‘If a single phrase could encapsulate society in 2015 it would be “more difference and starker differences”.

Those differences will be between individuals and households: those with high skill levels and those without; those with property-related inherited wealth and those without; those who are fit and healthy and those who are not; those in traditional households and those who are not.

There will be differences between communities: those that are ethnically mixed and those that aren’t; those with access to employment opportunities that match the new global economy and those without; those that are casualties of environmental pressures and those successfully responding to them.’

Phil Swann in The Guardian, Wednesday 10 May 2006

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2006/may/10/guardiansocietysupplement.localgovernment1


It’s crazy to imagine the growth and speed of life continuing at this increasingly exponential pace. If Sydney prices keep rising as they are, which they probably will if the population continues to increase as it’s supposed to, then soon young people will NEVER be able to buy into the market. That means you either inherit property, or you rent for life. And I guess the more people who want to rent, the high the rents will be. And if income separation continues it we will simply see greater and greater division between the haves and the have-nots, even within our own society. Either your born wealthy, or you’re not. I’m not so up on the political lingo but isn’t that an aristocracy?

I guess one response to this would be to freak out, try to earn as much money as possible, and buy into the market while we still have a chance – “secure” a future for ourselves and our children. But then again, what happened to the aristocracies of the past? Doesn’t aristocracy lead to revolutions of proletarians and heads being chopped off? I need to read up on my history so don’t quote me on this one!

I do know that if we continue down the path we are going the planet won’t be habitable for that much longer. So I say screw it! I really don’t feel like becoming a stress pot with a mortgage – I’d rather live my life, enjoy the moments, and putting my efforts toward bigger futures than the securing of a couple of generations of property inheritance. I could spend my life aiming at owning a house and waste my life in the process. No one what’s going to happen in the future: currencies can be worthless overnight; countries can be invaded; heck, aliens or meteors may even be headed our way. Either way with population rates I doubt our lifeways are just going to potter along without much change. Change is our only certainty.

That being said when my book becomes a best-seller I might just buy a little apartment, or an island (with mango trees, a few wood-cabins, and not much else), and if ends up being the later then you’re all invited 🙂

Picture Credits:

Melissa Smith

http://www.melmelsmith.com/