Categories: uncategorized
Date: 17 July 2005 22:48:30
Is something people in the southern hemisphere do occasionally, it lets us enjoy the hot, heavy foods that traditionally go with Christmas in a climate more suitable to their enjoyment.
We celebrated Christmas in July last night as my birthday party - my birthday actually occurred while we were in Hotham last week - we had lots of family around for a big roast, complete with plum pudding and custard to finish. Very enjoyable!
One of my presents was a book I've been after for a couple of months now - Affluenza by Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss. Clive's name is bigger than Richard's on the front cover, so I'm assuming he wrote more of it. The book is about how the general affluence present in Australian society is not making anyone happier.
I sat up last night and read the first three chapters. Very interesting, a little confronting, and they ring very true. Here's just a little taste:
Surveys in which respondents were asked to define their social position have shown fewer and fewer people willing to identify themselves as working class. Indeed, 93 per cent of Australians believe they are in the middle-income bracket (that is, the middle 60 per cent) and only 6.4 percent see themselves in the bottom 20 per cent and 0.7 per cent in the top 20 per cent. The consequence of this merging of classes and the confusion about the incomes of others is that emulation of the spending and consumption habits of the wealthy, which was once confined to the upper levels of the middle class, now characterises Australian society.
It goes on to talk about barbeques - the traditional Aussie icon - which would have been handmade from scrap materials in the 80s but can now cost up to $7000 for a top-of-the-line model. Unreal.
I'm enjoying the book, it's got a good flow and easy style, and I'm also interested to note that it's not intended to make us want to become poor - instead what the authors are saying is that we are among the wealthiest people in the world, let's be happy with what we've got. I think there's something in that for all of us.