editorial Welcome to this week’s editorial, This week’s editorial revolves around the word ‘expecta7on’. At its very core is the generally naive expecta7on that we Vol 16 September might be able to15th live2017 the simple life we want for ourselves. 28 April December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 27th 2018 The ini7al building blocks require air, water and food. We value add to that with a hope of shelter and clothing. Having been exposed first hand to a culture that was primal, nomadic, with uncertainty of survival or food, having the most basic and temporary of shelters, generally naked except for a penis gourd or arse-gras and with no guarantee at all of living to the next day I can then add to that my 7me living in villages, slums and ghe>os. Our universal needs are basic. We are born hungry and naked, and from that day on everything we can source is a bonus. We learn to adapt. How we live, and how long we live is o?en a result of where we live and who we were born to. Those who Have tend to do be>er than those who don’t Have. But those who don’t Have can aspire. To many who have travelled through India it is confron7ng to see the absolute des7tute poor living side by side with the incredibly rich. It isn’t uncommon to see the daily interface between the near famished and the well heeled. In India the sight is considered normal. It is as it is. In Australia we pay less respect to fate. These are days as we have not had before in this genera7on. The expecta7on of a good job with a good income that follows on from a good educa7on to deliver a good life in a nice home with a happy family living a healthy happy life has become a Hollywood fic7on to so many. In the South East or reality is that there are few jobs, low incomes, compromised public educa7on delivery and the good life in a nice home is well beyond the reach of our young where a fibro 1950’s holiday hut will set you back a million dollars on a $50,000 per year income. Even the dream of a simple healthy life has become a nightmare of pandemics, health systems under brutal pressure and the spike of mental health issues due to bushfires, desola7on and isola7on adding to the mix. It turns out that one shouldn’t put too much credence in expecta7ons. But we do. We have great expecta7ons of those we nominate as our leaders hoping they can, at the very least, deliver on our basic dreams of housing, employment, food, health and educa7on. At a local level we hope that our roads are safe to drive on. That our parks are safe to play in and that our water is safe to drink. Having sewer, libraries and pathways is a bonus. At a state level we hope that there is provision of health services that keep us, our family and community, alive for a reasonable amount of 7me. Oddly we seem to now have an expecta7on to live to 100. That being the case our expecta7on of health services increases drama7cally. At a Federal level we expect that they too do their job. In honesty. At all levels we expect that they do their best. A reasonable expecta7on. Sadly, collec7vely we are all the poorer for what we are given. Are our expecta7ons too high? Or do we now have leaders who are content to deliver less than expected knowing they can get away with it as there is no consequence for mediocrity? Do we need to pay more? If so, how much? We have a new Council, we are soon to have a new Member for Bega and hopefully we will have a new Government. Either we can choose to let them sa7sfy our modest expecta7ons or grumble that they haven’t. They are only as good as we are. Are carparks of more value than hospitals? Are gun clubs more important than schools? And if we do nothing, if we let them be us, then they reflect us, and they will generally deliver well below our expecta7ons. Why? Because they can. They prefer the “unheard”, the “voiceless”. If only we could step up and say “No”. If only we could find the point of delivery of a reasonable expecta7on and be content that that point in life is, at the least, as good as it gets. Un7l next—lei beagle weekly : Vol 242 January 14th 2022
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