The Worlds gone bonkers

[daboarder]

[url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-10/tony-abbott-finds-friend-in-canadian-pm-harper-over-carbon-tax/5511252[/url]

Since when were Australia and Canada bastions of right wing stupidity?

[Necron2.0]

I don't know much about either one, but based solely on what I read, is it really honest to say they're bastions of "right wing stupidity?"

Maybe they're just two leaders who don't want to ruin their respective economies chasing policies they don't believe in.

[Kaptain Badrukk]

I don't know much about either one, but based solely on what I read, is it really honest to say they're bastions of "right wing stupidity?"

Maybe they're just two leaders who don't want to ruin their respective economies chasing policies they don't believe in.

As an Australian resident I point you to this [url]http://sallymcmanus.net/abbotts-wreckage/[/url]
I know nothing of Canada other than that Mounties are an awesome concept (but that's because I watched too much Due South).

[daboarder]

is it really honest to say they're bastions of "right wing stupidity?"

It certainly is in Abbotts case. man is so tea party he makes them look like a good alternative

actually no, hes a straight up facist. What is happening here at the moment is entirely reminiscent of germany in the 30's. right down to the vilification and exclusion of social "undesirables"

[Morgrim]

Given the sheer amount of protests and the fact they threatened to call riot police to a university, I'm hoping that Abbott gets trounced before we end up with a proper fight and/or the first ever PM assassinated. At least all the minor parties are slowly starting to align against him, which means the chances of a double dissolution are veering upwards. If it happens soon he won't survive it.

[daboarder]

Technically speaking the pm has to request a dd (the fact that the opposition requested one was what made the dismissal a controversy). But the senate has its own ways of forcing the GG to dissolve parliament

[Wolfshade]

It is typical politicing.

And this is why ruling by popular vote is a bad thing.

When things are going well, low unemployement, improving standards of living, strong economy stuff, then it is fine to worry about the wider picture and the environment and the wider world will have more importance.

When things aren't going welll, high(er) unemployment, lowering standards of living, stagnant/shrinking economy, then the concerns are with the mundane, how will I get a job, can I afford the rising food costs.

It is, in a way, related to Maslow's heirachy of needs. i.e. There is no point worrying about morality and accepting facts (self-actulisation) when you are concerned with the "baser" needs of shelter and food (safety/physiological).

We've seen similiar things over in the UK, there was a green tax introduced to encourage electricity and gas companies to be more environmentally concerned and consumers to be more efficient. Now, with the increasing fuel costs and the outcry over the "cost of living" these measures have been repealed.

A government knows that it is voted for by its own people, so they must come first and foremost otherwise they will lose their election. Look at sucessive governmental overspending, this is what this problem is. Push it for someone else to deal with. As they say, it is easier to fix the roof when the sun is shining than in the rain.

It is political isolation and it involves putting the short term needs of your population first. Since the banking crash there have been loads of other examples, fo instance, in the USA mno's were incentivised to close down foreign plants in preference to those on home soil. Most 1st world countries have reduced their foreign aid budgets.

All of these moves are rather similiar to the great depression.

So we had the great depression, followed by growing isolationism and the focusing inside one's borders rather than externally. With such conditions nationalists start to gain track as they point out how X amount was spent helping the worlds poor rather than feeding it's own citizens etc. International involvement goes from actions to words as grand alliance members stop supplying armies (see League of Nations). Then came the out break of war...

It is a startling mirror, the only hope is that the economic recovery starts to have an impact on people's daily lives before we are too far down this road.

[Gotthammer]

When things aren't going welll, high(er) unemployment, lowering standards of living, stagnant/shrinking economy, then the concerns are with the mundane, how will I get a job, can I afford the rising food costs.

Thing is though that Australia barely felt the economic effects. Yes there was a slow down and unemployment and costs rose, but nothing remotely like what Europe or the US went through happened at all. Who the hell actually voted for Abbot is a complete mystery to me.

[Wolfshade]

But isn't this similiar to Howard back in the late 90s? Unpopular PM, unpopular budget then come the 98 vote get's re-elected. (Sorry my foreign politics is limited)

We have a similiar situation here we have a coalition government pushing through all these austery "reforms" to cut back spenditure and encourage people into work, and all the Labour opposition would sit back and say "No", without offering any real alternative in terms of policy. Realistically, Labour should be way out in the Polls, but they are not, and they need to turn around, but they have no narrative and unfortunately, the narrative that the coallition is pushing while not popular is seeing postivie returns (now whether that is just a natural market recovery or because of the choices made is another discussion, but certainly is the angle that those in power will push).

I ask similiar questions "Who the hell actually voted for UKIP?", especially recently in local elections. They are a 1 policy party, to remove the UK from the EU, yet they have 0 local policies so how ignorant do you need to be to vote for that party.

[daboarder]

But isn't this similiar to Howard back in the late 90s? Unpopular PM, unpopular budget then come the 98 vote get's re-elected. (Sorry my foreign politics is limited)

We have a similiar situation here we have a coalition government pushing through all these austery "reforms" to cut back spenditure and encourage people into work, and all the Labour opposition would sit back and say "No", without offering any real alternative in terms of policy. Realistically, Labour should be way out in the Polls, but they are not, and they need to turn around, but they have no narrative and unfortunately, the narrative that the coallition is pushing while not popular is seeing postivie returns (now whether that is just a natural market recovery or because of the choices made is another discussion, but certainly is the angle that those in power will push).

I ask similiar questions "Who the hell actually voted for UKIP?", especially recently in local elections. They are a 1 policy party, to remove the UK from the EU, yet they have 0 local policies so how ignorant do you need to be to vote for that party.

most certainly not, not the least because nothing howard ever did was such a systematic attack on everything australians stand for. howards first budget was well recieved, and he was considered tough but fair enough that he even managed to introduce gun control, it wasn't until he introduced the unfair work choices that he lost.

Australians at the end of the day stand for a fair go and against tall poppies.

Furthermore these actions have been ridiculed by the leading economists as ridiculous for a country that was barely touched by the GFC (and we were barely touched). Basically he is introducing austerity measure in an economy that does not need them, and that is very dangerous.

And finally, the point is that he has no mandate for his actions, they will likely be blocked by the senate unless changed, and iff so he will likely get destroyed at an election because he has reneged on everything he promised that does not directly benefit the 1%

as to who voted for abbott? Thats an easy question to answer, labour was an absolute circus, and the electroate punished them for them, only on the proviso that abbott would stand by his election promises.