City Versus Country
Picture a painfully hot and dry summer, the ground so scorching that your feet burn through your rubber boots as you make your way across the yard. You release the cattle from their restricting pen, their endless drone threatening to send you to sleep as the lethargic bodies trudge across the yards toward their stingy feed rations. As you look up at the vast blue expanse of sky, no clouds in sight, you know in your heart that the chance of rain within the next few months is slim to none. You know also that no rain could mean another season with no results, further debt for the family farm - another year of mum and dad arguing over whether or not to sell their land, their cattle, to pay for the ever-increasing cost of feed. This scenario is all too common for inhabitants of what is otherwise known as 'the land'. It has become apparent in recent times that Australians hold the very thorough belief that Outback Australia is some sort of idyllic paradise, a glamorous existence. It is painfully obvious that this idea has generated from foreigners, or city-dwellers - people who have never lived through twelve months of a seemingly endless drought, never endured the thought of a non-existent Christmas due to a recently failed c
The image that so many city people continue to associate with the Outback is of a Paul Hogan look-alike wandering casually around his property in tight leather pants waiting for the next problem to crop up so that he can solve it. The hard work, the time and effort to be put in, the heartache when a crop fails, the sense of loss when an animal dies - these are the feelings many forget to associate with the role of a farmer, a family on the land. With so much to lose, a life lived on the land is a life lived in constant fear - fear of failure. The ever-present expectancy that the next season will be drought-stricken; the worry that the next crop will be a failure; the possibility that one day it will all have to be sold out, and there will be nothing left. There are other options to be explored, more wonders to be experienced, than a life lived in such cold isolation. A life in the city is filled with opportunity - it presents a more relevant perception of our ever-changing world, and can open one's eyes to the reality of our very existence. The constantly shifting world we live in is frequently being influenced by varying trends, and ideas, and these are translated to the more populated areas, where people learn of new technologies and concepts that may be more exciting, or more helpful to our world in the future. The endless possibilities that are presented to an individual in the city are extraordinary - one is not sheltered or deprived of adventure while living in a larger environment with a more open-minded idea of the world. The endless job opportunities and social prospects in the city present possibilities to the city-dweller as they are constantly being introduced to new cultures, and different groups of people, and their view of the world. The city holds a wide range of extra-curricular activities that can be engaged in by people of a range of varying ages - the city never fails to present new and exciting prospects to the average person. To spend all of a valuable life on an isol
Some common words found in the essay are:
Paul Hogan, Australian Outback, , Outback Australia, Crocodile Dundee, life lived, range cultures, own personal, wider range, ever-changing world, spend valuable, relevant perception, unrelenting conditions, family farm, wide range,
Approximate Word count = 1364
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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