Friday, November 23, 2007

Whither Goest We?


Tomorrow Australia votes. The polls have narrowed for reasons unknown and there is now a chance that Howard might just creep over the line. We are indeed at the crossroads!

To my mind, a Howard victory signals the end of this country as a place of the 'Fair-Go', a place that's more egalitarian than not, a place that I grew up in and loved despite its flaws. It will signal that we've become like a junior version of America, a place where right-wing politicians grow ever stronger, where the gap between the rich and the poor widens, where the law of the jungle prevails, where Big Business will increasingly pull the strings, where workers will continue to lose wages and conditions, where citizens will continue to lose their civil rights, where lip-service will be paid to climate change, where the wealthy will continue to receive ever more welfare and tax breaks, where rich private schools will prosper further while public education declines, etc.

Tomorrow, Australian voters of all ages and backgrounds will set the future direction of the country. For too many, voting will be more a matter of acting out of self-interest than in the national interest. Many more will vote out of habit or will cast a vote even though they know little about the important social, political and economic issues that lie ominously just beneath the surface.

I can scarcely breathe!

UPDATE: Saturday -10.pm - THE POLITICAL DARKNESS IN AUSTRALIA HAS COME TO AN END!!!!!!!

THE RIGHT-WING COALITION HAS LOST BIGTIME AND HOWARD MAY LOSE HIS SEAT AS WELL. JUSTICE AT LAST.

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

13 comments:

Falling on a bruise said...

The Aussie elections have been recieving next to no coverage here but the pieces i have been able to find seem to be pointing towards a Rudd victory. Of course Howard is the last of the Iraq warmongers to go before the electorate and for this reason alone i hope to see him removed from office and then handed a date at the International Criminal Court along with the rest of his crew.

Daniel said...

For that to happen, Lucy, the world would have to change completely especially the adage that 'Might Is Right!'.

I'm not holding my breath! Cheers.

Friedham I. Whont said...

G'day Daniel,

I think it's time 'enlightened altruism' superseded 'greed is good' (which bloody-well isn't); perhaps (hopefully!) we'll be able to say more, after the votes are counted tonight.

Daniel said...

Welcome, Phil. We teeter on a precipice until the results are in. Three more years of Howard with his ethos of greed and imperialism and Australia's soul will be entirely gone! Cheers.

Frank Partisan said...

Bye Howard

Daniel said...

I sure hope you're right, Renegade! I'll update throughout the counting process.

Friedham I. Whont said...

Some tempers fraying; try this one:

"Journalist slaps candidate"
[SBS]

Coffee Messiah said...

Looks good and that perhaps people everywhere may finally see that the war-mongers do more harm than good!

Cheers!

Daniel said...

Hey Friedham, hey Coffee, there was a new dawn this morning.

I feel elated, full of hope. Democracy can work after all!

Friedham I. Whont said...

G'day Daniel,

it was a solid victory for Labor, and really gives us some hope that the rot can be reversed. I too, felt a great weight coming off me, as we watched the slow count. McKew was an unlikely possibility, I thought, but she might'a pulled it off. Good luck to her, and good riddance to the ... (ellipsis on the grounds that if you can't say something good, better to say nothing.)

Daniel said...

G'day, Phil, it's not easy to find something positive to say about Howard. Perhaps the Port Arthur tragedy and limiting gun ownership but there's little else!

Australia is a better place today! Cheers

Lang Mack said...

Morning Daniel :).......

Daniel said...

A truly fantastic morning, lang mack!

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