Fighting Words
Communication these days is instantaneous, and everyone is reachable via the internet so there is no excuse for keeping quiet. So when was the last time you received or wrote a personal hand written letter? It wasn’t that long ago when all written communication was done by mail, and by that I mean mail which required a licked stamp, and a nearby red postal box. The internet has revolutionalized the way we talk to one another in real time. It is a veritable library of information, and the decision making process of whatever we want done can be made at lightening speed. We don't have to wait for the postman. The post just verifies what we already have known days beforehand. The internet is undoubtedly the greatest technological advancement in my lifetime. We are able to access any information and speak to anyone from anywhere at anytime. We don't have to rely on radio or televised news flashes to keep us abreast with what's going on locally and around the world because the internet beats them to the punch everytime. Most journalists now look to the internet to source material for their articles. If I had to perform an emergency appendectomy on someone I'm sure I could with the help of Dr Google. The possibilities are endless using the internet. The internet has a downside. Trolls and scammers don't have the patience to send their evil and fraudulent messages through the post because they crave instant gratification and reward, and the internet is the perfect delivery system that reaches millions of people in an instant. Money can change hands over the internet as quickly as it takes to input your bank access codes which is a worry. The internet can create fear and hysteria in an instant, so sometimes we make rash judgements and decisions without thinking it properly through. The speed at which the internet does things can at times be too quick for our brain to process, and this can lead us to making mistakes, sometimes catastrophic financial ones. The internet has given us the platform to speak freely, but the Dark Web has given evil a voice too. There is no doubt that the internet is a boon for business, and that we as consumers are given more choices and better financial deals than we ever had before. We can gather information on the net about anything or anyone without leaving the comfort of our chair, and this is a game changer. People can hide, but not for long because the internet exposes everything and everyone soon enough.The letterbox, post office and even the library have now become somewhat obsolete. And the handwritten letter and beautiful penmanship that goes with it has been replaced by emojis. I read this sign in a library recently: The internet can give you thousands of answers to one question, but only a librarian can give you the right one! I think the librarian was trying to save her job. Jens Ward, Wardswords
It was only a matter of time before Big Brother developed the technology to track and document our every movement in and out of the workplace, digitally. Once upon a time there was the Bundy clock when factory workers and other slaves in the workplace had to Bundy on and Bundy off using a time card so the slave drivers could record to the very second their attendance in the workplace. And employers were only too happy to dock their pay if workers arrived just a minute late, or left just a minute early. Conversely, if workers arrived early, as they invariably did to avoid being docked, they didn't receive anything extra in their paypackets. Workers crowded around the Bundy clock at knockoff time so as not to give their employers anymore of their valuable time for nothing. Technology has now got even smarter in recording workers' comings and goings, and penalizing them accordingly. Many workers are now required to log on and log off at work using their smart phones. And there is no escaping Big Brother watching from satellites above through our own devices. Eventually, the GPS timing device will also double as a tracking system as well so employers will know exactly when employees are taking a dump or taking an unauthorized break in the workplace. Companies in Australia, like the aptly named Kronos, have revolutionized the way employers are now scrutinizing employees by the millisecond. The technology revolution might be upon us, but it won’t be too long before employees revolt because no one wants to be watched every minute of every day, and that includes being timed on, and off. Watch this space. It's going to get real ugly! Jens Ward, Wardswords
I think of the universe as limitless, and unfathomable. But that doesn’t really make any sense because everything we know in the physical world has boundaries where it all ends, like the borders between countries. So, I then think to myself that the universe must have a giant brick wall somewhere where it must all come to an end. But then I ask myself the question what lies behind that big brick wall in outer space. There must be another, and then another. So, then I think to myself that the universe is perhaps made up of an infinite number of brick walls, one after another into eternity. But that can’t be true, either. So, I then think that there must a higher being who can make sense out of all this space nonsense for us, and put everything into perspective. Astrophysicists talk about black holes and worm holes in space. Scientists have rational explanations about how stars and planets were formed with their Big Bang theories. Evolution makes sound, practical sense but who or what created the process of evolution. Like a revolving planet I go back to my own big brick wall theory, and then I realize I’m back where I started. Jens Ward, Wardswords
During the Coronavirus pandemic the Australian Government provided a financial lifeline to people who had lost their jobs as a result of the country going into lockdown. Many undeserved people took advantage of these government handouts, and lied through their teeth. I knew personally of sole traders who were given handouts of $1500 every fortnight to help them out financially, yet they still worked for cash during the crisis. I knew of chronic welfare recipients who hadn’t worked a day in their lives receive $1100 per fortnight during the pandemic, a big increase on what they had previously received on the dole. Many of these chronic bludgers used the extra income to buy ice, and other drugs. The government also allowed those people who were supposedly hit hard financially during the pandemic to withdraw $10,000 from their superannuation accounts. I knew a full time worker who was able to withdraw $10,000 from his super during the pandemic to pay off a gambling debt. The government went into massive debt to supposedly help genuine people in crisis during the lockdown, a debt we will all be paying in for years to come.
The welfare safety net is supposed to catch people falling on hard times but in reality government handouts create more problems than they’re worth. It creates a population of bludgers who rely solely on welfare to live and, while many people use it to survive between jobs as intended, there is a growing number of miscreants who have no intention of finding work simply because it’s far too easy to receive the dole. I know this from personal experience because a relative has been receiving handouts ever since he left school over 20 years ago. I remember when he was teenager working on a farm. His job was to rake while I mowed the lawn. I saw him, out of the corner of my eye, intentionally break the rake in two, and just walk away. I knew he had issues then. I asked him why he didn't get a job like everyone else, and take responsibility for himself. He said if he was given a job he would always find an excuse not to turn up. He said if the government was stupid enough to give him money for doing nothing then he would take it every time.
The relative is now 40 years old, and the government still keeps on paying him welfare regardless. He is an alcoholic, ice and marijuana user, a lethal combination which has gotten him into trouble repeatedly with police. He has convictions for theft, assault, trespass, fare evasion and being a public nuisance. He has received thousands of dollars in fines, and hasn’t paid the government one cent in retribution. Fines are supposed to be a deterrent from committing offences again but he simply doesn’t pay them, and is not enforced to do so. He has been to court on numerous occasions, and is still walking the streets flaunting the law, and collecting welfare. Eventually, he was jailed for six months but returned to his old criminal ways and is still collecting the dole. He was given government funded housing but that was forfeited when he was imprisoned. The government raised the Job Seeker allowance substantially during Covid, and miscreants like him were simply able to buy more drugs, and wreak havoc on our streets in their drugged and intoxicated state. There are two million Australians receiving Job Seeker payments, and that's a figure we can't afford. The welfare system in Australia is a joke, and needs to be overhauled so that dole bludgers receive no government handouts whatsoever unless they make a concerted effort to find work. Centrelink says it rigorously monitors and enforces its welfare recipients to actively seek employment, but that is obviously not the case with everyone.
Apart from the obvious life threatening health issues, the Coronavirus had a devastating financial impact on the world economy. Acts of terrorism, border disputes and petty squabbles between nations took a back seat to Covid-19. If this disease has taught us one thing it has reminded us all that our economies are very fragile especially when workers are forced into lockdown due to social distancing laws. The virus spread like wildfire through the US, China and Europe and those bustling economies were stopped in their tracks, and that was something we could all ill afford. Perhaps, the dominant world powers will look back on the pandemic and see the untold financial damage that this virus has done, and the years it will take to recover financially. Perhaps, they will think twice before initiating any threat that might affect their economies again, and that includes starting wars. The world is becoming a smaller place so it is far easier for viruses to spread quickly around the globe. People forget that the Spanish flu in 1918 killed over 50 million people, perhaps even as high as 100 million people,and highly infectious diseases like small pox decimated populations for thousands of years until it was eventually eradicated, and a vaccine was made. There have been far worse diseases than Covid-19 which have killed far more people but no disease has ruined the global economy quite like the Coronavirus. This disease won’t be the last but nations, for once, have fought this particular virus on a united front because of its crippling worldwide financial impact, so any future global pandemic will be dealt with far more swiftly and effectively than what was experienced with Covid-19. It can be successfully argued that it was, indeed, the pandemic we had to have. The world will be a better place after this pandemic passes, at least in the short term. Jens Ward, Wardswords
What does schooling really prepare us for? Educators will say that schooling will help us secure a good job, and financial security in later life but high school really only prepares us for higher education, and nothing much else. Not everyone wants to become a teacher. Our education system might teach us the curriculum but it doesn’t prepare us for life’s pitfalls. It’s ok to fall down so long as we get right back up again, and learn by our mistakes but they don’t teach that stuff in the classroom, and they should. It doesn’t have to be that way. Our education system should focus on teaching us how to cope in the real world emotionally, responsibly and financially. Students aren’t prepared for anything when they leave school. Graduates are literally thrown in the deep end, and told to sink or swim. Our education system is a failure, and educators need to teach life skills as a core subject. Teachers aren't advocating change so perhaps it's time for the government to take control in setting and prioritizing new education standards where students are prepared in the classroom for everyday life. Jens Ward, Wardswords
I was asked by a Filipino student to pose several questions for him to use in a school debate. He was to take the stance that the separation of the two sexes would not help curb teenage pregnancies in the Philippines. Of course, the total segregation of males from females would stop teenage pregnancies but at what cost is the real question that needs to be answered here. Here are my questions. So, you believe that gender separation would be the most effective way in helping to curb teenage pregnancies in the Philippines? If so, then you must want to do away with the co-educational system so that in theory males and females would have less contact with one another and therefore less likelihood of having sex, and producing teenage pregnancies. Where would this separation policy end? Would you segregate the sexes in cinemas too? Don’t you think that gender separation would only contribute to an unhealthy social environment where the gap of gender equality would only widen, not narrow? Haven’t we strived to promote and instill gender equality in the classroom, workplace and in the community, and you want to divide the community even further with a gender separation policy to curb teenage pregnancies. Wouldn’t it be far healthier socially and a better solution for all to curb unwanted teenage pregnancies through compulsory sex education programs where both male and female teenagers are taught about the dangers, pitfalls and financial hardships associated with teenage pregnancies? Don’t you think the slogan Educate, Don't Separate is the catch cry we all need to hear in curbing teenage pregnancies? Jens Ward, Wardswords
When is the pandering to our indigenous people going to stop. Vast tracks of Australia are already inaccessible to most of the population because aboriginals claim the sites are sacred to them. And now we as a nation are banned from climbing Uluru because of its spiritual significance. I understand and appreciate that the Aborigines were once the custodians of our land and were once the victims of British imperialism and smallpox, but times have changed. Australia is now a country of immigrants, and we should all have equal rights as one nation to come and go as we please in this wide brown land of ours. We got rid of the White Australia Policy because it was manifestly wrong to exclude people of different race and cultural backgrounds from immigrating to Australia. So, why should our indigenous people have the authority to say where we can go in our own country? If a decision is to be made about accessibility then it should be made by an elected government and popular vote, and not by some minority tribal council. Jens Ward, Wardswords
Religion teaches us a moral code by which to live our lives. Since time immemorial preachers have extolled the virtues that living god fearing lives has its just rewards, and a wonderful life awaits those true believers beyond the grave. Perhaps, religion was once an important ritual in bringing moral order to small communities in an age when communication wasn't as far reaching as it is today. These communities, perhaps, demanded a tangible explanation to something as intangible as life after death. The simple truth is that religion is built around nothing more than blind faith, and fear of the unknown. No one dies with dignity, and living a life worth dying for is a comforting thought for some. Jens Ward, Wardswords
I always looked forward to reading a hard copy of my daily community newspaper over a cuppa every morning. Those days are gone. It was the beginning of the end for the print media when News Corp announced that their community newspapers would no longer be audited allowing them, according to media analysts, to cut unprofitable circulation and save costs. Cutting costs didn't stop there. Daily newspapers became bi-weeklies. As a result, journalists and photographers were retrenched and the print media lost its ability to pursue news accurately and rigorously. Advertising dollars took precedent over news space, and as a consequence most newspapers became nothing more than advertising leaflets. Here is my letter to the editor that, not surprisingly, was never published. "The Manly Daily cannot be considered a newspaper anymore. It’s patently obvious that your so called daily community newspaper has cut costs to the bone so that it is now unrecognisable as a news paper. The Manly Sea Eagles were robbed over the weekend, and yet there was not one mention in Wednesday’s edition about it. Your newspaper is dying a slow and inevitable death, so just do us all a favour. I’m an award winning print journalist, and I know the signs. I realize this letter won’t be published but pass it onto the editor anyway, and then onto management."
The collective purchasing power of women has done more for the rise of feminism and political correctness over the past few years than any other contributing factor. Advertisers and marketers target women because they generally make the decisions more than men when it comes to purchasing everyday consumer items. And we’re talking about serious money here. The stuff that drives economies and makes the world go around, and around. Just look at the number of female broadcasters and women peddling everything from cosmetics to cars in the mass media. Advertisers portray women as controlling and assertive in their campaigns because they are generally the decision makers in the household when it comes to buying most product. Women have a huge influence over what we all buy, and advertsiers target them specifically in their campaigns. I was watching female breakfast TV hosts talk about a princess wearing Prada, and babbling about how this royal changed fashion designers so often.Yawn! One of the female hosts then turned cheekily to the male sportsreader, and asked him for his opinion knowing full well he couldn't comment on national television. He was damned if he did, and damned if he didn't. He just smiled it off fearing that anything he said would be considered sexist. How are we supposed to take women seriously when they spend an hour putting on their makeup, and then another hour taking the product off at night before applying night cream. But advertisers take them very seriously, and their collective purchasing power gives them a huge voice in politics and how we, as men, should conduct ourselves in everyday life. Jens Ward, Wardswords
Marketers and advertisers use emotive language cleverly to evoke our inherent fears, desires and greed. Our greed is to have it all, the fear is in losing our position to someone else in the queue and our constant desire is to feel good about ourselves because of what we have materially. Marketing strategies are aimed directly at consumers spending more on superfluous goods and services that we can all really do without, but don’t want to miss out. I am constantly amazed at the gullability of so many people who are seduced and duped by marketers and advertisers. No longer does the snake oil salesman need to stand on his soapbox to deliver his spiel to the crowd. Words of seduction attack our senses every day and reach a far greater audience than ever before through the mass media. We are being accosted by slick advertising campaigns at every turn, and the buzzwords and catchy phrases used to sell product ring profoundly in our ears compelling us to buy. Jens Ward, Wardswords
I will never understand the glorification of war and the hero worship that soldiers receive for killing one another in combat. We have a public holiday in Australia called Anzac Day when we commemorate our fallen ‘heroes’ who have died in battle. Our political and defence leaders regale horror stories on this day about the bravery of our soldiers who died defending our shores, and our freedoms. Some soldiers are conscripted into the armed forces against their will, others naively enlist seeking adventure while the majority simply want a steady paying job. It is a documented fact that many armed forces personnel are scarred psycologically for life from their experiences on the battlefield. Many are so traumatised by the experience that they become dysfunctional members of society after being discharged, and some ex servicemen take their own life rather than live with the guilt and shocking memories. Throughout the ages imperialism has divided and conquered weaker nations in the quest for power, riches and land. Nothing has really changed. Politicians and social commentators can never agree with one another that wars solve problems, and make the world a better place in which to live. We just become desensitized to its bloody-mindedness to the point where we openly commemorate and celebrate the horrors of conflict. There are no heroes or cowards on the battlefield. Bullets kill indiscriminately. I don't know if we go to another place, but I'm sure as hell don't want to end up back here. Jens Ward, Wardswords