Hasbeen,
I grew up on 240,000 acres in Paroo country and so have the bush in my blood.
In previous comments of your on other threads it has appeared to me you live a perfect life in the hills away from suburbia, but now it seems suburbia is creeping in around you.
Let me know if you need a hand to move one day, to where rainwater is still free as nature intended.

Killarney,
You have hit the nail well and truly on the head in my opinion, especially where you say;
" Those who refuse to participate in the international financial consensus are punished, through a variety of measures - low credit ratings, isolation from trade pacts, enforcement of trade and economic sanctions, media demonization, political ostracism and, in extreme cases, destabilisation, proxy civil wars and bombing."

Something is going to have to change.
The money people will surely want some change once they realize there is much more money to be made, for example by government developing infrastructure for major new productivity that can be engineered right from the start to be later privatized.
I am referring to significant new food and fibre productivity and exports.

As present however the big end of town has the blinkers on.
I think bigotry and ego have a lot to do with it, together with greed and corruption as you say.

I think there is a tiny little bit of hope and that could be enough to get the blinkers off for a happy ending.
Hopefully soon.

Apologies for talking in riddles, there is not the space to elaborate here and now.