we can also do without media disinfo
and we can do without overseas multinationals
stealing our natural resources..looting our forrests seas and waters

we need workers to do the job
for a fair share

but appart from that we dont need bosses
reaping off the cream

or bankers collecting intrest

or insurers whio dont insure

when govt did phone power and water
it was much cheaper

why let miners reap the resource
when the workers doing it could easy work for govt
and the proffits gouing to all of us..not some fat big business banker

David f.,

In an ideal society, which we're not, your suggestions would work.
Afterall, that's how many community groups work. Unfortunately, the daunting task of responsibility of running a nation is discouraging to those that would be most qualified to do so. So the job is left to those that are not competent to do anything else, get paid well, and become politicians in a Party system which excuses them from doing anything by blaming their opponents. Some nations after the collapse of the Soviet Union did draft idealists to serve their country but after a few years the "politically-minded" element took over.

Another concern is the drain on the national economy of the continual
pay-out to former Prime Ministers who have already received a substantial package on their retirement from politics but continue to get lucrative pay-outs and support. Why?

Lexi:>> Another concern is the drain on the national economy of the continual pay-out to former Prime Ministers who have already received a substantial package on their retirement from politics but continue to get lucrative pay-outs and support. Why?<<

I suppose the stipend is to keep the ex PM's off the streets, literally. Could you imagine an ex PM down on his luck and hawking whatever he or she can to support themselves and bringing an air of ill repute to themselves and the office they held. There are billions of other wasted tax dollars to concern ourselves about Lexi.

SOG:

I'm not questioning the generous pay-outs (that will keep PMs in comfort for the rest of their lives) that PMs receive when they leave office. What I'm questioning is - the several expensive office accommodations, (one isn't sufficient), state of the art a/v equipment, all their telephone bills, newspaper and magazine subscriptions, first-class flights around the world on a whim, luxury cars, and staff, that continues to be provided (at tax payers expense) even after they've left office. Admitedly some former PMs are not as blatant in the use of these benefits but as we've recently read, there are some that do exploit this opportunity. One former PM managed to spend over 4 million in one year. That is more than just a "stipend."

"We can do without professional politicians"

We sure do, but they cannot do without themselves, right?
So once a headless nail is in, it is there for good!

What we can do, is to take away their powers, so they can continue talking out there in Canberra, agreeing, disagreeing, interjecting, calling names at each other, etc. so long as it no longer affects our own lives.

We should vote for policies, not for politicians, and even then the scope of those policies should be limited to the minimum necessary do defend ourselves from harm by others, externally and internally. That is all that a state is legitimately about, all the rest should be voluntary. Once the policies are set, anyone competent enough can get the job of seeing that they are carried out properly and it is no longer a big deal who will that person be.

Here is how we can do without professional politicians:

You already benefit from competition every time you go to
a store.

What if you could shop for a region to live/work in,
where all the regions were competing to give you
the best of everything?

The way it works is the more popular regions get more land,
while the unpopular ones go out of business.

This results in all regions improving to serve you better.
Everything would get better with this type of competition.

Imagine regions offering to pay your moving expenses, even offering
you a better job, or more, to get you to move to their region.
They know this would be an investment for their future.

The benefits of competition are well documented, now it is
time we start using it for a better life.

Todays system doesn't have real competition because the
unpopular regions just start to go bankrupt,
then reduce services to people,
nothing meaningful changes.

Thats what happens when we have no real competition.
Its the familiar race to the bottom.

We can fix all these problems by using economic regions
that compete with each other.

Any group of people could start and run their
own region.

Some regions could be run by nonprofits, giving
us a higher standard of living.

Even though nobody needs to move, the option is always there,
which means regions have to stay good all the time to avoid
becoming unpopular and going out of business.

Its like every day is election day.

Right now, after election, the promises are forgotten
and there is no hope of improvement for a long time.

A lot more details at:

www.endworldsuffering.org