I was waiting for a discussion on Brexit to share this following linked video, but I'm going to share it now instead, as I really want others to see it.

Its a bit of an eye opener when you realise the country represented in the corner of our flag doesn't even have the power to make or change laws placed upon them in their own country.

Please take the time to watch it, we all need to be aware of where bad decision by governments can potentially take us.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCATXCgC0kSWQDOQLtgP5Mbg

Leyno, gun for every Nanny, has my vote.

plantagenet,

I'll miss him, even though I disagree with him on most issues. Rights are important, and it's good to have at least one senator reminding the rest of that fact.

Although I’m on the other side of the political fence, I tend to like this guy’s work. He’s a divergent thinker.

However, he is not divergent enough in his thinking to acknowledge that the nanny state is rife on both Right and Left. Instead, he prefers to see nanny state thinking as purely a leftist PC problem.

Yet, on the Right, the nanny state has always been alive and well, which is why euthanasia, marijuana and, until recently, same sex marriage have remained illegal despite overwhelming public opposition. What would the majority know? It’s for our own good.

It’s why abortion is still on the statute books as ‘illegal’. It’s for women’s own good and the protection of the unborn. Yet, supporting single mothers is a no-no. These uppity women have to realise that, if they reject the protective benevolence of a male provider (or are unable to hang onto one), then they must fend for themselves – it’s for their own good.

It’s the Right who view the poor and disabled as needing to be disciplined by a harshly punitive and degrading welfare system – it’s for their own good.

It’s why we must blindly follow the US into its imperial ventures – despite costing tens of billions of taxpayer dollars. Bombing other countries is necessary to protect us. And what’s more, it’s for THEIR own good, as well as our own.

Killarney,
I had a Liberal use the "appropriate academic qualifications" line on me in a Facebook argument the other night, on a "Right Wing" page.
There is a fundamental split in thinking but it's got nothing to do with the old Left-Right paradigm, it breaks down along the lines of people who believe that words shape the world and others who understand that only concrete action changes the path of a society.
To put it another way there are people who react emotionally and are primarily individualists and others who are socialistic and think in purely material terms.
There are harsh materialists and dreamy esoterics on both sides and as I've seen from the ructions in grass roots politics over the summer people are defecting and changing sides sides based on the way they see the world.

Dear Killarney,

<<However, he is not divergent enough in his thinking to acknowledge that the nanny state is rife on both Right and Left. Instead, he prefers to see nanny state thinking as purely a leftist PC problem>>

The LDP (Leyonhjelm's party) website presents the following self-test: http://ldp.org.au/archives/quiz/index.html - I think you may be interested.

For me, the dimension of personal individual freedom is paramount, whereas economic issues are way behind in importance. If you feel the same about individual freedoms but have different economic inclinations, then your choice this elections is probably with the Greens.

In my view, both the LDP and the Greens compromise too much and do not go far enough in protecting individual freedoms: I would like to vote for a party that concentrates on this rather than divert its attention and energy to economic matters. However, as it stands, the LDP is the only party with a clear policy to allow people to ride a bicycle without being forced to wear a pot over their head. I am very disappointed that the Greens have no similar policy - especially since more cyclists would mean less pollution, something that is presumably very dear to the Greens.