Thought provoking article Tom - "Contractural deficit" is a great term. I agree people demand more then they give. I also feel this is prevalent, now, in everyday life - not simply in governance. We expect much from partners, yet perhaps we are not prepared to imput in line with our expectations. We want excellent health - frequently for minimal effort. We seek comfortable lifestyles without having to work harder. 'Contractural deficit' could well be a social disease that has fully matured in the 21st century, having been released in the greedy '80's, and generously spread in the hedonistic 90's.
Certainly a cure is urgently required.

The Human Condition.

[But we will not solve this problem by creating more bureaucracy and devolving more power to typically incompetent local councillors; the only solution is to devolve power to the market, which is flexible and responsive to consumers in a way politicians can never be].

The author shows in this one quote/paragraph, the dilemna of the unregenerate (natural) human condition.

He is admitting, (and as Coyote underlined) that most people approach life from a ‘me,me,me’ perspective. This is the natural social consequence of the philosophical idea of ‘Nature’ usurping ‘Grace’ in the minds of those driving the social/political agenda.

Those who do not work from selfish presuppositions about life and their slice of it, such as well intentioned humanists, and ideological socialists, fail to recognize that they have little to offer apart from a “We should” or.. “It works out best for all if” type of foundation.

Unfortunately the hearers on the other end of this philosophical transaction may not agree, out of self interest, or simply because they see no binding ‘reason’ apart from the opinion of those espousing such a view, and this they consider no more valid than their own self/family interested opinion.

The problem with self serving or slack public officials is more related to our overall values framework and their perceived place in that framework.

Such selfishness will arise due to a deliberate supression of divine truth, which places ‘others’ ahead of ourselves.

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. (Romans 1)

So, the ‘wrath’ of God, is a legitimate factor in our values framework, but not the overiding one.

Paul, who wrote these words also says earlier

9God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son,......

This, from the first “Anti-Christ” if his actions prior to conversion are any indication. A man serves from ‘The heart’ only one whom he loves.
So, while the wrath of God is certainly revealed, the Love of God is what must drive us.

The factor that should be considered here is the legacy we have received from our convict past. This may be summarised in the following four general principles of Australian political life:

1. The Government is the Enemy of the People.
2. No taxation with or without representation, with any deficiency in government spending to be made up from the sale of politicians assets.
3. No matter whom you vote for at an election, a politician always wins.
4. Always vote NO at referendums.

No analysis of any political issue, from the republic to the role of government, can be undertaken without considering these principles.

The Human Condition.

[But we will not solve this problem by creating more bureaucracy and devolving more power to typically incompetent local councillors; the only solution is to devolve power to the market, which is flexible and responsive to consumers in a way politicians can never be].

The author shows in this one quote/paragraph, the dilemna of the unregenerate (natural) human condition.

He is admitting, (and as Coyote underlined) that most people approach life from a ‘me,me,me’ perspective. This is the natural social consequence of the philosophical idea of ‘Nature’ usurping ‘Grace’ in the minds of those driving the social/political agenda.

Those who do not work from selfish presuppositions about life and their slice of it, such as well intentioned humanists, and ideological socialists, fail to recognize that they have little to offer apart from a “We should” or.. “It works out best for all if” type of foundation.

Unfortunately the hearers on the other end of this philosophical transaction may not agree, out of self interest, or simply because they see no binding ‘reason’ apart from the opinion of those espousing such a view, and this they consider no more valid than their own self/family interested opinion.

The problem with self serving or slack public officials is more related to our overall values framework and their perceived place in that framework.

Such selfishness will arise due to a deliberate supression of divine truth which places ‘others’ ahead of ourselves.

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. (Romans 1)

So, the ‘wrath’ of God, is a legitimate factor in our values framework, but not the overiding one.

Paul, who wrote these words also says earlier

9God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son,......

This, from the first “Anti-Christ” if his actions prior to conversion are any indication. A man only serves from ‘The heart’ one whom he loves.
So, while the wrath of God is certainly revealed, the Love of God is what must drive us.

Here's an idea for you Tom, perhaps our "contractual deficit" exists because we assume the state to be a thing which exists only to permit social contracts.

Without the authority of the state, no contract is possible, yet despite the recognition by many of those posting of Hobbes' maxim, there is no talk of "duty" to the state, let alone upholding the "authority" of the state - a thing undermined by talk of harm-minimisation or the flagrant disregard for the laws of the land.

To support the free market to bring order is to fail to recognise that civil society grew from the authority of the state. Rather than devolve more power from the state, we should be drumming into the next generation of the duty they owe the state, of their duty to respects its authority, and abide by its customs. Law should then be aimed towards enoforcing standards and civilising, even when it destroys "choice".

Surely the answers are in the past, rather than a gamble on the market, as most things in the market are!

We are in a bind aren't we. We have the economists telling us all's fine for the next twenty years if we keep going down their road. The Balens of the world telling us we must pay politicians more, but expect nothing but treachery from them. And we have the god fearing telling us that the wrath of god is striking us down.

So we have 3 sets of illusionists trying to control a 3 dimensional real world with more illusions. Makes the mind boggle. I would expect the reality of the next 5 years may just be a little outside what we or others would want.

We are told that we have a budget surplus, whilst the truth is we have huge social deficit as well as massive growing balance of payments debt. I note all these experts (eX is an unknown quantity and (s)pert is a big drip) don't seem to address this. Why is it that most countries have growing deficits in this area, who do we all owe the money to. How can you have a balanced world economy when everyone is in debt.

Growth should be in sustainability, not via social degradation. When you privatise a public service, you lose that service. All privatised services have failed and led to escalating costs to us. Instead of the countries resources supporting us, they are supporting multinationals. We're paying more and more for less and less.

Our roads, we payed for and now pay every time we use them. We payed for all our services and yet are told me must pay more to support just a few people. Its just the opposite to what Balen says, we give more and more and get less and less.

Its all just a way of keeping people controlled and enslaved, with less and less freedoms and choice, for the benefit of less and less people.