Yes the Rightwing view would indeed be:

Democracy and the media frustrate essential respect for Authority.

Thank Christ Australia doesn't follow this Rightwing view.

The author writes: " In a Westminster system there is a deliberate separation of powers between executive government, the legislature and the judiciary that is intended to maintain checks and balances and ensure continuity in governance independent of adversarial day-to-day politics."

The above statement is absolute rubbish. In the Westminster system the executive along with his cabinet are members of the legislative assembly.

If there were separation of powers the executive and the executive's cabinet would not be legislators.

Question time where the executive is questioned by other legislators is an example of the adversarial day-to-day politics which the Westminster system fosters.

Separation of powers as envisaged by Montesquieu is expressed in separate bodies for the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. To have the executive branch composed of legislators as in the Westminster system is a denial of the separation of powers.

Bill, thanks for an interesting and thought-provoking article. Cheers, Warren Reed, Sydney.

It looks like Bill is whining about the fact that there has been a real shift away from the Left wing orientated media to a more right wing orientated one. Bill had no problem with the media "manipulating" public opinion when the ABC, The Age, and the Sydney Morning Herald called the shots. But Bill is aghast that now internet blogs, right wing columnists, and Fox is having an impact.

What gives Bill's position away, is his sneery contempt of "populism". "Populism" means that governments are responding to the wishes of their electorate, which is exactly what democracy is all about. But democracy is a real problem for people like Bill, who think that they know better than everybody else how everything should be done.

Bill harps on about "leadership". This is a newly defined euphemism which means that democratically elected governments should always ignore the wishes of their own people. Governments displaying this "leadership" ignore the wishes of the people who elected them and adopt whatever fashionable social causes that the Bill and the tertiary educated people think is right.

Sorry Bill. Democracy may be a real inconvenience to people with your elitist and undemocratic ideals, but that's the way it is. The aristocracy in France once felt exactly like you do and look what happened to them. If you and your peers want to duplicate the French aristocrats and ignore the wishes of the people, you might find yourself in a metaphorical social tumbril, with everybody despising you

Bill, an excellent piece, thank you.

The problem of short-term expedient self-interest is very real and has lead to massive social and political problems. Our world has become an uncaring place divided against itself at every level, from the basic family unit all the way through to the highest political echelons and yet we know that many of the policies that have been most influential in that are motivated by the best of intentions. The reason is that they have focussed on differences rather than on commonalities.

Genderism, religion, politics, economics, ethnicity have all become characterised by their setting of one against the other but if the leaders of any of the groups associated with those ideas were asked they would be able to say with all sincerity that they are only trying to make life better for their constituents.

Our best instincts have been turned against us and we are hurting, the world is hurting. Even people in the most remote places are suffering from the unintended consequences of that fragmenting of the species and the terribly destructive nature of people when they are isolated and alone against the world, yet surrounded by others. Ostracism is a great punishment not just because of the isolation, but because it is a rejection of our fundamental communality and the security it provides for everyone.

When we are alone we must be constantly on our guard, with nobody to watch our back. We are constantly stressed, ready to defend or attack and trying to identify friend from foe. We are at the mercy of powerful people just as the peasants in a feudal society are at the mercy of the lord of the manor.

We are now a global species. We have no enemies from outside. We are all there is. We can't go on focussing on differences and expedient self-interest.

We need each other.

We have to rethink our concept of community.