As the Ingrid Rice cartoon so starkly and accurately suggests, we’re being milked, literally, for just about all we’re worth and there seems to be no better time to get primed then the brand new year.
It’s nothing new for costs to go up. What doesn’t cost more now than it used to, other than maybe... asbestos?
To this point in time, at least, our society has proven to be a bottomless pit – when prices go up we pay more. There will be grumbling and foot dragging, but for the most part we’ll cough up. It’s too bad the hikes have to come all at once.
It’s also too bad the average citizen can’t adjust their income accordingly. Making sure they don’t let greed get in the way, the taxpayer could just keep things in line, making sure the necessities got looked after. Only problem is – that side of the equation, in all-too-many instances is non-negotiable. Can you think of a line of work that pays the same, or less than it did 20 years ago?
There is some consolation in knowing that a lot of these hikes we’re looking at are for worthwhile services, in theory, at least.
There’s another consolation in knowing that if we do eventually put down our collective foot and protest the spiralling fees for membership in a modern society, we’ll most likely do it without throwing rocks at police and setting fire to cars.