Unfortunately I was at the Canberra Careers Market working for the uni basically the whole week so I wasn’t able to get out and take any photos so have some happy snaps.
Work (29/52)
Law and order: 1940 vs 1980
I was just doing some light reading of Business and the Law (2009) and I came across some really interesting facts which astounded me at how far our society has come in just forty years. To be honest, it was quite a bit of a shock.
There was a study (as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, 1985) done in America which listed the top disciplinary issues as reported by teachers in 1980 and then compared to s similar study done in 1940 and the results, to me, were quite astounding.
1940:
- Talking
- Chewing gum
- Making noise
- Running in the halls
- Getting out of turn in line
- Wearing improper clothing
- Not putting paper in wastebaskets
1980:
- Rape
- Robbery
- Assault
- Burglary
- Arson
- Bombings
- Murder
- Suicide
- Absenteeism
- Vandalism
- Extortion
- Drug abuse
- Alcohol abuse
- Gang warfare
- Pregnancy
Now it’s possible to argue that we live in a much more relaxed and “freer” society now than in 1940’s but are the positive changes in our society greater than the negative? Is there a net social benefit? The rapid rate of social degredation to me indicates that something is awry in our society and we’ve gone from one end to the complete other, in just 40 years. What will the top 10 issues be in 2030 and beyond? Will society come back a little? Or have we gone too far, does the influence of corporations, on TV, in video games, all influence the younger generation into doing more and more extreme things? Do we need to protect our children more?
All interesting questions. Maybe I should have done Philosophy 🙂
Up to you. Me, I’m going back to reading the other 7 chapters that I need to have read.
Blah. Liberals, You Disgust Me
So after reading up about the Coalition’s supposed “alternative” broadband “policy”, I feel rather angry and annoyed that they think they know what is best for those in regional areas and the economy. I hope no one is going to be voting for the coalition.
Read here: http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/356406/coalition_australians_will_get_12mbps_more_they_win_/
I just felt that I should address some points, just in case people were thinking that the Coalition’s scheme was sounding good. Don’t forget that they are spending far less money and therefore the service will be of a far reduced quality.
Sure it’s cheaper but it’s only delivering a minimum of 12Mbps to 97% of households, some city folk getting 100Mbps HFC, ADSL2+ and the rest sitting on below average satellite. With 90% coverage by 2016. Considering that the NBN will be nearly build by then covering 93% of the population with 100Mbps fibre (yes please!) and the rest with 12Mbps wireless and satellite. They haven’t really specified who will get what. What happens in the future when we need faster speeds that copper simply just can’t deliver? Copper at it’s current technology tops out at 40Mbps and that decreases the further you move away from the exchange. The NBN starts at 100Mbps and it’s easy to go up from there and speeds won’t degrade with distance.
The Coalition also haven’t addressed the problem of equity. I’m assuming here that the majority of city users will be able to access 100Mbps HFC and users here in Mudgee will be stuck on 24Mbps max. When online services standardise, it will be at the faster rate of 100Mbps leaving those on the lower speeds behind. City people don’t understand rural people. We need a widespread distribution of a high speed fibre network that can be continually upgrade in the future.