Club Members Diminishing

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BigWave

BigWave

Big Wave
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2016
Messages
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Location
Melbourne
I recently visited my elder brother who is a Free Masons Member. He lamented that membership is dwindling quickly these days, and that Lodges were closing or (sometimes) amalgamating.
I remarked that I am a member of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) Club, and that our younger membership was also dwindling significantly (just doesn't build the comraderie like it did in those days), to point where I was nearly the youngest (I wintered at Davis Base some 38 years back) at the traditional ANARE Mid Winter dinner (some 150 attendees in Melbourne, but held all around Australia and even internationally).
He then mentioned similar drop offs, including Lions, Rotary & RSL (not so much) etc etc. Then there are the churches and many others age old institutions.
I know that social media on FaceBook (and others) is replacing these age old establishments, but is this change for the better - particularly in Oz?
Where will this lead for our next generation(s) - loss of history, charitable groups, respect for long held traditions etc?
I would like to hear your thoughts as (I believe) it will impact younger generations immensely, as well as membership of PA.
 
i reckon its because parenting ain't happening to the extent that it should be due to various reasons.
And if you ain't been parented well then its a pretty long stretch of the bow that your own children will be parented well.

All ends up with a generation that has lost respect for that and them which was and more interested in that which is.
 
Many charitable organisations, volunteer organisations etc are being strangled with legislation, some for the better, some for the worse.
I was a JP for over twenty five years and new rules were introduced, courses to attend at my cost etc and I just felt it was becoming an imposition and resigned.
My sister runs a very successful Lions club op shop, this consumes probably 12 days a month of her time but she loves it and this club has made many charitable donations over many years.
My brother volunteers as a driver for Red Cross in the country, he is a retired Police Officer of 40 years but has to undergo driver training and police checks to continue. Not only Lions , Rotary etc are dwindling, try getting volunteers at sporting clubs, like most it's the same few people who carry the load.
Service clubs may well comeback but I don't think it will be in the guise they originated in, twenty years ago I don't think we would have seen many female Rotarians, Lions or Apexians.
 
Manpa said:
Many charitable organisations, volunteer organisations etc are being strangled with legislation, some for the better, some for the worse.
I was a JP for over twenty five years and new rules were introduced, courses to attend at my cost etc and I just felt it was becoming an imposition and resigned.
My sister runs a very successful Lions club op shop, this consumes probably 12 days a month of her time but she loves it and this club has made many charitable donations over many years.
My brother volunteers as a driver for Red Cross in the country, he is a retired Police Officer of 40 years but has to undergo driver training and police checks to continue. Not only Lions , Rotary etc are dwindling, try getting volunteers at sporting clubs, like most it's the same few people who carry the load.
Service clubs may well comeback but I don't think it will be in the guise they originated in, twenty years ago I don't think we would have seen many female Rotarians, Lions or Apexians.
Click to expand...

That's sad they put so much in the way of these organizations, they do a monumental amount of good Country and World Wide, it was that sort of thing that made me quit working for large companies, Red Tape is costing the Country and those in need and of coarse none of this effects those who dream up these silly rules. It only effects the needy and of coarse those who are trying to make a difference,
 
Manpa said:
Many charitable organisations, volunteer organisations etc are being strangled with legislation, some for the better, some for the worse.
I was a JP for over twenty five years and new rules were introduced, courses to attend at my cost etc and I just felt it was becoming an imposition and resigned.
My sister runs a very successful Lions club op shop, this consumes probably 12 days a month of her time but she loves it and this club has made many charitable donations over many years.
My brother volunteers as a driver for Red Cross in the country, he is a retired Police Officer of 40 years but has to undergo driver training and police checks to continue. Not only Lions , Rotary etc are dwindling, try getting volunteers at sporting clubs, like most it's the same few people who carry the load.
Service clubs may well comeback but I don't think it will be in the guise they originated in, twenty years ago I don't think we would have seen many female Rotarians, Lions or Apexians.
Click to expand...

Divide and Conquer :N:
 
moeee said:
i reckon its because parenting ain't happening to the extent that it should be due to various reasons.
And if you ain't been parented well then its a pretty long stretch of the bow that your own children will be parented well.
All ends up with a generation that has lost respect for that and them which was and more interested in that which is.
Click to expand...
moeee, I don't agree with you. There's always been youngsters who were not well parented, and I think that there will be little change there for a long time yet (getting better though).
What I'm talking about is changing social values. I reckon that it's a lot about personal ego these days - not social respect and helping others.
They're thinking: "I'm paying my taxes, so let the government help others."
I reckon that most think that you don't have to learn from the past these days; just from reading what's impacting you and your future on the internet.
 
Peoples lives are more complicate than 20 or longer years ago... Our local PCYC has closed because no one wants to attend any more... Shame but true..

LW...
 
LoneWolf said:
Peoples lives are more complicate than 20 or longer years ago... Our local PCYC has closed because no one wants to attend any more... Shame but true..

LW...
Click to expand...

In the 70's and 80's nearly all the kids use to go there, how things have changed, I guess that is the side effects of social media.
 
what about the clubs that the members have been there forever and when someone young turns up and wants to help they get pushed along due to the baby bommers don't like change or the loss of their power in the club which seems more a dictatorship than anything else I have seen this in many clubs which would rather lose members and their club than step aside no wonder young people don't want to take part
 
227dick you make a very good point and BigWave, without going to deep in to churches, the last few years for the mainstream have been disastrous due to the Royal Commissions into Child Abuse which was absolutely necessary and long overdue in my opinion.
Having said that, some religions are growing rapidly due to the influx of younger participants.
The Lions, Rotary clubs etc from what I remember are more for business owners etc that want to return something to their community and I am not sure that this is where young people want to put their time and effort.
A shame really but that's the way it is.
Regards
Mackka
 
Both my sons are in the CFA and SES, they love it and have gained lots of skills that they use constantly. My youngest is the youngest member of SES to be Road Crash accredited at 17. They both find it hard to attend training on a weekly basis, one with family and the other starting work. The older members have been very supportive of them and willingly help and mentor the younger members.They both used to travel 50 km to training and dirt roads at night.
 
As time passes many things change, and many changes are negative.
Different places change at different rates.

Interesting thing i picked up on the radio yesterday while travelling to work.
A School teacher phoned in and was talking about students been rewarded for hard work.
The little gold star stamps don,t exist anymore, the kids get movie tickets, and what this teacher was saying
is none of the students thank the teacher for receiving such generous rewards? Yes NONE! :eek: :N: :( 8.(

I think if you travel overseas then look back at your own country you can be shocked by the rate of decline here in Australia.
I spent 6 months in Canada in 1992, could not believe how friendly and easy going the majority of people where when compared to here, ( Melbourne ).

Travelled to the USA, in 2011 and 2013, same thing again, went rural and felt like i had returned to life in the 1960,s.
Travelled on a greyhound bus for 10 hours with would you believe 18-24 year old males on Prison leave, maybe for crimes like possession of dope, breaking into cars & shoplifting etc. WOW they seemed way more polite than Australian youth of the same age, brings me to tears the decline of life in Australia.

Just two weekends ago i got stuck behind a Chinese Driver who was texting, watching video on his smart phone at an intersection, light went green, driver behind me starts tooting. Took a fair while then driver looks up and drives through red light. He prevented maybe another 4 cars from getting through intersection by using his phone illegally.

Angry man comes to my car and starts yelling abuse at me??????? WTF IDIOT, not my fault, he says i should of rammed him? Oh really in my 12 month old car.
I see acts of aggression like this almost daily in Australia. In the US you would most likely see this in the Big Cities like LA. But highly unlikely in rural ares.
 
Swinging & digging said:
As time passes many things change, and many changes are negative.
Different places change at different rates.

Interesting thing i picked up on the radio yesterday while travelling to work.
A School teacher phoned in and was talking about students been rewarded for hard work.
The little gold star stamps don,t exist anymore, the kids get movie tickets, and what this teacher was saying
is none of the students thank the teacher for receiving such generous rewards? Yes NONE! :eek: :N: :( 8.(

I think if you travel overseas then look back at your own country you can be shocked by the rate of decline here in Australia.
I spent 6 months in Canada in 1992, could not believe how friendly and easy going the majority of people where when compared to here, ( Melbourne ).

Travelled to the USA, in 2011 and 2013, same thing again, went rural and felt like i had returned to life in the 1960,s.
Travelled on a greyhound bus for 10 hours with would you believe 18-24 year old males on Prison leave, maybe for crimes like possession of dope, breaking into cars & shoplifting etc. WOW they seemed way more polite than Australian youth of the same age, brings me to tears the decline of life in Australia.

Just two weekends ago i got stuck behind a Chinese Driver who was texting, watching video on his smart phone at an intersection, light went green, driver behind me starts tooting. Took a fair while then driver looks up and drives through red light. He prevented maybe another 4 cars from getting through intersection by using his phone illegally.

Angry man comes to my car and starts yelling abuse at me??????? WTF IDIOT, not my fault, he says i should of rammed him? Oh really in my 12 month old car.
I see acts of aggression like this almost daily in Australia. In the US you would most likely see this in the Big Cities like LA. But highly unlikely in rural ares.
Click to expand...

Sadly you make too much sense.

If I lived in a "big city" I would be imprisoned within a week :mad: I couldn't cop it.

Australia "the lucky country" no more :|

R.I.P Australia 8.(
 
So true all of this. I have noticed it with my local volunteer bush fire brigade over the years. The red tape and the political rubbish that we have to deal with these days has gotten way out of hand. It puts so many people off as they don't want to deal with all the restrictions and rubbish. Gone are the days of just signing up a doing your bit for the community.
 
shakergt your comment is so true there are a lot of people out there with skills who would be assets to clubs and groups but red tape and restrictions make it to hard and those people just drift off never to be seen again
 
BigWave said:
moeee said:
i reckon its because parenting ain't happening to the extent that it should be due to various reasons.
And if you ain't been parented well then its a pretty long stretch of the bow that your own children will be parented well.
All ends up with a generation that has lost respect for that and them which was and more interested in that which is.
Click to expand...
moeee, I don't agree with you. There's always been youngsters who were not well parented, and I think that there will be little change there for a long time yet (getting better though).
What I'm talking about is changing social values. I reckon that it's a lot about personal ego these days - not social respect and helping others.
They're thinking: "I'm paying my taxes, so let the government help others."
I reckon that most think that you don't have to learn from the past these days; just from reading what's impacting you and your future on the internet.
Click to expand...

Definitely. People are out for themselves now more than ever. It's pretty sad.

I will say that it is not just Australia that has been hit by this malaise.
 
In my area the masons were classed a secret squirrel club (THE GOLDEN HAND SHAKE)if u wasn't a member hard to get things done for u in the league of the mob
 

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