Not much hope, then. The idea of a return to the 'mutual society' is good, but fanciful in a multicultural society where many people can't speak the common language are there are few common values and beliefs. The “like-minded” people would be made up of small, competing tribes.

Let's face it: we are stuffed – poised on the brink of extinction like so many ancient civilisations before us.

Germany and US are losing the middle with wealth at the top and not in the working poor. Same in Oz , Venezuela and North Korea. A couple of cyclones , earthquakes , mineral crashes and religious race wars and you won't know the place just Australian values.

I can't fathom the question asked in this article: Past a cry for a bygone era!

For dispossessing people, and fracturing social cohesion, the only excuse offered by government is compliance with globalism: With it comes the loss of sovereignty and the Australian white-man culture.

The question is; who is an Australian? Citizenship is unhelpful in deciding that matter!

For economic problems, governments are much better placed to solve them, as mutual societies don't have sufficient credit to do so. The problem is that politicians would rather maintain the illusion of economic responsibility than actually solve the problem.

For a small minority of social problems, mutual societies could be part of the solution. But in addition to the enormous problems of setting them up to make them effective, there's a very real danger of the government then using them as an excuse to avoid its own responsibilities.

Dear Dan,

«The question is; who is an Australian? Citizenship is unhelpful in deciding that matter!»

At present there is no such thing, but you are welcome to form the Australian Mutual Society along with its Credo, rules and regulations, then an "Austrlian" would simply mean a member of this society!

We could voluntarily join Yuyutsu Individual Society if we knew a bit more about it...

Or we could have direct democracy.

And accept human societies as inevitably imperfect and bury utopian idealism once and for all.

If you're advocating a return to cooperative capitalism? Then we can agree!

And it serves those communities where it reigns supreme as the cultural glue that binds like minded inclusive societies. And functions to use/circulate limited local resources as much as 7 or more times before exhausting.

And despised by conservative ideologues, because their preferred divide and rule paradigm, is usually blown out of the water by regional, united we stand, divided we fall, pragmatism!?

Co-ops stood almost alone as the only, free market, private enterprise model, that largely survived the Great depression, mostly intact!

Even as other private enterprise models went increasingly to the wall. Given the economic lead in the saddlebags of debt and dividend servicing.

Mutual societies have morphed into credit unions, building co-ops and the like, and consequently are a more inclusive, pragmatic model?

Co-ops don't usually magically appear, but are created by mutual need or wise pragmatic government acting to facilitate and finance these entities into being!

And where that happens, often ends a local dependency on foreign investment, manifesting as foreign control and a parasitical hollowing out of the local economy.

What do we gain if say, a debt laden foreign miner sets up shop here to mine and sell our coal/gas, even as we are price gouged for what we buy, from tax avoiding, profit repatriating, foreign speculators!?

And the sole reason why the formerly spectacularly successful Celtic tiger, eventually went belly up! After letting debt laden foreign speculators, run rampant through the local real estate market! Then trying to bail them out with local taxpayer funds! When the over inflated, housing bubble burst!

The one lesson of history that stands universally, Is that nobody learns the lessons of history!

Thus we had spectacularly successful Keynesian economics and the unprecedented period of prosperity it ushered in, replaced by thoroughly disgraced, trickle down theory, coupled to equally destructive, extreme capitalism!

Government can't solve anything if they stand in the way of the best solutions or worse, work to actively prevent or dismantle them!
Alan B.

Yuyutsu...

You are smugly cocooned behind demoralising multiculturalism.
Beware, the next cultural shift in this country, may not include you in!
You may be treated with the same contempt as whites! God forbid.

Multiculturalism is a form of psychosis afflicting the host country which can be bought and sold: bought by developers and sold by tractors to the host culture, namely (and lamely), politicians.

The only realistic way out is a postal vote on Global Warming , community agreement on either tripling coal production or concreting over coal mines , and buying wind turbines for each power pole or recycling them all to rebuild Liddell .

Every western style economy, rest solely on two economic pillars, energy and capital!

And we have not only privatized both, with quite disastrous consequences, but are growing record debt burdens as we try to borrow our way to prosperity?

Even as much of the economically essential discretionary spending is eaten up by skyrocketing energy bills. And those same energy bills are responsible for numerous industries exiting Australia!

We try to repair some of this damage by selling our best mining prospects to debt laden, tax avoiding, profit repatriating foreigners! As blame shifters, full of weasel words, tell us, we've always had foreign investment!

And sad commentary on so called leaders/economic illiterates, who essentially took the third wealthiest nation on the planet and a creditor one at that! And guided by Ideological imperatives alone, sold it and our economic sovereignty down the river, all while smiling like cheshire cats that licked all the cream!

And continue with, sell it for a song stuff that clearly has not only hasn't worked, but central to the problem!

There is a way out and forward! And staring us in the face!

However, when you are in a really deep hole, digging harder and faster, is likely to be entirely counter productive! Ditto blind man's bluff! i.e., The visually impaired leading the visually impaired!

Energy, Capital. Chop, chop! Economic pillars at bargain basement prices and would you like fries with that?
Alan B.

Dear Dan,

Have you any positives to offer?

Yes, it is quite possible for people to follow you due to fears (including legitimate ones), but is this what you want to base your society on?

Show that your culture is great and wonderful, show that it is moral - and millions will follow you out of admiration and love!

Yuyutsu...

You make a couple of redicilious assumptions here.
One is the idea I want to sell a white culture preference, and the other is I harbour a desire for people to follow a loss making venture to extinction of MY culture.

Government is offcourse the problem.

The only solution is to give back to the people, most of the functions government has assumed in the last half centaury.

It can not be, & should not be trying to take over all functions by dictator force, that should be personal choice.

Government should only set a framework for citizens to get on in. They should supply defence, law & order, & get the hell out of health & welfare.

In the early 60s it cost just 1% of my income to cover hospital & medical insurance, & I did not have to wait 3 years to see a specialist. It could be that way again, if we could just get the bureaucrats the hell off our backs.

Dear Dan,

Sorry, but I do not understand what you mean by: "harbour a desire for people to follow a loss making venture to extinction of MY culture".

Originally you asked: "who is an Australian? Citizenship is unhelpful in deciding that matter!". My reply was that at present there is no such thing as "Australian". At that point you started to discuss multiculturalism, but going a step back, do you agree with this observation or not?

When nothing works, and all solutions you know are not helping. The answer is to go to a higher power. Pray.

That said, I don't think all solutions are as obsolete as they are said. There is a dangerous hype that consumes everything if that hype is our own fears. Even if it is legitimate fears. Let's look at the issues one by one. Then even if we find solutions, pray anyways. If we bring all our matters to God, He'll listen. He's trustworthy.

On multiculturalism, and whose voice gets to make the big decisions, know this. We should be loving to one another, concerned about eachother and Eachother's well being. We don't have to agree with eachother, but if you still show love for eachother then the big issues of having eachother's needs met are not just on government assistance but on a cultural level. It becomes not a matter of policy and how to do it, but just to do it when you have the oppurtitunity to help. Where there are the most needs go to that population. Visit the prisoner, help the widow, mentor and watch over the fatherless and the motherless. These attributes of compassion will lend to being more diverse and open multiculturalism in our society. They will also likely grow the cultures in the nation that reliably offer help.

The second issue of the multiculturalism and diversity, is the dirty work of who makes the big decisions. And to that element diversity can get in the way. So what do you do? Let decisions be made anyways. A house divided can not stand. The article makes that point clear with it's observation of gridlock politics. But where it fails is to come to grips with a solution. Give the problem and hype it up to be bigger all solutions, and then watch with suprise as everyone agrees and also doesn't find solutions. Let solutions be tried. Expecially if they are for practical problems like food, housing, or employment. If the problems are about social ideologues, let them bugger off until you can regain your base security in having a home, an income, safe neighborhoods (if possible), and food.

If those needs are being met, then guess what? It's not all broken yet. The system hasn't failed you (yet). The hype for all things going down hill are still possibly true, but your not there yet so DO NOT GIVE UP!

Through it all though, still pray.