Nicco

Another clear erudite post.

Thanks

I agree with the other posters but the situation looks hopeless; we can go on and on lamenting the insanity of our addiction to growth, but it won't change a thing. The voting majority just accepts neoliberal dogmatism. Gillard has been going on all week about increases in skilled migration and growing the workforce to accommodate the boom. What we should be doing is tailoring our exports to our economic needs as they are. Indeed reducing GDP concomitant with more modest lifestyles and even population contraction. This would push commodity prices up and allow us to control population growth, rather than letting economic growth control us. In the meantime we could become more self-sufficient and less dependent on foreign investment.
The only ones benefitting from a bigger Australia, apart from immigrants, are the capitalists. The bloody scam is about elite and corporate wealth.
Trouble is, who the hell do you vote for? No political contender is offering an alternative vision for the future.
It's very depressing.

Squeers wrote....."Trouble is, who the hell do you vote for? No political contender is offering an alternative vision for the future.
It's very depressing."

There is a political party now formally registered with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and although only now taking roots in Australian politics, I'm hoping they'll become a way for disgruntled voters to let the current two major parties know that pandering to the growth lobby, big business and consumerism is not what Australians need or want. You can check them out at.........

http://www.populationparty.com/

The Stable Population Party is also looking for participants and organisers in all regions. And yes, I know it's currently a small party and many haven't even heard of them yet, but how does that song go....? From little things, big things grow!

The trick is to "stabilise" the population and avoid an unfettered population explosion, not to try and turn back the clock.

Sustainable Population Party reminds me a bit of the old fashioned Nationals - every problem in their world had to do with the superphosphate bounty. Cats on roofs = superphosphate tax. Dead cattle = superpho tax. No roads? Superphosphate. So all of Australia's problems have to do with population. Pigs might fly.

1. Protect biodiversity and our natural and built environment - motherhood statement - protect biodiversity by educating children.
2. Relieve our over-stretched infrastructure - what? cut funding for rural hospitals! It's over stretched in Sydney and Melbourne. Sounds like slashing capital works programs.
3. Lower carbon emissions - by eliminating capitalism.
4. Stop upward pressure on costs of living (housing, food, water, energy, transport), inflation and interest rates - by praying our psychobabble economic theories bever see the light of day.
5. End sprawl and urban consolidation by cutting housing for the battlers.
6. Focus on sustainable economic development, workforce productivity and per capita GDP growth which is what we do now.
7. Save $1.5b p.a. spent on the unnecessary baby bonus (when births double deaths and natural growth is 150,000 p.a. - good point, and good luck with that.
8. Incentivise the training, education and employment of younger and older Australians - 'incentivise' did John Hewson write this? BS motherhood statement.
9. Demonstrate global leadership in sustainable population management and provide assistance to other countries - abortions for candy.
10. Protect food security by creating trade barriers.

I don't know anything about this new party, Aime, but I'm inclined to agree with Cheryl's cynicism, if not her motives.
These kinds of parties do generally seem to be ultra-conservative with their protectionism etc. And I can't say I think much of the "policies".
The fact is that this insane system will run on regardless until either its economic or its ecological limits are reached.

Cheryl has not got the message yet, populate and perish.

'Today humanity uses the equivalent of 1.5 planets to provide the resources we use and absorb our waste. This means it now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year.'

Read the book The Great Disruption by Paul Gilding.

We have come to the end of economic growth.

And we import more food than we export, what if the supply line is closed - no more caviar for Cheryl.