Pericles I am happy for you that you are so easily satisfied by orange toothpaste. Me, I am still waiting on a choice between a computer where I can install new components rather than having NO CHOICE but to scrap the current system in order to keep up with technology.

I have always found Col Rouge very amusing, as it seems Col doesn’t mind being dominated by capitalists – but anyone else and he has a hissy fit. BTW, Col, I am not an evil, evil socialist; I believe in restrained capitalism, however I don’t believe that the market place will solve ALL our problems in the naïve way that you do. Sometimes we, the hoi polloi, have to become active to bring about change.

Am still waiting on appliances that last, still concerned about over-packaging of consumer goods; still concerned about pollution, oil shortage, toxic land-fill and can’t see the market place solving any of this anytime soon.

At least we seem agreed that Novak's article is very superficial.

I actually want MORE choice. The choice to have the kind of communication plan that I want not the ‘all-the-same-plans’ devised by the telcoms, the choice to put MY had earned taxes to work on sustainable energy instead of nukes and war, the choice of a collective work agreement so that I know I am paid for equal work with my peers, the choice to speak up freely without being jailed for sedition and without charge. The choice to vote if I happen to be jailed for a speeding fine which I couldn’t afford to pay.

I want to be able to discover a real choice between political parties.

Can any one else out there in OLO land think of choices we really need rather than just another flavour of toothpaste?

Scout in addition to useable mobile phones, I would like to have a meaningful choice about

fresh produce, is it locally grown, does the farmer receive a fair price at farm gate so that s/he can remain in production

smart clothes that fit being Australian made, rather than being manufactured in from China

environmentally friendly vehicles and effective public transport. Regional public transport is almost non-existent in NSW

environmentally friendly buildings and environmental building codes that are applicable to the region the dwelling is being erected. There has been talk of Victoria applying Canadian building codes

choice of aged care facility when I need it - not the current Clayton's choice of developer A vs Developer B's retirement village

I regard electricity gas and probably transport as natural monopolies that should be operated by the state. I am prepared to pay my taxes for the state to provide high quality education and health care for all members of our community.

Scout, a meaningful choice between political parties would be rather nice wouldn’t it.

Fancy actually being able to choose between long-term maintenance of a healthy society or short-term profit-driven future-destroying policies.
Fancy being able to actually choose where your vote is going to count at Federal level, like it does in NSW and Qld, instead of having it count where you have no intention of it counting, if you vote for any candidate other than Labor or Liberal in most cases.

Fancy being able to choose whether or not we want forever more people squeezed into Sydney or SEQ instead of having it forced upon us.

Fancy being able to turf a government out of office if they continue to stress basic resources such as water and punish us for their stupidity by imposing tighter and tighter restrictions while at the same time continuing to encourage more and more consumers.

Fancy being able to hold politicians accountable and turf out those that spin deliberate untruths or don’t uphold their promises. Turf them out straight away that is, not at the next election.

Fancy being able to have a meaningful input into all major decisions instead of our government declaring that they have a mandate to do things that they clearly don’t.

Fancy being able to get past this enormous antidemocratic paradox of big business basically running the show, while true democracy is just a pipedream.

and so on

Scout, you must have missed my very important caveat, "where it falls down .... is where the choice is artificial, or where it doesn't actually exist at all"

Your computer is in that category. You are the victim of a vicious monopolist, who thinks nothing of providing you with dangerously unsafe and hopelessly fragile software, and insisting that you buy a new machine every time he decides that you need even more features that you will never use.

Unsurprisingly in this world of spin, you are told that you have a choice, and that if you don't like it, go elsewhere. Unfortunately for most people this is not an option, thanks to the market stranglehold created many years ago.

[One of the most delicious pieces of spin I saw recently was from the UK, where the minister announced that the postal service would be improved by reducing the domestic delivery service from twice to once daily. Ah, bless]

As for the orange toothpaste, it is too recent a development to speculate whether it will survive in the market. As I said, we seem to have told their marketing department that we want it, but hey, we are a fickle lot. Ultimately though, the market will decide. My thirteen year-old likes it, but he won't be a significant impact on the market even as a solid twice-a-day user.

But you are spot on when you say "Sometimes we, the hoi polloi, have to become active to bring about change"

That is exactly how change will occur. Not by fiat, not by prohibition, but by good old supply-and-demand.

At least we agree on one thing, that choice is good. Whether we are able to exercise choice in every area that we would like to is a horse of an entirely different colour. Worse than having insufficient choice is having no choice at all.

The only choice we are making (as we make make endless no choices)is to destroy the planet. Whilst some people excersise their choice to bathe in superficial choices, they simultaneously take away the choice of those who choose to sustain the planet. Soon, there really will be no choice.

No matter how many options you are given there is only two choices:
One or the other.