(no subject)
So evidently this new, regularly-updated (sort of) journal of mine is just going to consist of rants or short observations on things that piss me off.
But on that topic, is anyone else disgusted by the remarks made by treasurer costello a while ago now (that seem to keep resurfacing in the news - The Age a few days ago) about parents having three kids? I believe the line went something like parents should have "one for mum, one for dad, and one for Australia". I find it bizarre that no one ever made much of a big deal out of this. To me it seems to be one of the most authoritarian, neo-Nazi comments ever made by anyone in our government. It's a short step from recommending verbally an action and handing out medals, rewards and other incentives for it (such as Hitler did, giving out medals and accords for mothers who had more than five children). To my mind this is indicative not so much of the state we're currently living in, but the path that certain members of the government and of Australian society in general want to take us down, i.e. a much more authoritarian, socially restrictive one, in which morals and 'proper' behaviour are dictated by the state, with strict penalties for anyone who moves out of line. Perhaps I'm making too big a deal out of this, but to my mind it's small things like this that best document the feelings and opinions of members of an institution.
But on that topic, is anyone else disgusted by the remarks made by treasurer costello a while ago now (that seem to keep resurfacing in the news - The Age a few days ago) about parents having three kids? I believe the line went something like parents should have "one for mum, one for dad, and one for Australia". I find it bizarre that no one ever made much of a big deal out of this. To me it seems to be one of the most authoritarian, neo-Nazi comments ever made by anyone in our government. It's a short step from recommending verbally an action and handing out medals, rewards and other incentives for it (such as Hitler did, giving out medals and accords for mothers who had more than five children). To my mind this is indicative not so much of the state we're currently living in, but the path that certain members of the government and of Australian society in general want to take us down, i.e. a much more authoritarian, socially restrictive one, in which morals and 'proper' behaviour are dictated by the state, with strict penalties for anyone who moves out of line. Perhaps I'm making too big a deal out of this, but to my mind it's small things like this that best document the feelings and opinions of members of an institution.