Mutterings of a Grumpy Old Man

Saw another episode of the series on Grumpy Old Men and I have to confess to becoming addicted. There is after all so much to identify with.

Let me start this epistle with my current disgust at the 'broken promises' that have been made to an entire generation of people who all seem to be called 'baby boomers'. I don't know what others may remember, but I certainly remember being awed by the possibilities which were mentioned to me for my future. A life which would have more leisure time in it as scientific advances brought with them labour saving devices that would enable me to work as hard and as productively as ever, but in less time.

The reality is that we have in fact had science deliver on its promise and we have had labour saving devices introduced into the work force.

The computer alone is responsible for enabling people to write and send letters literally weeks faster than when we only had our pens and paper and of course the ubiquitous typing pools. The computer has enabled faster calculations, faster accounting, faster reporting indeed faster everything.

So where is my promised leisure time?

Nowhere, that's where.

Instead of my being able to take a fraction of the time to undertake the work that I used to have to undertake and then enjoy the benefits of these labour saving devices by having a wonderful life, I am now in a situation where I do perhaps 100 times more work per day than I was ever able to do without the toys we currently take for granted, AND being told by some kid who masquerades as a brilliant manager that I will have to do even more to become more "productive."

Not only has the buying power of my wages deteriorated, and the cost of things escalated, but there is also an expectation that I will stay at work LONGER to produce even more, because each year I have to find my company a "productivity dividend" for the privilege of roughly the same wages. Then of course if I do get more wages the rise in my pay is barely able to keep up with the costs of the things that I have to buy to stay alive and meanwhile my productivity continues to improve and to what end?

We are in a nutty cycle folks and we are being sold a pup!

Someone is getting richer, but it is certainly not me and probably not you either!

Then of course we have the situation where the jobs we once enjoyed having are being taken over by people overseas who are even worse off than we are and so we get to be worse off as well while someone gets richer by paying someone else even less than we cost.

The only sensible thing I see in this madness are the people who are saying, "Stop the world, I want to get off!" As some of us reach those years in which we can afford to relax and actually take some time out to smell the roses, people like the Treasurer are telling us that we have to get back to work and be even more productive because the country needs us and similar jargon.

Bullshit!

Let's call a spade a spade. The governments of Australia knew at least forty years ago that we had a population bubble and that there were going to be people who were in the 50's and 60's around this time who were coming to the end of their working lives and who had been promised early retirement as the 'bonus' for working hard and increasing productivity. NOW they are trying to tell us to keep working because the 'country needs you' or there is not enough income for the pensions we expect (and that we paid for other people to have) and so on.

Enough is enough I say. We older folks hold the balance of power. We can, together muster more votes than all of the other demographic groups combined. Just for once let's not listen to the political crap that has been fed to us over the years. Just for once let's get greedy enough to grab the opportunities we have worked for all our lives. Just for once let's elect some politicians who see it OUR way instead of pandering to their own views of how the world should be. Just for once let's actually get something for ourselves instead of always trying to "do the right thing" for others.

I for one am sick of being exploited for the benefit of those who are getting richer while I keep working harder to help someone else malinger away their days being unwilling to earn a living for themselves.

And THAT is the view of another 'grumpy old man!'