Moving to Adelaide has been a breath of fresh air in my life. Life seems easier here. I guess that’s because it is.

This post is dedicated to all the thoughts that have been buzzing round my head thanks to some brilliant articles I have read recently about the state of the world.

Greed makes people delusional about what is means to be happy

I had a really nice day yesterday. It started with a hair appointment to trial hairstyles for my sister’s wedding with my sister and my mum. Then we had lunch with some old friends and some of their new friends, which was lovely. It was a hot day, so after lunch my partner and I went to the beach for a swim and then came home and ate popcorn in front of a really good movie. Bliss. Whilst going to sleep last night, I was thinking about how happy I am at the moment, and how this is exactly how I hoped my life would be in Adelaide. Then my mind turned to Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest mining billionaire, and one of the world’s richest women, and I thought, what a sad cow this woman is. Here’s a post by Geoff Lemon about Gina’s poetry skills. It’s hilarious. For those who have never heard of her, Gina was given her wealth by her father, yet instead of being grateful for what she has, she spends all her energy and influence fighting to increase this mammoth fortune ($20 billion). Gina is also busy at the moment fighting three of her four children in court over money, and if that’s not enough joy and excitement in her life, she’s currently working to buy Australian media outlets so she can bend the media to support her fight against the Carbon Tax and Mining Tax, in order to further increase her wealth. Gina, when is enough enough? Are you so delusional about happiness and wealth that you think when you reach 30 billion you’ll be happy? What is happy to you? When your children hate you, Australians hate you but you’ve got enough money to bury yourself in it?

The government doesn’t exist to prop up the middle and upper class

I read this blog post yesterday which is so simple, yet so enlightening. I am fed up with rich people crying poor about ‘the cost of living’ and claiming that they need help from the government to survive. Anyone in our society who can afford a large mortgage, two cars and takeaway dinner because they can’t be bothered cooking, does NOT need help from the government. Full stop. It’s your business if you want a house that’s beyond your means. If you want to send your children to a private school, that’s your prerogative. The government shouldn’t help you pay for these decisions. If you want private health insurance, because you can afford it, why should the government subsidise this when they already spend billions on a perfectly good public health system? In summary, I believe tax dollars should be spent in the areas of society that most need it. The middle and upper class should be making investment and spending decisions without relying on help from the government with their ‘cost of living’. As this post so eloquently states “Money: once you spend it all, you don’t feel rich any more.”

On this subject, I don’t understand why those who vote conservatively can, on the one hand, argue that taxes should be reduced, but also claim to want support from the government with things like the baby bonus and private health rebates. You can’t have it both ways! Or are you just selfish and don’t really understand conservative political ideology? This free market you keep raving on about – where does middle class welfare fit?

A society can’t survive without paying tax

Speaking of tax, when will Greek society learn that they can’t have a functioning society without pulling together and paying their fair share of tax? This article scares me. Seriously people – you can’t have democracy without paying for it. I would have thought this was a relatively simple concept, especially for a country that claims to have invented democracy.

I don’t know if our world has learnt anything from the GFC and the current debt turmoil that we’re in. I hope it has. You see signs of change from the Occupy Movement, but it’s not exactly an uprising. I just think it’s so incredibly simple. Money won’t make you happy, greed won’t bring you joy and living within your means and enjoying the simple things in life, like spending time with loved ones and engaging with your community, are such easy things to achieve! Your bank balance won’t visit you on your deathbed!

I’ll finish with a small report on Conspire. I am getting bored of trying to catch the attention of a small group of literary agents (such a small number of people –they’d all fit in my living room). I’ve had a few rejections now, including this concise appraisal from Barbara Braun: “Not for us, thanks.” Oh well, at least I got a response! Watch this space for a decision on self publishing very soon…