Australia is growing its own political dynasties and even copying the US Presidential electoral advertising styles, even though Americans can actually directly vote for their President, while Australians may not vote for our Prime Minister. My favourite political family is the Sheahan's from Jugiong, NSW. An Irish catholic family moved into Jugiong and had about 18 kids. Those kids got married and had about 18 more, It was a chain reaction every generation. They soon started sending their own family members to parliament because they outnumbered everybody in the district from Crookwell to Holbrook. Holbrook's main street is named "Sheahan Drive."

The yanks get up to a lot of naughty things but exactly who is telling the truth about what the CIA does I simply don't know. But I know that there are people who utterly despise the entire western world and they will do anything to smear it. The so called "stolen generations" was a case in point. A huge lie from start to finish but many people still believe it. They believe it because they want to believe it. There seems to be some sort of psychological condition working here where some people think that criticising your own people, civilisation and culture, is the primary indicator of high intelligence. And nothing is more important to them than their own self esteem and their compulsive need to think that they are morally and intellectually superior to the bogans and the bourgeoisie.

Lego,
If only the yanks were a little bit naughty! If only they were a secular democracy. They (and we) show all the signs of being a corporatocracy - a government by corporations for corporations. Even the media is run by corporations - we get fed the news they want us to hear.

If the US was a government for the people by the people, it could spend half the money it does on surveillance, the war on drugs, wars of pre-emption, on protecting the health and wellbeing of it's own people through universal health, and education programs, as well as a decent social welfare system and a living wage.

That way they could avoid embarrassments like the UN going into Detroit to try to stop 27,000 residents getting their water turned off. This can only lead to a health crisis. Teachers are warning children not to tell them they have no water as teachers are obligated to report them to social services and they may be taken away.

In another case of WTF?? School police departments across the US have taken advantage of free military surplus gear, stocking up on mine resistant armoured vehicles, grenade launchers and scores of M16 rifles.

As the old saying goes - I long for a day when our schools get all the money they need and the airforce has to run a bake sale to buy a bomber.

ONE LOVE! No human is worth more or less than another. Those who commit criminal acts should be sanctioned or punished, but it must be equitable.

How many Wall St bankers are included in the 1 million+ US citizens who are incarcerated? How many petty thieves and drug addicts will spend decades in gaol due to 3 strikes laws?

We can't turn our eyes away from corruption,injustice, torture and killing.

I would support a royal commission into political corruption - both sides have made some very shady deals. I would also like to see more transparency about political donations and a cap on political donations - maybe even a ban on political donations!

Dear Mr BJelly

My last post which responded to your criticism of the USA, was done in such a way to display that Australia and the USA are similar countries with similar problems. We can hardly sneer at the yanks if we are little different ourselves. Multi national corporations may have too much political influence in the West but that does not detract from the fact that our western system of government has seen unprecedented rises in our standard of living in my lifetime.

What is happening now in western countries is a couple of threats that you have not mentioned. The first is, Islamic population proportions are rising through birth rate differentials, immigration and "refugees" to such an extent that Europe may become a Muslim majority continent within 50 years. Think about that and figure out the ramifications. The second is, that the welfare state is unsupportable and many European countries plus the USA are facing bankruptcy. Detroit is a perfect example of both corporate greed combined with unrestricted socialism where the productive got taxed out of existence to support the non productive and the counter productive. Somebody forgot about the Golden Goose.

I totally disagree with your philosophy that one life is worth the same as another. I don't regard the lives of methamphetamine making chemists or violent criminals as being equal to heart surgeons or bushfire fighters. Nor do I agree with your position on drugs. I was once a very light marijuana smoker myself but stopped when I realised that it was affecting my short term memory and ability to concentrate. Unfortunately, a friend of mine never made that connection and is now having serious mental and emotional problems because of this dangerous drug.

Western protestant derived nations are the least corrupt on earth according to the World Corruption Index. That will change as the proportion of North European protestant people reduces in western countries as a result of third world and Asian immigration. The signs in government offices in many languages warning against the practice of trying to bribe government officials says it all.

Hi Lego,

I think you have the wrong picture of me. I am a middle aged outer-suburban housewife who doesn't use drugs apart from legal ones - a couple of wines with friends every other week,and several cups of coffee a day. I work with disadvantaged kids and I see the horrors that drugs, alcohol, gambling, alienation, depression and lack of hope/opportunity does to people and communities - and it isn't pretty.

I think drugs (including legal ones like alcohol) should be discouraged as they cause so much waste of talent and life. But criminalizing them has proven to be an ineffective way of dealing with the issue. We can find money to lock up addicts but we can't fund rehab units - where is the sense in that?

I see the miracle that there is in every life and I think everyone is precious. I am not a Christian, but I live by many of its values and teachings. I believe in the Christian teaching that we should love the sinner and hate the sin. And the golden rule - do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I have found it is better to judge people and states by their actions not their rhetoric, as words can be hollow. People lie. Shock horror ... politicians, journalists, advertisers, PR spin doctors lie, mislead and deceive. If a state says it values freedom, rule of law, human rights but acts in opposition to these stated values we have a right and even obligation to point out these inconsistencies.

Universal love (one love) for everyone - but that means nothing without justice for all - wrongdoing must be punished but it must be fair and applied to all equally. It is unfair that some of us due to our race, wealth and social status are less likely to be incarcerated than others.

Regarding your points about increasing numbers of Muslims in our country, I am not afraid of this as I know many Muslims and used to live near a Mosque. The vast majority of Muslims are moderate ordinary folk who want to live a good life.

Muslims have been in Australia since the Afghan camel drivers helped open the outback in the mid1800s. Most cultures assimilate as people intermarry etc. Let our freedom, justice, egalitarianism and prosperity speak for itself. If we need to win the contest of ideas and values, we need to show that we live by the values the West says it espouses.

Just as I speak out against the growing serveillance state we find ourselves in: If everything you do, say or type can be recorded are you really free? If the government reserves the right to snoop on its citizens, but sheilds itself in secrecy, is it still democratic?

I would also speak out against any fundamentalist religious laws including Sharia law. I think stoning, chopping off limbs or beheading people is barbaric.

However, the Islamic law against usury (excessive/any interest on loans) is a good one and one that is in accord with traditional Judeo-Christian values. Our modern banking system depends on usury to funnel wealth to bankers.

I totally agree with your attitude towards fighting corruption. The west is definitely better, but cronyism and the Old Boy's network is alive and well.

EG, What ever happened to the AWB scandal? - The Australian Wheat Board did secret deals with Saddam Hussein. The Royal Commission recommended an AFP investigation. The officer in charge of that investigation said he was promised a promotion if it went no where. When he asked for more funds to conduct the investigation he was fired. No findings were ever made on one of the biggest political scandals in Australia's history. Just another scandal for the memory hole.

The ICAC hearings in NSW have been one wonderful exception, it would be great to have one at the federal level. It is also heartening to have a Royal Commission into child abuse.

There are liberals in Europe who once passionately claimed that Muslims are harmless but are now starting to feel like Christian Scientists with appendicitis. It is very hard for a liberal to defend a religion which is diametrically opposed to everything a liberal is supposed to stand for. Your opinions are those of a 1970's hippie who pines for the Age of Aquarius, and who can never admit that the times, they are, a changin'. Bankstown used to be just another working class suburb but when the Muslims moved in, the Aussies moved out. This phenomenon is called "white flight" in the USA, and it is only those who take a Three Monkey approach to reality who can not see exactly the same thing happening in Australia.

The reason we are now living in a "surveillance state" is because people like your good self refused to believe that we had a problem with multiculturalism, and with Muslims in particular. But it looks like the "racists" were right all along. You people are incredible. You demand that your country conform to a ideal which has already failed everywhere, and when the very problems that were predicted by your political opponents manifest themselves, you try to blame the people who opposed you all along for trying to remedy them.

if you don't want anti terrorism legislation, don't import people from a religion which advocates terrorism to expand its influence.

If you do not agree with Sharia law, why do you supports Muslims? Muslims MUST believe in Sharia Law OR THEY ARE NOT MUSLIMS. Islam is not just a religion, it is a complete political, legal, religious, and social system who values are diametrically opposed to our own. For God's sake pick up a newspaper and look at what always happens to societies that are composed of different ethnic, religious and cultural groups who have opposing values. Multiculturalism is exactly like Socialism. How many times does it need to fail before educated and supposedly intelligent people like yourself figure out that it is a bad idea?