On the unhappiness of young Australians:
Adam Ford writes: 91% more likely to experience loneliness than the over 75s — for whom loneliness has long been an established problem. I think it needs to be highlighted how far off the end of the scale those numbers are.
The solution to this is obviously preventing young people from interacting or networking with others on social media. Obviously. I mean no doubt social media is a driver of the trend, but delaying access for a couple of years will do literally nothing. As already noted, building resilience (in people and in the systems) is the only effective policy approach. So of course we’ve gone down the other path.
Jean M writes: Interesting article and report, but I’m wondering… why is there nothing about younger Australians’ intention to have children? I suspect the difference between older and younger Australians would be stark. Surely this is no peripheral issue. There is no society that doesn’t raise children.
Robert Reynolds writes: I think, if I remember correctly, Karl Marx predicted increasing levels of alienation and isolation in the community as capitalism became more exploitative and rapacious. So, I am not overly surprised that this survey finds that: “Young people are far more likely to feel loneliness” and “lack a sense of belonging”.
The only mystery to me is that more people of all ages are not feeling the same. For example, I have had two uninvited telephone calls already today purportedly from financial institutions telling me that I have a substantial debit transaction ready to be deducted from my account and that I should press “1” to authorise it, or to press “2” to speak to an operator should I not want this to happen. One of these calls was from a bank that I have no association with whatsoever.
Let me tell you, as an old geriatric, I absolutely do not feel “a sense of belonging” to a society that allows this and much worse to occur, and to occur as a matter of routine.
I found it interesting to compare my own views and attitudes with those of young people. The only significant difference I could detect was that, unlike the young people, I want immigration to be virtually brought to a halt.
The article was also interesting from the point of view that it helps me to better understand the kind of world that my grandchildren will be growing up in (provided the warmongers and assorted mass murderers in the Pentagon and Washington DC don’t destroy us all first).
On Dutton’s Trumpian migrant rhetoric:
Marilyn Hoban writes: Peter Dutton has spent the last two years blaming migrants for all the ills facing Australia from housing to traffic congestion, knowing full well that he is only scaremongering.
Recently we had the privilege of visiting my granddaughter’s school fete. Her school is a bilingual Spanish-English school catering to local Australians and those from South and Central America. The atmosphere was vibrant, from the Colombian, Mexican and Spanish food on offer to the music being performed by local choirs and the involvement of the whole school community. It was a magnificent snapshot of what immigration can do for this country.
Well-thought-out immigration policies enrich us all.
Vera Poole writes: I suggest everyone should read Gareth Hutchens’ “Does Australia have much control over temporary migration“ on ABC to realise that there are no easy solutions. Temporary migration (I’m not opposed to it) is very much at the centre of the difficulties faced by current, previous and future governments of whatever persuasion and composition.
Tony McIntyre writes: John Howard tripled migration over twenty years ago and we have had a turbo-charged immigration program ever since. It was about twenty years ago when house prices started to skyrocket. That is not a coincidence.
This massive immigration program was meant to supply workers. The reality is that it has increased demand for workers more than it has supplied workers. The economic benefits are grossly over-exaggerated — I read a report that suggested they average about zero. Some people and organisations benefit hugely but the rest of us are left with the costs.
It seems John Howard was wrong when he said “we will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances under which they come.” It appears that it is the universities and property developers who decide.
Economists live in a fantasy world where resources are infinite. When I was at university the long-term sustainable population for Australia was calculated at 18 million.
On militarised policing against protesters:
Andi writes: Remember Battlestar Galactica?
Captain William Adama: “There’s a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.”
