Australia - you're standing in it

"Boggles the mind how they can't see rising inequality being an issue."

blind eye and a poker face is easy when you're on the "right" side of the inequality

pun not actually intended, but pretty good nevertheless

Rising inequality is one thing. Inequality of opportunity is next level stuff. It's been the basis of pretty much every revolution in history.

'"Boggles the mind how they can't see rising inequality being an issue."'

'blind eye and a poker face is easy when you're on the "right" side of the inequality'

'Rising inequality is one thing. Inequality of opportunity is next level stuff.'

The age old problem floats to the surface of the swamp. It had to. The chains and bricks weren't enough to sink it into the depths, hidden forever. Forensic alert... in a nutshell.

Living in a little town was a great view of the big picture in a small picture. Two hundred or so, in the desert. Social dynamics at a scale that was easy to digest.

Another deluxe, but run of the mill surf under the belt. Which would have been a swillnut hall of famer, vid after vid extravaganza, young craig dog paddlin' around everywhere, shutters and keys clickin' and clackin', in another one of them east coast, ledgy frothothons... again. Perhaps even with an obligatory east coast cliff sittin'. A cliff sittin wiv a stare shot... But I digress. On the way home, the usual catchup. But a kinda, a sorta, a, well, an uneasiness in the air. Something's rotten in Denmark. In the sheds. Sure, the usual wave talk, wax, fins, leggies, wetties, but all much more superficial than normal, that uneasiness... the Denmark stink...

Sooner or later it would burst to the surface, someone would crack... again...

'Oye, anyone seen (insert any name you like... stupe's as good as any, at, or perhaps on, this stage) stupe'!'

Multiple voices enthusiastically launch into the chorus...

'Funny ya should ask aye, coz I was just thinkin' the farkin same thing aye... but...'

'Yeh, me farkin three!!! Look fuck this aye, I'm just cuttin' to the chase! Wot's with this farkin' stupe' backstory shite... with the farkin blowin dude...!!!!???!!!?'

'Yeh, just what I wuz farkin thinkin'... coz when we tuned him, he reckons he didn't even faaarkin know 'im aaaaye!!!'

'Yeh, I farkin knew somethin' was fuckin suss there aye!!!!'

'How's his faaarkin form aye...'

''Hi' lads, how's it... hey where are yas all goin...'

And just when you think it couldn't get any worse, in an act of ludicrous, desperate, grimacing, clutching, gnashing, drooling desperation, the last thing you hear is... aaahhh yes, but oh noooo... that fuckin sickening old cherub... as the distant, shrill, spittle strained voice fades away...

'Oye lads... wait up... errr... if ya see Pete... an' Mick... say.... hi... for us... again... aaayye but...'

Inequality. Opportunity. The wild west. Swillnuts. Its all about the 'backstory', always has been... in a nutshell... again...

"Bum splatter" aside, here's the flipside of the old "never waste a crisis" coin.

https://www.mining.com/looming-changes-for-fifo-employees-in-western-aus...

And from the fucking mining industry!

To paraphrase, how fucking shit is the Australian federal government?

Pretty fucking shit? On a scale of 1 to fucked I’m pretty sure they’re fuckin’ fucked!?

Apparently this is so popular, it keeps crashing. Sign on, and get involved.

https://www.aph.gov.au/petition_list?id=EN1938

factotum. The crashing website has probably got something to do with the petition's popularity and the fact the Australian government is trying to run a computer thingy again. These bums couldn't run a bath.

Most people I hear in person seem to have an unsubstantiated attitude that the right part of the spectrum is obviously morally inferior, as if it’s just given. This attitude is scary because it tends to make people think that the further left from centre you get the higher the moral ground. I am sure this happens in the opposite way as well but when the US media, which dominates international media is so heavily tilted to the left I think public perception has been skewed by the same margin.

Yes, Right wing policies can have negative results. I wouldn’t call myself right wing, or conservative by the way. Socialism and communism both implement left wing policies and we could study any country that has implemented them and see negative results in the form of economic ruin and a disaffected, suffering public.

And I’m not talking about Scandinavia, that isn’t socialism, socialism is government control of the means of production and distribution, that doesn’t happen in Scandinavia. Compare Norway with Venezuela, both have huge reserves of oil. One country has implemented real socialist policies and it has literally sent a once prosperous country to ruin.

I know fascism is right wing extremism and I know about the nazis and the pogroms and the death camps. Pure evil. Like right wing policies, left wing policies can have negative results too, including death camps. It may be contentious but I see communism as being equally as sick as fascism.

...interesting 'perspectives' on what people regard as left wing / right wing...

is a hard core union member, who believes in climate change, passionately recycles, but thinks a 'trans woman' is not really a woman a RWNJ?

is camille paglia a RWNJ?

is mark latham a RWNJ?

is a 'misogynist' john setka, a RWNJ?

is a communist government, that facilitates nazi like concentration camps for uygher muslims RWNJ's?

is a governer kidnap conspiring, '....far right trump supporting militia...' dude, who likes anarchy flags and philisophy, and clearly doesn't like donald trump, a RWNJ?

...the media says so...

well the usual fake news fuckwits do anyway...

https://mobile.twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1314267058339819520?ref_...

left, right? ...yeh nah...

rising inequality?

I'd say that's largely a result of 'the left' throwing the working classes to the wolves whilst they focussed on other issues...

One aspect that is becoming more relevant in the discussion is religion. What’s the saying? Australia is 10 or 20 years behind America? What ever the timeline I’d say that given the infiltration of the zealots in Australian politics that we’re just about on track. Our lot may not be quite as brazen as the yanks but the ideology is still there to see.

Very true fliplid.
Businesses like Hillsong are seriously scary and influential in the LNP. There's a lot of evangelical entrepreneurs and their mates making big $$$$ out of Scumo's mob.

ALP / DLP split over catholic influence (Bob Santamaria)

Bob Santamaria’s and George Pell’s influence and mentorship of Tony Abbott

John Howard’s embracing of catholic conservatives like George Pell

Christian conservatives individually and in an organised way join the Liberal Party at a state and federal levels to influence policy like SSM and abortion.

The preselection and subsequent election of Christian conservatives as Liberal members of parliament at both state and federal level, many now in federal cabinet inc Morrison.

Recent revelations that Christian conservatives have attempted to take over the organisational wing of the Liberal Party in Victoria.

A small list off the top of my head before you start looking at govt policy that gives religious organisations (who pay no tax) huge sums of taxpayers money.

Footnote: in historical terms it was the Labor party with its large Irish catholic working class membership that was influenced by religion. That all changed with the ALP split mostly caused by Bob Santamaria and then Melbourne Catholic Bishop Mannix. The ALP was split in two in a bitter fight between catholic and non catholics. The catholic political party was formed from this split (DLP).

Before the political demise of the DLP demise Bob Santamaria set about cultivating influence in the Liberal Party where he found Abbott and John Howard.

Howard loved describing the Liberal Party as a broad church while pursuing a very conservative agenda and ensuring political and religious conservatives were preselected/ elected into parliament. A cunning stunt by anyones standards.

The irony for the Liberal Party and a further illustration as to how far to the right they have gone is that traditional and true “liberal” values and religious conservatism can’t coexist, like oil and water.

I’ve said this before, the Liberal Party isn’t “liberal” at all is now reactionary* and should be renamed the Reactionary Party of Australia.

*
reactionary
/rɪˈakʃ(ə)n(ə)ri/
Learn to pronounce
adjective
adjective: reactionary
opposing political or social progress or reform.
"reactionary attitudes toward women's rights"
Similar:
right-wing
conservative
rightist
ultra-conservative

Alarm bells were ringing in WA as Christian groups moving into the Liberal Party

Ho fucken hum.

No historical context + no basic ideological framework + media led and fed ideas and opinions = ??

Confused regurgitative nonsense.

Back to the source for those that think, say, the 'working class' are the supporters of One Nation and Trump, or that wearing hi viz, steel caps, and getting your hands dirty makes you 'working class', or if you don't fit that stereotype, you're excluded etc etc.

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/09/working-class-peoples-guide-capitalis...

Read! (Especially the usual suspect non-readers)

It ain't long.

And take a minute or two to digest (you don't get kudos for barking shtuff back up after bolting it down too quickly)

Re: the article, personally I'd place a bit more emphasis on the importance of class consciousness too. Education and critical thinking is a winner. Seeing as the multi-faceted Humanities discipline is facing a 113% fee hike under this Fed Govts tertiary education 'plan', we may all come to understand its importance the hard way!

Have a nice day.

because this is 'the narrative' we are fed sheepdog ...constantly...

and that these people or characteristics equate to "RWNJ', not least by many on here

just doesn't seem real helpful, realistic or reality...

Sypkan, "rising inequality?

I'd say that's largely a result of 'the left' throwing the working classes to the wolves whilst they focussed on other issues..."

What?

So Labor removed penalty rates?

Bought in non work choices?

Continually runs "BS Industrial Relations reforms through lower house" i.e. bend over here it comes.

Reduced unions protections, coverage, royal commissions ignoring business corruption / exploitation and right of entry etc etc.

That's before you get to undermining wages growth.

Nice rock you are living under there Syphan clearly you don't have to work for a living eh.

...well they tried i focus...

it wasn't a total baby, bathwater catastrophe

but they lacked i focus

Fuck-a-duck-a-ding-dong! I feel dumber already. Thanking you, Sepp.

Couple years old but this is still an interesting read.

"Rising inequality in Australia isn’t about incomes: it’s almost all about housing

Compared to the rest of the world, income inequality is not particularly high in Australia, nor is it getting much worse.

The real problem is housing inequality.

Rising house prices have increased wealth inequality. Rising housing costs have dramatically widened the gap between high and low disposable incomes.

The gap between low-income and high-income households in Australia is close to the OECD average. Income inequality – measured by the gini coefficient – has fallen slightly over the past decade.

The Productivity Commission says inequality has increased only slightly in the past three decades. Economists at the Reserve Bank have come to similar conclusions.

But inequality is growing once housing costs are factored in, with the poor being hurt the most."

More here:
https://theconversation.com/rising-inequality-in-australia-isnt-about-in...

One of my sons is in the process of buying a house now and the number of grants and rebates that are getting thrown around, not just Covid related, proves that the system is broken and yet there is absolutely no effort being made to fix it, just let ‘er rip

“I am sure this happens in the opposite way as well but when the US media, which dominates international media is so heavily tilted to the left I think public perception has been skewed by the same margin.”

That’s some sickaz perspective, sickaz. How you could possibly equate the current Murdoch dominated media world-wide as “so heavily tilted to the left” is a standout piece of acrobatics.

Re your comments regarding Norway versus Venezuela, there is a grain of truth in it, but you get the labels wrong. Norway’s politics is standard socialist market philosophy, as was most of the western world during the post war years, the period of greatest advancement in western economic and scientific history. This is the ‘socialism’ that most of us are arguing for. Nobody is arguing for Venezuelan socialism, which isn’t socialism at all, it is just the left version of crony capitalism.

The US, on its current trajectory, is toast. It may step back from the brink, but where it is headed is a bad place.

The former USSR also wasn’t socialist, nor really is current day China. These are bastardised versions of an extreme ideology, the US is an extreme ideology taken to the opposite direction. The irony is that both paths lead to the same destination, the country ruled by a very small claque if individuals who have their hands on all the levers of power.

Your understanding of what socialism has been informed by reading way too much US rwnj media outlets.

Socialism, as practised in a few Scandinavian countries, is the most benign and beneficial of all ideologies, until a better one comes along.

"Fuck-a-duck-a-ding-dong! I feel dumber already. Thanking you, Sepp."

well, I feel the same after reading your lame article

so call it even

"That’s some sickaz perspective, sickaz. How you could possibly equate the current Murdoch dominated media world-wide as “so heavily tilted to the left” is a standout piece of acrobatics."

I'm not calllng who's right or wrong either way, but I find it most interesting reading the news.com comments, and half of them are accusing the outlet of 'typical left wing bias' and being 'lib/left-tard...' blah blah blah...

and the other half are the incredibly boring 'murdoch is the devil' and 'right wing conspiracy...' blah blah blah

so...

balanced?

maybe?

I know that'll leave me wide open to the usual condescending crap from the usual suspects...

so just to be clear, I reckon news.com can come at any particular issue one day with a certain political slant, ...only to come at it the following day with a totally different angle from a different writer

it's always trashy and low brow, but it seems nearly every angle gets a run from time to time

ID using this about income

"The gap between low-income and high-income households in Australia is close to the OECD average. Income inequality – measured by the gini coefficient – has fallen slightly over the past decade."

To say we are OK doesn't cut it. We 25% higher (inequality) than Sweden, higher than Canada, Germany, Netherlands the fact that gets Australia near the average is that the US is 32% higher than us.

I do see the point about housing but it fails to address the inequality in the work place.

Batfink you don’t know what I read.

Definitely not hitting right wing partisan media outlets for the news thought, that’s for sure. In regards to reading though....

Just finished Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S Thompson (fun read), just started Thucydides - History of the Peloponnesian War... brush up on my democracy vs militant collectivism. Why not. I love reading.

I have also read the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

I am not super clever, but I am not brainwashed.

I like many things about Socialist Market economies. We enjoy many of them in Australia - pretty good free public education, almost free medical care if you Are in have a low income. The fact the state doesn’t administer the power or communications doesn’t bother me. Problem is Socialism means state ownership of produce and control of the distribution of resources which is different.

Collective ideologies just give me the shivers whether they are left or right wing.

"The real issue is housing inequality"......

Well, yes. That Australians largest asset is almost always their home, owned or otherwise is no coincidence. Incentivised by CGT exemptions if you live in it, the quarter acre block romanticised, the backyard, the bbq, the pool, the hills hoist, the curtains fading in Qld if daylight saving was introduced...etc.

Is that a left or right wing aspiration? Or centrist? Or none of those and just an effective way to put the foundations ('scuse the pun) on a wealth base for their future. Horse has bolted.

The 'game of re-zones' ain't really working out for the 'Bin Chicken' in NSW (helluva last line in the article!), or 'The Freckle' in Queensland.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2020/10/13/property-develope...

Winter (and an election) is coming!

A native forest declaration.

https://www.bobbrown.org.au/anfd?utm_source=social&utm_medium=facebook&u...

That really is deluxe, thanks.

I will sign it just as a thank you to Bob Brown, we should never forget the great work he did helping ensure we didn't have to put up with Bill Shorten.

"Thanks, Bob Brown, You Helped Labor Lose The Unloseable Election"

https://newmatilda.com/2019/05/21/thanks-bob-brown-you-helped-labor-lose...

You're alright Indo.

Don't forget to give yourself a pat on the back, Info.

Where would Scotty from marketing, and all of us, be without suckers like you.

Talk about battery chooks voting for KFC.

ID could you add the multi billion dollar slush fund for Coalition marginal seats as well, a federal ICAC would shred them over that alone.

The sports rorts pales into minor corrupt behaviour in comparison, still you have to give it to the Coalition they know their way around using your money to buy elections.

"Shut up and take my money!"

"I don't care...I love it!"

- Info Dreemin'

When it comes to voting FNQers are well balanced in that they have a chip on each shoulder.

well, it's no surprise the Foundation is trotting out some of its usual falsehoods -

'logging increases bushfire risks' - bullshit, for one example see the recently retracted paper by UTAS academics who were caught out trying to publish this crap.

'Australia has more than enough plantations to meet its wood needs' - bullshit, we've failed miserably to meet our plantation targets, and what we have wont replace the quality of timber sourced from sustainably harvested native forests.

then they make up a new word to make it sound sophisticated or something- 'pro-forestation (of logged and degraded native forests)' - WTF

The recent developer travails of the 'Bin Chicken' in NSW, and the 'Freckle' in Qld are really just a smaller part of a much wider problem!

Welcome to Straya aka Lobbyland!

And check out some proper journalism:

https://johnmenadue.com/lobby-land-the-scourge-of-lobbyists-part-1/

The power that the development lobby has is literally criminal.

With regards to the proposed Toondah Harbour development in Ramsar-listed Moreton Bay, a letter written on behalf of ex-Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad lobbied the federal government to invoke its right under the Ramsar convention to change the boundary of the wetlands, if such an action was “considered by that party to be in the urgent national interest”.

Why is Trad so keen? Check out her relationship with proposed Toondah Harbour developer Walker Corporation.

Lang Walker is known for his largesse with political contributions. Since 1998, he has donated some A$2,252,480 to both the Labor Party and the Liberal National Party, the majority going to Trad's Labor Party.

https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/backers-of-...

factotum...irons out the 2020 LNP Spring Collection
Bin Chicken & Freckle's auction off Spiffy Party Frocks...

LNP gurlz launder standard brownpaperbag port-a-loo ensembles.
Comes with rolled up stockings & a spare pair of knickers for yer purse.
Gurlz tart it up with Creamy White or Runny Brown lipstick.
{ Whiteshoes } Eau de Toilette Spray for that stench of Corruption!

"We need more women in the LNP!"... Here! Here!

AndyM...that's a great dig...never knew half of such...

Unbelievable that an Asian lass "Melody Kemp" stuck in Qld can dig up our dirt.
Right under our own front door mat...crew salute Melody for investigative report.

Melody puts Murdoch's Qld media stranglehold to shame.

AndyM is right that Trad has been Labor's money bags...for sure!

Libs Dutto & S.Robert are #1 Qld Bagmen.
Feds launder shelf quangos thru Robert's offshore accounts.(The Fall guy!)
Yep! Been busted so many times...Local/State/Fed rorts ...Guilty, none give a shit.
Outlandishly & openly rorts Lib quangos as Fed Govt's least corrupt portfolio.

Yeah the Toondah Harbour proposal is a disgrace TBB.

It stinks on a few different levels.

And needless to say, developers have been eyeing off North Stradbroke Island for decades.
Now that the mining has stopped the large-scale push is on in earnest.

Haha. Some funny stuff there, TBB (both types!).

And bloody Stuart Robert gets a guernsey! How in the wide, wide world of sports is that shonk STILL in a job??

Simple answer? He's a Liberal. Sad but true.

Enough 'moonlight state' for the time being, here's a flipside look at Dictator/Manchurian Dan's.

How's this upstanding/grandstanding 'character'?

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/coronavirus/2020/10/15/lockdown-andrew-a...

No ones buying anything. There’s no public avenue to kick her corrupt arse to the kerb until the election.

And then you’re confronted with an equally corrupt and inept ALP.

Awesome.

I wouldn't complain too much, things could be worse you could have Dan and just be seeing some light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

Id swap for Dan in a heartbeat.

Hahahahahaha.

When the power of media concentration goes mistakenly bad?

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/10/19/micahel-pascoe-gladys-berejik...

Schadenfreude is a bugger of a sport.