You are all living in a dream world of your own if you think that:
1) There is a rage out there
2) That the incumbent Federal Government is going to change.

No rage exists out there,just the poor middle class attempting to survive, and doing an extremely bad job at it due to the impossible high cost of living. No one can afford houses, cars, etc anymore and it is going to get worse. However our society as well is living in a dream world of it's own as it remains urging the general population to spend more and giving the impression that they still can do so which of course causes it to go further into debt. Nothing is further from the truth. It cannot.However the general population keeps trying so consequently it does not a fig who is in power and why. All it is interested in is to live as comfortably as possible and attempt, not succeed, in paying itself out of a debt crisis

Liegh,
You ask how our Psyche has been damaged and how have we sacrificed Australia?

Well, before Howard:

Australia exercised prudence in Foriegn Affairs and repected its own legal institutions. We protected our citizens, provided rights to immigrants and compassion to refugees; delivered equity in Education and Health. We were global leaders in environmental policy and international law.

We were by no means perfert but we were a respected member of the global community. Our social policy record placed us amongst the world leaders in Scandanavia.

That explains how we have sacrificed Australia. In asking your question, you display how much our psyche is damaged.

A Brilliant post YEBIGA !

Leigh asks "Just how is our psyche damaged?"

Leigh, I don't believe there is enough room in this post to begin.

Let me try..

IR laws. It is now illegal to organise a strike for better conditions. This is in direct contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Sec 20 (1)). The government of Australia has drawn a pact with the corporations to punish workers if they even complain about conditions.

Howard's henchmen went even further against the UDHR in Article 23 Sections(4): "Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests." Sure you have the right to join a union, but don't get bloody caught actually trying to use that to your advantage, especially when being asked (coerced) into signing an AWA.

Moreover Article 23 section (3)states: "Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection." So, what protection is there in Australian law? Ask the profoundly disabled man who was refused any disability support because he couldn't work x hours per week. He was so disabled that he couldn't open the Centrelink door to attend his assessment !

Want more evidence Leigh? How about this?

Detention and Imprisonment

Article 7 of the UDHR: " All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination."

and

Article 9.: "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile."

Phillip Ruddock has imprisoned these rights with his Nazi-styled security laws.

Anyone who doesn't see these blatant violations of our internationally recognised rights cannot see how our own psyche is damaged.

Now ask again, how is our psyche damaged? In allowing this evil government to steal our civil rights !

Anyone interested? see here..
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

Hi there...YEBIGA

I've read and re-read your short thread, and in part I agree with you. Your comparison with the figure 'Norm' with respect to the so called Psychic harm the Howard Government has done to us all is quite novel, I must say.

I'm in my mid-sixties and have always supported the conservatives by and large, and voted accordingly. You say there is evidence of a 'rage' in the community. And implied that the Government must be defeated at all costs. Why ? Has Messrs Howard and Rudduck, and Ms Vanstone really done that much harm and damage to our country and our external reputation, that they need to be 'locked-up' as criminals ? I'm not really sure,Yabiga. On a purely personal level though, I don't hold truck with any of them, to be honest. In my humble opinion, with some exceptions, I reckon they're ALL morally corrupt ! But I guess that's another story.

Kind regards...O Sung Wu

I believe that Australia has been brought into international disrepute over the AWB corruption scandal in Iraq. I believe that Howard, Downer and Vaile [and possibly others] justifiably have a case to answer over this. The fact that this doesn't currently look like happening is a further slur on Australia's international reputation.

rainier's comment "But i don't think for a momment that the majority of Australians vote for the benefit of the nation. They vote for themselves first and foremost." perfectly sums up the situation.
unfortunately, this attitude is driven by shareholders who have no qualms about fellow australians losing their jobs to cheap labour countries due to geater profits by outsourcing to such countries. does telstra - india ring a bell ? previous labor administrations have built up a huge public service because that's their backbone & the conservatives in order to remain in power have no option but to continue along the same lines. third world countries do not view outsourcing labour to them as a compliment or priviledge. on the contrary, they see it as an insult because they know the real reason is that they are being exploited due to greed and a total lack of patriotism in this country.