Yabby I suppose I should mention that I was self employed for 30 yrs or more. I am very satisfied with my skill set. I still love what I do I still love my wife of 38 yrs. All my kid are grown up, I have a small mortgage. I have to say that overall I'm happy. Thanks for asking.

cheers T2

Dear Thinker 2,

I don't think we have all that much to worry
about. I feel that our representative democracy can
continue to thrive because of the following conditions:

Firstly we are an advanced economy which contains
an urbanized, literate, and sophisticated population
that expects some participation in the political process.
We are politically stable, because our large middle-class
has a stake in the system and would be reluctant to support
political upheavals of any kind.

In societies with a large, impoverished lower class - such
as most of the nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America -
there are likely to be strong opposition from the ruling
class to any meaningful extension of democratic rights.

Next we have institutional checks on the power of the state.
We have laws limiting the exercise of power,
constitutional arrangements for getting rid of officials as
well as guarantees of free criticism by the press and other
media. We also have informal restraints expressed in widely
shared norms and values, set limits that public officials
dare not violate. These underlying assumptions about the
"rules of the game" are an invisible but vital part of our
democratic system that protects us.

We also have a tolerance of dissent. A tolerance of criticism and
of dissenting opinions - to me that is fundamental in a
democracy.

And finally we allow our citizens to make informed choices.
We don't deny them access to information that they need to make
these choices. Our media is not censored, our citizens have
the right of free speech, and we insist that public officials
tell the truth.

We also have a diffusion of power - we distribute it to state
and local governments - power is spread beyond government into other
institutions and organisations.

The existence of separate centers of power
in labour unions, corporations, churches,
and elsewhere,
provides a system in our
country of checks and balances
and ensures that each group must
take account of the others.

In my opinion we are a "lucky country." But of course we do
need to remain vigilant to keep it so.

Socialists griping at the lack of freedom. Amazing. Look in the mirror.

And then it turns out that what they mean by freedom is free handouts!

Freedom isn't free! It means you've got to grow up, and take responsibility for your life. Thinker2 has done nothing in here but cry for *more* government restrictions - the opposite of freedom. More total confusion from the ones causing the problem they are complaining about.

Peter Hume,

I don't know who you are but labelling people actually
adds nothing to the discussion. Kindly try again -
and this time please be slightly more specific.
Thanks.

Lexi my dear, you have missed perhaps the most important thing that keeps us free.

We have a defence force who would, nearly to a man, shout "UP YOURS" if ever a Julia or anyone else directed them to take action against the Oz population.

None of the things you mention have much effect, if a potential dictator has the loyalty of the military, & the police force, particularly a secret police.

While we don't have a military class, with superior living standards to everyone else, we are pretty safe.

Dear Hasbeen,

Re-read my previous post. And then perhaps you'll understand
why what you are suggesting would never happen in our country.