by Scott Pape - October 21st 2011
I’M no hippy. But if I were in New York, or Athens, I’d seriously consider camping out at their ‘occupy’ protests.
Why? To shout against a political class that has squandered the wealth of future generations and sold its soul to the wolves of Wall Street.
Yet as I walk the streets of Melbourne I see people happily dancing and beating bongo drums (and that’s just State Parliament House). The Occupy Melbourne protest seems a little more ‘rave’ than ‘rage’.
It got me thinking as I walked past, took a photo, and uploaded it to Twitter. Maybe – in Australia at least – the last 25 years of uninterrupted economic growth have left us, well, kind of soft?
That’s the only conclusion I can come to after spending some time with my grandparents and other octogenarians, hearing about their life experiences. Unlike us, they lived through genuinely tough times.
I’ve got a huge amount of respect for the dignity with which the so-called ‘silent generation’ lived their lives (financially and otherwise). And with all the navel-gazing negativity going on today, let’s draw on some lessons from their lives in the 1930s and 40s:
1. They paid their bills
One of the nicest things I ever heard said about my grandfather was that he always paid his bills on time. For him it was an integrity issue: you were either a man of your word, or you were a crook. Going bankrupt was not an option.
2. They paid in cash
They didn’t have a choice. Credit cards were yet to be invented, and bankers back then behaved like responsible corporate citizens. More than that, people had an aversion to debt, caused by the borrowing binge that preceded the (not so) Great Depression, which was still fresh in their minds.
3. They saved money
The hard times left them with a healthy respect for risk, and this stayed with them – and ultimately served them – even after the economy picked up post World War Two. Saving wasn’t a diversification strategy – it was a survival strategy. These were the days before mass-market consumer credit, so most people simply couldn’t live beyond their means.
4. They fixed stuff
Things were fixed, not thrown away. Both my grandfathers had sheds where they could get away from the missus, have a crafty beer or a fag, listen to the footy, and ‘tinker’. Things were handed down from eldest to youngest. (Maybe they were the first greenies? Sure, let’s go with that.) Shoes were re-soled, socks were darned, dresses were hemmed.
5. They worked hard
With five mouths to feed, there was no time to ‘find themselves’ (let alone protest at the inequities of the world). For both my grandfathers this consisted of manual labour, and while both parents worked long and hard, there was only one income. Second and even third jobs were common.
6. They didn’t expect handouts
The dole was something to be ashamed of, or at least it was for my grandparents. You worked hard, paid your taxes and paid your way. Listening to them, it seems like there wasn’t the entitlement attitude that pervades our politics today. Case in point: remember the outcry last year over families earning $150,000 having their (middle-class welfare) government benefits cut?
7. They lived in modest homes
One of my mate’s grandfathers once told me, “I remember growing up with dirt floors – it was like Christmas when we got carpet – imagine that, being happy with carpet!” They bought what they could afford, then they slowly added ‘mod cons’ like carpet and curtains.
8. They lived through genuinely tough times
I learned this when my grandmother said (out of the blue) that “we skinned rabbits in the old days – whatever it took to make ends meet” (wait – KFC was around even back then?). Still, I understood what she was getting at. There was large-scale unemployment and married women weren’t accepted in the workforce. They simply did what they had to do.
9. They had a sense of community
While Gen Y are the most connected generation in history, it’s commonly cited that they’re also the loneliest. Things seemed to be simpler back then – maybe because there wasn’t a TV piping pipedreams into their homes each night making them feel unworthy. Instead, they lived with dignity, they saved money, and they competed – but on their integrity and their family rather than the ‘stuff’ they had.
10. They created a real legacy
They lived through tough economic times. But, in my family’s case at least, they fostered a steely resilience, and a legacy that lived on long after they were gone. I thought about this as I watched the news reports of the Australian protestors. Most of them couldn’t put their finger on exactly what they were protesting about, but they all seemed to centre on the inequities of life.
Each generation that has followed the ‘silent generation’ has done everything in its power to reduce the risks of life: credit now enables us not to have to stress about living within our means, superannuation means we don’t have to worry about funding our retirement, and populist politicians claim to be able to fix whatever worries are left over – so long as we vote for them.
But it’s impossible to be fully insulated from risks. And even if you could be, you wouldn’t want to. A bit of pain is life’s way of telling you to stop doing dumb stuff – and it’s essential in sharpening our long-term decision-making skills.
So despite all the doom and gloom in the newspapers and the bleating we hear from Tony et al, we need to remember that – right now at the very least – things are pretty bloody good. After all, we’ve got low unemployment, first-class (and basically free) healthcare, subsidised education, and a sitcom that takes the piss out of the Prime Minister.
Or, as an old bloke once said to me: “Life isn’t fair, and if you expect it to be, well, what you need to do is get a bucket, a spade and some concrete and harden up, cupcake.”
Tread Your Own Path!
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62 comments
Great stuff Scott, love your web page and all you work!
Well said, I can well understand why many people in the city’s you mentioned are protesting.
I do think however, that the situation in Australia is a little different. The occupy Melbourne protesters seem to be taking a stand because they’re sick of living in paradise. I’m 25 and following your advice and will soon have a house deposit ready to buy a cheap small house or unit in the suburbs. And the best part is, its possible for any working young person to do if they are smart about how they go about things.
The problem is many Gen Y’s either don’t want to work for the man, or are happy to work, but demand overseas holidays every 6 months and a new $40k car ever 18 months. Then they whinge that houses are too expensive. I’m happy to leave my office job behind for a few weeks in my paid in cash 2001 commodore and head up the coast with my missus
Things are bloody good in this country and I can’t understand the need for protest unlike our friends in Athens
Amen……
But I can still whinge if I don’t get my fourth baby bonus right?
Right on Scott!!! Life is good in Australia. It seems that the only people who really appreciate it are migrants who have generally come from disadvantaged societies.
Thanks Scott, I needed this today. Sometimes it feels like life is too fast, too consumer competitive and too superficial. The values of our grandparents generation, and the integrity and honesty with which they lived their lives, is something we need to aspire to. I’m going to stick this list up on my wall as a constant reminder of what’s important. Thanks.
One of your best ever Scott. My son would like to throw all those banking executives and execs of S&P, Moody’s etc. into Guantanamo Bay and he hasn’t lost a cent because of them. Any historic novel you read has the same history lessons. The richer you are, the less you payI think we needy another bloody French Revolution.
Interesting post, but not sure what you are getting at relating a protest against global corporate greed and how “tough” our fore fathers had it.
Most people seem to think the Occupy movement is about entitlement, however I see it more as putting an end to a broken system that only propagates corporate greed over human rights.
The movement even seems to be finding a voice and good direction for their call to action.
Yes Scott, You drive a very good point in relation to postmodernism that surrounds today’s societies thinking of individualism and capitalism gone made. Aside the ‘ism’s’ I am wondering if now that the world crisis has created a much needed ‘correction’ to how we can begin start taking control of our own ‘lot’ and not be influenced by the media and commerce so we can empower ourselves to be a better person and be a valued member of society rather than a burden.
Both my parents lived through the depression and instilled the same 10 items you talk about. Sadly they never get passed on throught the generations. So, lets hope your article drives home some ‘truths’ about the simple things in life.
Top stuff, Scott. Life was excatly that for my parents and grandparents generations. “Tough? Luxury…we used to get up in a morning at ten o’clock at night, half an hour before we went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, then work at mill for 25 hours a day, 8 days a week, and pay mill owner to work there and when we got home our dad would kill us and jump on our graves and shout hallilujah!”
From the Four Yorkshirmen skit by the Monty Python crew.
And all this from a shoe box in t’ middle of road!
But you try and tell that to the young people of today and they don’t believe a word
I left Australia 5years ago and ended up in Ireland at the end of their incredible housing boom. When the crash came our rent dropped by 20% overnight. Good for me, bad for the landlord. Many of my Irish colleagues almost overnight lost €50,000+ in their home value. Taxes up 10% + routine pay cuts of 5%. They’re now clinging to their jobs in the hope they can get their loans right side up over the next 5-10 years. You can imagine the impact this has on the risks you’d take in your career and personal life (travel, having a baby) when you have to hang onto your job or drown in debt. A sad situation that didn’t have to happen. It seems Australia is headed more for a housing malaise than a crash. I for one am in no rush to hand my savings over. Ours is in the mail – When the baby boomers reverse mortgage to pay for their nursing homes supply will rocket. The rest of the world has been smashed by the GFC. China is about to slow and with it will go the fly in fly out home purchases used to transport savings out of China. I live in Hong Kong now and the market is quietly softening as the mainland hits the brakes. Australia has 26m people, the US has 350m. our dollar is worth more than theirs?! Whatever happens now is the time to hit the pause button and save.
The most important reason to have some mojo money and a bucket for 3 months of expenses. In this type of environment, that money can actually become more valuable that it was when you put it away, especially if a depression comes rolling in.
Spot on today Scott.
Apart from the bit about joining the Occupy Protest.
My Grandfather fought in the 1st World War, my Father in the 2nd. They lived through all the last century had to offer and had a real dignity about them. They lived modestly and weren’t obsessed with possessions. Both were born before the advent of antibiotics, people actually died from what we would consider minor infections. My father lost 2 siblings at an early age and when the family fell on hard times he was put into an orphanage, age 6, until he was 13 when he could get a job and contribute to the family income so he could go home. Credit was a necessary evil and restricted to buying a home, or major purchases. Neither man complained about what they had or didn’t have, and somehow through it all raised and provided for their families without the government joining in.
I am sure they considered me to be soft, privileged and undeserving, but now in my 50′s I at least have a strong sense of personal responsibility that seems to be lacking in newer generations. I recently had a conversation with a Gen X and a Gen Z, it went like this.
“How was your day” Answer from Gen X ( a shop worker)- “Great – I thought we were going to be quiet but I was busy all day and took over $3000 which is great for this time of year”. The same question posed that evening to a Gen-Z answer “Awesome – we did nothing all day and STILL got paid”
The drift to achieving nothing and taking no responsibility surely can’t continue?
Dear Peter
Please don’t make generalizations about generations. They are made up of individuals, for every Gen Zer you know whom might be unmotivated I could you one that isn’t.
In addition how would an individual Gen Z end up with no idea about money and no motivation and sense of personal responsibility perhaps a failure on the part of their parents (a baby boomer couple no doubt) to instill these values.
The we are individuals argument is a bit of a cop out, when someone generalises they are refering to the average. For example there are more GenYs who think the world owes them something than say there are GenXs who think that, sure not all GenY’s think that but more do than previous generations.
Fair comments Raymond not everyone is the same, they are our children and they learned from us. Nonetheless the quoted comments are factual and typical of the sort of comments made by pretty much everyone in my social group. It could just be us, it certainly is stereotyping…but then again there is a lot of truth in stereotypes.
MJ and Peter
The stereotype you allude to is the oldest of them all.
“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”
Socrates 400 BC
You guys are in good company.
How can you blame the parents, young adults need to take responsibility for themselves and harden up… I am sick of being blamed for some young persons failure to harden up!!!
One point that I want to make is why “Occupy Wall Street movement” is so important . Here is the scenario : 10 people borrowed money from bank ( Bank didn’t check if they are able to afford or not ) => Covert this 10 loans into fancy name called “security” ( but here is the catch they are not just putting it as a 10 loans but as much as 50 times of that (commercial banks can have that much “leverage”) ) => Now out of those 10 loans 6 are not able to repay (Why ? They didn’t have enough credit in the first place) => bank “securities ” are proving to be just a junk papers ( Banks didn’t did their homework in the first place) => Bank goes to government asking please give us money because we screw up => Government uses taxpayer money & raises tax to pay for the mistakes of banks => At the end the average income earner is suffering. The whole point is why should I pay for a BIG bank who messed up its own business by not accessing the risk properly and in the first place in this risky game to make more money for its own sake ?
Great post. It’s the modest living and make do and mend attitude I particularly like about this generation. And they didn’t own a lot of *stuff* – for most of her childhood my grandmother had an every day dress and a best one and one pair of boots and that was it.
I think part of the problem is that the following generation rebelled against the privation they had experienced in the Depression and wartime and consequently didn’t pass down that frugal mentality and the skills needed to make it work, so we’re going to have to relearn it the hard way. (I’m really blessing the time spent with my grandmother when she taught me how to darn and mend clothing and make cheap meals from scratch.)
In the 70s and 80s there was a lot of emphasis on convenience as women went out to work in large numbers, and those skills were further lost. As we become cash poor, but maybe more time affluent, it’s going to be time to relearn some of those traditional skills.
Unfortunately, the people today who save and have an aversion to debt are screwed over by the banks who happily shovel debt out the door to any buffoon willing to bid up houses to ridiculous prices. Then when this circus looks like falling over, the government steps in to protect the reckless idiots.
My best protest is spending the minimum amount of money I can – needle and thread to the holy socks – and I hope others do the same.
Gen Y/Z can’t be blamed for the way they turned out, as mister Myagi says “no bad student, just bad teacher”.
I’m in my 30′s and remember the pre-Howard years, Australia was still the good old days then, but once the free money started to flow i.e middle class welfare, cheap credit and apparently easy risk free capital gains from property Howards battlas became the “asperational” voters: translated “greedy, selfish, wannabes”.
Tradies in the pub stoped talking about beer and babes and started using terms like capitalised and equity, then we had the asset accumulation competition with who had the largest plazma or who had the largest 4×4.
Before those times I didn’t think that politicians had much influence over societies values but looking at what happened then and the boat people drama now, I realise they do.
If you want a country where community and old school values still matter then you have to stop voting for which ever political party hands out the most cash at election time.
At the moment the only party left who has any decency is the Greens, I’ve never voted for them before but definately will next election.
Right, on brother!!!
Dear Scott,
I’m going to preface by saying I think you are fantastic, read your blog religiously and even saw your presentation kindly put on by HOST PLUS this week. By general definition I am not a hippy either (ok, well maybe deep down), I work a corporate job and save and spend like most other people. I think the section of this article about the financial lessons from your grandparents is great, HOWEVER I believe you would have a very different picture of ‘the softness’ these protests had you been there today. To be in a group of over 100 people, from all walks of life, sitting on the road in the intersection of Collins and Swanston was nothing short of breath-taking. And for this group; hippies, punks, suits etc to be so resolved that trams had to be sent back in their opposite direction and traffic came to a stand-still until people were pushed and shoved out of the way by police takes something a little more than soft. Peaceful protest should be encouraged (even if it involves a little bongos and incense) and while rage is sometimes necessary, it’s use allows for the message to be trivialised due to those delivering the message being categorised as violent extremists. Occupy Melbourne isn’t about how good we’ve got it or how bad things are – it’s about highlighting that even in our supposed enlightened society there is still a disgusting level of inequality and a great big financial system that supports it.
Ps. If you are in Melbourne today you should really get down there again – I promise you will change your mind!
By refusing to leave any place, public or private, after an eviction notice is served then you force the police to enforce the law. These “peaceful” protesters forced force to be used by not obeying a lawful command to cease and desist.
Its no different than the person who is resisting arrest being upset when violence is used to arrest them.
Btw, most of the inequality is self inflected. If someone on the old age pension can save money and have annual overseas holidays, then its not a case of anyone in Australia not getting enough, its a case of people not using what they get to the best advantage. Btw, this isnt a made up person, its my Mum who is on the full old age pension. This year she even had the hotwater service die and she replaced it from the money she had saved.
Dear Jane,
Your comment is a perfect example of uneducated middle-class white bread ignorance. Try telling indigenous Australians in NT that the only inequality in Australia is self-inflicted. As for the protestors – the only law broken was a section of the Activities Act (Vic) that states that you may not camp in, or hang things from, a public place. If the sole intention of the Police was to uphold the law they could have just asked the protestors to remove their tents and belongings. It’s a PUBLIC SPACE. Even if you really are a living breathing example of the popular economic theory that humans only care for their own self interest (as the case appears to be) you should have been down there defending their right to demonstrate because, my dear, an attack on their civil liberties is an attack on the civil liberties of us all. Although I understand you were probably to busy writing letters to Today Tonight.
Ps. You seem to have misspelled self-inflicted – unless of course you were simply musing over our ability to change our form to change our meaning like we do with words i.e.: ‘self inflected’.
Cheers
Sarah
Hi Sarah
Did you mean white bred ignorance with bred being used as born and raised, or did you mean white bread ignorance as you spelt it, with bread being a mixture of flour, water, yeast etc baked in an oven.
I have not heard the term white bread ignorance and couldn’t find any authoritative source when I googled it.
Oh and by the way you are correct about the occupy protest being held in a public space, the problem was the 100 protestors were preventing the public from using it. You were asked to move on, you refused and invited the action taken.
Maybe you should learn the world does not revolve around you and your half baked political ideas.
Ah, the irony!
Peter, “white bread” is a common perjorative term meaning boring, straight, unimaginative as in “she’s such white bread”…ie no interesting chewy bits.
Let’s not let this discussion degenerate into a (yawn) “my spelling/vocab/grammar is better than yours” one-up-manship.
Your Mum is to be applauded for living within her means, and hopefully the many readers who leave there comments on this site will take heed of the need for frugality,
ie, live within your means.
It’s all true Folks!
Scott, You got these words of wisdom from your grandparents.
I got them direct from my parents who were both born in the early 1920′s.(I was the youngest in a large family)
It is disheartening to see the selfish greed and lack of community around these days.
I loved your article Scott. I have a great respect the “silent generation” of my grandparents, and often think to myself that I would have preferred to have lived in their time. I know they didnt have the gadgets we all deem so vital now, nor the health care we benefit from, nor the travel opportunities, but still it seems to me that life was simpler and more real. Who knows if I’d change my mind about wishing to trade places if I really knew how hard things were back then, but I definitely know my generation (I’m 38) could learn a lot from how they lived. I like to think I have a little of my grandparents life lessons carried on through me – I saved up and bought my first car with cash – it was 14 years old when I bought it, and then I drove it myself for 15 years – it was old but did the job and I loved it. I’ve always been a big saver of money and have no debt except my small mortgage. I mend things – perhaps too much! (as I tend to “hoard” all sorts of things as they might be useful). You highlighted to me my lack of community involvement though – this is something I should remedy.
I think you’re right, we really don’t know what doing it tough is. Leonie
my little italian granny would laugh in these people’s face. She sewed 8 pairs of pants a day for 50 years (and for a pittance) and I’ve never heard her complain about anything, and she has many things worthy of complaint.
I do agree, however, that America is not in a good way at all socially and I hope they keep going with the fragmented protests
The sole reason this crisis is happening and about to get worse, is because of the corruption of Wall St, and the US government which has been bought out by Wall St and the bank institutions. They created laws to benefit themselves, and they have made alot of money.
The bank bailouts effectively moved Tax payer money, back to the hands of the Banks… This is a huge transfer of wealth and one of the biggest robbery in history. Its also funny how know one has been prosecuted, because the government is in bed with the people that did this.
All this will soon come to a head, but the people that created dont care because they made there millions/billions.
I dont think Australia is as corrupt as the US, but when they go down, the world will as well.
Yes! About time someone pointed out the fact that we have it incredibly good – esp compared with the rest of the world.
Maybe that’s why they’re protesting – we feel guilty about living it up while the rest of the world flounder.
I was actually thinking about that phrase the other day re the Carbon Tax – (said with Chopper Read accent) ‘Don’t want to pay for the pollution you create? Harden the f*ck up, Australia!’
I would agree with absolutely everything you’ve said here (and have grandparents who did experience the depression, so remember my granny darning stockings, saving bits of soap etc etc) except… you rarely have one person at home anymore to do the “making do” stuff because it takes two salaries to support a mortgage. I grew up in an extremely hard-up family, and I have to say I do shake my head like a grandparent at what kids think of as a right.
Just so you know where this view is coming from – I’m 21, my parents have money (I most certainly don’t) and I have had a great upbringing. Never paid for a thing until I moved to America after high school. I’m back in Aus now and have been for over a year. (Just need to get that out of the way first.)
Now, it’s all well and good for us to say “many Gen Y’s either don’t want to work for the man, or are happy to work, but demand overseas holidays every 6 months and a new $40k car ever 18 months” (sorry to single your comment out, Mick, but I’m sure many would agree with this) but if this is what’s important to people today, then who is to say this is wrong? If I am honest, the main reason I go to work every morning is so I have money to buy expensive things with. Is this wasting money? I save a good chunk of my income each week, so I would say absolutely not.
The problem isn’t the obsession with material goods, not even in the slightest. The problem is in how some go about getting these things and something HAS to be done here. That’s all – we don’t need to convince people (read: my cohort) that we have to live like our grandparents did. We just need to convince them that if you want expensive things, it means you get less of them. More needs to made about the fact that, if at 18 you go to the bank for an expensive car loan, this means you have to go without owning a house, without big holidays, without expensive dinners, without nights at the pub with your friends (whatever the ‘without’ is) for the length of the loan. It’s a simple as that. If everyone thought like this, then only the people that really want the car would do this (and they deserve it if they sacrifice everything else for a car.)
Someone needs to be heard even more vocally than you Scott… debt is never the answer. But even more importantly, “going without” isn’t the only only way around debt!!!!!
Anyone (working) can afford to pay off an expensive car (within reason.) Anyone can afford to pay off a $10,000 bender through Europe. (Again, anyone working.) It takes a fair wad of cash each week to do both. Especially if you plan on leaving the house in the next 7 years. So just pick one, not both.
I guess my point is the message shouldn’t be telling me and others my age that we CAN’T have expensive holidays and we CAN’T have nice cars that go fast enough to get them taken off us by the police a few months from now.
There is nothing WRONG with wanting a $5,000 TV and nothing WRONG with wanting the $89 a week Foxtel package. That’s want young people want today. We just can’t have everything, so pick one. I picked holiday.
Would be interested to know thoughts/responses from others in other situations…
I agree there’s nothing wrong with wanting or having those things, but the only issues is I hear people my age (mid 20′s) saying (and whinging to death) that it’s impossible to save up a house deposit but they’re driving a new luxury car and renting a mansion. My car was $10 grand which I paid cash while I was at uni, I go on a good Holiday each year (paid in cash not with borrowed money) and somehow the Australian dream of owning a home is not impossible, it’s 12 months away. All this on just shy of $50k single income
Scott,
You totally reminded me of my grandparents and my best mate. There was no late bill payments and expecting someone else to pick up the tab; there was no whinging, just a “harden up son” attitude.
I couldn’t help smiling so much reading this. Thanks for the reality check and reconnection with simpler, straight forward living. Definitely gets me back on track.
Ha, ha, ha, my 26 yr. old son is sitting her whinging his dinner isn’t cooked. It’s a Friday night & he too needs to harden up, grow up & move on! I wonder if he’d like this Scott
One thing we as a nation should harden up on is a bit of constructive re-regulation. Over the past 30 years or so, we have de-regulated virtually every public-owned enterprise, especially utilities, and basically given carte-blanche to every pirate who can stump up venture capital (usually borrowed). A lot Mum & Dad investors own a few shares in some of these sold-out industries (which belonged to the people in the first place), but the collective economic benefit to the individual small shareholders does not come even close to the collective cost to the nation, especially considering how much dividend income is also paid out overseas. Queensland is the classic case; back in the 70′s and early 80′s, it was the richest State, and the Qld Govt was the biggest single shareholder in most of the State’s industries. Compare that with the current state of play – 30 years of pissing it up against the wall, with asset-sale proceeds being used to fund an expanding Nanny State. Oh yes, it’s time to harden up.
Great comments scott . These days the materialistic marketing machine states that success is being rich, having lots of stuff and getting more. Case in point that story about that chinese girl that was left on the road after 2 cars hit her. China is seen as the richest country in the world, the citizens as some of the hardest working and studying in the world, and yet…..18 of them walked past a wounded child. Hmmm, maybe this is a wake up call where we are headed. We need to look at our morality first before having a winge about our finances, and rate our success at how well our kids are grounded and taught by us, instead of all the cool stuff we can buy them. Yes you are right, your parents/grandparents did it tough, but most could hold their heads high. We are soft, care free and have enough time where depression is one of the biggest illnesses of western society. In africa they don’t have time to be depressed, they are too busy surviving. We need to do away with welfare, get everyone employed or working for the dole (not just rocking up for interviews) and taking a look around at where we are in the world, and thank God we are Australian.
Hi Scott and gang.
What a good reminder of how blessed we are.
I have several challenges in the financial area right now but when I talk to my Dad who grew up in the depression, I am forced to change my perception of how challenged I really am and what is just brainwashed capitalism. We clearly live in the best place on earth in so many ways and its good to not get what you want occasionally or wait for something. It grows us on the inside.
Igot rid of creditcards 4 years ago and we have 5 kids and have never gone without. What an allusion credit is and what a lie!
Thanks for your help Scott. It is Australian to give out like you do and help without return.
Dave B.
I totally agree with your well written article in the Herald Sun Scott, i was born in 1940 so experienced the hardships of that era.
But as you pointed out we learned to cope and be resourseful and appreciate the little things in life and hpefully develop a backbone. Cheers.
So true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Too much welfare is given in this country and people’s sense of entitlement is out of control. Life is wonderful when you live within your means. Happiness is about being grateful for what you have got. I fully support the government’s attempt to reduce welfare as long as those in genuine need don’t lose out. I live comfortably on my slightly less than average wage – you just need to budget!
This article reminded me of my great-auntie telling me how they used to save up the scraps of butter in the Great Depression… but they were well-off… most people didn’t have butter.
Clive Hamilton’s book “Affluenza” has a really interesting discussion about the great Aussie bbq… it used to be some bricks and a grill that you put together yourself for nothing… now people go to BBQs Galore to get a $2000 grill/wok/roast/woodfired pizza oven “out door room” friendly thingamebob… it’s interesting how people’s perceptions of needs and wants has changed.
He also has a really interesting discussing of house sizes vs family sizes… when did an “entertainment room” become a necessity?
It seems to me that when we whinge, the politicians listen. They want to chase votes. When we work hard and insulate ourselves from politics, the politicians are no longer accountable to the people, and that is when they start to siphon off public money to their banker friends.
In America the top 1 per cent earn $500,000 per year. The top 0.1 per cent earn $2,000,000 per year. In terms of distribution of wealth, America is the fifth most unequal country in the world. And yet the bankers there get bailed out if their business goes wrong.
Capitalism doesn’t work in practice because capitalists eventually hijack government to implement socialism for themselves.
In 1974 just after gold was disconnected from monetary currency an elderly Perth economist named John McKay predicted that the world monetary system would one day implode but only after: 1. all world monetary systems had been directly connected via computers in a giant international circle 2. almost all currencies had been dissolved into less than a handful. 3. The day the banks realized that no bank actually had any deposits but rather they were all carrying debt. On that day – when no-one could say: ” It’s okay – I’ve got the money” (because money had become a column entry not a convenience replacement note for the gold in the vault – thus extinguishing the practice of rolling trolleys of bullion between bank vaults – as used to happen under the streets of London) the music will stop.
You speak to me on so many levals mate, Barefoot for PM!
Dear Scott
I was born in 1964 – so forgive me but I am not one of the ‘silent generation’. I am a product of the values and culture of the timeframe in which I have lived. Unfortunately for us we were born in a time when community means alot less then for the ‘silent generation’ (with good reason) and credit was introduced to stimulate economies by political leaders at the time over 20 years ago. These influential factors were beyond any indvidual’s or group’s ability to change. My husband and I have been married for 22 years earning modest incomes, only 1 vehicle, don’t smoke, don’t drink or gamble, don’t buy crap and have a modest house – no children. With full employment we have only managed to to accrue modest superannuation balances which will only give us a less than modest life in retirement. We have never had handouts from government or anybody else. I’m not complaining but sometimes I do understand others who live for the moment – life can be short and as I get older it becomes blatantly obvious that like with most things the system does not allow the average person to be ‘worry free’ when it comes to finances. For most of us we are on this merry-go -around until our last breath. I wait for the day when just a little certainty can return to our modest lives. Of course there are a few amongst us – the 1% – who can afford to live alot less modestly.
well as usual you ve hit the nail on the head!!! Hedonism in the west has got to stop…
my only comment is that not all of us in the $150K income bracket are able to get clever accountants to hide income and reduce our take home money to get their hands on baby bonuses and
reduced child care fees!!! Leave that to the even more wealthy (who in my opinion always look for ways to not pay higher wages or tax while the rest of us slog it out…)
Oh and I forgot to say that I have just read all the comments preceding mine and us Aussies are really a good hard working lot!!! I am so proud my parents left their own troubled country and had their little family in this greatly blessed yet under rated country!!! Aussie aussie aussie, Oi Oi Oi !!!
As far as I’m concerned, if you come to this country, count your blessings, don’t listen to all the people telling you how to milk the system, but have a real go like my grandparents and parents who LOVE this place while still having a soft spot for their motherlands
Scott,
I think that the “occupy protests” manifested in different ways around the world. First it was Greece (violently). Later, globally (relatively peacefully) and the issues are “mismanagement of peoples money”, “greed”, “99% Vs 1%” and “power Vs limited power”. That is my opinion.
JohnM
A really refreshimg read Scott.
At 64 I am a Boomer. From age 29 we put 18 % of our gross (whilst raising and educating three children) into super (Self Managed) in what we considered ethical investments for 24 years. This enabled SELF FUNDED retirement from age 53. Now I hunt and gather (go fishing) chase white maggots (golf balls) and fix things Gen X and Y throw away, I then sell them on Ebay to help fund overseas travel every second year.
If geny Y want it now, help create fair community, work hard and plan for your future by contributing to it.
By the way. observing my heritage (parents) come out of the post war rebuild had a lasting and positive influence on my directions.
First time poster, long time reader. Like most my mates – around 40, we live in SE Melbourne suburbs, couple of kids in a catholic primary school, work in the CBD, other half might do 10-20 hours a week – most of us are at stage 1 of frugality since 2009. That is we changed – we have stopped buying lunch at work and go to a CBD supermarket, we monitor our spending, save for things we need (yeah, a QLD holiday), fix things and help each other with our skills, take the kids to parks & the beach , credit cards to zero and I am back drinking VB !! No longer are we tossers. We finally learnt our house is not an ATM. Now, if it gets worse we enter stage 2 of frugality . Brown bags to work, get rid of 2nd car and bus or bike to train station, holidays camping, & coupons. We will all survive and I have never been happier.
Scott, with no disrespect, if these generations were so much better than mine at managing their money, and despise handouts so much, how come they’re all (mostly) collecting the pension? Why did none of them save for retirement, given the pension was something they didn’t want? How come my grandparents and many of their friends never managed to pay off a home?
And baby boomers – between your free education and housing affordability and no CGT and booming economy and negative gearing, please don’t presume your wealth is due to your wit alone.
Try being in a generation where housing costs are 7 times the average annual income, where you start out life with tens of thousands of dollars of debt from your education and families simply cannot afford to have children. It’s not about plasma screens – our family lives very simply in a fibro house and drive a 15 year old car.
Wow, this was great to read. It’s great because it’s an honest article and puts things into perspective. I’m 32 and only just now thinking about a savings plan. When I was younger, I thought sure I’ll do the savings thing… but after a lot of bad spending habits and traveling around a lot (my motto, you only life once… why not see the world). This was when I actually had money in the bank. In the space of one year, my savings had evaporated…i then asked myself – what happened? Then I read your article and it all made sense.
Scott I gave my son your Book, plus $1,000 small portfolio for his 21st b/day 4 years ago. He has continually made f/nightly payments into his portfolio and is doing well. Your book + a savvy Mum (even if I say so myself), has given him the foundation to make his way financially in life – thanks for your “no nonsense” approach, its much appreciated. Another book on the way perhaps??
Cheers MM
Hey Margaret,
Look out for a new book next year!
Barefoot Ben
Hello BFI,
Just wanna say I’m a big fan of your work and what you do – helping people is a really noble cause. Keep at it man!
Although I agree with you that we have it pretty damn good here, I don’t think that we live in a perfect country. I am someone that supports the occupy movement, and I did so by attending one of the occupy movements here in Australia. The reason why I did is not to protest our way of life (seriously, we have it so good here it’s crazy. My dad has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer not that long ago, and the medical care that he is receiving from the government is amazing. If we were in America, he would be dead by now. We really should have a national “Kiss a public servant” day), but to protect what we have, and show the people at the other end of the globe that their actions are being heard even though traditional media is staying far, far away from it.
Someone said that if the people are happy with their way of life (house, car, job, flatsceen TV with an automatic beer disposing unit), they are more likely to turn a blind eye on your other wrong doings. And it’s true. Although it is an amazing place that we live in, there are things around us that can be improved on – Aboriginal well-being, the way we treat refugees, and how we treat our environment. A big issue that I have is our blind faith in the mining sector, and how much love and adoration we pour into it (I’m from WA, so this sentiment might be a bit more visible over here then in the eastern states). There is talk of fracking being implemented in our south-eastern region/Margaret River, and the reasoning is that since we have so much natural resource, then why not exploit it – it doesn’t matter that this action could potentially contaminate drinking water, farm land and destroy the eco-system that we have (I would much rather show my future kid a beautiful forest as opposed to a fracking well). But we don’t care. We don’t give a damn. As long as I have my house, my car, and my interest rate doesn’t go up, then I don’t care. And that’s a big shame (watch Gasland – that nightmare could be our reality).
The other issue that means a lot to me is the media ownership here in Australia – I really do not like the fact that 70% of Australian print media belongs to just one person – Rupert Murdoch. I feel that the public/us, we should be able to hear/see news and coverage for what it truly is – not what the corporate man that owns it want you to see. A few months back, there was the possibility that Murdoch would’ve gain control over one of our public news outlets (the source of content for our nations’ ABC), and if it wasn’t for people like me and other hippy ‘occupiers’ sending petitions to our communication minister Mr. Conroy, we would now be listening to biased/filtered news reports under the guise of Australian Public Broadcasting Corporation.
We do love this country, and we do appreciate how lucky we are. I hope that the values and the lifestyle that we have today will continue so that my kids, and my children’s kids will enjoy what I have right now. The sad news is, that there are money to be made of us, and those that have access to power and money want to have more for themselves at the cost of everyone else.
Maybe I’m being cynical at my age, but corporations/businesses/firms, they don’t give a damn about you, your family, or your dreams and values – all they care about is profit. Their responsibilty lies to their shareholders and their investors – not you, me, our community, “god”, or the government. So think twice before you think that they care about you – if it’s more profitable to bail, and leave you behind, they will do so without hesitation.
I have nothing against capitalism and corporations doing their think – we just gotta make sure that the decisions that they make don’t impact us in a negative way, and ruin what we work so hard for all our lives – the well being of the generation that will proceed us. And yes, I am someone that works, saves, and appreciates what my parents did. I’m a “normal” person just like you…
Corporate greed is making the Natives restless … you can understand why there was a French Revolution – can’t you!! The average human being only wants to be validated, have a decent job, access to good medical/hospital facilities and provide for their families. Corporate greed is stopping all of this. No one person is worth $$$millions of Dollars pa. no matter how clever they are!!!!