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Home ownership is a trick being played on you

Carrie Miller

by Carrie Miller

25 Feb 05:55am

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Filed under: Finances, Politics, Property, Satire, Society

109 comments

Is it only in obnoxious cities like Sydney where people bang on about interest rates and property prices?

He was allowed back at the table once he shut up about the investment property. Cartoon: John Tiedemann.

And is it just people I’ve met or is it all of you? Don’t lie – I watch a lot of TV and judging by the nightly news and those current affairs programmes on commercial stations, everyone is obsessed with this stuff.

There are endless stories on the big banks ripping us off with higher rates, tips on how to invest in property, what the next hot areas to buy into will be etc etc.

As Elvis once remarked, you’re caught in a trap. If you’re looking to buy a house you complain about property prices. Then when you buy a place you’re pre-occupied with property prices again because in your greedy minds you’re constantly calculating how much money you’ve made. Then you decide you want to ‘upscale’ because you’ve had kids or got more aspirational about which suburb you want to live in, and then you’re complaining about property prices again.

This obsession with money-related matters is also annoying because it takes a fair chunk out of the nightly news. I’m sure that’s why there’s no coverage of women’s sports. Because of people’s relatively new interest in the stock market it’s now compulsory to have a finance segment after the general sports news on every station. Soon they’ll be dropping those heart-warming, human interest, rescuing a kitten stories at the end of the show just so you can get your fix on where your investments are going.

Back in the good old days they didn’t devote a regular segment to how the Dow Jones and the FTSE were going. No-one gave a rat’s arse – they were too busy dragging that thousand pound bag of flour from the back shed to make damper for the evening meal.

Sorry to break it to you, but you’ve all bought into a lie. Personal home-ownership and investing in the stock market are historically fairly recent phenomena, and culturally specific at that – they’re not essential to your happiness, let alone your survival. They’re just something the State wants you to do. Like having kids or being heterosexual. They really only serve the interests of big business and our major political parties, not the average person, because they turn you into ‘consumers’ instead of ‘citizens’ and consumers are too busy consuming to notice what’s really going on.

I’m with that guy who worked this stuff out over a hundred years ago. He said “property is theft” or something like that. I’m not really sure what that means, but I think it clearly supports my position.

And this isn’t some high-minded, anti-materialist rant, mind you. I really reckon you’d have more fun in life if you just started seeing that stuff as just a bit of a con rather than a necessity.

Think about it. The whole idea of all of these money-related things is to make you more “secure”. But that’s precisely the lie. The reality is that a lot of you with mortgages and investments are constantly fretting and whingeing and generally freaking out. You’re obsessed and neurotic because of it and it shows.

When did the average person become fixated with property and the type of markets only economists once cared about anyway? Like all bad trends I lay the blame squarely on the 80s. Yet another bad craze from that decade – up there with a Flock of Seagulls and stone wash jeans.

I know what you’re thinking, I’m some kind of commie bludger that, with this sort of attitude, will end up a drain on the community in my old age.

But don’t concern yourselves with me – I’ll be fine. I figure I can keep renting and live off the super that I will start saving any day now. I’ve also wagered on the fact that with the abuse I’ve put my body through I’m unlikely to live long enough to be needing any kind of support at all. And if necessary, I will quite happily take a pension if it’s still on offer. After all, I drank like a fish and smoked like a chimney for nearly thirty years – that stuff’s heavily taxed so that’s my contribution to society sorted.

Maybe I’m missing out. I’ve never even owned a car, not even a Prius. So perhaps I can’t understand the pressures of modern living in the way you can. But from where I’m calmly sitting, you guys look very stressed out.

Hang on a sec, no wonder. I just realised I’m late with my rent again and you probably own the investment property I’m currently devaluing.

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109 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • hugh says:

      07:24am | 25/02/10

      “And this isn’t some high-minded, anti-materialist rant, mind you”

      Really? Because the entire article read as though it was

      Reply

    • Old Clive says:

      08:13am | 25/02/10

      It is closer to the trith than you imagine, I know that you are not saying live fast die young and have a handsome corpse, but I figure that the white collar crooks are always on the lookout for suckers and you would have to be pretty wise to beat those blokes, But putting it all aside the only reason that I was able to retire at 55 was through property investments, not in cities but on waterfront properties.

    • formersnag says:

      09:23am | 25/02/10

      Correct Old Clive, many “investors” climb aboard the bandwagon way too late and merely help “entrepreneurs” to change from millionaires to billionaires.

      Sadly Carrie, does have a point. The “sheeple” in OZ, still do carry big business on their backs, have become way too well trained as consumers.

      America and the rest of the world economies are going straight into “double dip recession” as we speak/write. We will be going into it as well. It will rival “the great depression” and it will go on for about 2 to 5 years.

      Economic stimulus spending did not under any circumstances save us from recession, merely delay it. The red/green/labour coalition were hoping, till after the next election, All they have done is buy votes and deepen our debt.

      Good luck with your “investments”, the stock market will be staying where it is, or dropping further, for some time. Property markets will be dropping generally by 20% to 50%, between 6 to 12 months from now, just like last time, when we “had the recession we had to have”.

    • self-determinant says:

      01:00pm | 25/02/10

      not really concerned about the pro’s and con’s- more interested how many on either side of the argument are waiting for their parents/ significant others to die and leave them whole or part of their estate, or have benefited from this fact of life. My thought would be that such waffle is bankrupt because of the phenomenon of many being propped up by the hard work of those who have gone before. Choose what you want to do with your share of the spoils, and knock yourself out! Don’t present yourself as self-determinant unless you’re doing it without leg-ups.

    • freddy says:

      01:43pm | 25/02/10

      actually the answer is to join the guys pulling the strings at the top, not the suckers dancing the dance at the bottom!

    • Steve says:

      06:14pm | 25/02/10

      i LOVE IT you keep thinking like that while paying rent , then dont complain when the landlord wants you out , think of the expense of moving then when you find your next place you will never know when you will be kicked out will you , then the expense of moving AGAIN People like you keep this great nation moving and you dont even realise it , I think the trick is being played on YOU

    • Robert Smissen says:

      09:54pm | 25/02/10

      Home ownership was a trick from the Whitlam era, Gough didn’t really give a rat’s rectum about low income earners. Until Gough came along working people lived in public housing & paid about 20% less than private rentals. The trick was to con the workers into buying their own places & then the government didn’t need to fund public houses. I other affluent countries people tend to lease rather than buy. Having said this I own my own house outright but wished I didn’t.

    • Carrie Miller says:

      07:33am | 25/02/10

      Actually, you caught me out Hugh. I would apologise in full but I’m late for my spray tan.

      Reply

    • hugh says:

      08:29am | 25/02/10

      Who does spray tanning any more?
      That stuff stinks, messes up the bed sheets, and it leaves a huge blotch around my pelvic area and / or belly post coitous (depending on position).

    • Ches says:

      07:33am | 25/02/10

      2 minutes of my life I’m never getting back. When you tell a story, have a point, It makes it so much more interesting for the reader.

      Reply

    • Tails says:

      08:12am | 25/02/10

      And when you quote Steve Martin, make it a funny one etc etc etc…

    • aMy says:

      08:54am | 25/02/10

      I concur!!!

    • BJ says:

      07:37am | 25/02/10

      Yes Sydney is the only place obsessed with property ownership & no investing in property & the share market are not ‘new cultural phenomenon, people have been investing in both since the 1700’s. Finally, hate to burst your bubble, but by the time you retire there will be no pension. Good luck I think you’ll need it.

      Reply

    • escapee says:

      09:29am | 25/02/10

      Go to mining towns in outback WA and you’ll find the most property obsessed and shallowest people around. Even the real estate agent advertising on TV only focuses on tempting investors because the locals on normal wages can’t afford it. The short-termers brag about buying dumps for only 800 K that would be the cheapest housing commission properties in major cities….

    • Lionel Love says:

      07:43am | 25/02/10

      First article I’ve read for some time that places our current obsession with finance markets and their convoluted self serrving machinations in some kind of prerpective. Ah for the days when the stockmarket was just another obscure financial tool staffed by toffs in pinstripe suits. Have our mutual short term memories already forgotten the short sighted greed of Wall Street who most media were lauding as masters of the universe as they most blatantly conned both their clients and their customers to drive obscene profits and bring about the GFC and all inside the law appatrently. And even more recently their behaviour, with absolutely no regard to any form of integrity, in engineering the hiding of debt for a variety of Greek Governments from the EC. Clearly not! Unless we, as a society reflect on what matters (i.e. creating growth by making stuff that people want and will pay a fair price for and not just manipulating wealth) we are liablke to be financially engineered back in to the stone age. As Carrie implies, may not be a bad thing for the toffs either.

      Reply

    • Marisa says:

      07:43am | 25/02/10

      I’m sorry, what is the point?

      Reply

    • kax says:

      07:46am | 25/02/10

      wa wa hugh, im with carrie. go to other cities around aus and you meet real people who arent self obsessed image focussed binge spending boring conversationalists. they have hobbies and lives. this applies to most people living outside the inner sanctum of sydney’s 15k golden zone. i say this as a born and bread sydney city slicker and after 30 years, im over it!

      Reply

    • Caz says:

      07:53am | 25/02/10

      So….. you’re negatively commenting on stuff you don’t understand and things you don’t take part in. Great for you Carrie.

      But just so you know while we care about finances and our investments it doesn’t make us better nor worse than anyone, including you.
      I’ll go rock out to Soundwave, party and drink like you (aka live life a little) - but I’ll also have responsibilities and maybe some financial investments. With that sometimes the partying has to go on hold. It’s all about balance really.
      I know people who party, smoke, drink etc endlessly but also stress out all the time over different aspects of their life. You sound all high and mighty when really all you are doing is shirking any role of responsibility. You drink and smoke and you pay rent late - you just don’t give a damn! Wow such a rebel. You don’t have to care for anyone but yourself and clearly you don’t even like doing that too much.

      You sound selfish and childish. However, just like some people can end up in ruts due to drinking, I do agree that some people become obsessed with money and forget to live life. There really needs to be a balance where people understand that yes… paying the rent late is making someone else suffer, dying form smoking will affect loved ones and obsessing over money will mean you forget to live life a little.

      Reply

    • AFR says:

      07:55am | 25/02/10

      Most of my mates own houses (well, the bank does for now), and we never talk about property. We have much more interesting things to talk about, like….. you know…... beer, chicks and footy.

      Reply

    • Carrie Miller says:

      08:21am | 25/02/10

      You and your mates sound like top blokes with your priorities in order AFR. I bet you have more fun than those whose dinner party conversations are stuck in the property price groove.

    • Tex Ranger says:

      08:39am | 25/02/10

      ... and reading holier-than-thou socialist rants.

    • Maslow says:

      08:00am | 25/02/10

      Shelter is one of the basic necessities for life. Therefore, it is little wonder that we are preoccupied with it.

      But some things you may need to know as you are extremely myopic:

      1. Not even an income of $80,000pa will be enough to provide for your retirement re superannuation as it will run out about 5 years before your life expectancy (disregarding the new wonder miracle drugs that will prolong your life that will be invented in the coming decades)

      2. Paul Keating said back in the 80s that there will be no pension because we simply can’t afford to have a pension.

      3. Because of the no pension thingy you must look after yourself. Hence the reason people are interested in the stockmarket and property market. They are trying to build income producing assets to make money for them when they can no longer work for a living.

      4. Taxpayers should not have to support you. Get a job and build some assets.

      5. Just because your property rises in value does not mean you have made any money. Every other house on your street (and consequently most other streets) has also risen by a comparable amount. Your purchasing power has not increased. Therefore, you have not “made” money from an increase in the value of your house.

      Reply

    • Brett L says:

      08:11am | 26/02/10

      Maslow, you make a good point on number 5. “Your purchasing power has not increased”. You have an asset, but unless you sell and scale down or die it is not available as liquid cash. And when people hand their assets down they will have to be sold and split, therefore again reducing the ability to break into the property market. Something will have to give, I cannot see it continue like this forever. The best indicator will be the banks, when you see them move to tighten home lending by asking for higher deposits etc I would say it will trigger a fall in house prices. It’s just like cigarettes, put the prices up so high people will just give up in the end.

    • Jeff says:

      09:52am | 26/02/10

      Very true, Having carefully invested in property and shares over the years and determined not to be a burden on society I was assured by my financial advisor that I could comfortably retire for life at age 53, unfortunately the proviso was that I only lived for 3 months!!!

    • Sarah says:

      08:04am | 25/02/10

      No, hugh, it’s a self-justification for the author having chosen to do a philosophy degree and be a writer, and therefore be unable to afford to buy a home. This article is her public venting about how really truly she SO doesn’t care about ownership… with the subtext of “because I can’t afford it.” Which is convenient really. If she earned $150k pa would she also not care? Strangely, I don’t think so… it’s like the old saying. “If you’re not a socialist at 20 you haven’t got a heart. If you’re still a socialist at 40, you haven’t got a brain.”
      Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

      Reply

    • Carrie Miller says:

      09:15am | 25/02/10

      Oh, it’s money that determines one’s beliefs. Thanks Sarah. Philosophers have trying to work where they come for centuries.

    • DocBud says:

      09:47am | 25/02/10

      “Philosophers have trying to work where they come for centuries.”

      Difficulty multi-tasking, Carrie?

      You’ll need to write more clearly on your cardboard sign when you retire, “Job, no, home, no, give please spare change” won’t cut it.

    • Docbud says:

      08:27am | 25/02/10

      “I’m sure that’s why there’s no coverage of women’s sports.”

      The reason there is no coverage of women’s sports is because, other than friends (close ones anyway), family (ditto with the close) and the participants, nobody cares.

      Reply

    • Budz says:

      09:16am | 25/02/10

      Haha, that’s exactly what I was going to say! They put on TV what people care about. If people change their tastes, then TV will change with it.

      Why do you think there used to be so many renovation TV shows?

    • Phil says:

      10:35am | 25/02/10

      Spot on

      Actually women play games !!!

      Men play sport…

      Maybe a generalisation, but have a close look at it

    • Martin G says:

      08:37am | 25/02/10

      “Sorry to break it to you, but you’ve all bought into a lie. Personal home-ownership and investing in the stock market are historically fairly recent phenomena, and culturally specific at that – they’re not essential to your happiness, let alone your survival. They’re just something the State wants you to do. Like having kids or being heterosexual.”

      What a ridiculous statement. I love owning a home. It’s *my* home, and a stepping stone to perhaps further investment, increasing my personal wealth and security for my retirement (a long, long way away).

      Since when did the state want everyone to be heterosexual???

      “And this isn’t some high-minded, anti-materialist rant, mind you.”

      Could have fooled me!!!

      Reply

    • MrWhiskers says:

      11:42am | 26/02/10

      Whats funny about *Your* home, is the banks can take it away if you forget to pay your telephone bill, or the Government can decide your years of investment means squat to that next bypass they are planning. If you truly OWNED your home, you would not need to pay land taxes.

    • Martin G says:

      01:45pm | 26/02/10

      I am well aware of what is happening in my area, MrWhiskers. I have no need to worry about a bypass.

      I’d rather pay toward a mortgage (some of which will go toward the principal of property in *my title*) than pay money to a landlord, none of which I will never see again and none of which contributes towards any investment of mine.

      “If you truly OWNED your home, you would not need to pay land taxes”

      Everyone pays taxes somehow, big deal. Land taxes are a rort, yes, do you think Government is going to repeal that cash cow anytime soon? Landlords pay them too, I wonder where they get the money to do that…? The emphasis (or yelling???) on ‘owned’, are you suggesting no-one owns their home? Ridiculous.

    • MrWhiskers says:

      02:24pm | 26/02/10

      Martin, using the bypass as an example that no matter how secure you may be in your lovely McMansion, the Government can remove you for what ever reason they see fit.

      My apologies if you mistook my capitalisation of owned to mean I was yelling, I was trying to point out that if you owned your house you would not need to continuously pay for it. Minus maintenance of course.

      Simply put you can not own land. You merely rent the limited rights to it.

    • Andrew says:

      08:38am | 25/02/10

      The only people who win from home ownership are those with shares in lending institutions, and governments who make a killing on stamp duty. If I invest my money on one of the bigs banks and rent for my entrire life, I ma financially miles in front of people who buy. Why? because you pay interest. You buy a place for $500,000 and sell it a few years later for $700,000, the chances are that with stamp duty and interest, I have actually lost money on my initial $500,000 investment. And that is not taking into account insurance and maintenance…
      Home ownership is a lie perpetrated on us by the banks and the government, the only two entities who actually make money from it. That’s why I bought shares in a bank.
      And yes, Sydney-siders are complete tossers when it comes to property. That will pay through the roof for a rat infested ugly dump just to catch a glimpse of water if they lean out the bathroom window. Sydney Harbour just isn’t that beautiful because you have ruined it with lots of very ugly buildings and poor taste.

      Reply

    • Juju says:

      11:03am | 25/02/10

      And where do you live in the meantime? On the corner of George Street and Market Street in Sydney?

    • papachango says:

      11:23am | 25/02/10

      Yes, shares are slightly better investments over time - but the trouble is you have to have the absolute discipline to invest the difference between your rent and an equivalent mortgage every month, and not spend it on beer and gadgets instead.

      Most people lack this discipline, and for them a family home is a good investment, as much as anything for a forced saving mechanism.

      Also when you rent you can be kicked out pretty much anytime, can’t put a picture up without asking permission etc. Not that much fun, really.

    • Control-X says:

      08:39am | 25/02/10

      It’s simple, you’re older and take notice of the fact that the market and property prices are talked about. When you were younger, you didn’t give two hoots about it and didn’t see it was talked about because you just didn’t care to own property and you just might now.

      And yes, people talk about property and the market in other parts of Australia too, it’s just that Sydney has in comparison to other places exorbitant house prices, that’s all.

      Reply

    • Zeta says:

      08:42am | 25/02/10

      You just need to learn how to derail dinner party property conversations before they really get going. I find the best way is this:

      *imagine you’re at an inner west dinner party. The organic thatched asparagus cubes have just been served. Everyone is drinking imported Pabst Blue Ribbon. The 8:20pm American Airlines to Los Angeles is thundering overhead, reminding the people of Newtown they can never, ever leave.*

      RSPWSB (random stove-pipe wearing shit bag) : “So, like, I was reading the AFR the other day, and it looks like property is totally not a good investment anymore, so I’m just really not sure what’s the most authentic and relevant way to monetize my life right now.’

      Zeta: “No you’re wrong. Property is still a good investment. Just not to live in. See what you’ve got to do is buy a terrace house, and lease it back to an illegal brothel for triple what the rental market can offer. The illegal prostitution market remains bouyant under any circmstances, because there is always a supply of white sex slaves, and constant demand for slightly teary, heroin addicted hookers who don’t quite know where they are. It’s a Sydney thing.”

      RSPWSBIAB: (random stove-pipe wearing shit bag in a beret) “You’re so right. I was thinking about a brothel for my next art space. It would have just the right tone of unrestrained sexuality that I want to create through Flash animations of my mother as a rare spider .”

      *...and before long, they’re talking about wether Animal Collective are still too 2009, wondering if the Keffeyeh is just ‘entry level’ hip, and pondering the real meaning of the world ‘alternative’.* And nothing of value was lost.

      Reply

    • Maslow says:

      10:03am | 25/02/10

      ROFLMAO

      Who does dinner parties anymore?

      Must be something that couples do when they realise they’ve gotten bored only talking to each other so have to inflict their boredom onto others.

      Either that, or it’s something hipsters do because they can’t afford to go out and it’s an “ironic” tribute to the twee 50s….

    • Tim II says:

      10:30am | 25/02/10

      100% correct Zeta, derail the smug bastards before they get going. It makes for a long meal otherwise.

    • Sir Lolsworthy says:

      10:35am | 26/02/10

      I lol’d

      the complete lack of any sense of irony is what gets me. I know people like this and would piss on them given the chance.

    • Andrew says:

      08:45am | 25/02/10

      Anyone can make money in a bubble. Have Aussie property speculators not learnt from the US experience?

      Reply

    • Tim says:

      08:52am | 25/02/10

      Meh Carrie,
      I give this one a 5/10.

      Can you do a piece on gays next week?
      I’m sure you’d be able to top the 500 comment mark if you did.

      Reply

    • Carrie Miller says:

      09:13am | 25/02/10

      It’s already in the pipeline ready to go Tim. I’m opposed to gay marriage and will be ranting about that in the very near future.

    • Brett L says:

      08:17am | 26/02/10

      I’m opposed to gay marriage too.

    • megan says:

      08:53am | 25/02/10

      bla bla bla. come back to me in 30 years when my house is paid off. wonder what you and your amazingly enlightened friends be talking about then?

      Reply

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      05:02pm | 25/02/10

      Probably either a) about how China owns everything, b) how Australia is bankrupt because it owes too much to China in private and public debt or c) why you have paid $300,000 dollars on a house now worth $150,000.

    • Chewy says:

      08:56am | 25/02/10

      Prediction time. I will give it another ten minutes before this one gets trashed by hundres of posts by the house prices are in a bubble and its all Kevvys fault brigade.

      Reply

    • Colin says:

      02:43pm | 25/02/10

      Which is very much the case, so what is your point please? Or would you prefer that only the spruikers be able to air their voices on these forums?

    • Jason says:

      08:57am | 25/02/10

      Carrie, I love all your stuff. Keep up the great writing.

      Reply

    • Carrie Miller says:

      10:39am | 25/02/10

      Jason, I love your work more. Keep it up.

    • AdamC says:

      09:04am | 25/02/10

      Carrie, I really don’t think the state cares about your home-purchasing plans (or lack thereof), your marital status or just about any other personal decision you wish to make. And I am pretty certain that finance and real estate aren’t there simply to hide the big corporate conspiracy. If anything, given the size of the two industries, if anything they are the corporate conspiracy!

      Taking off the tinfoil hat for a moment, people’s recent and growing interest in investments of all kinds is due to rising incomes, which means those of us who don’t go mad with our credit card every payday have additional money available to invest. This trend is likely to grow as incomes continue to rise. So, Carrie, you are probably going to have to put up with those irritating dinner party discussions forever.

      Reply

    • David C says:

      09:06am | 25/02/10

      Its really hard to pay the rent with love (unless of course you want to use the hairy cheque book)

      Reply

    • D James says:

      09:25am | 25/02/10

      ” But from where I’m calmly sitting, you guys look very stressed out. “
      Carrie, given your “calm” status, you certainly seem uptight and stressed about the way others choose to exist.

      Perhaps pour yourself a drink, inhale deeply on that cigarette, take time out from those dinner parties ( and the painful banter ) and focus on yourself and your relevance, rather than judging those around you.

      If, like yourself apparently, I had discovered the key to a “superior” existence, I’d like to think I’d have better things to do than churn out venomous and ridiculous blurts on Punch.

      Reply

    • Bobby D says:

      03:22pm | 25/02/10

      Well said D.
      This is the first time I’ve read anything by Carrie. It will be the last.
      Life’s too short to be spent reading a bitter, angry spinster’s manifesto.

      Give it away Carrie. You’re a nobody, already forgotten by the quivering masses lined up to worship at the feet of Marieke Hardy!

      Why bother?

    • Sarah says:

      09:48am | 25/02/10

      Yep Carrie, money DOES determine one’s beliefs, to a larger extent than most are comfortable admitting.

      It’s all very nice to have time to read books and write blogs that speak up for social justice when you are not working 2 jobs at minimum wage just to be able to pay the rent on an outer-suburb flat and buy semi-decent food.

      It’s fine to have ‘progressive’ ideas because you were well-off enough to be able to afford to go to uni and take time to ponder big ideas, while others with no money had to spend that time working instead, to be able to afford to care for their kids or a disabled relative or whatever.

      It’s nice to be able to argue the ethics of cheap GM food when you understand it and can afford to buy organic vegetables at a grower’s market. But if you’re poor and unsophisticated and have trouble affording or understand mixed vegies at Coles…

      You can afford to have certain beliefs. You can afford to live somewhere that has services and infrastructure. Many can’t, as as such, they’re flat out earning enough to get by, and this DOES affect their beliefs.

      Reply

    • Zeta says:

      10:15am | 25/02/10

      Do you think ironic blogs just grow on trees? It’s a full time job developing your own personal brand, adding hundreds of friends on social networking sites, discussing the blogosphere, and then blogging about it. This stuff takes time, energy, and other people’s money.

      And of course, you can’t do it in Penrith. You absolutely need to live in Newtown. Or Surry Hills. Or Balmain. There is a correlation between the quality of one’s writing, and their walking distance from a gastropub.

      And bitter much? Great Australian alt bloggers had to cultivate an image of being much cooler than you to couch surf their way through university, and Daddy’s money totally dried up once they quit Law to really connect themselves with new media and social studies. The things they’ve had to do… I’ve heard horror stories of talented, literary 20 somethings forced to promote events hosted by reality television celebrities at suburban clubs just to buy a new Mac Book.

      And do you think these people even eat? Have you seen their pants? You can’t eat anything and still wear stove pipes. I should know, the only thing holding me back from being the Australian Jay McInerney is my Rugby playing thighs.

      So forgive the blogosphere for not caring about your beliefs. It’s a full time job being as awesome as Carrie Miller.

    • Jessica says:

      10:01am | 25/02/10

      This made my day… thanks Carrie.

      Reply

    • Craig says:

      10:16am | 25/02/10

      Geez, remind me never to invite you to a dinner party, or any party for that matter Carrie. You’d poop it in under 10 minutes, I reckon. We’ve all seen your type before: cynical, superior, judgemental, supercilious, knows just about everything, always right etc etc. I suspect your problem is that you actually hate yourself but try to cope by projecting it on the world. Try meditation.

      Reply

    • papachango says:

      10:19am | 25/02/10

      The State wants you to own a home? Bollocks. Left-wing governments are, to varying degrees, explicitly anti property rights Right wing governments give lip service to individual and property rights, but still chase more power and control over citizens.

      Owning private property gives you a degree of independence from the State. The overall tone of your article is rather communistic, so I imagine your preferred State would outlaw home ownership anyway.

      Reply

    • John A Neve says:

      10:42am | 25/02/10

      Papachango,
      I think you are correct, governments today are about control. Individual rights are being watered down every day, sadl I think most people like it !! Nannyism is gaining ground, why think for yourself when others will do it for you?  If things go wrong, you can blame them.

      Sorry to say the “degree of independence” propery ownership gives you is also on the decline.  In line with the increasing population, we are being herded up Pachango.

    • Homeless says:

      10:22am | 25/02/10

      I have nothing against people who strive to own their own home, invest in the stock market and so on. But I do agree it is an absolute conversation killer. It is so frelling BORING to hear someone ponce on about it.

      There has got to be more to life than having money and the collection of things, so folks lets try and keep the conversation interesting, unless of course you are looking for a cure to insomnia “... So I bought a town house for $350K, but didnt lock in the interest rate, which means I had to lease…”  ZZZZZZZZZ

      Reply

    • H of SA says:

      10:35am | 25/02/10

      Carrie, don’t forget the role landagents play in this conspiracy - by being so rude to renters that they buy a house just to escape them.

      Reply

    • Barx says:

      11:00am | 25/02/10

      I agree with you in theory Carrie, but unfortunately we live in the real world. Everything you do is determined by the almighty dollar. It’s how our society is designed, constructed and it’s the only way we can exist these days. Put your hand up if you honestly believe you can be self sufficient. That means hunt your own food, secure your own water, grow your own crops and vegetables.

      I thought so. I agree the only people who harp on about their property or their share portfolio are those who feel like it inflates their self worth ie ‘I am important and better than you because I have these things’. It’s very shallow and not a Sydney centric thing, as I live in Adelaide and it’s the same here. I work in Finance and as soon as someone asks you what you do at a bar or a party, it’s ‘Oh I was thinking of buying XYZ share, are they any good?’ or ‘I have This that and the other’ like it’s a competition. I even had one guy stop me mid sentence in an answer to his questions and say ‘Mate, I know what I’m doing - I’ve done a stock broking course’.

      People don’t seem to realise it’s just a job and I don’t really want to listen to all their problems/questions.

      Your article brings to mind the Ant and the Grasshopper. Google it. It smacks of the me me me generation and the unwillingness to take on any form of responsibility, well, I’m sorry, but unless you win lotto or were born into privelige, it is a fact that one day the good times, cease unless you’re reeady to put your head down, work hard, and put something away for the future.

      The most effective way to do this long term is put your money into something that is likely to increase in value, either property or quality shares. You want to prattle on about the market is purely a gimmick designed to suck your $$ away from you, well, so is just about everything else these days. It’s all about keeping you locked in a job you don’t want, so you can buy shit you don’t need, be it holiday’s, concerts, booze, drugs, alcohol, clothes, handbags, gadgets or other consumer goods. I know where I’d rather put (some of) my money so one day I can give a huge Finger to the job and leave.

      Reply

    • Isabel says:

      09:40am | 26/02/10

      As I recall, the grasshopper ended up justifying the space it took by entertaining the ants. Take away the entertainment and what sort of life do ants enjoy?

    • Barx says:

      10:47am | 26/02/10

      That’s a happy clappy warm and fuzzy Disney version of the story. And we all know, life isn’t a Disney film.

      In the original version the ants tell the grasshopper to get stuffed.

    • Isabel says:

      06:32pm | 26/02/10

      Barx:
      Never seen the movie. that was the story told over 60 years ago.

    • Kim says:

      11:03am | 25/02/10

      I’m with that guy who worked this stuff out over a hundred years ago. He said “property is theft” or something like that. I’m not really sure what that means, but I think it clearly supports my position. ?????

      WTF?  If you’re not sure what it means, how can it clearly support your position?

      I think you’re totally full of hot air.  I work my ass off to pay off my house, but still manage to drink, smoke and believe it or not enjoy my life.  I think it’s commonly known as *budgeting* (something our government obviously has no idea about).  A balance of work to earn money to purchase the things that I desire as well as enjoying the things I have purchased.

      Reply

    • papachango says:

      11:17am | 25/02/10

      “property is theft” is an immature anarcho-communist slogan, used by the sort of confused people who smash police cars at G20 meetings. Not the best one to quote.

      A wittier one (and sorry I can’t remember who said it, sounds like might have been Oscar Wilde but can’t say for sure) is “why the emphasis on home ownership when life is merely leased”?

    • Robert King says:

      11:04am | 25/02/10

      Mind out now, Carrie… you’re setting yourself up as an ‘other’ in a society that can’t stand the ‘other’ in any form. Or so the majority of posters here would have it. So much for ‘freedom’ and ‘choice’… you can ‘choose’ anything; just not to be different to ‘us’ or (God forbid!) question our ‘choices’.
      I must say I’m confused though; the majority of posters here must be ‘left-wing’, because; isn’t that where all the ‘humourless’ people come from? Surely the fun-loving, mirthful right couldn’t possibly miss the satirical tone… could they? Unless the ‘humourless-left’ is one of those fabrications… like a ‘scarecrow’…what are they called again? Yeah! That’s right; ‘straw-figures’, that’s it. Maybe the ‘humourless left’ is a straw-figure and the really literal-minded, dour, miserable and just plain ‘un-funny’ people are actually from the right? Some poor sod (and a later accomplice) even took your comment about women’s sport seriously! What hope is there, really?
      What on earth were you thinking? With your fancy degree in ‘thinking about thinking’, your ‘outsider’ status, your annoying capacity for genuine critical thinking and capacity for satirical writing… do you think that positions you as some sort of social commentator, or something? And another thing; don’t you go thinking any university educated, critical thinking, social critiquing, satirical writers ever made any money… why don’t you get a nice safe job with a financial institution, pinko?

      Reply

    • George says:

      11:06am | 25/02/10

      I rent, I invest and I do worry about interest rates. I come from interstate and when I first got to Sydney was shocked at the way people would ask how much did you pay for your house, what rent do you pay etc etc - people I had only met 10 minutes earlier. I now realise they are not asking to slot me into a social scale, but want to make sure they aren’t being ripped off. Property in Sydney is such a big slice of your income (rent or buying), you do become obsessed. Its a bit like petrol prices and getting a good deal when you fill up - you ask people what price they got to see how much you got ripped off.

      As for conversations - you could talk about cancer, child abuse or your husband having just left you but who wants to hear about that - Please ask how much rent do you pay, much better conversation starter?

      Reply

    • ArtPopCulture and EthicsWriter says:

      11:22am | 25/02/10

      It is so hard being awesome.

      Reply

    • SD says:

      11:28am | 25/02/10

      What is the investment section even doing on mainstream news anyway?

      If that’s your single source of information about what and when to invest - then you shouldn’t be doing it.

      If you really need to know what the FTSE is doing on any given day - I assure you that you’ll know about it - without watching the 5 o’clock news.

      I wonder how many people actually have a basic understanding of the underlying relationships between things like currency and imports, or market indices and interest rates.

      I would suggest that not very many people actually do have even a rudimentary grasp of such things. Further - even the experts screw this sort of thing up and there is certainly no consensus on any financial matter. What makes the rest of us think that we are so informed?

      Simply - we aren’t. However this doesn’t really matter.

      Because as mentioned by other posters - we are concerned such issues because they potentially have huge ramifications on our later life. Losing 30% of my super could very well mean that I have to keep working for another 5 years. Or losing 25% of my property value could mean that I can’t help my kids through university. Those are definitely things that I’d like to know about – those are definitely things that I talk about. Whether it is a productive discussion or not – it’s a discussion I’ll still be having. And to me, it is certainly not boring.

      By the way, interest in financial security and a concern for my investment portfolio is not incompatible with an interest in contemplating, determining and then pursuing things have real, non monetary value and meaning in life. It just requires a more balanced approach.

      But anyway, keep doing your thing Carrie - I enjoyed the article.

      Reply

    • Bitten says:

      11:45am | 25/02/10

      Um, people are generally quite stupid and insecure. They would like everyone to be the same as them. If they’ve bought a house and are freaking out and boring the crap out of their mates with interest rates, they want everyone else to be in the same boat. I’d stop letting it bother you and see if you can find some people who are able to think for themselves and make sensible decisions on their own, not because ‘everyone else was doing it!’. Or move to another country where people can actually make conversation - Australians are a pretty unsophisticated and unintelligent lot generally (yes, am a bored, sorry, born and bred Aussie). We’ve got the internet and all, but take away the plasma TV screen and the laptops and really you can’t distinguish between conversations now and conversations in the 1950s.

      Reply

    • martinX says:

      12:22pm | 25/02/10

      Love it. “people are generally quite stupid and insecure” Ummm, OK. “They would like ...”

      Hang on. “They”? You aren’t people or you just thing everyone else is stupid and insecure. Got news for you. We are all smart and we are all stupid, just about different things.

    • Robert King says:

      12:29pm | 25/02/10

      Now THAT explains the Australian Fast Bowler’s eleven and a half years as prime minister!
      P.S. I’m ‘sixth generation’, on my father’s side, too.

    • Bitten says:

      04:02pm | 25/02/10

      Don’t cry martinX. I don’t think you can deny that the majority of people want everyone else to make the exact same decisions as they do. And not because the decisions are great, or because they want other people to make the best decision for themselves but to make the original decision-maker more comfortable with their own decision. That’s where ‘societal’ and ‘peer’ pressure come from. It’s the sport of the unintelligent and lazy and it’s rampant in Australian culture. No one wants to admit to it and that is what I have a problem with. It’s ‘easier’ to fit in and make like all your ‘friends’. That’s where pressure comes from to: date someone of the opposite sex, same age, same ethnicity, have a big white wedding, make babies soon after, buy house, buy crap to put in house so it looks more like other people’s houses, put money in investment properties, whine about tax rates, whine about interest rates, whine about FBT, baby bonus, whine about super, whine about kids’ education costs, whine whine whine whine until you die. If that makes you happy, then snaps to you. But it sucks for the very unusual of us who are sick and tired of having to justify our choices to smug. self-important, busy-bodies who haven’t ever made an independent decision in their lives. I’m not apologising for my life-choices. It would never have occured to me that I would have to. I don’t care what the rest of you are doing, really and truly don’t care, never have. It’s your business, not mine. So why can’t my business be my business and not everyone else’s?

    • Jeff says:

      12:08pm | 25/02/10

      Home ownership is a great thing to aspire to. The majority of the average Australian’s wealth is made up of Real Estate. The accumulation of wealth shouldn’t be an end in itself, it’s the journey. Don’t give up Carrie!

      Reply

    • Jimmy says:

      12:15pm | 25/02/10

      It was a real pleasure to read yet another great article from you, Carrie.

      We have the same issue in Norway when it comes to ‘owning your own property and house’. They pretend that by owning your own house gives your freedom and it is an investment.

      First of all, the only way to own your house is they pay it of in one payment. Having to take a loan to pay for your house means that the bank owns your house and you. It is true, just try to skip a few payments and see who legally can claim ownership of the house.
      And how it is an investment when all the houses on your street technically goes up in value by default. Oh wait, sometimes it might happen that we have a recession or something happens in that area you live that might make it less attractive to live there. Suddenly your investment is worth less than you bought it for.

      Sadly some people are obessessed with “upgrading” their house. Rebuilding the house constantly and putting more money into it than you will earn from it. Seriously, didn’t get to play with Lego when you were young, so you now have to rebuild and “play” with your own big Lego house?

      In the end, if you rent or “buy” a house, you will still be spending (read wasting) about the same amount of money until you die, so when you are six feet under it really doesn’t matter if you left a renting flat or a big McMansion; unless (if you decided to have kids) your remaining family is a bunch of greedy bastards.

      Reply

    • Dognuts says:

      12:21pm | 25/02/10

      It really comes down to the fact that we live in the times of “Stuff Man”. Stuff Man always has the better car, the bigger TV and the better house than you, so unless you want to be left behind, you too morph into Stuff Man so atht you are not at a relative disadvantage (emphasis on relative). Maybe it’s a sign that we have become a bunch of vacuous idiots when we define our lives by “stuff”; it’s all about what we have and what we do, rather than who we are. I don’t begrudge anyone the right to buy a house, make money or any other pursuit that gets them further in life, but the point the article is making, is that we don’t necessarily care, or want to listen to it. Apart from my wife, my employer and the tax office, no one knows how much I make, and thats how I intend to keep it. Talking about money (especially your own money) is extraodinarily crass, and instantly identifies you as a cashed up bogan.

      Reply

    • N says:

      12:44pm | 25/02/10

      Yes. It used to be considered the height of bad manners to talk about money. Funny that it was our parents that taught us that but now they too seem to be interested in what we own, how much we make etc as well as everybody else. On another note, Carrie and Zeta, I have started to look out for your weekly posting. You two make my day…

    • stephen says:

      12:31pm | 25/02/10

      I imagine it would be nice owning a home and a car and checking valuations and depreciations, I mean, just to make sure you’ve done the right thing. It makes you feel social, as if you and all the other nice houses and cars in the street are one, and moving irrevocably as one big blob to a wrinkly teeth-chattering retirement.
      These domestic are all personal, I know, and the theory may be (if theory at all is ever on your mind), that if we look after ourselves, then there’d be no problems. Well we have been looking after ourselves, and there are problems. I think you people who think of money and nothing else are the whale-shit of the social and cultural ladder. And don’t come sniveling when the next bubble bursts. We’re tired of tears.

      Reply

    • Robert King says:

      12:37pm | 25/02/10

      Here’s something I just cut’n'pasted from dictionary.com. I had kinda hoped it wouldn’t be required…

      Satire:
      1. the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
      2. a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.
      3. a literary genre comprising such compositions.

      Lamentably, I was clearly wrong. Thanks for the memories, Johnny.

      Reply

    • J says:

      12:46pm | 25/02/10

      Carrie, love your work.  Nothing like a good biting post to get the masses riled up.  The comments are just as enjoyable as your posts.  Whilst I disagree (I hope to be one of those home owners someday), I thoroughly enjoy what you have to say.

      You too Zeta - you’re a fucking riot, I love it.  Makes my day.

      All I’ve learnt from money is that it’s not how much you have, it’s how savvy you are with it.  I know people on six-figure salaries who don’t have 2 coins to rub together.  If they were to lose their job, they’d be in major difficulty.  We never had much money growing up, but my parents invested wisely in the beginning, and will reap the rewards at the end.  I’m trying to emulate their example.

      Looking forward to your future posts Carrie. grin

      Reply

    • Maggie says:

      01:02pm | 25/02/10

      I never talk about rent or property prices with friends etc - its not their business. And there is much more interesting stuff to talk about in terms of what’s going on in the world. But I will offer the following view anonymously to random strangers!

      I invested in shares because I am not in the position to become a mortage holder [I don’t think its smart to over extend and borrow far more to compete with others who have also borrowed too much easy credit], but of course its gone bad with GFC - now I can’t get to my money without losing money I can’t afford to lose, until it recovers the value I put in [not to mention possibly the value I COULD have been earning in the last few years!].

      I appreciate the point from a purely financial basis about home ownership not necessarily being the most savvy thing you can do, although of course if money was no object, we would ALL be homeowners.

      However, I think that a home is different from other forms of consumption. Its integral to security, and where and how you live shapes so much of your quality of life.

      Maybe it is smarter instead of buying a home to invest money, rent, travel and then buy a home for security once you hit retirement age!

      Reply

    • Al The Echo says:

      01:07pm | 25/02/10

      Miller’s contributions to Punch of based on parasitic alternative ideas. Her alternatives can’t survive independently. They only exist in relation to the creature she’s “rebelling” against. Her only topic of conversation is that no one else can have a conversation about anything but babies and home improvement.
      Either that or she’s an agitating columnist manufacturing argument for the sake of argument ... in which case I’ve taken the bait.

      Reply

    • Robert King says:

      01:16pm | 25/02/10

      As Doc Neeson once said; ‘take a long, long, long, long, line… reel ‘em in’. Just because you’re paranoid, Al, don’t discount the fact that people may actually be out to get you. Perhaps Miller’s articles being tagged as ‘satire’ could provide you with a valuable clue in your noble quest for truth, justice and the American way?

    • Ian says:

      01:24pm | 25/02/10

      Living in the moment.  Hooray for you!
      What comes next?

      Reply

    • love the photo says:

      01:25pm | 25/02/10

      To carrie,

      If absolutely love the photo. It is terrific and funny as.  Tells a story on its own.  Haven’t read your article, am about to start,
      god bless

      Reply

    • Christopher L Ward says:

      02:01pm | 25/02/10

      Depending on your mortgage and where you chose to buy or build a house, your re-payments could end up being cheaper or as cheap as rent…........

      So why rent for nothing when you can pay the same money and actually own something in the end.

      Who wants to rent somebody elses house or live with relatives or other people, you want a place of your own and hell if you can own it and do more with it (which generally you can by leaps and bounds), then why the hell not
      ?

      Reply

    • dave says:

      02:09pm | 25/02/10

      Carrie, you are the master of reverse trolling! Another top effort.

      Reply

    • Carrie Miller says:

      05:54am | 26/02/10

      Dave, I love the term “reverse trolling”. Did you coin it? Either way, it’s quite alot of fun.

    • No questions please. says:

      02:09pm | 25/02/10

      Having a portfolio of investments is very much private matter and should be kept to yourself.
      The minute a person (or a group/company)opens their mouth and start dragging about what they have acquired I start to think “aha, so you have nothing to your name and/or it is all on hock, or, you are trying to plump-up business, or, you are desperately trying to keep up with “the jonzez’. 

      And while I am having a whinge time on the punch I’ll squeeze another one in.  A pet hate of mine is when people mentally calculate your worth be asking you questions such as: Oh do you leave around here?  (answer may range from - gee you are lucky, you must be rich. - or there is complete silence. next question is where do you live, what street is it.  What do you do for a living and on and on and on.

      I have an brilliant way of ducking and weaving away from those type of intrusive questions by saying:  Is this an interview.  Yes/No
      If they answer No:  they have got the hint.
      If they are bold enough to answer Yes: I reply with:::— I am sorry I am not able to answer any questions of that nature for now.  It might be an idea to get in contact with my office and if permitted they will book you in.  The ph.no. is on the net.  I am sorry I can’t give any office no’s and details of such as it is a security issue.  Good bye…and enjoy.
      After that they should get the message—hip-hip-ha-ray,

      Reply

    • J says:

      03:56pm | 25/02/10

      This kind of paranoid nature shits me.  When did asking someone what they did for a living or whether they live around a certain area become such a taboo question?  Sometimes people just ask because they’re interested in why you like the things you do.  All these things form part of the attitudes you have and the person that you are.

      I ask people what thy do for a living because I want to know what they do and if they like doing it.  Because it’s interesting to know why people choose the jobs they do.  That’s it.  But so many people in Sydney think I’m sizing up their financial worth.  Get over yourselves.

      Honestly, no wonder I find it difficult to engage in conversation with some people.  You can’t ask them anything without them engaging their egotistical streak and thinking that I’m interested in something as boring as money.

      Just one of my pet hates…

    • Steve says:

      04:34pm | 25/02/10

      Well I brought into it.  I’m 30, have my own house and a Rental property I’m paying off.  ...I’m 30, not 50 or more but 30 years old…  I’m paying as much on my mortgage (place outside city) as my best friend is paying in rent to live in the city… I’d rather own a place rather than not.  My brother wants to pay rent the rest of his life, after watching me he’s now got 2nd thoughts.  So when I’m retired and not paying a mortgage, I’ll be laughing because you’ll be paying rent, all I’ll be paying is council rates with about the same about of income from Super as you, but I’ll also have the extra Rental income coming in from people like you.  Doesn’t bring happiness, but will sure make thing easier in the long run.

      Reply

    • SydneySocialite says:

      08:53pm | 25/02/10

      Steve, you must come to our next dinner party. You sound absolutely divine, and would fit in perfectly

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      05:46pm | 25/02/10

      Look there are much easier ways to get obscenely rich than property.
      1. Form a “Financial Services Corporation”. Become too big to fail. Award yourself great big bonuses. Become bankrupt and get the government to bail you out. Award yourself bonuses with the bailout money.
      2. Get your government mates to declare a war somewhere. Insurgencies are the best cos they last for years. Get a government contract to provide a service to the military at an obscene markup.
      3. Form a dodgy insulation installation company. Hire casuals and backpackers for a mere pittance, use the cheapest, crappiest materials and milk the government for all it’s worth.
      4. Become a politician. Milk the perks for all their worth, including letting the taxpayer pay off a mortgage as an away from home living allowance. Quit politics when things are looking dicey and get a great superannuation payout while you get another cushy job as company director, diplomat, lobbyist etc.
      Property = small potatoes

      Reply

    • Brett L says:

      08:29am | 26/02/10

      Your understanding of the truth is astounding.
      My mind goes to the $250 Million given to Channels 9, 7 and 10. The lobbyist was Wayne Goss (former premier of Qld). Wayne Goss was also on the board of Ingeus Limited, the company founded by Thérèse Rein, the wife of Kevin Rudd. Then go and see who the Directors are of the companies supplying meals to the troops in Afghanistan.
      Take a holiday in the beach mansion of Kerry Stokes, get your mates around and lets talk about the money we steal from the peasants, who wants some?

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      07:48pm | 26/02/10

      I forgot about this scam. Help a sovereign nation, say Greece, hide its debt problems and dodgy accounting activities and charge them a hefty fee. Then go out and bet that they default, knowing full well that the market will burn the nation if they get whiff of its troubles.
      Goldman Sachs, I think I love you.

    • Gerard Oosterman says:

      07:34pm | 25/02/10

      I counted 11 people on the streets today. This was along a stretch of road between the M5 and a leafy suburb 8 km away. We might pride ourselves on home ownership but in the process have developed a life estranged from each other as never before. Private and hidden behind those vertical blinds or zinc alume fencing, we idle our lives away. The petunias adding nothing to the ever pervading gloom.
      Suburbia. A nightmare, but you call it owning a dream?.

      http://oosterman.wordpress.com/

      Reply

    • Arios says:

      08:28pm | 25/02/10

      Haha that was an awesome, very funny article smile I saw the humorous side. Simple yet clever and effective.

      And on a serious note: Australians are addicted to property. This is why the market will never bust, apart from minor short term corrections. There are still some huge opportunities abound! smile

      Reply

    • Brett L says:

      08:01am | 26/02/10

      Carrie, I think you are absolutely right. I will add that the whole idea is one that mostly benefits banks, government and real estate agents. Banks are one of the very few businesses that post record profits each year, because they are tied to the housing market.  25 years ago my annual salary was $22,000.00 per year. I bought a house and land package for $45,000.00, just over 2 years salary. Today median house is $600,000.00 average 10 years salary. Who’s making the money off that? Banks (interest) LMI (Insurance Fees) Government (stamp duties), Agents (commissions) These guys will continue to push up the prices. Because they are making heaps from it. They pushed the whole idea of mum and dad working in the 80’s so we could all get bigger loans. It’s must stop soon because who can afford a home? My 25 year old son cannot do it. Unless we keep importing rich migrants to buy them. This whole new young generation will not be home owners. And considering the land size of Australia that is a real tragedy. 
      The people who own homes now we pass on one day but who will buy those homes, nobody will be able to afford it.

      Reply

    • Susan says:

      11:10am | 26/02/10

      People aren’t as obsessed about talking about it Canberra- down here, if you’ve decided you like Canberra and aren’t going to be one of those transitory types, you buy because house prices are at country levels but rents are at Sydney levels (thanks to the never-ending stream of uni grads moving for jobs), meaning that it’s almost cheaper to pay a mortgage from day 1 (let alone in 20 years time when mortgage repayments are unchanged but rents have quadrupled).

      Even if it weren’t, however, I’m willing to pay a little extra so that next time I feel like painting a wall or hanging a picture I can just go ahead and do it. I can also spill something on my carpet without freaking out about losing my bond, and get someone in to repair the broken dishwasher without having to wait three weeks while the property manager checks with the owners. There are freedoms to home ownership too, you know.

      Reply

    • James says:

      11:24am | 26/02/10

      Of course Carrie is right, the great Australian ponzi scheme just outed itself when it relaxed foreign ownership rules, keep the suckas rolling in.  Australia is going to show old Bernie Madoff how this sh*t is done.

      Reply

    • Kat says:

      12:03pm | 26/02/10

      ” ...just something the State wants you to do. Like having kids or being heterosexual.”

      Carrie, I think I love you.

      Reply

    • Carrie Miller says:

      08:34am | 27/02/10

      And I’d love you too Kat but I’m guessing you’re a girl and that State wouldn’t approve.

    • Catharine Lumby says:

      04:23am | 27/02/10

      Carrie, Marx was right about many things. Despite having read him in German (I’ll sue Syd Uni one day for making me do that) let me observe that when you have a ton of money you don’t give a sparrow’s fart about mortgages anymore. What you care about is being seen to care about other people’s mortgages so your second wife, who wants you to be a ‘philanthropist’, can frock up.  My challenge to you: cash in that first class honours degree in the most complex area left in the humanities and go into merchant banking for five minutes. I’d actually love to hear the results. . At least you’d double the IQ ASIC is continually investigating.

      Reply
 
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Paul Colgan

Colgo 25 May 12 10:37PM

Greece makes the final and Ireland gets in on a golden ticket. How awkward and embarrassing. Love it. #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 25 May 12 10:00PM

Every single #eurovision band is roxette #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 25 May 12 09:58PM

The weird thing about #eurovision is you've got this massive collection of dorks in a room and no one is wearing Spock ears #sbseurovision

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antsharwood 25 May 12 09:52PM

Europe has the large hadron collider which is light years ahead of its time and #eurovision, where the eighties never die

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