Yeah thanks ... wasn't all bad though ... and doing it tough makes you resourceful, and it's supposedly character building.J o h n S m i t h wrote:good for you Yogi ...Outlaw Yogi wrote: A few years ago I managed to save/bank $1000 while on the dole ... then took a fruit picking job (piece work - paid by per half tonne) with low pay and a lack of fruit, resulting in earning the same as the dole, from which I had to buy fuel and car parts to keep the job, so ultimately was worse off working than bludging. When the work/fruit ran out 5 months later, I was in debt (to my father).
Several years prior to that I got sacked (from a farm earning wages, aprox $500 per week) for pushing a Swiss bloke's face in the mud when he stole my rain coat on a rainy day. I didn't want to go on the dole because it gives little hitlers the right to tell me what to do, which is waste time on pointless errands and accruing meaningless certificates. So I went to my bush property and lived under a blue tarp, surviving off feral fruits and wild animals. When I needed money I dragged scrap metal out of the bush and cashed it in at scrap yards.
Currently I'm doing a job so unpopular (picking citrus - $100 per half tonne & lots of thorns) they have to lure backpackers with an extra year's (working holiday) visa so the industry doesn't collapse. 60km away is the welfare capital of Kweensland (Bundaberg) - a town (provincial city) full of people on speed/ice who wouldn't work if you jammed a cattle prod up their date.
I consider all these sorts of situations as learning experiences.
Well, forgive my judgemental jumping to conclusions, but apart from GST I'm a bit surprised you actually pay tax.J o h n S m i t h wrote: I'd hate to think you were scabbing my tax dollars.
The way you typically express yourself in these forums gave me the impression you're on a DSP and anti-depressants or anti-psychotics.
But when it comes to the dole per se. I actually agree with you that its needed, but probably not your sentiment about how hard it is on the dole.
Whenever a govt (usually, but not always Libs) looks for ways to cut the dole, as someone who's been on the dole several times, I kick up a stink pointing out it'd be cheaper to pay unemployed the dole than cough up for more gaols/jails, courts, cops and insurance premium hikes.
The ancient Roman senate invented the dole for the dispossessed because they knew without a means of support those dispossessed (the mob) would rob the merchants, and if the merchants gave Rome a wide berth, their economy would collapse. The same rule somewhat applies today.
Our bushland, creeks and river banks would be cleaner (and safer from potential tetanus infections) and fruit would be cheaper.J o h n S m i t h wrote: However, what do you think would happen if all 800 000 unemployed people collected scrap metal and picked fruit?
Yeah I know, I've got an answer for everything ... heard it all before
BTW, that new metal detector is paying its way... found what looks like a good source of gold on Saturday
