The election thread - Two middle-late aged white men trying to be blokey and convincing..., same old shit, FFS.

[steve jobs' pancreas]

l

Living in a country that is in the top five for gross median household income, and top ten for gross per-capita income and among the lowest poverty rates in the world. Not to mention we're in a country with a progressive taxing system, the top 10% of earners in the country contribute about 50% of the countries revenue from tax alone.
Doesn't think the working class or common people are sharing in the spoils.

 

[DeBloot]

Living in a country that is in the top five for gross median household income, and top ten for gross per-capita income and among the lowest poverty rates in the world. Not to mention, with a progressive taxing system, the top 10% of earners in the country contribute about 50% of the country's tax revenue.
Doesn't think the working class or common people are sharing in the spoils.

You have a good point and I can see both centre left and centre right arguments as being viable, both of which have been argued to death
My comment really was more off the cuff to a stupid fucking reply from Mr Predictable old mate

I think we'll all be glad when it's over

 

[hifiandmtb]

Living in a country that is in the top five for gross median household income, and top ten for gross per-capita income and among the lowest poverty rates in the world. Not to mention, with a progressive taxing system, the top 10% of earners in the country contribute about 50% of the country's tax revenue.
Doesn't think the working class or common people are sharing in the spoils.

Yeah but which political party had a greater influence in getting us here?

We are not perfect, some would argue driving our Gini score lower would affect their lifestyle

 

[pink poodle]

Hawke even said a couple of month back that he was done and that he was about to head off. Pretty impressive bloke, regardless of what you think of in terms of policy.

He had a gift for uniting people. I wonder how much of the economic reforms from the Hawke-Keating era would have gotten up without him? While Keating has an allure all of his own, I don't think the majority of Australians would've been easy for him to charm alone.

It's also nice to have a fellow that likes a good laugh at the top everyone and then.

 

[pink poodle]

Living in a country that is in the top five for gross median household income, and top ten for gross per-capita income and among the lowest poverty rates in the world. Not to mention, with a progressive taxing system, the top 10% of earners in the country contribute about 50% of the country's tax revenue.
Doesn't think the working class or common people are sharing in the spoils.

Does this justify the disparity of opportunity across our nation?

 

[DeBloot]

Does this justify the disparity of opportunity across our nation?

Another good point
It's going to be an interesting night

My greatest hopes are that jug eared pedo supporting twit from Warringah will be gone
And that overweight overspending abomination of a human being from Qld will have a disaster
And those gun toting hypocritical halfwits from the same part of the country will have the dismal showing they deserve

Most importantly, make your vote count!

 

[steve jobs' pancreas]

Most importantly, make your vote count!

I'll wager John Thomas has a good chance of getting up (snigger) I mean getting in.

 

[pink poodle]

Sadly it feels like we are about to be overran by right wing capito-fascist racists that will make John Howard seem moderate.


In reading various articles about Hawke on the train I came across him saying that Abbott's "stop the boats" in 2010 was "Bullshit".

 

[Zaf]

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[Kerplunk]

Does this justify the disparity of opportunity across our nation?

That’s why labor governments generally get voted in, the libs take their economic rationalism just too far when they have been in power for a bit and they get booted.. Then labor goes too far with there socialist policies and they get booted.. Round and round we go..

 

[hifiandmtb]

Why is it we care that some people are billionaires?

Because it’s madness.

 

[Freediver]

What disparity of opportunity are you referencing in particular?




Capitalism is far from perfect, but as far as eliminating poverty goes, there has been no system even close to competing with how it eradicates it. Even the lowest earners in Australia, Europe and USA are amongst some of the richest people in the world. And given that once you earn enough to stave of misery, the happiness from income have a massive depreciating returns, why is it we care that some people are billionaires?

So far from right that calling it wrong gives that statement more credit than it deserves. I'm not a Trot but I can see where Russia and China were in 1920 and where they are now. Socialism took Russia from what was pretty much a feudal economy to superpower in decades.
Why do I care that some people are billionaires? Because you can't become a billionaire without taking somebody else's share.

 

[Zaf]

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[Dales Cannon]

I wish getup would get the fuck away.

 

[hifiandmtb]

Where are they - in your living room, blocking the telly?

 

[DeBloot]

Let’s not forget it’s not just about personal wealth or otherwise.
It’s about climate change denial, inclusion of all people, recognition of indigenous Australians, equality for women, funding for the national broadcaster. Resources to deal with family violence, homelessness, mental health, people with disabilities, drug addiction. Fair pay or enterprise bargaining. Cuts to penalty rates.
Do we want our parliament to look
like a bunch of old white blokes or represent the diverse and multicultural nation we are.

 

[johnny]

So far from right that calling it wrong gives that statement more credit than it deserves. I'm not a Trot but I can see where Russia and China were in 1920 and where they are now. Socialism took Russia from what was pretty much a feudal economy to superpower in decades.
Why do I care that some people are billionaires? Because you can't become a billionaire without taking somebody else's share.

There's some flaws here. Firstly, how do you know that if these countries weren't capitalist that they'd be be a lot better off than they are now? Secondly, China did not become the booming power that it did today without dropping communism and much of its socialism and taking on capitalist standards in the 80s under Deng Xiaoping (the Great LEap Forward saw the deaths of tens of millions starve to death, not sure how you can square that one....). There's a reason why they call it red capitalism.

It's also not at all accurrate to say that Socialim took Russia to a super power. Peter the Great did a lot to modernise Russia and led it on the course to industrialisation. And I'd argue that it was not socialisms economic benefits that brought Russia to a modern empire but dictatorial rule and the nationalisation of resources, centralisation of control and the subjugation of all other priorities to spreading the revolution in the Cold War.....,which they lost, just before the country turned to shit for a couple of decades after it all fell apart.

I can't believe this is even up for discussion. The Great Purge under Stalin and in Mongolia, the Kazakh Catastrophe in Ukraine, the Killing Fields in Cambodia, the Gulag Archipelago, the Chines Cultural Revolution, The East German killings, The Korean and Vietnam killings, etc. etc. etc.
I can't, in any good conscience, give you a free pass to defend a system of government that has consistently caused the level of destruction it has, in every iteration it has ever been implemented, and some how claim the moral high ground because "billionaires take someone else share". It's abhorrent in the extreme, and I'm disgusted I even have to explain it.

I think you've kind of shifted the goal posts here a bit, though. We're talking economics and your talking security. Socialists don't have a monopoly on human rights abuses either (they certainly seem to star in that space, thought). You're talking about authoritarianism and dictatorships.

 

[Zaf]

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[hifiandmtb]

You can say the same for almost anything, if you need a knee reconstruction, you want the best ortho for the job. You have a plumbing problem, you hire the best plumber. Education, you go to the best school and get the best teachers you can.

Best or extremely competent? I didn't know if my neurosurgeon was the best, I just knew he was extremely well respected. Same with something like a plumber - I want a great plumber, not the best plumber. I don't demand the best pilot, I just want a pilot who's trained & competent.

 

[Zaf]

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