Comments | guiltyschu: And this is the last I'll have to say on politics for a while, I'm sure

guiltyschu

And this is the last I'll have to say on politics for a while, I'm sure

Nov 25, 2007 01:11

Dear Australia,

Oh dear. Baby did a bad, bad thing. Congratulations Australia - you've just elected a guy who used to be nicknamed Doctor Death. Yeah, that's a good sign ( Read more... )

Comments 16

mad_monk November 24 2007, 20:36:43 UTC

Not arguing. Just expressing an opinion. I'm not sure how to could get worse than it was. I wasn't sure what your problem with Rudd was but if cheap marketing and having an American style ego trip are your biggest concerns then I'm not really worried. I would go into more detail but I'll save that for my journal.

guiltyschu November 25 2007, 00:35:04 UTC

It really depends on whether you think the old system was bad. ;) I had my problems with it, you can't be happy with everything, but generally I was content with the Liberal government. I had no fear of the work choices legislation (and actually could see how it could be a good thing), I think BOTH showed equally a lack of concern for environmental issues (Kyoto - not a solution. Signing Kyoto means nothing, it's throwing a bone to the masses that don't realise it means nothing), and I didn't like that Labor's way of proposing policies was to either copy Liberal's or to say "WE WILL THROW MONEY AT THIS AREA" and then hope for the best because they have no plans what to actually do with the money. I thought at every point Rudd's campaign exploited the average Australian's lack of knowledge about politics and was deceitful. Liberal's smear tactics weren't much better, but I didn't find them as underhanded. I found his promises outlandish and silly. Some of the big problems I had with Howard, I still have with Rudd (the obvious - ( ... )

mad_monk November 25 2007, 03:28:58 UTC

If Kyoto is meaningless then why not sign it? Kyoto doesn't require us to change what we are doing but refusing makes us look irresponsible internationally. Saying sorry to the Aboriginals too for that matter. We are still the only country who hasn't officially apologised for the atrocities inflicted on the native inhabitants. It is similarly meaningless in a practical sense but it has great meaning to the people who care about it. Sending the army into the NT has caused serious damage to the invaded communities ( ... )

guiltyschu November 25 2007, 04:48:16 UTC

I'm not against ratifying Kyoto. I AM against Rudd using it as an environmental platform because in reality, signing Kyoto will not have any impact whatsoever on climate change. But to the people that don't know that, they'll think ratifying Kyoto is awesome, and I think Rudd capitalised on that lack of knowledge to win votes. Personal opinion, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I found it dirty.

But Howard did say he was sorry. He said he was sorry for the atrocities committed, and he felt sorry for what had happened. He refused to take personal responsibility for it though, and I don't think that any of our leaders should have to - and that applies to Rudd too. They did not personally harm the Aborigines, and I think showing sympathy and understanding towards what happened to them is very much an important thing, but they should not have to bear the burden of what was done in the past. If your great-great-grandfather killed or enslaved my great-great-grandfather, I wouldn't hold you accountable for that, because it wasn't ( ... )

Thread 5

7lifeuncommon7 November 25 2007, 03:49:45 UTC

Condolences, Rae. I know what it's like to shake one's head incredulously at the nation.

*hug, handshake, goodwill and no hard feelings*

:) I hope to see you soon!

guiltyschu November 25 2007, 04:50:52 UTC

I'd be lying if I said this wasn't the result I expected. ^^ Shit happens, life moves on, and three years isn't that long to wait for another election, especially as I'm already planning on spending two thirds of that overseas. XD Hopefully things don't fall apart as disastrously as I fear they will! Like I said, I'd love to be wrong, but as a good little cynic, I'm not holding out hope.

We definitely have to hang out soon. I've got your Burma bands. ♥ :D

7lifeuncommon7 November 25 2007, 04:55:40 UTC

And I don't got your money. XD It's okay, the Ministry of Plenty pays me tomorrow morning. I have to give my car back to my folks for a week come tonight, so I'll have to public transport-it for any rendezvous we happen to have. Perhaps in your home town or the City? Of course, you're always welcome at Heresy House. <3

I didn't know you were going to be away for TWO years!!! *flail*

guiltyschu November 25 2007, 04:59:48 UTC

No rush! Whenever you've got it, I'm cool. :D I've been working quite a bit lately and there is hope for a scholarship, so I'm feeling moderately wealthy at the moment. And I don't mind going to meet you. :D

Haha, I'm only going away to study for 1, never fear! But when I come back I intend to work and save for a year whilst going through the application for the JET program (a process that takes roughly a year *eyeroll*) and then go away again for another year or two. So, two out of three years abroad. I'll be back in the middle. :D

Thread 5

ravient November 25 2007, 14:07:18 UTC

^^;; hey, I didn't know you live in Australia.. *is shot*

the Australian Idol finale! <-- I saw the fireworks directly~ XDD

(The comment has been removed)

guiltyschu November 26 2007, 10:25:06 UTC

Rudd was Doctor Death. So named because of his lack of personality and humour. -_-; Awesome.

I'm just annoyed that our currency looks to have been devalued already - when I compared exchange rates post-election to pre-election, our dollar had dropped 10US cents.

latefees November 26 2007, 09:17:17 UTC

Reasons for Rudd:
- He's pulling us out of Iraq (an unjust war that's killed over 60 000 innocent civilians and is costing us heaps of money)
- He's not married to Bush and is willing to do things that might upset America for our benefit.
- He's after strengthening ties with China, our biggest trading partner
- He's already started to act on climate change.

You've said alot of things about how you don't like the labor party, but not any concrete reasons.

I voted Greens.

guiltyschu November 26 2007, 10:23:10 UTC

Have a look at my discussion with mad_monk, I think I've stated plenty of reasons for why I didn't vote Rudd. Add to that that I have serious issues with Labor's lack of concrete policies (Rudd makes promises with nothing to back them up IMO), I disagree with the Labor party's left-wing leanings (I dislike socialism) and after looking at the conditions of 'working class families' under the last Labor administration, forgive me for being a little wary of the current one ( ... )

latefees November 26 2007, 10:59:20 UTC

To keep this from escalating more I'll be succinct:

- I never said we'd be free of America, I said Rudd would be more willing to stand up to them
- We're only IN Iraq because of Howard and he had plenty of opportunity to pull out, you say it would have happened eventually but he showed no signs of actually doing it.
- Rudd's already going to a meeting in Bali on climate change...

And as a general note, socialism helps uni not be so expensive, increases funding to public schools and thus lowers crime through better education, gives free health care to the poor and let's bludgers have the doll. Which doesn't sound like a good thing, but either you give them some money or they're going to rob it from you(take a look at America as proof). At least this way we can keep track of them.

guiltyschu November 26 2007, 11:57:38 UTC

Sorry, on re-reading my comment, I've come across as quite confrontational, and I didn't mean to be. I'm just getting tired of people telling me my opinion is wrong and having to defend myself at every turn, especially as I think I've been quite considerate and not done the same to others ( ... )