Alistair, it was good to read your post about poverty in Australia. I grew up in the sixties before neoliberalism took hold in the early 80s. I watched as the CIA helped oust prime minister Gough Whitlam and it was all downhill from there. I'm deeply disturbed by the general apathy of Australians towards the disenfranchised. I wonder if it has been decades of the neoliberal mindset plus the Murdoch press constantly demonising the disenfranchised and the unemployed that has led to this apathy or even hatred of the poor.
I am also very distressed at the normalising of the unhoused in Australia. In decades past this was not seen as acceptable but now it is. Also, the outcomes of past federal elections tells me that the landscape has changed here that we no longer care about those struggling like those on that hideous Jobseeker program where they are forced to live below the poverty line. Those on the pension are also below the poverty line.
Our two major parties the Australian Labor party and the LNP are just neoliberals and neocons. The Australian Labor party pretends Whitlam did not exist and they trot out their neoliberal policies. There's no vision whatsoever. The Greens are not anything to write home about either. The Greens are not anti-imperialist and they are not vegan nor do they suggest people become vegan for reasons of nonviolence and that there are tremendous benefits in addressing the climate crisis.
Then there are Australian politicians undying unquestioning submission to US imperialism. Both major parties have abandoned award winning Australian journalist publisher Julian Assange, and it is likely he will end up being extradited and will die in a US maximum security prison, completely isolated all because he exposed US war crimes.
I never thought I would see the day that all this would be taking place. Australia at this point is unrecognisable to me. Are we experiencing a spiritual death here? I think so, and politically, it's a s***show. You may like to check out my Substack. I talk about these issues and I will be mentioning your article soon. Best wishes
Alistair, it was good to read your post about poverty in Australia. I grew up in the sixties before neoliberalism took hold in the early 80s. I watched as the CIA helped oust prime minister Gough Whitlam and it was all downhill from there. I'm deeply disturbed by the general apathy of Australians towards the disenfranchised. I wonder if it has been decades of the neoliberal mindset plus the Murdoch press constantly demonising the disenfranchised and the unemployed that has led to this apathy or even hatred of the poor.
I am also very distressed at the normalising of the unhoused in Australia. In decades past this was not seen as acceptable but now it is. Also, the outcomes of past federal elections tells me that the landscape has changed here that we no longer care about those struggling like those on that hideous Jobseeker program where they are forced to live below the poverty line. Those on the pension are also below the poverty line.
Our two major parties the Australian Labor party and the LNP are just neoliberals and neocons. The Australian Labor party pretends Whitlam did not exist and they trot out their neoliberal policies. There's no vision whatsoever. The Greens are not anything to write home about either. The Greens are not anti-imperialist and they are not vegan nor do they suggest people become vegan for reasons of nonviolence and that there are tremendous benefits in addressing the climate crisis.
Then there are Australian politicians undying unquestioning submission to US imperialism. Both major parties have abandoned award winning Australian journalist publisher Julian Assange, and it is likely he will end up being extradited and will die in a US maximum security prison, completely isolated all because he exposed US war crimes.
I never thought I would see the day that all this would be taking place. Australia at this point is unrecognisable to me. Are we experiencing a spiritual death here? I think so, and politically, it's a s***show. You may like to check out my Substack. I talk about these issues and I will be mentioning your article soon. Best wishes