Letters 4.4.15

Encouraging
I FIND it very encouraging that young people in Australia are prepared to travel to the Middle-East to fight for (or against) ISIL.
It means young people in Australia believe life should have a purpose, a mission. It shows young people in Australia believe their lives should make a difference. It shows young people in Australia want a life that includes adventure.
What makes me sad is we have built a lucky country (‘cos it is) and left out the things that make life worth living. Amidst all our gadgetry, and all our amusements, and all our comforts, we offer our young people a life they find drab and dull and disappointing.
It is even more sad that our young people feel they need an organisation like ISIL to lift their lives out of the rut. We must give our young people a chance to learn the joy of belonging to something with a purpose, of being part of a team and playing to win, of trusting others and being trusted here in Australia.
Then our young people can be the future of a lucky country of which we all can be proud.
Rick Duley
Walcott St, North Perth
The Ed says: Harbouring a desire to kill people is evidence of a “purpose”, a desire for “adventure”? Seriously?

Blunder
ANOTHER imperial planning blunder. If the stadium requires a long and expensive exposed pedestrian bridge across the river to exit fans, the location is wrong. I would have thought Mr Packer would have funded a direct link to the casino instead.
R Hart
Mt Hawthorn

Grunting welcome
BEING naturally nomadic, I have several times over recent years made a convenience of Jacob’s Ladder, Kings Park, Perth. That is, as an “ accommodation” address (see, for example, Voice Mail, November 16, 2013).
No-one I’m aware of, in spotting such liberties, has protested or even paused in their violating, for example, an Easter egg.
The “ritzy” neighbours of Jacob’s Ladder—who “complain”, indeed!—should be aglow at having grunters, sweaters and jerkers around. People who are doing something to dispel our Humpty Dumpty national image.
Charlie Benskin
Kings Park, Perth