Col Rouge, "Why so many people are trying to get smuggled into USA (. . .) why so many people opted to risk a border guards bullet to escape the delights of the collectivist workers utopia".

The irony of this situation is that the influx of refugees in the U.S. occurs often due to military conflicts and poverty in their own countries which is a result of direct or indirect actions by U.S. based corporations.

The economic situation in many Latin American countries is closely linked of the NAFTA and globalisation impact. Economic refugees follow their oppressors hopping to share a part of the the stolen wealth. However, the work in the low-paid service industry in the U.S. provides them again with the Third World standard of living. This is a double tragedy for those people.

This is not unique to economic refugees. Most often, Iraqi and Afgani refugees have not arrived in the U.S. due to their pro-American views, but they have not had any other place to go. From a distance, the U.S. seems to be wealthy and democratic country, but the question is wealthy and democratic for whom ?

thinker

You might like this-
The truth about unionism was that Australia’s period of greatest ever prosperity was the 1950s and 1960s, and this was also the period of optimum union activity and influence. Although natural resources launched post-war wealth, the trade unions alone were responsible for Australia’s famous era of egalitarian prosperity and they most certainly did not hamper the production of wealth, as the records unambiguously show.

Trade unions alone were responsible for Australia’s vast and prosperous middle class, and a fuming banker elite orchestrated its destruction.

The ultimate union traitor was Australian Council of Trade Unions President Bob Hawke, who arranged disastrous union amalgamations that weakened the position of workers and delivered union leadership into the hands of ambitious academics and opportunists. Eventually, as Prime Minister, an ambition he achieved through media ownership deals with Kerry Packer and Rupert Murdoch, he destroyed an already useless Australian Constitution and made assuming the copulatory position before American Presidents a cornerstone of defence and economic policy. If journalist/authors such as John Pilger are to be believed, and there is ample reason to believe him, Hawke was at best a CIA and MI6-approved stooge.

No doubt, Kerry Packer and Rupert Murdoch smirked while Paul Keating cheerfully betrayed his old pal and mentor Bob Hawke, with the same media ownership deal, before betraying his country in a far more spectacular fashion. It was the ALP’s Paul Keating who dealt the death blow to worker prosperity, family influence and integrity, and national sovereignty. It was Keating’s privatization, deregulation and economic rationalism that precipitated the journey into poverty that is the current existence of more than half of all Australians. When the gallows are built, it is hoped that Keating has the shortest fall.

hilarious political irony, John Howard, never known for originality, made a follow-up media ownership deal with Murdoch upon which both his predecessors slithered to power, evoking on-camera rage from Paul Keating. Howard went on to set industrial legislation that would eventually eliminate all meaningful worker’s rights & the import of a suspected half a million foreign scabs).

from tonys research

Yabby,

" Just look how Govt is run. Look at the waste. No need to compete
or be efficient, when you have the monopoly of a Govt dept. That
waste adds up to far more then any profits which you seem so concerned
about."

If we want to have an universal access to the modern health system, education or clean water, the government agencies can not be equally efficient as private sector is. This is like requiring artists or academics to improve their efficiency to the extent of that in the corporate world. However, our progress as mankind, both cuturally and scientifically, is dependant upon these 'inefficient' professional groups. Their work, though there is a lot of waste, gives a meaning in our lives. (We are even prepared to pay them good money for their 'work'.) The corporate world particularly enjoys another post-grad course, a new opera or an new art exhibition.

Apple is doing, of course, very well. Google them. The most common headline is the 'social responsibility nightmare'. Hope we do never apply the same level of efficiency to the health system, education and water supply.

We need a proper balance in our lives and in this world. We need sustainability and liberalism. We need a strong and (quite efficient) government. However, nowadays we are drifting in the opposite direction and we will soon find ourselves in the uncharted waters (read foe example The Death of Liberal Class by Chris Hedges). The corporations rule. Government and media are corrupt. As a result, the general interest in the environmental issues has gradually declined. The current carbon tax saga is a clear evidence thereof.

*If we want to have an universal access to the modern health system, education or clean water, the government agencies can not be equally efficient as private sector is.*

Rob, it is that double standard, that I have a problem with. If its
PE, then we want a better deal, we want competition, people talk of
the evils of any profits, but if its Govt, then it seemingly does not
matter how many billions are peed up against walls in the name of
Govt depts. As long as they seemingly mean well, that is all that
seems to matter. Bah.

Govt should be held to account, just like any other organisation.
In fact more so, as it is public money that is being wasted. But
alot of these depts are so structured, that their employees do
very well, with minimal stress or effort, the taxpayer just keeps
coughing up because nobody questions the system.

Years ago a relative of mine worked for a troubleshooting company
of dynamic thinkers. They would visit a company, examine its structure
and systems from a different perspective, rather then the stale old
systems that had built up over decades in some of these places.
They would cut out all the dead wood, cut the waste, sometimes over
months, often completely turning these places around from being
a dead loss to being efficient and productive once again. Often
is was lower level employees who would point out the waste, for
management often wants to perpetuate what they already have.
The results were quite amazing. IMHO every Govt dept needs that
kind of a restructuring on a regular basis, the savings would
be many billions.

This furphy that if its Govt it must be ok and if its private
enterprise it must be evil, is a totally flawed one.

Yabby, Yes you are right. This is a double standard, but it is O.K. in this situation. In this context, it does not have a negative connotation to me. I wish that the private sector becomes less greedy (sorry for the mantra again), the government a little bit more efficient and differences reduced. However, when the latter is possible, the first unlikely.

Dear Rob Canoe,
What drew me to you thread was the top two lines. What will make the change are the Australian public *making the Government put tariffs back in place. The ONLY country in the world to have removed all. . There are people in each state that want to lobby to have these changes made and i can’t help but wonder if your so interested why you wouldn’t have been first to sign up. Of course your free to do as you wish. I just get tired of people in cyber space grand standing – and doing zip else. That’s what’s wrong in this country- somebody else will do it – leave it for the next bloke. Just like a Government department – all time wasted but no results. So if we are going to lobby the government about free trade and tariffs let’s DO IT.

Now you say= * Forget about the regional development. *

Rob why would you say that with no explanation ? When the rest of the world are rushing around buying up( 80%) in Australia for food security? It simply makes no sense.

All we really need to do is stand up as people of this nation demand tariffs are put back- stop a lot of welfare, child payments, lower the population instead of increasing ,produce our own petrol of which we have plenty.
Oh & of course STOP selling our water to foreign countries!!
Australia is the only country in the world that is self sufficient. Which is why we have China and others over here buying up our farm lands.
So again coming back to my question why would you say forget regional areas-? That is the life blood of this country.
Not to mention we have a moral obligation to increase free range farmers to STOP intensive farming & plants to service our meat products and export in a box giving jobs to those regional areas.
( At least until the world becomes a more civilized place & stops killing animals to eat)