Spacehamster’s Blog

Well, if you lived in the United States it’s either been a defining moment in history or the most upsetting election loss ever. What’s great about the internet is it gives the ability to communicate with other people that live in other countries. And it definitely came in handy yesterday - it was really incredible sharing the excitement, optimism and hope with US residents as they voted in their first African-American president.

What’s been interesting for me is observing how reaction to Obama in my part of the world is divided along generational lines. Those in the below 50 age bracket have a very positive response to his election victory. Those in the above 50 age-bracket really couldn’t care less (ie. the “Meh” reaction). I think that reaction stems partly from cynicism and disillusionment about the political process in both the US and Australia, and also from a lack of understanding of how international events can affect local economies and businesses. They’ve seen it all before (re: Gough Whitlam) and they’ve been burned before (re: The Dismissal).

I think it’s so different for me, because I’m regularly interacting with people who actually live in the country where this election is taking place. And I think I’m aware of how Australia will be affected by the policies of whoever takes over the White House next year.

It’s been an amazing 12 months: First John Howard is removed from power in (what I consider) the most surprising election victory in my lifetime. And then an even more amazing and impossible election victory occurs in the US. After 8 years of Neo-Conservative rule in both here and the US, I’d stopped believing in Governments or people. After this, I might just start trusting in people again.

As I’ve gotten older I like to think I’ve become more pragmatic in my politlcal views. When I was young I was definitely a little far to the Left. Eg. “Save the trees, Hooray Greenpeace!” - that sort of thing. As I got older, I think I acquired more empathy for people - “loggers need to feed their families too, is there a way we can co-exist peacefully with the environment without endangering people’s jobs?”

A few years back, the Road to Surfdom blog used to be run by Tim Dunlop. He left to start a new blog - Blogacracy. As time has gone on, I’ve noticed Road to Surfdom becoming more and more politically extreme, and less willing to entertain rational opposing viewpoints. In other words, it’s an echo-chambers for the rusted-on far-left Howard haters.

For instance, this article bashing self-funded retirees for investing in Cash Management trusts -

The very expression ’self-funded retiree’ is objectionable. Its implicit message is that the person being labelled is of a superior quality, someone who’s conscientiously relieved the community of the cost of paying for their retirement. Once upon a time everyone was expected to take responsibility for their own lives and we had a safety net of welfare payments to support the minority who couldn’t manage to do it. Now this has been turned on its head and people who aren’t eligible for welfare claim some sort of exceptional standing in society - while they shamelessly hold their hands out for as many gifts from the government as they can wangle.

The author slags off and abuses every single self-funded retiree, under the assumption that they’re really a bunch of welfare cheats and good-for-nothing pro-capitalist neo-conservative Howard voters.

My parents are both “self-funded retirees”. My father worked his ass off for 30 long years, acruing enough money so he and his wife could support themselves without relying on Government handouts. I’d remind the author that not every self-funded retiree is a welfare cheat. But I don’t think that kind of politely expressed disagreement would go down well in the far-left echo chamber that is the Road to Surfdom.

It’s a shame really. When Tim Dunlop was running Road to Surfdom (and then Blogacracy) you’d get plenty of dissenting opinion. Some of it was rational and well-expressed, some of it wasn’t. I think a diversity of viewpoints is an example of a vibrant democracy. My biggest problem - especially with political blogs nowadays - is that they’ve become echo chambers for people with extremist views on both sides. There’s no room for people like me anymore.

That being said, here’s the policy that I’ll follow from now on: I don’t care whether you’re a Conservative or you’re a Liberal. I don’t care whether you voted for McCain and Howard or Obama and Rudd. I only ask that you express your viewpoint politely, reasonably and rationally without abusing people with dissenting opinions. Just because we disagree with each other doesn’t mean we have to hate each other too. There’s too much hate in the world, and that’s 90% of the problem.

I couldn’t have put my sentiments more eloquently than this -

Management persona has since evolved so that the people in charge can now make those “hard decisions” without the intervention of consultant or conscience. What has risen to the top is a breed without qualms about the bodies in its wake.

They simply stuff the money in their pockets and go home to a nice dinner behind their mansion doors.

As the world digs itself out of this economic hole, the lessons of the times must be taken to heart. Lessons about values and people and the role of the economy as servant of society rather than its master.

About the type of people who run our corporations and financial institutions. Let’s hear it for the monkeys — people who at some point are satisfied that they have enough and are happy for others to have a share. The pig has had his day.

Nice to see one economic commentator cut to the real heart of the current financial crisis -

It took 50 years for the lessons of the Great Depression, and the consequent rise of fascism and World War II, to be forgotten. It is not surprising that the generation who survived that experience were committed to a “belts and braces” system of economic management to ensure that that global trauma would never happen again — or that the generation who replaced them in the 1980s could not understand that commitment.

My parents grew up with just that attitude. As for me, I’m half-half. I will occasionally spend a little money on leisure goods (like Fallout 3…hint, hint). But most of my money nowadays is invested in my house and other investments. I certainly don’t ascribe to the austerity measures my parents took, but I’d like to think that in comparison to my peers, I’m responsible with my money (my parents would probably strongly disagree).

What my parents don’t see - and I do - is an entire generation of young people that grew up in the “Greed is Good” 80’s and 90’s. They’ve never known a time when they (or their parents) didn’t have money they could spend on whatever they wanted. Impulse buying is a way of life for them. And now they’re paying for their behaviour in the worst way imaginable - up to their eyes in credit card debt and with a huge mortgage that’ll take the rest of their lives to pay off.

Thank god that I adapted my parents philosophy to my own spending: Before you buy something, ask yourself if it’s something essential that you really really need. If it isn’t, then don’t buy it. As our consumerist society is geared towards those in their mid-twenties, I find it gets easier to practice this philosophy as you get older.

It’ll be interesting seeing how this “me-me-me” generation copes with the kinds of economic conditions that our parents had to face when they were younger.

In regards to the “Global” financial crisis, I think this article sums up my feelings perfectly.

There has been a good deal of talk in recent weeks about imminent economic armageddon. In fact, this is far from being the end of capitalism. The frantic scrambling in Washington marks the passing of only one type of capitalism - the peculiar and highly unstable variety that has existed in America over the past 20 years. This experiment in financial laissez-faire has imploded. While the impact of the collapse will be felt everywhere, the market economies that resisted American-style deregulation will best weather the storm.

I’ve always been a believer in Market regulation, and these events prove that support may have been justified. Hopefully, lessons will be learnt from these events. But somehow, considering the nature of those involved, I doubt it.

So let me get this straight - four young men with probably way too much time on their hands and way too much testosterone, beat another young man senseless…and get off without jail time. Alright, so the newspaper states it was a race-based incident, but a violent assault is still an assault, regardless of the reasons stated.

But he also noted that the prosecution had not called for immediate prison terms and that each man was young and immature with drug or alcohol histories and disruptive childhoods and education.

Read a typical Aussie Current Affairs forum, and you can easily see the undercurrent of hostility and outright hatred for non-white migrants amongst Generation X and Y. So the actions of these young men comes as no surprise to me. To be honest, I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often.

What’s dissapointing is that over the past 10 years, society has devolved to the point where these actions are seen as normal…even encouraged…amongst the younger generation that is coming through the current educational system. This kind of racist and hostile attitude on both sides of the race divide in this country does not bode well for the future. I genuinely fear for the future of this country, when I realise to my horror that the future lies in the hands of thugs such as these.

I read with interest about a briefing note that was accidentally given to the media.

Apparently prepared three years ago and intended only for private use inside the Australian government, the frank and unflattering portrait of Miss Clark labels her views “generally left wing, with foreign policy perspectives forged during the Vietnam War”.

The article title reads “Rudd redfaced”. But the note was written 3 years ago, when Alexander Downer was Foreign Minister and John Howard was still Prime Minister. So I can’t see how the current Prime Minister has anything to be embarassed about if such “unflattering” opinions were harboured by the previous Government. Not to mention, both sides of politics have done it -

It is not the first time sensitive official Australian biographies have reached the public realm. Then treasurer Peter Costello was similarly embarrassed in 1997 when staff misplaced stinging written briefings on South Pacific leaders.

I doubt this decision will be met with universal support - particularly amongst ultra-conservative political elites (as opposed to the ultra-left-wing political elites). Those objectors will be marginally reassured to note that mandatory detention isn’t being completely scrapped, but the onus of proof is being put on the Immigration Department to prove a Security threat.

Andrew Bartlett expresses it far more eloquently than I ever could -

Chris Evans actually makes a point of emphasising that Labor remains committed to mandatory detention, which might seem strange seeing he is emphasising the importance of letting people out as quickly as possible. Partly this is political – the need for Labor to protect itself against claims that it’s gone ‘soft’ on ‘border security’. If the new system is as he states, it will not be fully mandatory, in the sense that there is will be a presumption towards people being released unless it can be demonstrated there is clear risk to the community in doing so. But it is true that people without a valid visa will still be subjected to being detained initially. The key difference will be the removal of the core problem, namely that that detention continued indefinitely, and a new presumption towards people being free unless there is a good reason to do otherwise rather than the previous approach of people being locked up as a matter of first resort.

This is a photo of the Phoenix probe about to land on Mars. Alright, to the uninitiated it might look like a small speck. But consider - we’re landing a man-made technologically advanced vehicle on the surface of another planet.

Coolness.

Just read this rather disturbing story in today’s paper. As I’ve said before, there’s art and then there’s attention seeking. I love a beautifully-painted landscape. Or a well-drawn portrait. But I’ve come to realise that a work of art can be beautifully done, yet still be ethically and morally questionable.

In my uninformed opinion, art such as this does border (if not skitter over the edge) into child pornography. I mean, if Bill Hansen was such a great artist, why didn’t he paint pictures of the children with their clothes on?