‘We are not an easy-going nation anymore. There are laws for everything – over-ruling common sense.’
When I posted this on social media a little while ago – it sparked spirited commentary:
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Mark Gledhill, Drag Dom, Scott Mooks Hepburn and 32 others like this.
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George Donikian It’s what happens when 11 million becomes 23 million, it’s the price you pay to live in a modern society or community ! Seems tough but understand how thin the veneer of civility really is & then re-assess. Still pretty good.
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Renee Brack It’s an old but true adage: ‘you cannot legislate against stupidity’. We should be encouraging common sense, common garden-variety trouble-shooting and the ability to tell right from wrong with an inner moral compass that points people in the right direction without the need to look outside ourselves for a law. Thinking for ourselves is what makes humanity an interesting species. So why does Australia try and breed it out of the population?
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George Donikian Your perspective is interesting. But ponder this, ever thought you might be assuming too much ! We have created a new empowered breed afraid of nothing and capable of thumbing its nose at anything that purports to limit its excesses. Parenting skills have been skewed & have reached a level where people need to review them. Important to understand ‘ Be a parent first, not their best friend’. We need to teach the difference between whats right & wrong but who does it. Many families struggle to provide a balance to their lives.
Divorces play another part in our new society. You speak of a moral compass, where does that come from, especially as religion seems to play an ever smaller part in our lives ever day. The world is changing at an incredible pace. Technology is allowing us to access material never before available. Abusing technology is rife, which by extension means we’re capable of abusing more people. People will always resent any curbs on how they xpress themselves. Living is pretty easy within the lines. The complaints come thick & fast when we step outside them. Try driving between Melbourne & Geelong, put your car on cruise control & watch just how many well meaning drivers use common sense. People will always push the boundaries. -
Renee Brack Interesting to ponder indeed. I found common sense was mostly developed outside the family structure via meaningful participation in community of which traditional family structure is only one component. And I most certainly would not look at religion to align and calibrate a moral compass. Paradoxes are a part of life. Religion morphs them into hypocrisies. People in the future will giggle at the ignorant religious superstitions of the past and marvel at how many lives were destroyed in the name of the various ‘gods’.
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Mia Luca I only wish our government actually owed our roads opposed to privatisation. And I would like to see a Teenage Youth Scheme introduced that helps young adults develop a real sense of self. Potentially, working toward a more inclusive society regardless of socioeconomic background.
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Mia Luca Our society/ country needs a doctor…. The world is telling us we are unkind and disingenuous. We probably should listen!
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Andy Taylor australia is simply becoming a micro managed, pseudo police state where dis-empowerment is the norm. the family unit has been reduced to a dystopian paradox deemed “antiquated” by the politically correct lawyers and legislators that have taken it upon …See More
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Mia Luca Hey Jesse I do respect your point of view. It is obvious we are living the rat race. A solution is to make ethics or conflict resolution part of the school curriculum. Personally. I believe a child is capable of understanding the principles in primary school. Most parents are too busy to really observe a child’s behaviour. BTW I am sitting by the pool. Cracker of a day!
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Andy Taylor Hey Jesse – a few solutions:
1. Nationalise the banks and remove the Reserve Bank.
2. Re-nationailse public utilities and QANTAS.
3. Make the mining super tax work – they can’t go elsewhere for the minerals.…See More -
Andy Taylor they still exist – they are just stifled by the mainstream media and its corporate owners…
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Jules O’Loughlin I’ve been living and working in South Africa for the past 3 months. What has this made me realise: 1. Australia, especially Sydney, is overpriced, over regulated, over governed and generally the inhabitants are rude and obnoxious. 2. Cape Town is cheap, underegulated, near to no government as far as I can see as they’re busy being corrupt and the inhabitants are super friendly and hospitable. Having said this I probably have 10 times more chance of being killed on the road here and 100 times more chance of being robbed, raped and shot with a firearm. Australians want it all and we whine when we can’t, myself included. I drove through Khayelitsha yesterday, a township of 500,000 people. I saw children carrying buckets of water from the community tap and people lining up to use public toilets. Homes were tin sheds probably smaller than the average Sydney garage. Most Australians don’t know how good they have it. Still, Bondi parking inspectors shit me to tears!
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John Barrie I think people are missing the point. Laws are invented because they are needed, because people don’t and won’t do the right thing off their own bat. Its not 11 million turning into 23 million, there is plenty of space for all. The problem is that codes of behavior have been polluted and muddied and not enforced by communities. There is an obvious reason for that but I will let folks draw their own conclusions. I will say that communities in other countries don’t let this happen, often defending their culture with vigor and sometimes violently.
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I want to thank everyone for sticking their 2 cents into the topic 🙂