Banjo Paterson,
If you want to query it be my guest, why not instigate a survey & get it confirmed ?
Just go & speak with Public Servants & bring up the subject of political party & presto, you'll have the confirmation !

Indy, is it true you are on a first names bases with the public servants down at your local Çentrelink' office, where you spend half your time trying to pick up extra la grasse for yourself from us taxpayers? Only two years to go and its your 50th anniversary of picking up a welfare cheque from the taxpayer. You did once say on the forum you lost your job back in 72.

Paul1405,
Being silly makes you feel intelligent, does it ? Fyi, I've never received unemployment benefits repeat, never !
I lost my work back in 74 when the Goaf started to ruin small businesses & handed the likes of you Public service jobs so that the likes of you would become a vertebrae in Labor's back bone. Normally in people it's called spine but so far as I know Tape worms don't have a spine !
Take away Public Servants from the voting booth & presto, no more Labor !

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Dear david f., Dear Loudmouth2,

.

Thank you both for introducing me to John Keane and his two books, “Civil Society” (1998) and “The Life and Death of Democracy” (2009).

I haven’t had a chance to read either of them yet but, apparently, both have had a certain amount of success.

However, I did read the extensive review of “The Life and Death of Democracy” in Wikipedia but I can’t say I agree with many of the author’s ideas on democracy as described by the author of the review.

It seems to me, for example, that democracy, from Greek demos “the people” and kratia “power, rule”, began the moment we human beings broke away from our common ancestor with the chimpanzees about 4 to 7 million years ago. Keane seems to think it only started in the late Bronze Age (1500-1200 BC).

That’s way out, in my book.

He has obviously overlooked the fact that primeval man had no ruler, no king, no queen, no emperor, no god. He was his own master and ruled his own life.

Whereas, another Wikipedia article tells us :

« Studies of modern-day hunter-gatherers offer a glimpse into the lifestyle of small, nomadic tribes dating back almost 2 million years ago.

« With limited resources, these groups were egalitarian by nature, scraping up enough food to survive and fashioning basic shelter for all. Division of labour by gender became more pronounced with the advancement of hunting techniques, particularly for larger game.

« Along with cooking, controlled use of fire fostered societal growth through communal time around the hearth. Physiological evolution also led to changes, with the bigger brains of more recent ancestors leading to longer periods of childhood and adolescence.

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(Continued …)

.

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(Continued …)

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« By the time of the Neanderthals, hunter-gatherers were displaying such “human” characteristics as burying their dead and creating ornamental objects. Homo sapiens continued fostering more complex societies. By 130,000 years ago, they were interacting with other groups based nearly 200 miles away »

http://www.history.com/topics/pre-history/hunter-gatherers

I also disagree with Keane on his vision of representative democracy. You just have to read my initial post when I created this thread and you will see the difference.

Where I do agree with Keane is that democracy is evolutive – and it still has a long way to go !

.

..democracy is evolutive – and it still has a long way to go !
Banjo Paterson,
Yep, as long as the myriad of minority groups demand AND get special dispensation at every quip & turn, Democracy is talking a step backwards.
I think this where the Socialists are getting so misguided. They actually believe there's such a thing as Democracy. What we have is a pretend Democracy in which democratic processes aren't accepted & perpetually vehemently opposed by the idealists !
Australia would be a totally different & much better nation if we had Democracy that includes a license & a term of national service before eligibility to vote !