I do not aim my last post in the manner of a misanthrope, but rather in exasperation at the age of excess we find ourselves in. I can think of no real good that a disproportionate life may be lead into, though I am sure that the reader can find exceptions. In that case, I will provide the rule. And so...

In what kind of world does a majority group of elected politicians, in this case, the US Congress, seriously propose taking health care away from over 20 million people in order to give tax cuts to the top 1%? Well, it must be this one. The United States might not be the best example, but is it not supposed to be a shining one? The same country feels that it's fine for its citizens to be armed, even heavily armed. Freedom and liberty are touted as the justifications (surely a strange distortion of these noble ideals) whilst the profits gained by the manufacturers and the political power wielded by the NRA remain murkily in the background.

I think that there was probably a time in recent history when there was a sufficiency of things. Houses were modest but adequate, meals were nutritious and homemade, families had a single TV and hi-fi, kids shared bedrooms, the locals schools were just fine, aspirations were set lower, within reasonable bounds. This age in Australia was probably in the 1960's and 1970's. Mrs Thatcher and Mr Reagan came along with a host of policies to liberalise economies. Life became more competitive and aspirations grew vastly. Inequality began to increase and is now the serious issue that it is.

I have been blessed to have been sheltered from the worst ravages of this storm, this strange mania. Public sector pay may not match the private sector, but the tradeoff is greater security. Young people these days face a far more fragmented job market and may be forced to take several part time jobs, without any real security nor any obvious material benefit to compensate.

It is not so far from the world we are in now to the kind of laissez-faire realm of Victorian England. In Dicken's Martin Chuzzlewit (one of my current books) the gap between rich and poor is stark. The poor really are poor, there is little or no welfare and the political class talk high-mindedly about free enterprise and hard work. Those who do work the hardest and longest do so for a pittance. Let's not fall so far that we need another Dickens to remind us of the costs.

Fun times for children at the factory.