3 ms·

All well and good, but we have such aggressive drug-driving laws and overzealous police here that if you do manage to be prescribed some of these medications yo

All well and good, but we have such aggressive drug-driving laws and overzealous police here that if you do manage to be prescribed some of these medications you basically need a full-time driver, and stable employment, as we also have mandatory work or interview requirements for our unemployment benefits which you likely won’t be able to meet without a car. Some parts of our government are very forward looking, meanwhile others are incredibly regressive, and we have no laws to reign in the latter.

justinclift 3y ago
> mandatory work or interview requirements for our unemployment benefits which you likely won’t be able to meet without a car. On the face of it, that doesn't sound right. Any more info you can share?
- defrost 3y ago
  I'm going to guess they don't like catching the bus, or they're not fully abled but have no taxi vouchers issued for whatever reason. (Maybe C.Link stopped issueing taxi vouchers for those in need? Wouldn't suprise me.) I'm in Australia and have used the benefits system here some years past. Generally Centrelink offices are opposite the stop for a high volume bus route (or three) and often not far from a train station. Granted it takes a chunk out of the day, but many get by sans car using public transport or a bike.
  - fatfingerd 3y ago
    Is Australia uniformly that accessible by public transit? Most countries have great transit and low unemployment in their first tier cities leaving the paradoxical requirements for everywhere else.
    - defrost 3y ago
      As a country .. no. Of course the vast bulk of Australia's population lives within a stones throw of the major capital cities; scoop up Melbourne, Sydney, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart and there's effectively everyone. Western Australia, the state I live in, is approx 3x the size of Texas (a tiny state in my eyes) with a pop. of ~ 2 million - most of whom live in the vicinity of Perth ... leaving the rest of the state to a few hundred thousand. Jack Davis [1] called Australians (of European descent) "fringe dwellers" as they largely cling to the edges of the country, and as a fine back handed slur for their labeling of himself and his people the same [2]. Leaving aside the traversing of vast spaces [3] [4] which many eschew [5], the cities largely have decent public transport, better than the US on average, not as good as the better served parts of western Europe. As for the legal prescription of mushrooms espoused here? In my day we had to get out, walkabout, and find our own ... [6] [7] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Davis_(playwright) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Davis_(playwright) [2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091081/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091081/ [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robyn_Davidson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robyn_Davidson [4] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/gallery/2021/may/26/outback-camel-trek-one-womans-5000km-journey-across-australia https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/gallery/2021/may/... [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNjEge3Awl8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNjEge3Awl8 [6] https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/fungimentary-the-magic-mushrooms-of-balingup-1995 https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/fungimentary-the-magic-m... [7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5YiszoAvOk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5YiszoAvOk
    - resolutebat 3y ago
      Australia is very heavily urbanized, on the order of 90% of the country either lives in a big city or within striking distance of one. So, broadly speaking, yes.

justinclift 3y ago

> mandatory work or interview requirements for our unemployment benefits which you likely won’t be able to meet without a car. On the face of it, that doesn't sound right. Any more info you can share?

defrost 3y ago
I'm going to guess they don't like catching the bus, or they're not fully abled but have no taxi vouchers issued for whatever reason. (Maybe C.Link stopped issueing taxi vouchers for those in need? Wouldn't suprise me.) I'm in Australia and have used the benefits system here some years past. Generally Centrelink offices are opposite the stop for a high volume bus route (or three) and often not far from a train station. Granted it takes a chunk out of the day, but many get by sans car using public transport or a bike.
- fatfingerd 3y ago
  Is Australia uniformly that accessible by public transit? Most countries have great transit and low unemployment in their first tier cities leaving the paradoxical requirements for everywhere else.
  - defrost 3y ago
    As a country .. no. Of course the vast bulk of Australia's population lives within a stones throw of the major capital cities; scoop up Melbourne, Sydney, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart and there's effectively everyone. Western Australia, the state I live in, is approx 3x the size of Texas (a tiny state in my eyes) with a pop. of ~ 2 million - most of whom live in the vicinity of Perth ... leaving the rest of the state to a few hundred thousand. Jack Davis [1] called Australians (of European descent) "fringe dwellers" as they largely cling to the edges of the country, and as a fine back handed slur for their labeling of himself and his people the same [2]. Leaving aside the traversing of vast spaces [3] [4] which many eschew [5], the cities largely have decent public transport, better than the US on average, not as good as the better served parts of western Europe. As for the legal prescription of mushrooms espoused here? In my day we had to get out, walkabout, and find our own ... [6] [7] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Davis_(playwright) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Davis_(playwright) [2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091081/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091081/ [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robyn_Davidson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robyn_Davidson [4] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/gallery/2021/may/26/outback-camel-trek-one-womans-5000km-journey-across-australia https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/gallery/2021/may/... [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNjEge3Awl8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNjEge3Awl8 [6] https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/fungimentary-the-magic-mushrooms-of-balingup-1995 https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/fungimentary-the-magic-m... [7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5YiszoAvOk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5YiszoAvOk
  - resolutebat 3y ago
    Australia is very heavily urbanized, on the order of 90% of the country either lives in a big city or within striking distance of one. So, broadly speaking, yes.