The 'best' country in the world is somewhat subjective. 'Best' in what respect?
I think it's like the old pair of shoes. They are comfortable and you know them well. Getting a new pair can be a bit of a gamble.
We are familiar with everything in Australia. But I can't say it's the best because I haven't lived in every country in the world. I think strawberry ice cream is the 'best' but I haven't tried every flavour so how do I know?
But from what I've seen of other countries Australia is far from a S$#@ hole.
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Founded in 2010, Principia Scientific International (PSI) is an organization based in the United Kingdom which promotes fringe views and material to claim that carbon dioxide is not a greenhouse gas. PSI has also published a book, titled Slaying the Sky Dragon: Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory. According to their about page Principia Scientific International (PSI) is the only independent science body in the world that is legally incorporated to champion the traditional scientific method, as set out in the work of Karl Popper. The founder and current CEO of Principia Scientific International is John OSullivan. For more background information on John OSullivan see here and here.
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dorian wrote:I prefer to think of myself as a world citizen, without nationalistic biases.
Guess that's one way of labeling yourself.
The words that immediately come to my mind are pompous, pretentious, contemptuous, arrogant, egotistical, disdainful, and not least of all smug.
Ah... mate! Don't beat around the bush... tell us what you *really* think :)
[Dorian wrote]
>My experience has been that human beings are fundamentally bad.
Interestingly my experience is that most people are fundamentally good but, as do we all, they stray from the correct path occasionally but most recognise and return to "goodness" or at least recognise their error.
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
One more side looking for donations , they should be banned , we have a very trustworthy Media in Aus. , controlled by some power full people, they tell us what we "have to know" need to know.
dorian wrote:I prefer to think of myself as a world citizen, without nationalistic biases.
Guess that's one way of labeling yourself.
The words that immediately come to my mind are pompous, pretentious, contemptuous, arrogant, egotistical, disdainful, and not least of all smug.
Ah... mate! Don't beat around the bush... tell us what you *really* think :)
[Dorian wrote]
>My experience has been that human beings are fundamentally bad.
Interestingly my experience is that most people are fundamentally good but, as do we all, they stray from the correct path occasionally but most recognise and return to "goodness" or at least recognise their error.
This thread tells it all. I would have thought that someone who wanted to be seen as a world citizen rather than a rabid nationalist would have been viewed in a positive light. But what else can you expect from people who are fundamentally bad? Clearly "Santa" is no Santa Claus.
If you want to know what human nature is really like, you only have to look at young children. They are the cruellest of all, especially toward those who are different. Some will mature and discover empathy, but they will need to work at it. "Goodness" requires effort, "badness" just comes naturally.
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
If you want to know what human nature is really like, you only have to look at young children. They are the cruellest of all, especially toward those who are different. Some will mature and discover empathy, but they will need to work at it. "Goodness" requires effort, "badness" just comes naturally.
That's very interesting because when I watched those children who interacted with my latest son, nearly all of them were very caring. None treated those of different race any differently. In fact, they didn't seem to recognise any difference. The child with autism was treated in a friendly manner and most children had fun with all concerned.
There was one child who didn't interact very well. When I asked the deputy principal if she thought he was sociopathic she didn't answer, which to me, says ". maybe ". Teachers nowadays can't say anything critical.
I guess it depends on how the children are brought up and the school they attend.
dorian wrote:Just a few that immediately come to mind ...
Jeeezzz Dorian! How do you manage to drag yourself out of bed in the mornings?
The things you mention are true of every country in some degree or other and they are a bloody sight worse in most of the countries I have visited. Don't confuse things such as occasional corruption (a couple of bent cops) with systemic corruption - try getting a hotel room in much of the Middle East without a bribe and if you want *anything* formal done via government (build a house) it's going to cost serious money in payoffs.
Which countries do you believe are superior to Australia and do not suffer a significant dose of the ills you mention?
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
dorian I accept you are close to the mark on many items.
But I take exception to "SAS - murdered Afghan civilians - ritualistic "blooding" ". It's alleged at this stage to say otherwise makes you as guilty as anyone in a kangaroo court. We aren't a British colony. 1901! "corrupt Liberal gov - pork barrelling" All governments pork barrel. "gun loonies have a political party". There's more than one loonie party. But it's not against the law to be an idiot. Even idiots have rights.
The things you mention are true of every country in some degree or other and they are a bloody sight worse in most of the countries I have visited. Don't confuse things such as occasional corruption (a couple of bent cops) with systemic corruption - try getting a hotel room in much of the Middle East without a bribe and if you want *anything* formal done via government (build a house) it's going to cost serious money in payoffs.
Which countries do you believe are superior to Australia and do not suffer a significant dose of the ills you mention?
Ryan came to NSW to clean out systemic corruption, not to straighten a few "bent cops". Terry Lewis in Qld was just the tip of a continental sized iceberg. Remember him? Now we have the "Gobbo affair" in Victoria. Ironically, she and the Vic police did a good job putting organised criminals away, but now the wig headed fraternity are releasing these crooks back into the community.
In fact I had my own first hand experience of a bent cop (in Asia). He was a retired police chief and was essentially my boss. He told me that he was a CIA informant and that the CIA had set him up in business. He confessed that every one of his major contracts involved a bribe. I have no doubt that such corruption exists everywhere, including Australia. It's just that it is more overt in some societies than others.
I lived in Singapore for several years. If you were caught with even a single round of ammunition, you got the noose. More than a certain amount of illicit drugs, you got the noose. There was no organised crime, other than maybe the totalitarian government, and young girls could walk the streets safely at night. When I asked people why they voted for Lee Kwan Yew (whom I detested), they said that they remembered the kind of criminal cesspit that was Singapore under British rule.
My alternative society? It would be a mix of good aspects from each country. Singapore's approach to law and order, Australia's national health system, Japanese or Korean approach to manufacturing, truly free tertiary education funded by a robust manufacturing economy, etc.
-- Edited by dorian on Sunday 21st of February 2021 10:20:57 AM
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
Some wide ranging statements with your observations of life in Australian society.
Some underlying truth to some of them. Some are just incorrect. And I see no factual information presented to back up your statistics for teenage drug use and resource ownership, suggesting it is an opinion, not a fact.
It is unfortunate that you seem to hold such a dark opinion of things in this country. Hopefully others will not.
-- Edited by TheHeaths on Sunday 21st of February 2021 10:16:11 AM
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Regards Ian
Chaos, mayhem, confusion. Good my job here is done
dorian I accept you are close to the mark on many items.
But I take exception to "SAS - murdered Afghan civilians - ritualistic "blooding" ". It's alleged at this stage to say otherwise makes you as guilty as anyone in a kangaroo court. We aren't a British colony. 1901! "corrupt Liberal gov - pork barrelling" All governments pork barrel. "gun loonies have a political party". There's more than one loonie party. But it's not against the law to be an idiot. Even idiots have rights.
If you need to be reminded that Australia is still a British colony, ask yourself, what is the function of governors and a governor general? For the answer to that question, read Kerr's letters to Her Majesty, the Queen of Australia, during Whitlam's dismissal.
The fact that idiots have rights is not in question. In fact they can become president of the USA. What I resent is that Australian society has people whose primary motive for voting is so that they can own a deadly weapon. That is indicative of a psychological disorder, not idiocy. What is really absurd is that a person who wants a firearm merely for personal protection, with no desire to actually use it, is not deemed responsible enough to own such a weapon. Instead you need to demonstrate a desire to kill animals.
As for the SAS, I cannot begin to explain the deep respect I have for anyone who puts their life at risk for their country. It doesn't seem right to pass judgment from the security of my armchair. These people are in a cauldron, facing death every day. But their victims were innocent. I don't think that the events are in doubt, as much as I would like them to be. The allegations are coming from within the SAS itself.
-- Edited by dorian on Sunday 21st of February 2021 10:46:21 AM
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
Dorian Kerr was an exception. A drunk exception. The Governor General very rarely refers anything to the Queen. But that's a constitutional argument that even confuses the High Court!
The gun laws are a hot potato. I'm not going near that. But idiots of all persuasion vote!
Lets see what the legal folk say about the SAS. We shouldn't judge ANYONE without due process.
I have only a few grumps about Australia. Well more than a few!! But PC is killing the fabric of what we are. Ideology without debate is also an issue. The ability of the left to argue for free speech but then try to shut down those who don't agree with their version of free speech. Making this generation responsible for what happened in our great grandfathers time. Yes I generalize.
Bring back 'We're a weird mob'. 'Adventures on Barry McKenzie'. 'Don's party'. Hogans comedy show. Kevin Bloody Wilson. Bring back our sense of humour and take it as just that, humour without everyone calling everyone racists, homophobia or sexist. Where's the Australia we all grew up in where everyone got on with earning a living and getting pissed on the weekend?
Bring back 'We're a weird mob'. 'Adventures on Barry McKenzie'. 'Don's party'. Hogans comedy show. Kevin Bloody Wilson. Bring back our sense of humour and take it as just that, humour without everyone calling everyone racists, homophobia or sexist.
"Constitution Alteration (Fair Elections) 1988 proposed to enshrine in the Constitution of Australia a guarantee that all Commonwealth, State and Territory elections would be conducted democratically. The question was put to a referendum in the Australian referendum, 1988. The main aim of the question was to enshrine the One vote, one value principle in the Constitution."
The majority voted against fair elections, and the amendment was opposed by the Libs and NATs.
Q: Do you want your vote to be worth the same as every other vote?
A: Duh, no.
-- Edited by dorian on Sunday 21st of February 2021 01:49:48 PM
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
Interesting that you should mention China and Russia. In fact Australians don't have any bill of rights, and they don't have a right to free speech.
If you recall, the Abbott government passed legislation which made it a jailable offence to report on the condition of offshore asylum seekers at Manus Island, Nauru, or wherever they are being detained these days. This is the kind of draconian law that one could expect from a country like the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Then there is the disgraceful treatment of whistle blowers by Australian authorities. For example, when Wilkie blew the whistle on Howard's lies in respect of Iraq, Howard sent an ASIO goon to SBS. This goon grabbed a hard drive belonging to Carmel Travers, an SBS reporter, and smashed it with a hammer. He then said that he had done this several times, and tried to intimidate SBS into silence. SBS called his bluff and publicised the event on the news.
More recently a whistle blower exposed the misdeeds of the ATO, and he is now being crucified for doing so (or has he already been?).
So no need to look to China or Russia for bad examples. There are plenty of them much closer to home.
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
"Constitution Alteration (Fair Elections) 1988 proposed to enshrine in the Constitution of Australia a guarantee that all Commonwealth, State and Territory elections would be conducted democratically. The question was put to a referendum in the Australian referendum, 1988. The main aim of the question was to enshrine the One vote, one value principle in the Constitution."
The majority voted against fair elections, and the amendment was opposed by the Libs and NATs.
Q: Do you want your vote to be worth the same as every other vote?
A: Duh, no.
-- Edited by dorian on Sunday 21st of February 2021 01:49:48 PM
There were vigorous scare campaigns. I'm pretty sure if the information explained fair elections it would have been a yes. Most Australian Attitudes would have thought if it works don't change it. Definitely didn't want to give councils any more power (that was how it was pushed) reality may have been different.
Much like today. Really big health scare campaigns by the medical controllers and the government. Perhaps if they gave out credible information rather than waving a big stick they might get more takers. But govt has promised to get everyone vaccinated and if they don't, then votes may go against them. So come hell or high water they are going to make it happen. At the moment, they will get a lot who will take it up because they don't want to risk being restricted and losing their jobs and businesses like they have over the last twelve months. The govt. just passed laws to strengthen their power to have everyone comply.