A curious tale about the origins and consequences of the Bottom Line.

Once upon a time there was a country not far from here, where farmers found a new domestic creature, superior to sheep, pigs or chickens. It happened just after money had been reclassified as an animal (or person). One day it was a thought; the next day it was real, and had horns and an udder.

The breeders soon found that the new animal needed much air and water; and some of the poor had to be moved to the inner cities and others to the suburbs, to make room. Although it was regrettable that people had to lose their old homes and their, nothing could be more important, the Senate and the House said, for the future of the nation than this new money cow. What they needed was one great money bull for the development of the line.

A perfect money bull was finally discovered; his name was Bottom. For a while everyone was satisfied with Bottom, and many gifts were brought to him. Boys wore their caps backwards as an honor to Bottom. He finally learned to speak, and his words and his sperm were sent all over the known world.

When Bottom began to demand sacrifices, some people were uneasy. But Congress agreed to his demands. Hundreds of people lined up to be sacrificed to him. The line of people about to die was called Bottom's Line.

Governments are overrated. Despite a very incompetent wasteful Government that only survived one term by a massive back stab and sleazy deals most Australians are still very well off. We have an abundance of water again (despite billions being wasted due to Green faith) and opportunities galore due to the mining industry and its visionaries. The likes of Twiggy Forrest and other visionaries have done far more than the wasteful social engineers who now make a career out of spending and wasting taxpayers money. Morally our State and Federal Governments have regressed due to adopting godless secular values or the lack of. The NSW State Government probably takes the cake here making Sir Joh's resume look like saints. Visionaries won't come from Government as they make political appointments to mates like we see recently with Mr Flannery. What a joke. No prophet would of survived with so many failures in prediction in past times. The Government will kick out anyone speaking any truth that contradicts their dogmas. Ms Roxon demonstrated this by kicking Warwick Marsh off her panel because he spoke of the need for kids to have a dad and a mum not a dad and dad. The only vision this current Government have is to stay in power.

I can only compliment posters on the direction the comments are going.
Diver Dan, you so ever said a mouth full!
Lib Lab and the musical chairs game of developer syndicates trying to pick an electoral winner add up to a pretty barren landscape, in more ways than one.
For these barbarians, what else could matter?

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While it is nice to have leaders to "ooh" and "aah" at, whose vision and inspiration are both marvellous, I often think that those periods in history that are lacking in such leaders are among the best in which to live.

Visionaries certainly have a purpose. When Octavian restored the republic in Rome (with some revisions that brought about an imperial age), he threw out an antiquated and unworkable system. When Robespierre and his friends built a new France, they threw out an oppressive system, as did Lenin and his comrades in Russia. When Hitler established his Reich, he lifted Germany from the very basement of poverty. The list goes on.

The thing is, the eras in which these visionaries lived were hardly pleasant. They rose to power because their nations required it, and they brought with them periods of struggle, bloodshed and mayhem.

Perhaps our politicians are content to maintain the status quo because the status quo is good enough for the time being. They can juggle things to better manage the bottom line, making things more affordable and more efficient, because we have no pressing issues of the magnitude that bring in visionaries and true "leaders". Perhaps we are living between the age of visionaries, in the age of administrators. I, for one, am thankful for that.

Of course, there is a middle ground betwen vision and complacency. We need administrators who can find that middle ground, so that we don't sink to the level at which visionaries are needed. I'm not sure that our current crop of pollies is the crop we need to serve that purpose. Still, I'm quite happy to live in a time when we can afford to make do with what we've got.