Welcome to the Melbourne Community Daily Discussion Thread.

  • melbaboutown
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    1 year ago

    I know this gets laughed at on Reddit as pearl clutching or being a doomer… but does it feel to anyone else like society is deteriorating? Particularly the availability of safety nets, and people’s behaviour. Everything just feel like it’s been getting worse.

    • SituationCake
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      1 year ago

      Agree with Seagoon and Bottom. But as a spark of goodness in the gloom, some social factors are much much better. Not long ago, homophobia was the norm, calling people racial slurs was considered funny, disability service and accessibility weren’t anywhere near as good as it is now, glass ceilings in workplaces and politics for gender, race, sexuality etc. But I do agree, for the economic and liveability aspects, it does seem more miserable.

      • Seagoon_
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        1 year ago

        I was in the city 4 weeks ago and heard people call out for genocide . “Kill them” 😭

        • SituationCake
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          1 year ago

          Sadly still a long way to go. World affairs embolden some people who might otherwise only talk like that amongst their peers. I was just meaning that in general, there’s been a reduction in social prejudices.

    • Seagoon_
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      1 year ago

      Old person here.

      Wages have plummeted since the 70s-80s. everything cost more too. There are few good manufacturing jobs any more. Many professions, such as in the sciences, have all but disappeared. Hope of a good career is being lost. Hope of a home and family is being lost.

      We all had an expectation that life would be the same as it was post wwii. Expectation is lost. We are being forced back into the same life as pre-wwii, multi-generational households and rooming houses.

      Kennet made this a mean society with his mean attitude. People copy that. Trump hasn’t helped. People copy him too.

      The cities are much much bigger and it’s so anonymous here now there are few social constraints on public behaviour.

      People have been brow beaten into not knowing what is acceptable behavior and what isn’t. ( No, if you are a cunt and abuse people’s rights I’m not being judgy. )

      Division in society has been fomented. Spurred on by bad actors on the internet and the loss of a unifying national identity.

      Saying Hello isn’t a boundary violation. Saying Hi to a neighbour is a good thing, not a bad thing. There is a loneliness epidemic.

      There is a feeling bad people can act with impunity . Bad people from politicians to the local stores and tradies seem to be able to rip us off an there is nothing we can do. This loss of a sense of justice is a serious issue.

      Covid didn’t help.

      People are shit scared of Global warming and acting out.

        • Seagoon_
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          1 year ago

          There is one difference. We are now a better educated country, we know we could be Norway if we had the right government. An idle discontented well educated middle class is a big danger to unfair economic systems.

          • melbaboutown
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            1 year ago

            Unfortunately that seems to subject us to brain drain :( I know some well educated people who just nicked off to other countries for the better opportunities, bringing our average down.

      • dumblederp
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        1 year ago

        Howard’s negative gearing and private health insurance were another couple of nails in societies coffin.

    • Bottom_racer
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      1 year ago

      What has been interesting to me on reddit (and people I know IRL) is there has been a substantial increase in people who believe this.

      i believe it too.

    • Duenan
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      1 year ago

      When I had a checkout counter lady be really grateful that I asked how her she was and her day was going that showed me how bad it had gotten.