"Are you better off today...?"

There's gonna be elections this year in Tassie and in SIN.

Why do the politicians and TV polls ask the people, "Are you better off today than you are X years ago?"

To me that's simply not the best question to ask. Even if the country is better off, the current government may have little to do with it. The global economy and political climate, more than any single government of any state or country, determines the prosperity of the state/country.

There's a general shortage of healthcare workers in Tas and the healthcare system suffers. The dentist told me last month when I went to get my wisdom tooth extracted that I would have to wait for 2-3 months to see a specalist if I needed one. That's while I could only chew on one side of my mouth.

The Liberal Party in Tas promises to hire more doctors, dentists and nurses to imporve the healthcare system. Wow. Why didn't the incumbent government think of that?? Maybe the lower pay, lower standard of living and the inherent "remoteness" of Tasmania made them stupid and it's up to the opposition to think of such things.

The better question to ask therefore is, "Would you have been better off today if you had elected the other parties X years ago?"

Or on the election day, "Will I be better off in the future if I elect someone else?"

But then who else but students with nothing better to do has time to think of such things?