Consumerist Society

The current Australian consumerist society is negatively affecting families which in turn affect society as a whole. Since the late eighties we have seen some fundamental changes in the way the typical Australian measures success and quality of life. We have gone from a predominately primary industry and resources sector based economic model to a consumerist, profit driven entity that is almost entirely based on greed. This change has been shamelessly promoted and supported by governments who benefit from these changes in much the same way a company would, by increased productivity and profit. It’s this inherent short term thinking that fails to take into account the long term social issues raised by these changes to society. As little as 20 to 30 years ago it was unusual in a typical family for both parents to work and overtime was an exception, not the rule. Whereas in today’s society it is now unusual for only one of the parents to work and overtime is expected by most, if not all, employers. Arguably the most important thing a child can receive from their parents is time. Time spent with a child is critical to the parent child relationship and it’s this factor that our consumerist society fails to address. Companies, governments and individuals are driven by short term financial gain much to the detriment of social factors such as the family unit. Therefore it can be inferred that this change in Australian society, while beneficial in a profit and productivity context, is disastrous in terms of families and relationships. Which of these is more important to our society’s future?

Paragraph Structure Writing

The current employment trend in modern Australia is having a negative impact on families. The financial realities of modern life is, in a lot of cases, forcing both parents of a typical family to work and many are working extraordinary amounts of overtime to meet the never ending commitments that raising children in this era requires. The cost of living and the costs associated with raising children have risen disproportionately to wages over recent times and currently the ratio of debt to income is at its worst in history. Add to this corporations are demanding more and more productivity from the average worker and quite often large amounts of overtime are required to get the expected work done. Therefore one or even both of the parents are spending time at work which they would have traditionally spent with their children and this is putting unsustainable pressure on the family unit. The extended absence of a parent or parents can often have a detrimental impact on the family as a whole which can lead to relationship breakdown and dysfunction within the family. Even from a purely financial viewpoint these behaviors could cost the country a great deal more in the long run than the monetary benefits such activities bring in the short term due to high levels of relationship breakdown and the flow on effects to individuals that follow such an event. If left unchecked this trend of work first, family second, could have far reaching effects into the fabric of future Australian society.

Short Story 1

A short story I wrote for the writing course I am doing.

I love the ocean. I don’t just mean I like the ocean a great deal. I can’t imagine a life that doesn’t involve the ocean. My life’s weekends have been full of unforgettable experiences at the beach or on my boat.

My favorite boating destination is a place called Hummocky Island which lies about thirty nautical miles south-east of Rosslyn Bay boat harbor. Covered in steep cliffs and small shrubby bushes it is only a small island one and a half kilometers long rising eighty meters above sea level. There is only one beach on the whole island which faces north-east and it’s absolutely beautiful. Clean white sand with crystal clear water in a horseshoe shaped bay that deepens very quickly and can be quite treacherous even in mild weather as small waves funnel into the bay growing larger by the time they reach the beach.

On the southern end of the two hundred meter long beach is a pile of enormous boulders that extend several hundred meters out to sea upon which I have had some amazing dives. On one memorable occasion my dive buddy was befriended by a curious and very persistent olive sea snake that swam within inches of his mask and seemed fascinated by the bubbles emanating from this strange visitor to his environment. There seemed to a lot of bubbles as I suspect he was breathing quite rapidly due to the close proximity of such a venomous snake. This area of the island is also home to some of the largest anemone beds I have seen and these beds are full of dancing, darting clown fish that become very aggressive when approached. You have to admire the courage of a fish an inch long zooming out of it’s home to attack a 6 foot intruder.

During the colder winter months this small bay is sometimes home to vast schools of Grey Mackerel which are one of my favorite table fish and are terrific fun to catch on light line. Sometime spotty Mackerel and bludger trevelly are intermingled with the Greys causing a great ruckus on the boat as these fish are nearly unstoppable on the light line we use in this area. It’s not uncommon to hear the brief scream of a fishing reel and then the temper tantrum from the hapless fisherman as all his line is stripped from the spool along with his six dollar lure.

It was on a day like this when the fish had finished biting and I was thinking about heading back into the harbor and the real world when I realized that my life’s goal is not to climb the corporate ladder or even write the best article for the latest journal but to have the health and freedom to return to this spot with Marcia and Haylee whenever we can. Simply, I love the ocean.

Short Story 2

As I open the car door I steel myself for the challenge ahead. The hill looms large and daunting. I sigh heavily as she begs me not to have to climb the hill. “It’s too high and too far. Can’t we find another way?” she pleads.
I say again what I’ve said many, many times before, “There is no other way. We can’t drive all the way to the top of the hill”.
With a pleading and somewhat hopeful look on her face she asks in a small voice, “We could just go home instead? I hate this hill”.
“No we can’t” I say. “We have to get to the top of the hill, look! It’s not that far. We’ll be there in no time” I say with some exasperation showing.
She looks devastated and with a last longing glance at the car she and I begin our trek to the buildings clustered on the hilltop.

Step after step she trudges as if every footfall was made at the limit of her endurance. She puffs and pants and casts accusing looks in my direction as if I was responsible for all that is ill in her world and she says in a quiet menacing voice “I don’t like walking up this hill. It’s too far and I don’t see why we should have to walk so far”.
“It’s good exercise” I say trying to distract her train of thought and have the subject changed.
“No. It’s not” she responds with a tone of finality. I smile to myself and continue walking upwards in the gentle morning sunshine.

After what seems like an eternity to her we have arrived at the bottom of the stairs that mark the last obstacle in our journey together this morning. To my surprise she bounds up the stairs and turns around at the top with a huge grin on her face and says “Hey Daddy I beat you up to the top”.

I quickly escort Haylee to her grade one classroom and return to my car happy in the knowledge that although this story is for me, repeated every single school day, I always look forward to it.

Welcome to my writings area.

I'm currently doing a course in writing at CQU so I'll post any writings up here. I'm also writing a paper for an Ascilite conference in December. I'll drop the abstract in here when it's done.