Party Games

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Hermit
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Party Games

Post by Hermit » Fri May 17, 2019 2:24 pm

Political party games, that is.

It has occurred to me that general elections can cause depression. No matter who wins, it'll always be a politician. Politicians may start of with honourable principles, but in the end they almost invariably care more about their own perks, not the least of which is the prospect of a six-digit annual pension, guaranteed for life. Worse, they finish up doing the bidding on behalf of the powers that bought them.

So, to minor parties now for the really horrific stuff. Let's look at the Australian Greens Party. For people who care about this planet's fitness for their children and grandchildren, the Greens are the only hope. Unfortunately, the Australian greens have never attracted more than 11% of the votes for the lower house and 8% in the upper. This translates to a maximum of one seat in the house of reps and nine in the senate. At best this would suffice for them to have the balance of power in the upper house.

So, what would it take for the Greens to become big enough to form a government in its own right? For starters, it would need the voluble support of Australia's Murdoch/Packer Media duopoly. Since that duopoly is a member and important tool of the profiteers who don't give a fuck about social welfare or the future of the planet, its support of the Greens means that the Greens have been bought - which makes them part of 'the system', that is, the status quo.

So, what to do? What to do?

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pErvinalia
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Re: Party Games

Post by pErvinalia » Sat May 18, 2019 12:21 am

Take big money out of politics would be a start. And mandate much stronger media diversity. Other than that, burn it all to the ground..
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Re: Party Games

Post by Brian Peacock » Sat May 18, 2019 12:58 am

At the moment I think the point of voting green is still to put pressure on the more popular main parties. In Australia, with its compulsory and proportional voting systems, this can have more effect on policy than in FPTP systems - which effectively ignore the votes of the losers.
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Re: Party Games

Post by Hermit » Sat May 18, 2019 1:27 am

Brian Peacock wrote:
Sat May 18, 2019 12:58 am
At the moment I think the point of voting green is still to put pressure on the more popular main parties. In Australia, with its compulsory and proportional voting systems, this can have more effect on policy than in FPTP systems - which effectively ignore the votes of the losers.
Yeah, well, true enough, but by the time the Greens get anywhere near popular enough to form a government they will have been bought by the moneyed interests. The Australian Democrats, the party that was founded with the motto "Keep the bastards honest" didn't even wait that long before betraying its voters. I'll never forget those bastards hopping into bed with Howard's reactionary government when they helped it get school books added to the list of things subject to the regressive 10% Goods and Services Tax and passed through parliament. The ADs held the balance of power in the upper house at the time.
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops. - Stephen J. Gould

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Re: Party Games

Post by JimC » Sat May 18, 2019 4:06 am

It will be interesting to see how many independents and people from weird minor parties get elected, either to the reps or the senate...
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Re: Party Games

Post by Hermit » Sat May 18, 2019 4:15 am

JimC wrote:
Sat May 18, 2019 4:06 am
It will be interesting to see how many independents and people from weird minor parties get elected, either to the reps or the senate...
Yeah. Until yesterday I had given the independent candidate next to no chance of winning the blue-ribbon liberal seat of Warringah. She's up against former Prime Minister Tony "Mad Monk" Abbott, who has held it for the past 25 years and sits on an 11% cushion. After reading this article, I think the odds of her ousting Noddy MacNodface are fairly good.
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops. - Stephen J. Gould

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