The Australian dream is dead

I was having a conversation with my co-worker at work, and he asked me about my retirement plans and how much I had in my super account.

I replied with "I don't know, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to retire."

I was a early school leaver, I started working at 17, and as of writing this I'm 28.
I've been working 11 years, and in those 11 years I've had around 12 jobs.
58% of those jobs have paid below minimum wage.

The retirement age sits at around 65 years old.
So for the average person who works from 18 to 65, that's 47 years of work.
I've already worked 11 years, so I have 36 years left to work.
Or, I'm approximately 23% of the way through my working life.

After working 23% of your expected window of productivity, you might expect to have saved some money for retirement or housing.
I own no house, and I have $5,000 in my super account.

At this trajectory, if I retire at 65 I'll have $21,000 in my super account.
My current rent is around $600 a week, so I'll be able to pay my rent for 35 weeks.

It's not entirely unreasonable to conclude that I'm screwed, and many other Australians are too.

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has predicted that Australians will need to save around $700,000 to retire comfortably.
This data assumes you own your own home.

Let's quit with the doom and gloom, and make a real plan for action.

To catch up to the goal of $700,000, at a yearly super contribution of 12%, I need to earn $100,575 a year, starting today.

After my rent is paid, I have $70,000 a year to pay for bills.
Lets assume around 10% goes to bills, I'm left with approximately $60,000 a year.

The median house price in Sydney is around $1,600,000.

With 36 years until retirement, it will take me around 26 years to save enough money to buy a house.

Factor in that I need to pay off my student debt, and it will take me around 27 years.

Only around 25% of people living in Sydney earn over $100,000 a year.

Retirement and home ownership, for the average Australia... is dead.

And I have no reason to assume I'm the exception. With 60% of my previous employers paying me below a liveable wage, it's clear that the Australian economy is in a state of collapse.

There's no HR department that is about to drop their jaw and say "We need to raise wages to a livable level so he can buy a house and retire."

In Marxian terms, the bourgeoise have no incentive to raise wages to a livable wage, as it would reduce their profit margins.

I'm no Marxist, and I make no claim that Communism is the solution, but I do think it's an accurate observation.

In fact, the Democractic Socialists and Labor Unions of Australia currently support the bourgeoise in their pursuit of profit, and condemn the proletariat for their lack of initiative to work hard and earn an embarrassingly low wage.

Instead, they import cheap labor from abroad on temporary visas, and condemn the Australian people for being lazy and buying too much avocado toast, calling anyone who opposes it a racist.

My parents bought a home in 1998 for $80,000 at 26 West Khala Avenue, Budgewoi NSW.

My father was a carpenter, and my mother was a cashier.
Together, they had a combined income of about $35,000 a year.

If they lived at home with their parents, in 3 years they could save enough to buy a home.

If I lived at home with my parents (which is impossible), it would take me over 15 years to buy a home.

With the goals of home ownership and retirement feasibly out of the actualisation, the question arises: what is the point of working so hard for so long, who am I even trying to impress, and for what luxury?

The only thing left that could possibly motivate a young man in my position, outside of the security which used to be the reward of hard work, is the satisfaction of creating something meaningful.
Or, if you can't find something meaningful to do, at least finding a good group of people to f**k around with and have a laugh so you're not miserable.

Is there no dignity, freedom and autonomy awarded in this life of labour?