There are moments in life when there are parallels between what you see in a micro sense and what is happening across the broader spectrum. It struck me through the week in a most unexpected way. I was fresh from a trip to the hairdressers when I noticed a group of gorgeous local schoolgirls getting off the bus. Nostalgia kicked in and I was recollecting my own ‘high school days’. Nothing much has changed! With a chuckle I noticed their hemlines were a stretch above the old regulation ‘4 inches on the knee’.
I got to thinking, why did that regulation length exist in the first place? It has a lot to do with appearances, perceptions of ‘good’ behaviour. I have lived in Noosa long enough to know that appearances are rarely what they seem, that those hemlines have little to do with the intelligence, creativity, spirit, or ‘behaviour’ of the wearers.
The parallels are evident in terms of the peer group pressure that sets the trend – there is no explanation for it, other than ‘it’s the trend’.
When the Commonwealth Bank independently lifted its rate last Friday, the government was quick to rap their knuckles. ‘Naughty bank, acting against the national interest’.
The banks’ response was lending rates have ‘gone up’ due to increased speculation the RBA will start to lift rates next year. Two other banks followed suit – ‘we will too!’.
It seems that peer group pressure is contributing to the cost of owning a property – along with speculative forecasting. In the search for the facts, is probably best to ignore them altogether. What we see and try to make judgment on in our lives is never the ‘full picture’. The underlying fundamentals of what is truly ‘right’ for you is something only you can answer.
Till next week,
Olivier