Struggle Street (SBS Doco on Mount Druitt)

Tv is ****! I have heard about it, I think if there talking about struggle street, go to remote NT. There's plenty of them there.

You don't even have to leave most cities to find hard luck stories, homeless people and those facing challenges. Then again, even some of those May have a high standard of living compared to the less fortunate in other countries
 
Had a chat with a builder the other day. He's just completed a project nearby. He went to the local IGA to buy the boyz some drinks & stuff for smoko. He was asked for his **** Card to get his discount.

Other people in line offered theirs. He politely declined with "...nuh brother I must've forgotten it at home".

We didn't even know that such a discount applied if you're on benefits.
 
I spent 6 years going through high school with 'Aussie Strugglers'. Most of them seemed determined to avoid the one thing that could have helped them: education.

It's know about what happened to ancient Greece, or how to graph polynomials, or even how to construct a timber frame that would have helped them.

What kept most of them trapped was the belief that they know enough, and that things that went wrong were someone else's fault. Most of them were so jammed in their rut they just couldn't see further than their next beer or bong. Unfortunately this seems to be a learned behaviour; when you have crap role models it's hard to learn a different way.

A few could, and they broke the mold and did well.

Most people deal with bad stuff at some point. How they handle it determines their destiny, not how many excuses they can make.
 
I thought this show was a real eye opener. It doesn't claim to be representative of Mt Druitt. There are people like this everywhere. I don't know how they survive - I couldn't live a life as hard as this. To be born into an environment like this would pretty well be a life sentence - VERY difficult to get out of. I was amazed at the strength and love shown by Peta in holding her family together and even doing some community work. Just amazed - what a woman! I was very moved by this show.
 
I wonder if the show would've received the same response had it been filmed in South Maroubra/Matraville/La Perouse? Apart from the beach and the absence of power lines there are many resemblances.
 
I wonder if the show would've received the same response had it been filmed in South Maroubra/Matraville/La Perouse? Apart from the beach and the absence of power lines there are many resemblances.

Haha, you don't want to admit that there's 'that' kind of element anywhere buy Western Sydney, now do you?
 
Did I hear correctly that they had 10 kids?

They had 10 kids combined because they were both from seperate marriages.

I haven't finished watching episode 3 yet (availabe on SBS) but I was generally fairly sympathetic to the plights of the people and Ashely and his family. A couple of his kids were disabled and another one is an ice addict and considering his health struggles I think he does a decent job.

The only time where I lost sympathy and thought the people were absolute hopeless degenerates was when it came to the 47 year old junkie and his 21 year old partner. She was heavily pregnant and smoking bongs and cigarettes while pregnant and even when she went into labour having a cigarette was more important for her than looking to go to hospital. The 21 year old was apparently a methodone baby herself and has already had 2 of her previous kids taken away by DOCS.

The main aspect that got reinforced for me though was early intervention. You could see all the middle aged people 'down on their luck' who are destined for a life on the dole because they've let their issues get away from them. These people are now virtually unemployable. It's easy to blame the individual but on a broader level more should be done to combat the cases.
 
The main aspect that got reinforced for me though was early intervention. You could see all the middle aged people 'down on their luck' who are destined for a life on the dole because they've let their issues get away from them. These people are now virtually unemployable. It's easy to blame the individual but on a broader level more should be done to combat the cases.
I call BS x 100 on that one as an excuse.

I use my stepfather as a bog-standard example;

Minimal education, dirt poor, orphaned during WW2 and lived in an orphanage until 18.

But was able to work in various jobs - all around the world when younger (he was a Pom) - a qualified tailor, ended up in Aus, with no money, no job, no assets, nothing except a suitcase.

Did bar-work (met my mother there), Council work, painter, maintenance at a Hospital - right up until he got dementia at aged 70.

His attitude, work ethic, zest for life and enthusiasm, willingness to roll up the sleeves and do whatever he could get - was all he needed.
 
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