My swipe at Australian wealth

Before it sounds like I am pointing the finger at Russians alone, let me point the finger at Australian culture too. This morning I stumbled upon an article in the Melbourne newspaper "The Age": Room to move, but is a bigger home better? I was shocked by some of the things I read.

People are now building homes in Australia that are 456 sq. m. in size. They buy a traditional half acre block and then fill the majority of the land with a house. This new phenomena has come to be known as the "Mac Mansion." These homes have en-suite bathrooms for every bedroom, home cinemas, etc, etc. Frankly I find this kind of wealth obscene. It is one thing that the upper class wealthy used to have this kind of extravagance, but astounding that average middle class people are now living this way.

In some deference to the Russian middle class, they are unsatisfied because they want to have the same kind of living standards that the middle class have in the west. I think it is wrong that the Russian middle class aspire to this kind of wealth. But I also think it is wrong that the Australian middle class aspire to this kind of wealth. The Russian middle class complain, because there is no way that they could reach this standard of living. The Australian middle class complain, because their already very high standard of living is a little too burdensome for them financially.

Let me make some comparisons. We live in a "4 room" apartment. Four rooms means, 3 bedrooms plus a living room. We also have a kitchen and a bathroom-laundry. When we first moved into this apartment we were so happy because it is roughly three times the size of the apartment we lived in, in Novosibirsk. The size of our apartment now is 80 sq. metres. At a guess I would say our old apartment was around 30 sq. metres. It was tough, but we got by. We were very aware that we still had it better than other people who lived in one room for the whole family. The apartment we live in now is very standard for a Russian middle class family. Many families live in 2 or 3 room apartments.

In Australia the average size house is now 248 sq. metres. That is three times again as large as a "big" apartment in Russia. The average size house in Victoria is now 252.8 sq. m. up from 217.3 sq. m. ten years ago. The house I grew up was probably about 130 sq. m. The article in The Age describes an entry level home as now being 179 sq. metres.

When did Australia get sooo wealthy? I find it very disheartening that people think that they deserve to have such wealth. When do we seriously consider the impact that our living standards have on the rest of the world?

I am opposed to a carbon tax because it is a scheme that will make people believe they are protecting the environment. If people throw money at something they alleviate their guilt. There is no excuse for such extravagant living.