This appeared last week.
Think the internet changed Australia? How about sewerage.
12:00AM August 10, 2024
The Weekend Australian Magazine
It is a topic that surfaces at centenary celebrations, workplace farewells and, poignantly, eulogies too. It is the idea of looking back and remarking upon how much Australia has changed over the decades.
Making do without access to modern technology (mail versus email), the formality of everyday dress (hats and gloves) and the stiffness of interpersonal protocols (Messrs and Mesdames) are popular observations. So too is the overarching belief that all this change places us, today’s Australians, at a unique time in history. And that we, the players, are dealing with pressures that did not exist decades ago.
There is some merit to this way of thinking. Previous generations disconnected from work when they left the workplace. This is less so today with access to smartphone technology.
However, the question isn’t so much “How have things changed?” The question should be reframed: how has Australia changed in the past 60 years (1964-2024) as compared with the previous 60 years (1904-1964)?
It’s fair to say that we the people of the 2020s have had to manage an avalanche of change over six decades. There’s the rise of China, the empowerment of women, the invention of the internet, the use of mobile phones, the emergence of diversity, equity and inclusion, and recognition of the marginalised.
Nevertheless, those still alive in 1964 (and born in the 1890s or earlier) recalling events of the previous 60 years could equally lay claim to have lived through an era of profound change.
Let’s start with the impact of Australia losing 60,000 men in World War I and then having to navigate the Spanish flu epidemic. These events were followed by the broader use of electricity, the popularisation of cars, the greater use of the telephone, and the idea of working in a city factory as opposed to being “in service” on a country estate. Toss in the Great Depression, World War II and the atomic bomb, and then finish this era of profound change with a baby boom to express our unbridled confidence in Australia’s future.
In the previous 60 years (1844-1904), the Australian colonies unified to become a commonwealth. Australia was then, and still is today, the only continent to be claimed by a single nation. The idea of federation (of a continent) was bold thinking for the time. This was an era of wealth generation delivered by gold, wool, wheat and export of refrigerated meat. It was a time when our biggest cities were sewered, ultimately delivering longer lifespans and a better quality of life. (Arguably, the advent of sewerage did more for average Aussies than the invention of the internet.)
So, yes, the development of the smartphone and DEI and being able to order Thai food and have it delivered by Uber Eats is a world away from the privations and the triumphs of any previous 60-year era.
The more interesting question is what Australia might look like 60 years hence, in 2084. This future era will be shaped by exiting baby boomers, by the impact of trading blocs, and by the clarification of Australia’s role as a food producer, resources provider and safe harbour for civic-minded people wanting a better life for their kids.
We should aim for this future Australia to always be a place of peace and opportunity.
Here is the link:
I reckon this is a thoughtful piece that does preserve a longer perspective that can be easily lost. I am probably just a few years older than the author but I find the perspective true and valid.
Amazingly my parents memories go back all the way to the early 1900’s and my grandparents actually lived and could just remember, and tell me about, the end of the 1800s! Good generational timing I suppose.
The point of all this is to remind us all of the debt we owe to public health initiatives – now over a century old – that have so helped longevity and quality of life! These measures really matter as you can see each time they break down in war, famine etc.
It really helps to keep perspective to consider what steps have made the most difference to all our lives!
David.
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