Is their something intrinsically wrong with a government that offers its citizens a 'baby bonus' that encourages a 10 year old girl to become pregnant to her Mothers de facto partner and 'earn' another $5,000 for their household? Is there something flawed with a political agenda that pays its citizens more money for being unemployed than it does to those who are trying to make something of themselves by going to university?
And who should we be encouraging to breed? The motivated people who are studying and trying to improve things for future generations? Or the rednecks who force their 10 year old daughters to become pregnant for some extra cash to buy a large screen TV and see the Big Brother inmates better? Is there a student bonus of $5,000 for someone who tries to make themselves less reliant on the system? No, the system is obviously in place to encourage idiots to breed.
And just because Fate is so smitten with us, she presented our disbelieving eyes with a sight that both illustrated the point and utterly ruined our libido in one shot. A pregnant women is one of the most beautiful sights to behold. The mother glows with the joy of a biological imperative fulfilled, and the life that grows within is so awe-inspiring in its innocence and its potential. Against this beautiful imagery, a young teenager was seen riding a BMX towards the Family Assistance branch of Centrelink, on a day when her peers would have been in school. A subtle suggestion of ass crack crept out the top of a pair of partially descending army fatigue coloured P.J.'s as they hung on her hips. And a 6 month pregnant belly stuck out over the top as she scooted along doing the sort of tricks that entertain people not yet legally defined as an adult, like monos, endos, truancy and earning great money for fucking without having to prostitute yourself..
Is there any hope for future generations when lazy leeches out number the motivated? Otiose people who refuse to do anything but have enough babies to earn more money from the government than what honest labour yields. This will be the welfare states enduring legacy, cleaning the gene pool of DNA that might incline people towards following worthy pursuits. Like living life to the fullest for the sheer joy of becoming a broader, more rounded and positive part of society.
Is anyone likely to ask at this point whether I believe I am making the most of my life? I certainly feel I am under the circumstances, as I am having an absolute ball here. Major laughing fits occur almost nightly, solid friendships are gaining momentum, the menu is second to NONE, the work is physical but not overly challenging, the pay is great and our room is decorated with amazing Hubble telescope images of the universe that force us into deep contemplation of our utter insignificance in the overall scheme of things. A contemplation frequently aided by means that some people would say contradicts any claim to be making the most of life.
Yeah, a qualified signwriter with experience as an attendant carer, vegetarian cook, artist, coffee barista, now working in a strawberry farm after pledging never to keep the same job for longer than 18 months while trying to be a creative writer, learn to tattoo, ride the unicycle and play the bass guitar, working on a novel about a recent orphanage mission to Mongolia and Cambodia while waiting for a friend to turn the vegan cookbook he wrote to affirm his Buddhist ethics, into a digital file to share with the world. That's sounds perfectly normal to me. I'm quite happy to report that I feel that I am making the most of my life whether or not people agree with the role drugs sometimes play in my life?
Like I said to Jess and Nina, the uber cool British van-packers that have blessed us with their existence, and Rus, the guy that lives in a tent next door to them, if you had feet as fucked up as mine are at present, you could surely forgive someone for experimenting with mind altering substances based on the pursuit of a reduction in pain? Pain experienced from leprosy toe nails, the numerous blisters that change and multiply over the course of the day, and the sciatic nerve pain that nearly doubles me over ever time I cough. Oh the pain, the pus, the black voodoo, the wet jigsaw puzzle!
One could be forgiven for thinking that this little welfare diatribe seems to overlook how hypercritical it makes me look after my 3 month holiday at the states expense. Like drugs, I feel there is a major difference between use and abuse. Acedia conceded, my dependence on welfare was due to lifestyle transition, not the intent to misappropriate. Surely any relatively insignificant means that results in a positive end is justifiable. The positive ends in this case being the experiences to I embellish to entertain my readership with, rather than hoisting my offspring on an unprepared society. (I have already used my aforementioned lack of responsibility as a justification for why I chose to remain fatherless.)
To celebrate her 24th birthday, Gemma came up here for a conjugal visit with Mr Handsome Man, the superhero with his Johnny Depp underpants on the outside of his corduroys. (A joke that started when he stood on a rusty nail and slinked away to care for it on his own, rather than scream blue murder for maximum pity like I would!) Gemma's sister Kim works for the Department of Housing and related the aforementioned example of the 10 year old as one of the more depressing aspects of her job.
Is anyone else with me on this whole 'baby bonus' schemozzle, or am have I just taken the effects of a mind altering substance too far from rational thought to be credible in my ramblings? Scope the toe photo on the previous journal post and forgive me from wanting to escape the feeling of having to cut my own toenails off, given I had passed out in Year 9 science class while watching open heart surgery.
I don't know who reads this but I admit I do get carried away sometimes. Us non-conformists are dangerous because we have no idea what we are doing most of the time, what we are capable of, and often frighten others as we strive for the outer limits of what it is to be human. Yet simple hindsight often proves the stupidity of statements we've made. Or the brilliance of ideas born of abstract thought. Do your OWN thing everyone, but be conscious of the larger scheme of things, and how our lives affect everyone else's; human or animal. Our petty lives are very insignificant after all. The staggering infinity of possibility!