get a job

There has been a lot of talk recently about that perennial question about bringing back National Service. Bringing back conscription.

It is rubbish. You cannot force people to conform. And why should taxpayers shell out a fortune to feed, clothe and house young men (and maybe young women) for two years. Very few would ever join the regular Army.

In the Melbourne Herald Sun today Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg writes:

Suddenly the idea of national service is on the agenda, and how ironic, given that it is Young Labor who have put it back on the table and been its most fervent backers. The incongruity lies is that when it was last introduced in the 1960s, it sparked huge protests, was ferociously opposed by the ALP.

AS it should be. You want to join the Army? Learn some skills at taxpayers expense? Do it. Go for it. I saw a figure this week that people who get trained by the Army are leaving at a rate of 14% a year. They have learned skills at your expense. But that is also another story.

Dr Carr-Gregg also wrote:

“One way of encouraging identity formation is to offer young people the chance to take healthy risks in a structured environment, which can help give them self-definition.”

I don’t really know what that gobbledegook  means but I think I can sum it in three words:  Get a job.

The well-meaning doctor also writes: “Sadly, at present, there is precious little on offer to inspire, stimulate or motivate disaffected young people, to lead them away from a sedentary lifestyle, the junk food, video parlours, substance abuse, crime or fundamental religious extremism.”

I know this is again going to sound insensitive and cruel. But there is a three word answer: Get a job. Like millions of other Australians. Young and old.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2006