The Australian Bureau of Statistics today unleashed its “Australian Social Trends” report, featuring a snapshot of our lives as a collective, from a variety of angles. The press will run with some, disregard others, and probably spin what is there. The actual report is only released to the public in a watered down collection of articles, and admittedly also has its fair share of subjective bias around some of the hard data. Not to mention that some of that data is just plain dull! So, I thought I’d outline some of the more interesting findings. They do definitely offer an indisputable dissonance between cultural beliefs and the actual reality of our lives (and of others, who we may very well be mistaken about), and provide us with a chance to remember that sometimes, the things we think, hear or read are very, very wrong; and, something I’ve repeatedly pointed out here, that intentions do not necessarily translate to actions. Let’s get real… More >