On the Same Day...

Greetings,

I am writing this particular article because it is my way of airing my feelings about my current government and their attitudes toward the lower classes, nay the underclass which they have caused to be created as a result of filling the pockets of their fat cat friends. Here I will present two news articles which will present our Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison not in a particularly good light, as it will show the hypocrisy that the Australian public has had to endure under his leadership and indeed under the leadership of every Liberal Prime Minister to date.

The first article points toward his idea of rolling out deductions from welfare payments, forcibly taking rental payments and other payments from welfare recipients (https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/rent-to-be-automatically-taken-from-welfare-payments-in-shakeup/ar-AAH1T12?li=AAgfYrC ). This is not long after he was discussing a "cashless card" in which 80% of the recipient's payment was held that "cannot be used to withdraw cash, buy alcohol or gamble" (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-10/scott-morrison-defends-expansion-of-cashless-welfare-card/11493626). This card was is supposed to be rolled out and imposed on recipients of welfare payments, by the looks, regardless of whether they have a history of drug or alcohol abuse, or regardless of of whether they have a history of being homeless or defaulting on their rental payments. He is thus again placing all of those people who are on welfare payments in the same group.

The claim is because the states lose $30 million a year through unpaid rent for social housing. So there is some sort of financial reason for this then along with the "its better for the community" thing? Then he should really explain the tax-payer funded $250 million upgrade that he just got to his official plane (https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/inside-shark-one-scott-morrisons-new-dollar250million-plane-is-revealed-after-a-commercial-jetstar-airbus-a330-is-transformed-into-a-100-seater-tanker-for-the-prime-minister/ar-AAH1PYT?li=AAgfYrC). So, we all have to tighten our belts and watch what we spend but he is allowed to go and spend money which is not his on his comfort. Of course the claim will be that future Prime Ministers will benefit from this, but why was it needed? I am sure that $250 million would go a long way or at least some way to creating jobs for those people he so desperately wants to "have a go".

The arrogance of this individual and his government is insulting. They give donations and tax breaks to the corporations and "big money" and then complain that the most vulnerable of society are a drain on society. Even though if the tax breaks and perks were cut off the welfare system would easily be funded. They take money away from education and wonder why the country is not keeping up with other countries in the quest for technology and new ideas. They take away from health and complain that people are being a drain on the public health system and also allow private companies to hike up private insurance. Is it any wonder the nation is having troubles?

Write to the Prime Minister and your local Member of Parliament, I already have. Tell them that what you think they are doing is wrong and tell them the reasons why. Explain to them that they are hurting the nation that they are supposedly trying to help. Hopefully, eventually, they will listen to us and we won't have to wait until election time to get scared into voting for them again.

Cheers,

Henry.

Taking Political Action

Greetings,

The following discussion is about political action and what it means to take political action. There are people who think that they are taking political action when they are actually not. They believe that they are trying to make a difference but they are actually not really. So the following will discuss methods of taking political action and their effects.

Not Political Action

There are some who think that political action is as simple as making people aware of injustice. This is only a very mild form of political action, if it can even qualify. People think that spreading information is sufficient political action for them to feel satisfied with themselves about having "done something" when in actual fact, most of the time it really does not qualify unless the information is of a truly restricted nature i.e. like whistle-blower level. So there are two actions which people think they are being political, but they are mostly just stirring the pot, and not really having particularly much effect.

Article Cross-Posting

Our social media feeds seem to be filled with people complaining about the actions of government or corporations. They seem to be filled with articles shared from various sources, some are reputable and some are not so reputable about various issues. Posting these articles does make people aware of the issues which are about, but it does not qualify as political action. Neither does a long rant underneath it in the comments. It raises awareness but does not do much else.

The "Meme"

Memes seem to have sprung up all over the place. Some of them are down-right hilarious, unfortunately these are not the ones that are being discussed here. The ones that are being discussed here, and "images with words attached" is the general definition which is being used here, are ones which are designed, like the articles above to stir people to action. For the most part, the most action that will be seen is some comment in the section below on a social media site. Much like Article Cross-Posting above, this does not qualify as political action. It may raise awareness of some social or political injustice, but it is not political action. It will not affect the government or corporations whom the meme is about.

Political Action

For something to qualify as political action it has to have an effect on the establishment. This means that either the government or a corporation has to stop and take notice of the action of the individual. this is the reason why the previous actions do not qualify as political action. They inform people, but so do journalists as part of their everyday job, and most of them would not think they are being political. The most important thing about this list is that while it covers the full extent of political action it does not in any way condone any sort of violent act against any individual or entity.

Voting

When political action is discussed this is the most common form which is recognised. Once every three or four years the voting public can decide to change the government. This is political action as the government, and corporations to a point, need to take notice of how people are voting and convince them to vote for them to keep them in power. This is the simplest and laziest form of  the use of political power and some people even decline to exercise this properly, and in some nations, at all. This is not the only way that an individual can exercise political power or effectively pressure the government or corporations.

Signing petitions

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of active petitions currently active and they are not all that difficult to find. Thanks to the internet we have organisations such as change.org which have made them electronic which means that we do not even have to sign on a piece of paper, but can sign from the comfort and convenience of our own homes. Signing these petitions is a form of political action as once the signatures are acquired they can be presented to politicians to present the view of the people on a particular issue. Where a person puts their contact details with their signature it holds more weight and, depending on the petition, could bring the person to notice of certain agencies. Of course there is a risk with any real political action that is to make a difference. However, in the same way as Voting, this is a relatively lazy form of political action, especially with the convenience of internet, electronic petitions.

Writing to Ministers

Any person may write to a Minister or Member of Parliament. A letter will carry more weight if the individual is a registered voter, and even more if the individual is one of that Member's constituents. Of course it will carry more weight if the letter is backed up with evidence and is not simply a rant or a complaint. The point being that writing to a Minister or Shadow Minister takes some effort, and this is appreciated by the reader and thus this is taken into account when the letter is read. This carries far more weight than simply signing a petition because you have taken the time to share your thoughts on a particular subject, which is obviously of importance to you. It can also easily be claimed that letters carry more weight than petitions because of the time taken to write them, especially when they are well-researched. The combination of letters and petitions is also useful. This is a form of political action which people do not seem to be as aware of as they should be.

Writing petitions and collecting names

Hasn't this been covered? No, the previous was merely signing the petition. This is writing the petition and collecting the names, being the instigator of the action. Just as it was previously stated, a combination of letters and petitions is a way of making people listen to issues which are present in a community. The letters and the petitions should be sent one after the other, and the petition should always be followed up by another letter so that the issue cannot be forgotten. Petitions are designed to gather a "ground-swell" of support for a cause. They are also useful for gaining contacts with people who may be willing and able to assist further in the cause. This form of political action has a long historical record.

Protesting

Protesting is the most well-known form of political action because it is public. The 1960s and 1970s made protesting famous, but it existed and was used well before this time. This, again, is the idea of using a "ground-swell" to demonstrate that there are a large group of the population which are concerned about a particular issue or set of issues. For many they are just an inconvenience which block roads and stop the flow of traffic, and this is actually their point. Protests are designed to make people take notice by causing an inconvenience through the massing of individuals. The other idea behind protests is that there is greater safety and greater force in numbers. One person can be ignored, but when hundreds of people get together, it is more difficult to ignore. Protests, for the most part, are designed to be non-violent, and the ones which turn violent are usually the result of a small group of people on either or both sides of the protest which stir up trouble. Protests are a form of political action which demonstrate an individual's dedication to a cause.

Violent Political Action

The forms of political action which have been described previously are intended to be non-violent. The prime one which can turn violent is the protest, which, as discussed, is usually the result of a radicalised group of individuals within the whole which cause the protest to turn violent. There are forms of violent political action which often make the news, which will be mentioned here, but not heavily detailed, as they are not the focus.

Terrorist acts are acts of violence perpetrated to cause fear for a social, political, or religious aim. These acts are usually perpetrated against civilian targets rather than military targets and are designed to cause disruption. They have previously been used as a form of political action and been used effectively so to bring governments to the negotiating table. Their nature has changed in recent times, as has the approach to them. Such actions are now considered criminal and not a legitimate form of political action.

Driven further along terrorist action can turn into revolution, but this requires the support of a large part of the population to succeed. Or at least complicity with a large part of the population to succeed. This is the most radical form of political action and involves taking over the entire government, usually by force.

Conclusion

There have been various forms of political action discussed. Clearly non-violent political action should always be the aim of the individual toward gaining their goals. What should also be noted is that there are more ways of exercising legitimate political power than just through the ballot. These should be taken into account. When a person truly supports a cause then these actions will be present. Posting articles and memes on social media is good for raising awareness but it does little else. More needs to be done to be considered "politically active".

Cheers,

Henry.

The World Has been Ruined by Lawyers and Accountants

Greetings,

There have been many complaints by many different people about how the world is being destroyed by the "big" companies destroying the atmosphere and also the ecology of the planet. It is true that this does happen, but I would argue that we need to look behind them to examine who allows them to do this. To be sure it is the politicians who have their hands greased by the money to make sure that laws do not affect them too much, but there are people who need to read these laws and financial policies to make sure that the companies can use them to their advantage, lawyers and accountants.

The companies, big and small, are defended by these two groups of individuals, lawyers defend them from law suits in and out of court, accountants defend them in regards to ensuring that they pay the minimum amount of tax possible. No company went alone to face the taxman, they always went defended by lawyers and accountants, first the accountants, then the lawyers. This is how they get away with paying so little, with assistance from their friendly politician of course who has bent things so that his public bears the brunt of the cost instead.

There has been much talk about renewable energy sources, and "green" energy not to mention "greener" modes of transport. These have been available for decades, but have been bought off and buried by the "big" companies who are addicted to oil. How did this happen? With the assistance of their accountants to buy the small company out of the market first, and then the lawyers to make sure that they would not come back of course.

Several famous cases have proven that if you have the money then there is a lawyer who will find a loophole for you to avoid responsibility for your actions. The same can be said for accountants, if you have the right accountant and pay them enough, there is always a loophole through which that extra lot of earnings can be slipped so that you do not have to pay tax on it. Lawyers always bear the brunt of accusation of low character in their approach.

Lawyers have been called "ambulance chasers" looking for clients from amongst those who are at their most vulnerable and needy, in an injured stated. Their signs claim, "No win, no fee," but only take the case if they know that they will win. Our world has become more and more litigious, 'Weird Al' Yankovic mocks this fact in one of his songs "I'll Sue Ya" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeXQBHLIPcw). Obviously it points out some extreme cases but clearly it makes the point of the litigious nature of the world in general.

We need to sit back and have a look at our world and how much it is controlled by paperwork. It seems that every little decision we make these days needs to be documented or it will come back at us. A small outing becomes a major event because everything needs to be organised and everyone's needs taken into account, "just in case". We need to take control and understand that a mistake is just that, a mistake, no legal ramifications are required. Likewise we need to make the "big" companies pay as much as everyone else does, and also pay for the damage that they have done to the environment. To do this is going to take some ideological and political change.

Cheers,

Henry.