Dystopia
Flying so high..
That's the key! The politicians keep emphasizing the trade deficits and trade surpluses yet the GDP per capita is hardly ever mentioned. A 'small' economy is called a weak economy and mass exports will strengthen our economy and prestige on the world stage. Regrettably, as a nation we have never learned to place the emphasis on manufacture for at least a degree of self-sufficiency and now we're dependent on manufactured imports just to be able to survive... or so it seems.It's a pyramid scheme, you put more people into the economy, the economy grows. The total economy looks good on paper. Yet the GDP per captia is going down. The quality of life is going down, but we're not meant to notice this. Without addressing it, the only solution is keep pumping more and more people into the economy.
"We need immigrants to pay for the aging population"
Well, they get older to, so then you need more and more. It's not a sustainable economic policy.
I don't have it on me, but apparently the economic figures do show that while the economy grows, the net cost to the economy is more than is contributed. People just cherry-pick the numbers they want. They don't account for infrastructure, health care, pensions, welfare, education and so on.
What always puzzles me is why the aim isn't for a nice lean Australia, it will help with global warming and protecting the environment. A small sustainable population, which is clean and green with a good quality of life should be the aim. Not bringing in more people to buy shit from Gerry Harvey so rich people like his wealth grows, while everyone else's goes down.
I like blaming politicians for our fate as much as the next guy. This blame game is a dead-end street though. In the end, WE are the ones who decide what is imported, quantity, quality and what type of silly gadgets, just as WE are ultimately responsible for the election of those very politicians whom we like to tear to pieces at every opportunity.
"Man needs so little..." Gandhi once said. When I read this as a child, I had no idea how profound those words were.
We do indeed need much less than we consume, everybody who has tried it even in a small way will attest to that. All pollution problems are caused by over-consumption.
We have enough people to power well functioning manufacturing and agricultural sectors, the most important components for any healthy nation and the absolute necessity for the individual's quality of life.