Howard's new underclass.
Don't appologise Rammel for how you feel.
Talk to family and friends so that others can be educated.
What we are witnessing is a fundamental shift in Australian society from one which had a degree of egalitarianism and fairness to one that is something else.
As you say quite rightly it is modelled on the American system.
I for one have spent enough time travelling on the local downtown LA buses to know that I do not want our country to be a part of their system.
A system that sees an underclass of people working mutiple jobs for next to nothing just in order to survive.
There is a term for these people and it is called the "working poor".
Australian society has up until recently been prepared to legislate minimum wages AND CONDITIONS that have afforded everyone who can work some dignity and quality of life.
John Howard wants away with is for ideological reasons.
He boasts of delivering economic prosperity the like of which we have never seen but at the same time his "work no choices" legislation will see ever increasing numbers of people [young, semi skilled, unskilled] unable to benefit from this prosperity.
It stinks and I desperately hope that Australians of all socio economic groups wake up.
Who is going to pay for the social needs of people unable to get ahead in life because they work for next to nothing just to survive??
Nobody.
Australia is about to become John Howard's new America.
WAKE UP
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I was reading an article in one of our broadsheets recently about these very issues.
Whoever it was was saying that traditionally Australian's have accepted that unless a business can afford to pay a proper living wage then it doesn't deserve to operate or survive.
He pointed out that John Howard is determined to see that this is no longer the case.