George Bush- Resignation?

Originally posted by Rajk999
Sounds like if many AUs are of like mind, youall can do something about that next election. If nothing is done it probably means that the majority of AUs have no problem with the US influence.

Yoiu obviously have no understanding of our political circumstance. There really isn't anyone else to vote for in AU elections. We might as well have the US president as our world leader.

Originally posted by Rajk999
Sounds like if many AUs are of like mind, youall can do something about that next election. If nothing is done it probably means that the majority of AUs have no problem with the US influence.

when it is a legal requirement to vote in our country, the penalty being a $50 or $100 fine, most people turn out. However because they are made to do it, it tends to drive ballot choices with a certain level of cynicism and skepticism.

The end result is usually like any other normal distribution of data, where the winners are usually those that managed to exploit a particular fear of the electorate going in to the election. Most campaigns are negative focused on the incompetance of the opposition. The lines of battle are so well defined and voting paterns so generationally entrenched that the greatest impact on the result comes from the aspirant middle class swinging voters who tend to vote with their wallets.
Young families with one or two little ones do not want to hear about making society a better place at election time. But the perception of who would manage economic affairs better always seems to be the trump card that has kept our right wing(the liberal party) in office for 10 years.

Originally posted by Conrau K
Yoiu obviously have no understanding of our political circumstance. There really isn't anyone else to vote for in AU elections. We might as well have the US president as our world leader.

So why are you complaining about Bush ?

Originally posted by kmax87
when it is a legal requirement to vote in our country, the penalty being a $50 or $100 fine, most people turn out. However because they are made to do it, it tends to drive ballot choices with a certain level of cynicism and skepticism.

The end result is usually like any other normal distribution of data, where the winners are usually those that managed t ...[text shortened]... ems to be the trump card that has kept our right wing(the liberal party) in office for 10 years.

Sounds like the electorate needs a 3rd party. In a country that size it should be easy. Whats the problem ? Lack of leadership skills ?

Originally posted by Rajk999
So why are you complaining about Bush ?

Because by default whoever we elect ends up being a US deputy in this neck of the woods, so having a good US administration and or president makes life all the more tolerable on this side of the globe.

Originally posted by Rajk999
Sounds like the electorate needs a 3rd party. In a country that size it should be easy. Whats the problem ? Lack of leadership skills ?

No, apathy and the fear that voting for a third party would be a wasted vote.
Sort of "I would vote for them they have great policies, but most people would rather think of their own self interest so why bother". Australia's one brief moment of glory for an experiment in a better society came crashing down when the government that tried to legislate a better deal for ordinary people was dismissed by an act of the crown through the office of the Governor General, a hangover of our British commonwealth roots.

That was Gough Whitlams 1972 labour party. That an elected party could be removed by the powers that were, was a stark reminder of the seam of establishment that operates just outside the reach of the common person and tends to undermine any popular choice if those choices do not coincide with the greater aims of the establishment. I am sure many americans felt the same of Kennedy's assasination that political choice is none really but the machinations of big business and the requirements of the military industrial complex.

With that sort of logic undergirding any appreciation of real politik, then as always the choices become those of choosing the lesser of two evils.

For Australians the message became clear in the 70's; dont rock the boat, make sure that anything you ask for can be paid for, otherwise you may as well fart in the breeze.

Originally posted by kmax87
Because by default whoever we elect ends up being a US deputy in this neck of the woods, so having a good US administration and or president makes life all the more tolerable on this side of the globe.

Its like the guy whose house was in disarray and had to live with his friend. Dont you think he is shut up and be thankful instead of complaining about the friends house ?

Originally posted by kmax87
No, apathy and the fear that voting for a third party would be a wasted vote.
Sort of "I would vote for them they have great policies, but most people would rather think of their own self interest so why bother". Australia's one brief moment of glory for an experiment in a better society came crashing down when the government that tried to legislate a better ...[text shortened]... re that anything you ask for can be paid for, otherwise you may as well fart in the breeze.

But Kmax .. thats the beauty of a democracy. From what you and ConradU have said so far , the AU people is a bunch of happy people who are more or less stasified with the performance of the elected party. Its not perfection but better the devil you know than the devil you dont.

Originally posted by Rajk999
But Kmax .. thats the beauty of a democracy. From what you and ConradU have said so far , the AU people is a bunch of happy people who are more or less stasified with the performance of the elected party. Its not perfection but better the devil you know than the devil you dont.

I am not dissatisfied in general with our political system in australia or in the way that democracy works and constantly evolves and I may share some of Conrau K's views but I also may disagree on a lot of detail when it comes down to it, just as much as I do not assume that all americans are the same or that they are unaware of the process or what it does to them.

Your analogy of the firends house is good except that Australia was hardly in dissarray. We share historical and cultural links with America that are part and parcel of our shared common british history as well as being allied to the same world view since the two world wars of the last century.

A better analogy is the neighbour who because of distant family relationships becomes your friend but over time because of the size of his immediate family and the unparalled success of his business ventures becomes a much more influential member of the local community to the extent that your voice in matters tend to be drowned out by his immediate concerns.

Because of the familial links you try not to be ungratefull for his domination of your side of the fence or that he tends to include you in all his developmental plans regardless of your own preferred options. The fact that he albeit reluctantantly came to the party and rid the community of a bully back in 44 tends to get a bit old when in local council meetings he tends to over-ride deciscions that are not in his immediate favour and usually gets his way through subtle threats that include if it wasnt for me where would you all be, type of reasoning.

This is not to say that our neighbour is totally unlikeable, he has the ability to be very charming and the rewards of his friendship are real and tangible, its just that he can stifle conversation on any matter that does not agree with his mindset and can be a tyrant against anyone that falls foul of his friendship.

Originally posted by kmax87
No, apathy and the fear that voting for a third party would be a wasted vote.
Sort of "I would vote for them they have great policies, but most people would rather think of their own self interest so why bother". Australia's one brief moment of glory for an experiment in a better society came crashing down when the government that tried to legislate a better ...[text shortened]... n through the office of the Governor General, a hangover of our British commonwealth roots.

I suppose that's what the democratic party is intended as - a third party, since they can hold the power of balance against the leading party. The problem is that they have become unpoluar and any sort of opposition cannot function because the government has so much unprecendented power.