My name is Myshelle and I live in the state of South Australia,Australia.
Any views stated here are my own unless I place a quote, in which case I will name the source if in the public arena or seek permission from others.
I am not allied to any political group in Australia or South Australia.
Australia known as the lucky country how many times we scoff at that! Currently our Federal Government is Labor and our local state government here in South Australia is Labor also.
Two more years to go until we can vote in the both elections,voting is compulsory in Australia.
In the mean time as elsewhere, the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer.
Here however I will detract from Australia's politics and move to some recent conversations I have had through social media, and the friends I have made in America while on Facebook.
I had and probably many others like me believed America to be the World Leader,the top most, the best ,but as I interact more and more with its people I am of the opinion this is not so.
Why you may ask, because the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer,just like the rest of us.
I am reading more and more posts from the chronically ill,the aged and the carers who look after them,the unemployed all desperate people and one recently who in a full time capacity and with ill health herself,cares for a mother solely on her own,saying she was so poor she was going to apply for food stamps. I can say this saddened me and it did but in reality it horrified me. I have not heard of this since reading on Australia's Great Depression in the 1930s.
So I was left wondering why,why in a country as great as America should this be so. Here was one reply I read from “The Democrat Lady”Quote “There have been so many cutbacks in the USA due to budgets because conservatives will not raise taxes, that we are as bad as 3rd world country when it comes to social services. Almost 50% of Americans are now living in poverty, and mental health or help for those with a sick relative is almost nil.
There are probably churches that will give them 3-4 days worth of food, but most of those places are over capacity, so you can no longer depend on them if you need help.”
Definitely food for thought,pardon the pun.
Here in South Australia we are known as the most over taxed state in the whole of Australia. So it seems to be one extreme to another. Electricity and water supply costs are forever escalating so much so, you restrict yourself to use only in dire necessity. Currently in our season of Summer,those in the lower socio economic background suffer badly! They cannot even in over 100F, heat afford to run cooling, not even fans and due to this a lot of the sick and elderly end up in hospital that is if they don't die first!. The water charges are user pays and can you believe this,the LESS you use the more you pay,essentially you cannot win.
Politicians have a lot to answer for and we pay their wages!
Part of the problem in Australia is global warming. That is why your rainfall has been so scarce and temperatures are on the rise.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe our governments are driving us into poverty, however. I think that we need to pay for the government services we want. And that requires taxes.
What would you like the Australian government to cut? Health care? Education? Pensions for seniors?
History has proven that private and charitable orginazations do not provide all that is necessary in these areas. So, we must depend on government to do what business and charities won't or can't do, and we must pay the taxes necessary to balance the budget. If business and charities want low taxes, they must make sure that these vital services are available to everyone, are affordable to even the poorest person, and are of high quality.