We will implement polices to improve housing affordability while the housing minister assures the public that house prices will grow “sustainably”. Then the public will see us as helping those in need while protecting those with wealth. Win win.

Spot on. Trump’s behaviour needs to be viewed through the lens of narcissistic personality disorder combined with ADHD. All of his actions are in pursuit of narcissistic supply. We have a crisis of sane washing in mainstream media. He has no strategies. He acts based on his psychological needs. He doesn’t have beliefs, he has dispositional states. He is easily manipulated by those who can see that. This is why sucking up to him fails. Anyone who has lived with a narcissist can understand this.

As a side note, there are some things you absolutely need money for. Like dental care. I wiped my arse with tobacco plant leaves instead of buying toilet paper. But you always end up needing to go to the supermarket for something. Even dumpster diving relies on the existence of supermarkets.

I can relate to her feelings here. But as others have pointed out, this type of lifestyle relies on financial support from others. I lived like this in my early 20s. For a while in the same area as her. Working on farms for food and board, and WOOFing in permaculture communities. Living without earning money. Looking back, I realised that all of the people who set up the farms and communities I lived in were boomers who bought land cheaply, and got family support to set up their lifestyles. None of this is accessible to younger people. For me, coming to terms with reality meant not living the kind of life I really wanted which was consistent with my ecological principles, but changing myself to accept things about society I can’t change. This meant learning how to adapt to the “urban hive” and develop skills to earn money. I’m not judging her, but most of us have to figure out how to pay the big rents and bills that come with not having the financial support of family or friends. So I shaved off my dreads and got an engineering degree. I don’t think going off grid is a good message. It reminds me of David Holmgren’s attitude. As if we should all have such a charmed life to be able to live in the country side and grow our own food. It’s a very insular and privileged message.

I mean that’s interesting, but my thoughts on it weren’t that sophisticated. Narcissistic people just don’t like having their behaviour questioned. Think of it like the oppositional defiance of a frustrated child. They will say no when questioned by default. He probably does have some of that class anxiety, being around people from elite backgrounds. I’m not a psychologist, I’ve just grown up around narcissistic people from troubled backgrounds, so I see patterns in body language and speech. What you’ve mentioned is food for thought though.

That’s where majoritarian politics fails. Sometimes unpopular decisions need to be made to help those who aren’t in the majority. And leave off with the patronising language. I’m not shocked, I’ve lived through it and it’s what I’ve come to expect.

Doesn’t mean much to me when he’s not the decision maker anymore. He gets to bolster his reputation without taking responsibility. That doesn’t impress me at all. Gillard does the same. They had their opportunity to make changes and they didn’t take it. Most people don’t get that opportunity.

Yeah for sure. He always had to signal his intellect. It was condescending. I remember his comment about “detailed programmatic specificity”. Morrison was a dick head, but he got elected because of his daggy dad routine. He pretended to be relatable.

A big ego is OK sometimes. The problem is when it’s coupled with narcissism. A truly confident person won’t become overly defensive when criticised. They can recognise their faults and work around them. Albo doesn’t have that quality. Which is partly why he is fixated on his class background. He never grew out of it mentally. So when his policies are scrutinised, it makes him feel insecure.

Nah it was in 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Marriage_Law_Postal_Survey Turnbull was PM. Abbott was against it, despite his sister being gay. Absolute toe rag of a human being.

Thanks mate, appreciate that. I’m not a malcontent, I can appreciate good things when I see them. I just haven’t seen many good things come to fruition during the course of my millennial life observing politics. I feel there is something about the Australian mindset that makes apologies for those in power who don’t improve things. We have this idea that change is hard. The government has limited power etc. I remind people that during the lockdowns we had a 9pm curfew. In the 2010s, most people would have said the government couldn’t do that. They absolutely have power to make change. They choose not to, because the status quo benefits them. They could fix housing. They could fix wealth inequality. We’ve been conditioned to believe that change is impossible. I don’t buy it.

I also think the “at least” being the common refrain when commenting on the performance of our leaders is very telling. Our standards are in the toilet.

I hear you, but this guy always wanted to have it both ways. He is more mature and has more integrity than Abbott and Morrison, but he still pandered to the worst elements of his party to maintain his career. The same sex marriage plebiscite conversation was damaging. He fucked the NBN for political points. There’s a social media interaction where he told a woman if her house had bad internet she should buy somewhere better. He’s just another rich dick. And he only grew a backbone once he left office and had no skin in the game.

"Whether their target is Asians, Aboriginal people or Muslims the formula is the same – identify a minority group and blame them for our current discontents.

This type of politics has been denounced by Liberal and Labor leaders for decades."

This guy is so lacking in self awareness. Took over from Howard and Abbott, was followed by Morrison. Chose the liberal party and thinks he is better than them.

There’s a type of American who deserve the term, but like all generalisations, it’s mostly unfair. It’s a big country with a lot of different people and subcultures. If everyone judged us by the prime ministers we’ve elected, I’d be very upset.

His story is about personal achievement and class transcendence. He doesn’t give a shit about people from similar class background. Go back and watch his election speech. Self serving and narcissistic.

Missing out on superannuation due to taking on domestic duties with kids, succumbing to financial coercion by male partners who prioritise their careers over child rearing, being aged out of the workforce. Blokes who grew up with single mothers know all about this.

I can totally understand the frustration at the boomer generation. But there is an underlying issue at play here which is unfair. There’s an assumption that older people should have forseen the future and made the right choices about housing. I was born in 1990, and I didn’t even see this housing crisis coming when I was in my mid 20s. Lots of people are being blamed for not making the right choices before the gate closed. The fact is that gate shouldn’t be closing. We shouldn’t have to live our lives focused on accumulating wealth just to be OK.

I really don’t think the limit has been discovered yet. People will skip all sorts of necessities to stay housed. Lots of investors have family to lean on, move back into the family home etc. Shit is gonna get really bad in the coming years.

Labor have really dropped the ball with renters though. They could be doing so much more. So many people are paying too much money to live in shit boxes. I found it easier to get a rental when I was a low paid farm worker in 2010, and when I was on centrelink studying in 2012. Now I’m an electronics engineer and it’s harder than it’s ever been. My quality of life has not scaled with education and effort. (Edit: quality of life with respect to housing security solely I should clarify. I am not struggling in other respects financially)