As I feel like I've mentioned so much in this section, I don't know much about the economy. I'm very underdeveloped in that realm of understanding because, well, I'm lazy and prefer to pour my interest and intelligence into things I know more about. I really should get around to having a rudimentary understanding of financial markets and whatever, I know.
But what I am aware of is that I'm poor and getting poorer. I also live in an area where no one my age, and only extremely sparingly for those 10 years older than I am, can afford to put down so much as a 5% deposit on a house. Auckland has never exactly been a cheap place to live in - it's more or less the Sydney of this country when it comes to housing and cost of living. So it's not like the city was entirely blindsided by the housing crisis we're facing. But in the space of about five years, it's gone from 'if you work hard and don't have great expectations for your first home, you'll be alright' to 'If you cut out basic necessities, you might afford to put down the bare minimum deposit on a home in a few years'.
Renting is just as dire a situation as well. That explains the situation for most far better than I can.
This can as well. It's disgusting and it won't change any time soon - the government in power here is outright denying the situation and continuing their official position of demonising millennials and the poor. Their core constituents are making too much money off the situation and any attempt at reconciling the situation would put a big dent in their election prospects come next year. Local government attempts at curtailing the crisis have also been bullied into submission - when given the landmark opportunity two months ago to allow for denser building construction (high rises, more focus on public transport, tl;dr not expanding further and further into the unknown) instead of continuing to spread into the countryside with little economic prospects unless you happen to know how to look after sheep, they cowered at the idea of doing some good. It's just pathetic.
I suppose that's my own little grumble about New Zealand in regards to 'the changing world'. The poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer and all that.
But onward we shall go!
While every generation considers themselves more enlightened than the last, I consider the last half decade's burst of 'social justice' a wonderful thing. How people go about implementing and sharing their knowledge is one thing, but I'm hardly going to consider a wider understanding of the power structures that surround them A Bad Thing. Or rather, people listening to those who have been talking about these issues for decades because it is a daily experience for them. If 'social justice' is allowing people to feel empathy so often denied by their predecessors, then so be it. If more people are feeling rage at the injustices thrust upon them, then so be it. Good.
At the same time though, you have those feeling threatened by this banding together and consolidating their strength. The rise of the extreme far right in most Western countries is troubling. Perhaps it's not correct to call it a rise - in the case of America, it's more that, well, certain people are riding on the beliefs that have permeated America's underbelly since its inception. We're likely going to be seeing the same situation repeat itself in France in 2017. Very worrying.
I love social media. I love how a whole new world is open to me. I enjoy being part of a global community. There are naturally going to be downsides given that we're the first generation of people to have such limitless connection seamlessly integrated into our lives - the change in how many people process information and have a decreased ability to focus is the first thing that comes to mind. But I guess we'll only see the true effect of social media years from now, when we've moved past the stage of demonisation. In the meanwhile, I'm going to stay reading Twitter memes. They make me laugh.
I guess some things will never change - I've personally long since given up any hope of people not destroying the environment. It's too late for us to avert the effects of climate change. The Middle East becomes more and more unstable as time goes by. The poor are getting poorer and all that. I don't think transgender people will truly be accepted for quite some time. Most of Australia will still hate its indigenous population decades from now. I don't know, really.
I don't have any direction with this post and I guess that's the whole idea. The changes happening across the world are too vast for me to truly consider. I've left out a lot of the cynicism I have about our future as I don't want to think like that, I like suspending disbelief and maintaining a bit of joy about the world I'm in. As much as it sickens me to say so, I guess I still have a little bit of hope.
