Contradictory Reality
A supermarket chain offers you petrol discounts at its associated network of stations, provided you buy more liquor from them. Does it mean we get to drive more for our petrol expense budget, only after getting more alcohol?
Binge drinking is currently perceived as a serious problem amongst Aussie youth. It should not come as a surprise to anyone in the community. Liquor store outlets are as accessible as fast food retail chains, are easier to get into by car than gyms and fitness shops and are often adjuncts to family-orientated grocery supermarkets. Sporting events are liberally littered with intense alcohol-related advertising and promotions - try finding big time salad and fitness banners in sporting venues. The urge to fulfill high levels of alcohol consumption cannot be left to market pricing alone. Chilling out after exams or having life's celebrations mean the compulsory dosage of drinking - and let's not worry about having food during the same social occasion.
Gambling is an ingrained habit offering many opportunities for training and reinforcement in Australia. Starting with the innocent act of buying a lotto ticket at the neighbourhood newsagent, it culminates in the obsession one feels - and sees -amongst punters in casinos in each capital city. In between, any adult can drop in to play the pokies - addictive machines that lure potential players with one cent games that thrive on turnover and staying power. Games of chance mock as entertainment, with lots of hype of possible financial return and reality of no or negative returns. In the worst interpretation of an observer friend, the banking circles employ the best gamblers in currency , hedge and options trading. Counselling, after the fact and the damage, is always not as effective as not allowing the problem to begin in the first place.
It may make good business and tax revenue sense to have a captive and recurring market, but more sectors of responsible society have to ensure their impact on family and personal lives. If we have every adult, or teenager in that sense, contribute willingly to spend moderate amounts every day on a specific service or product which they have remote chances of giving up, we surely have a revenue spinner. Call it a mug of cappuccino, a schooner of dry or gigabytes of broadband, they do lead to a personal satisfaction level - but what is the collective impact on the health and social order of society as a whole?
Binge drinking is currently perceived as a serious problem amongst Aussie youth. It should not come as a surprise to anyone in the community. Liquor store outlets are as accessible as fast food retail chains, are easier to get into by car than gyms and fitness shops and are often adjuncts to family-orientated grocery supermarkets. Sporting events are liberally littered with intense alcohol-related advertising and promotions - try finding big time salad and fitness banners in sporting venues. The urge to fulfill high levels of alcohol consumption cannot be left to market pricing alone. Chilling out after exams or having life's celebrations mean the compulsory dosage of drinking - and let's not worry about having food during the same social occasion.
Gambling is an ingrained habit offering many opportunities for training and reinforcement in Australia. Starting with the innocent act of buying a lotto ticket at the neighbourhood newsagent, it culminates in the obsession one feels - and sees -amongst punters in casinos in each capital city. In between, any adult can drop in to play the pokies - addictive machines that lure potential players with one cent games that thrive on turnover and staying power. Games of chance mock as entertainment, with lots of hype of possible financial return and reality of no or negative returns. In the worst interpretation of an observer friend, the banking circles employ the best gamblers in currency , hedge and options trading. Counselling, after the fact and the damage, is always not as effective as not allowing the problem to begin in the first place.
It may make good business and tax revenue sense to have a captive and recurring market, but more sectors of responsible society have to ensure their impact on family and personal lives. If we have every adult, or teenager in that sense, contribute willingly to spend moderate amounts every day on a specific service or product which they have remote chances of giving up, we surely have a revenue spinner. Call it a mug of cappuccino, a schooner of dry or gigabytes of broadband, they do lead to a personal satisfaction level - but what is the collective impact on the health and social order of society as a whole?
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