8 ms·

You don't because you are living in a period where everything is wonderul for Australia. You know what they say: everybody is a genius in a bull market. So yo

You don't because you are living in a period where everything is wonderul for Australia. You know what they say: everybody is a genius in a bull market. So you have sun, good food, plenty of money and little immigration. Life is good (if you are not living in the desert naked). Unfortunatly, there is nowhere in the world where things stay nice and easy. The run ended in europe after 1970, it ended in the US after 1990 and it will end in Autralia. Now, when things are getting hard, having weak democratic institutions, no political awareness and corporate medling is going to hit hard. But I wouldn't be too cocky because it's not like we didn't mess up loads of things in our own countries, even if we have strong political commitment. Besides, if I could enjoy your life style, I would probably be way less sensitive to privacy issues. So don't take what I said as the words of someone who has the ethical upper hand, because I certainly don't. And Australia is damn comfy. Also my partner will probably convince me to go back live there with her at one point, so I'll enjoy it as much as I can.

h0l0cube 5y ago
> The run ended in europe after 1970, it ended in the US after 1990 and it will end in Autralia. I wouldn't be so sure that they'll ever need to abandon their crutch of geological resources. There's nothing particularly industrious or forward-looking about Australia, precisely because they can dig up dirt and sell it at a premium.
- BiteCode_dev 5y ago
  The world is complex. Climate change, pollution, water shortage, demographic fluctuation, power grabbing, economical crisis, etc. So many things can happen and change the rules of the game entirely. Not to mention all what we don't know. The book anti-fragile have a very good bit on that. The point is everything moves, nothing stays the same, good and bad runs go hand in hand. But imagine if a dictator of the last century had access to Facebook social graph... You gotta be careful when it's good, to not have it too bad when it's getting bad later
  - h0l0cube 5y ago
    Yeah, I really think that having diverse and plentiful raw materials on mostly unused land is always going to be valuable. Off-earth mining is where disruption will eventually come from, but that's going to take a long while yet to become competitive with on-earth mining.
trissylegs 5y ago
Australia's economy is pretty dependent on Coal, Aluminum and Gas. Two of these a hopefully going away soon but the Government is so In bed with mining and they throw more money at elections than every other sector put together that nothing will done about it until it collapses.
- alvah 5y ago
  Do you understand what you're actually wishing for when you cheer on the destruction of a large percentage of the economy? What comes after will not be so comfortable.
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    The thing that gets me is not when people advocate for economically shooting themselves in the foot on principal, it's fine to have principals and stick to them even when it hurts you. What does infuriates me is that most of these people then apply a double standard for the other tribe and call them stupid when they advocate for sticking to their principals even when it hurts them.
  - jussij 5y ago
    I suspect the OP is wishing for Coal and Gas to go away soon in the hope it can spare the world from the upcoming catastrophe that is climate change. What is stupid, with Europe and the USA both planning a tax on carbon, in just a few decades the OP's wish will most likely come true, yet Australia keeps wishing for a different future.
    - alvah 5y ago
      OP's way of life has been made possible by cheap energy. Wishing it away before renewables are able to provide baseload power in an advanced economy (and the storage problem is, at best, decades away from being solved) is unwise.
      - XorNot 5y ago
thisone22 5y ago
'So you have sun, good food, plenty of money and little immigration.' Australia has one of the highest rates of inbound immigration in the world. Number 2 in the OECD actually, right after Luxembourg. And I, like the overwhelming majority of Australians, consider high immigration intakes to be a good thing. Check your sources. [1] https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/migration-australia/latest-release#:~:text=29.8%25%20of%20Australia's%20population%20were,due%20to%20net%20overseas%20migration https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/migratio... [2] https://data.oecd.org/migration/foreign-born-population.htm https://data.oecd.org/migration/foreign-born-population.htm [3] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1133441/australia-attitudes-towards-immigration/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1133441/australia-attitu...
- BiteCode_dev 5y ago
  Australian have temporary immigration, becomming permanent is actually quite hard compared to europe where you can basically just walk in there. Also, I consider it a chance to be able to go to school as well, it doesn't mean exams are easy. Immigration is the same. It gives, and it takes. Because australia is an island with a pretty good legal filter for immigrants, they get less social tensions. Also because they have plenty of space and money, right now they can welcome immigrants way more easily. And finally because immigration from asia is a good part of the immigration source, which also makes things easier culturally. The situations is different in every part of the world. Immigration is not a single variable universal phenomenom. Today if you talk about the challenge that diversity can bring, you are labelled with pretty harshed words. But nothing is free. Source: I've been an immigrant a lot.
  - partomniscient 5y ago
    Based on what I've heard/read a lot of us would fail our own immigration test on Australian knowledge. I grew up here in our system and was only vaguely aware there was even a second verse in our national anthem. The people trying to become citizens here and have only been here for a short time knew _all_ the words.
fidesomnes 5y ago
>and little immigration. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.
dharmach 5y ago
>>Now, when things are getting hard, having weak democratic institutions, no political awareness and corporate medling is going to hit hard. Many living in democracies will find this true for their country.
- BiteCode_dev 5y ago
  Hence my last paragraphes. I'm pretty sure we are not heading in the right direction either.

h0l0cube 5y ago

> The run ended in europe after 1970, it ended in the US after 1990 and it will end in Autralia. I wouldn't be so sure that they'll ever need to abandon their crutch of geological resources. There's nothing particularly industrious or forward-looking about Australia, precisely because they can dig up dirt and sell it at a premium.

BiteCode_dev 5y ago
The world is complex. Climate change, pollution, water shortage, demographic fluctuation, power grabbing, economical crisis, etc. So many things can happen and change the rules of the game entirely. Not to mention all what we don't know. The book anti-fragile have a very good bit on that. The point is everything moves, nothing stays the same, good and bad runs go hand in hand. But imagine if a dictator of the last century had access to Facebook social graph... You gotta be careful when it's good, to not have it too bad when it's getting bad later
- h0l0cube 5y ago
  Yeah, I really think that having diverse and plentiful raw materials on mostly unused land is always going to be valuable. Off-earth mining is where disruption will eventually come from, but that's going to take a long while yet to become competitive with on-earth mining.

trissylegs 5y ago

Australia's economy is pretty dependent on Coal, Aluminum and Gas. Two of these a hopefully going away soon but the Government is so In bed with mining and they throw more money at elections than every other sector put together that nothing will done about it until it collapses.

alvah 5y ago
Do you understand what you're actually wishing for when you cheer on the destruction of a large percentage of the economy? What comes after will not be so comfortable.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  The thing that gets me is not when people advocate for economically shooting themselves in the foot on principal, it's fine to have principals and stick to them even when it hurts you. What does infuriates me is that most of these people then apply a double standard for the other tribe and call them stupid when they advocate for sticking to their principals even when it hurts them.
- jussij 5y ago
  I suspect the OP is wishing for Coal and Gas to go away soon in the hope it can spare the world from the upcoming catastrophe that is climate change. What is stupid, with Europe and the USA both planning a tax on carbon, in just a few decades the OP's wish will most likely come true, yet Australia keeps wishing for a different future.
  - alvah 5y ago
    OP's way of life has been made possible by cheap energy. Wishing it away before renewables are able to provide baseload power in an advanced economy (and the storage problem is, at best, decades away from being solved) is unwise.
    - XorNot 5y ago

thisone22 5y ago

'So you have sun, good food, plenty of money and little immigration.' Australia has one of the highest rates of inbound immigration in the world. Number 2 in the OECD actually, right after Luxembourg. And I, like the overwhelming majority of Australians, consider high immigration intakes to be a good thing. Check your sources. [1] https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/migration-australia/latest-release#:~:text=29.8%25%20of%20Australia's%20population%20were,due%20to%20net%20overseas%20migration https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/migratio... [2] https://data.oecd.org/migration/foreign-born-population.htm https://data.oecd.org/migration/foreign-born-population.htm [3] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1133441/australia-attitudes-towards-immigration/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1133441/australia-attitu...

BiteCode_dev 5y ago
Australian have temporary immigration, becomming permanent is actually quite hard compared to europe where you can basically just walk in there. Also, I consider it a chance to be able to go to school as well, it doesn't mean exams are easy. Immigration is the same. It gives, and it takes. Because australia is an island with a pretty good legal filter for immigrants, they get less social tensions. Also because they have plenty of space and money, right now they can welcome immigrants way more easily. And finally because immigration from asia is a good part of the immigration source, which also makes things easier culturally. The situations is different in every part of the world. Immigration is not a single variable universal phenomenom. Today if you talk about the challenge that diversity can bring, you are labelled with pretty harshed words. But nothing is free. Source: I've been an immigrant a lot.
- partomniscient 5y ago
  Based on what I've heard/read a lot of us would fail our own immigration test on Australian knowledge. I grew up here in our system and was only vaguely aware there was even a second verse in our national anthem. The people trying to become citizens here and have only been here for a short time knew _all_ the words.

fidesomnes 5y ago

>and little immigration. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

dharmach 5y ago

>>Now, when things are getting hard, having weak democratic institutions, no political awareness and corporate medling is going to hit hard. Many living in democracies will find this true for their country.

BiteCode_dev 5y ago
Hence my last paragraphes. I'm pretty sure we are not heading in the right direction either.