Quote Originally Posted by Puckstop31 View Post
I do not support just shutting off the switch in one day. It took generations to create this mess, it will take at least one to turn it around. And by 'switch' I mean public welfare. There is a place for public welfare I suppose, but it needs to be a scale WAY, WAY smaller than it is now.

<Here is the part where I really piss some people off.>

Taking public support needs to be HARDER. Public support needs to suck so bad that the people will do anything to get off of it. I hear stories all the time of people being offered jobs, but refuse to take them because their unemployment compensation is 'easier'. The support system needs to be something that is rare, awful and most of all TEMPORARY. NOT a generational thing....

I know it sounds mean. Its harsh. BUT, it is the BEST thing for them. The goal of public support systems should be getting people back to self sufficency as soon as possible. That is not the way it works..... Because those people on the dole, still get to vote themselves more.
Trouble is tho, who is going to sort out who really needs public support and who doesn't ???
The aged, the disabled, the sick and infirm, the unemployable, newly arrived immigrants, the freeloaders, the fraudsters, war veterans who are completely nuts (like me) , umarried mothers...etc etc ??? Who will sort them out, and determine who is eligible for welfare, and how much welfare they are to receive ???
Who will draw the line ???? Maybe I should rephrase that question....Who will draw the line and have no chance of ever being re-elected ???

I think we in the western world have created a monster, that is very true.
And yes, I agree with you that we are in a real mess. But that mess has been caused by none other than people like you and I. It's called affluence, and that is very rapidly turning into effluence.
I worked as a builder. People paid me top money to build their houses. I'd buy my hinges and screws at a hardware store....guess what I bought ??
The Aussie brand for $20 a set ??? Or the Chinese set for $2.50 ??? Well, I had to be competitive and maximise my profits just like every other builder in the country. So the owner of Aussie Hinges & Screws goes out of business, the bank forecloses on his house, he and his staff are unemployed and all now receive the dole plus rental support. Go figure.
Yeah, your country is in an economic crisis, the same as Britain and many of the European nations. Australia is booming at the moment, but that will change I'm sure. If only we could all not import more than we can export, then perhaps things will change. You know what Aussies are pissed off about ??? Oil costs us $100 a barrell from Saudi Arabia, and we sell our wheat to them for $10.00 a barrell. Stoopid, isn't it ???