By Andrew Klein
The greatest danger to the social structures that we have come to know and to rely on does not come from any external threat. It is the myth that government functions and the functions of the state should and can be placed into private hands, and thus be at the mercy of the fictitious ‘Free Market Place’.
Once governments sell-off and allow the duties of the state to be performed and enforced by private corporations and even become involved in the conflict of the individual and those private entities in an attempt to fulfil its financial obligations to the very same private entities, at that stage the liberty and quality of life of every subject of the state is in danger.
Governments and States cannot abrogate their responsibilities and devolve into ‘Social Management‘ by private entities who have shown themselves to be untrustworthy and without social merit, who are often doing the bidding of a financial elite that are no more than spoilt rentiers where even the most insane and heartless policies find endorsement not by a democratic process but one where private wealth equates with political control via access and paid for quality time with those we regard as our representatives.
This approach will lead to social instability and will in time undermine the very nature of what it means to live in a civilized state. The Milton Friedman fairy tale ‘Free Market’ approach may look very attractive from certain perspectives, but it does nothing to enhance the quality of life of the Individual and worse, it does not seek to protect the very vulnerable.
Reagan and Thatcher demonstrated by their actions how to undermine social cohesion and at the same time channel funds to friends and fight wars in distant places justified by the most questionable drum beating and opportunism. Their shadows linger on, their economic theories, having created a following among political leaders who know why they chose politics as a career.
Having a clear understanding of who butters their bread, securing their own futures and using established mythologies twirling around the word ‘democracy’ like some form of pagan dance around a stick. We are left to be stakeholders, health care consumers and in essence, commodified. Our very humanness is denied by a structure that has no humanity about it and has no desire to learn.
Led by charlatans, celebrity politicians looking for photo opportunities and their acolytes, we are becoming a failed state.
Is there a hope for Australia? I would like to think so. Look past the 24/7 marketing, compare the promises with the actual performance. This is so important because our futures depend on it.
If you wouldn’t invite some of the creeps over for a BBQ, why would you vote for them? Would you trust your beloved pet in their hands? If they are prepared to accept that the aged will die in aged care whilst corporate interests’ profit, that our youngest are fed questionable diets in childcare, setting them up for serious health conditions in the future, then it’s time that their political careers are ended.
Morrison talks of ‘small government‘ and not getting into the way of individuals. Ho hum, his micromanagement ensuring that the ‘deserving’ get a more than fair share is guaranteed. A well-crafted ‘Ponzi Scheme‘ comes to mind.
Frydenberg is orgiastic at a Triple-A rating by agencies that are now questioned in themselves. No mention of housing insecurity, foodbanks and almost a million Australian children living in poverty, but gosh, we have a ‘Triple-A ‘ rating.
We are where we are today for several reasons. We can blame the lies that are allowed by law in the electioneering process. We can blame the technology that targets the consumers of wisdom from such sites as Facebook, manufactured consent. Yes, very valid but I suggest that it is our fault. Instead of seeing politics as a game for the elite, the specialist, it’s up to you and I, to carefully examine what’s on offer in the political arena.
To be precise, what we have today is a government that is at war with its citizens by other means. It’s a very real struggle. We cannot rely on traditional allies like the Fourth Estate. So, prepare yourself and the best preparation is knowledge. Ask questions and demand answers.
It’s a life and death struggle for a form of democracy that truly represents us.
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Agreed Andrew Klein, it is the case of an elite group imposing their ”values” & ”standards” upon the entire population to their own pecuniary financial interests without any consideration for the proletariat others. It would be difficult to find an elite group LESS suitable for any public office.
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And the beneficiaries of this political disaster are the unelected political hacks in airconditioned metropolitan offices seeking ”political donations” aka ”political bribes” for the well organised private sector of Australian & foreign corporate interests protected by favourable taxation legislation and apparent impunity from criminal prosecution for actions against Australian taxpayers & society that could reasonably be described as treasonous.
When John Howard privatised the aged care sector, he created a disaster.
In 2000, Regina Lohr and Mike Head wrote:
Like every other aspect of life, aged care has become an increasingly two-class system. High quality homes with modern facilities, strict medical and hygiene standards, fresh and nourishing food and tranquil surroundings exist—but they are reserved for the wealthy who can afford fees in the order of $900 a week and entry bonds around $250,000. For lower middle class and working class retirees, the conditions have become Dickensian.
Increasingly stripped of all protective and regulatory remnants of the post-war welfare state, the unleashing of the “free market” is producing conditions where the majority of elderly people are treated as so much unwanted refuse. Medical science has significantly increased life expectancy, but, under the imperatives of the profit system, those who suffer the misfortune of being poor are simply being disposed of as cheaply and quickly as possible.
I am less concerned about inviting the creeps for a BBQ and whether I could trust them with my pets than I am concerned about why my money should be given to a leader who openly admits to not wanting to do his job! This government dismantle and defund everything that has served the public before yet continue to accept pay rises for basically doing as little as possible.
They are con men scamming us out of our children’s inheritance.
Good article !
I’m always a bit sceptical when a smiling Frydenberg pops up on our televisions and tells us that unemployment is suddenly lower than it was before the COVID pandemic – and lower than it ever was under Labor of course – and more so when he forecasts that by the time the election comes round it will be below four percent approaching the heady days of the 1970’s.
His barometer for our well being as a nation rests on these percentages but what I’m seeing daily is the people who are unemployed in my local area, those who without a stream of income have been pushed out of their rental properties and who have been forced to sleep in a car. They go to MacDonalds for a cleanup and to use the toilets to maintain their dignity. They spend their days in coffee shops or wandering around shopping centres ; invariably they are older people and frequently older women who, on their pensions, will probably never be able to afford to get back into the spiraling rental market .
I am reminded, whenever that grinning Frydenberg moon face appears, telling us how good things are, like a modern day big brother, of Orwell’s analogy in 1984. If you remember, that analogy was to national boot production in Oceania, a measure of national prosperity. Official figures on production were constantly changed by the authorities and previous targets were updated to imply that production targets had been exceeded and all was well in the land :
In any case, sixty-two millions (pairs of boots) was no nearer the truth than fifty-seven millions, or than a hundred and forty-five millions. Very likely no boots had been produced at all. Likelier still, nobody knew how many had been produced, much less cared. All one knew was that every quarter astronomical numbers of boots were produced on paper, while perhaps half the population of Oceania went barefoot.
As we approach the election there will be many announcements on national ‘boot production’ in Australia : take them with a good pinch of salt – we don’t make boots here !
LNP government chooses (or is Labor compelled) to follow external policy advice, of US linked libertarian think tanks/groups i.e. Koch and white nativism of Tanton (plus local industry bodies & ASPI), with lobbying and media PR, backgrounded by hollowed out party membership, being replaced by ‘quiet Australians’, dutifully follow legacy right wing media and authority, to allow radical right libertarian policies free passage (gaming ageing demography and electorates).
Symptoms of hollowed out government and party include a constant barrage of socio-cultural issues, legacy media running protection precluding informed policy, cooperation of media editors on ‘themes’ for inclusion and those to ignore, negative focus upon all things sensible centre right through left.
Of course also the disturbing Fox narratives adopted by legacy media including the ‘great replacement’, obsessions about refugees, immigrants or population growth as environmental ‘hygiene’ issues, focus upon prosperity, costs, taxes and government while Australians are amusing ‘themselves to death’ for short term pleasure to avoid anything serious, and remain blissfully ignorant.
Thank you Andrew for yet another rehash of your bog-standard cut & paste posting.
‘Environmental concerns over rampant growth of human populations = brainwashed nativist eugenics’.
CB – Struggling to understand the relevance of your comment, the equality of the equation and what alternate meaning you have given to “brainwashed nativist eugenics”. Brainwashed : subjected to intensive forced indoctrination resulting in the rejection of old beliefs and acceptance of new ones. Nativist : a person who urges the promotion of the interests of inhabitants born in a country over those of immigrants. Eugenics : The study or practice of attempting to improve the human gene pool by encouraging the reproduction of people considered to have desirable traits and discouraging or preventing the reproduction of people considered to have undesirable traits. I cannot see how the RHS of the equation relates to the article.