It wasn't all the fault

of the Whitlam government that we became more coarse and lost our social graces and turned to back yard barbies. The phenomenon had to do with the inflation and oil shock and the celebration of Australianism outdoors. But we became more stingy in the process. Government grants did away with the need for selling chook raffles and other fund raisers as government taxes bit into the charity giving dollar of the individual. Social conscience and society gave way and crumbled as submission writing for a government grant took over. No longer were we a society where things needed to be discussed and organised over a dinner party. Society became less formal as the size of a dinner party no longer became restricted by the size of the dining room table. It became too easy when we could tell associates, why not come over for a barby on Sunday? Just BYO and we'll sit and cook and etc. Black tie affairs waned. The formal dining room gathered dust. But it was also a lazy way of life. It was easy to be lazy and so the majority developed that way and left the minority behind. These days the majority has an invented life of its own; it doesn't have to think; it votes for relaxed and comfortable Howard style policies; the minority is left to listen. The wedding my Sister organised showed how much more style and class contributes to meaningful life as humans. Such is the life of the minority.