion.’
‘the prevailing cultural-left orthodoxy is one where mind control and group think are enforced… Opinion thus becomes a function of racial or ethnic identity, of gender or sexual preference. Self-selected minority “spokespersons” enforce this conformity by ostracising those who stray from the party line – black people, for instance, who think white.’
Christopher Latsch, 1996
Whether climate alarmism, radical gender and sexuality theory, the evils of Western Civilisation, or society being guilty of white supremacism and misogyny – the battle lines are drawn and any who disagree are vilified, attacked, and in extreme cases cancelled.
Kevin Donnelly The Spectator Jan 2024 with quotes from Christopher Latsch written 28 years ago!
What we need to do
Most of this advice comes from Jordan Peterson who articulates clearly much of what I feel and believe.
Peterson is the man who said no. Peterson upsets academia. Their determination to ‘shut him up’ has little to do with arguments about free speech and everything to do with the fragility of left-wing dogma.
(He) is not the sort of person you can throw a censorial spear at and hope he’ll stay on the ground, bleeding out in a puddle of self-pity. (What an accolade, in my eyes!)
‘Free speech is the mechanism by which we keep our society functioning,’
Peterson was someone tired of the wheel cycling human idiocy back on itself, caked in the muck of failed sadistic empires.
To him, (heckling students) are examples of history’s useless idiots cheering on the iron fist in the mistaken hope it will only smash their ideological opposition.
If there is one lesson to take from the aching bookshelves of humanity, it’s that we learn every lesson the hard way and then promptly forget those lessons.
If facts are hateful, science becomes shackled to political correctness …
A generation of academics have their thoughts held to ransom by an invisible framework of political offence.
As for Australia …Our system of liberty is based on … the goodwill of politicians.
Alexandra Marshall, Flat White January 2024
Quotes to think about
our obligation is to the action, and never to its fruits.
Do not be motivated by the fruit of your actions.
But do not become attached to non-action either.
Extract from Bhagavad Gita
Fear of consequences cannot be a justification for inaction. Duty toward the preservation of the moral order is far more important.
“You’re going to pay a price for every bloody thing you do and everything you don’t do. You don’t get to choose to not pay a price. You get to choose which poison you’re going to take. That’s it.”
“When you have something to say, silence is a lie.”
“If you are not willing to be a fool, you can’t become a master.”
“In order to be able to think, you have to risk being offensive.”
sillysocksonfriday 