Isn’t it ironic, the middle class has become the new working class and the so-called workers are increasingly unemployed – if Karl Marx was alive today – well I don’t know what he would have to say!

But certainly those old name tags, we used to describe the country’s population, need to be changed to reflect the new realities of the 21st century.

We now have senior managers in major corporations and all tiers of public administration working well into their sixties and some self-employed staying in harness well into their seventies.

And at the same time we have horrendous youth unemployment with some of the most poorly educated school leavers on the dole and having virtually no hope of ever securing gainful employment in their lifetimes.

What’s more, in the developed world, we have well-educated and healthy young girls reaching puberty at ten or eleven years of age but not becoming mothers till after they’re forty – if they can find a willing partner.

Certainly the complexity and ambiguity of modern day life is testing a lot of the old values and catchy headlines and simplistic television shows do not provide any meaningful solutions.

A professor I know, recently returned from a conference in Hawaii, put it to me that the massive global challenges that are compelling the introduction of draconian measures to control carbon pollution in Australia will paradoxically create an environment where all citizens will actually want to work together because to not do so will be unthinkable.

I tend to agree, perversely, it is at times like this (usually international conflicts or bush fires) that the average person feels more settled since they can concentrate on a single unquestionably positive common goal and work towards it and not be deflected by all the usual trivia of their personal daily lives like paying the grocery bills and covering the next mortgage instalment.

Being very much a half glass full sort of person myself, I can’t help wondering if the challenges ahead may in fact ultimately be a good thing …when we look back on it.

Will it in fact usher in a new era, not so self-absorbed and much more attuned to the global environment and all the animals (not just humans) who share it?

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Cheaper by the dozen …

Message from our Sponsors SmartPages, The Local Directory: SmartVideos, after a slow start, are finally taking off.

With eighteen clips currently under production and orders trickling in from this and sister publications each week.

Although packaged and linked with a Category Opener or Sponsored Listing on SmartPages (see below), as a single three minute video, most companies seem to prefer filming multiple one minute clips which they embed in different sections of their websites including their main page – it’s much more economical too.

For more information email me on andrewc@youronlinecommunity.com.au

Update from the home front …

The tree has gone, thanks again to the SES, but the insurers haven’t arranged to move all the rubbish yet – some things never change. 

Unfortunately Margs still in hospital but hopefully will be home soon to convalesce in preparation for a major op.

Oh, and that other little problem.  Well its gone, gone, gone ...  Thank you very much.