Green Politics
APEC Meeting - An Orgy Of Consumption
Date Mon 17 Sep 2007 | Leave a Comment
Australian prime minister John Howard and his world-leader bureaucrat buddies have just demonstrated their utter contempt for the real environmental issue and the “common” people of the world. It’s disgusting…
These world leaders attending the APEC meeting have just squandered around $700 million on little more than pomp and ceremony to massage their already monstrous egos. These skilled manipulators of people believe they’re entitled to live the high life at huge expense to their constituents and the environment. International travel, fine foods, fine wines and mind-bogglingly expensive security measures are essential fare for these irresponsible leaders bloated by their own self-importance.
The claimed cost of the APEC meeting is $320 million of which $170 million was for security alone. Add the cost of the interruption to Sydney business which business groups estimate at over $300 million. Now add the cost of international flights and security for these leaders and their entourage. There’s the $700 million. So what? It’s only money… or is it?
In this delusional world of fiat money created out of thin air and then lent to attract interest, $700 million seems like nothing. A mere trifle. But this is not just monopoly money. The dispensing of this fake, debt-based money costs the environment big time.
Every dollar squandered by these environmental vandals must be earned by taxpayers. To earn money, the majority of taxpayers are forced to commute, compete, produce, mine, extract, manufacture, consume and pollute. Further, these taxpayers must create new markets, create demand through advertising and generally participate in “economic growth” that is trashing planet Earth and people’s lives.
APEC meetings are an orgy of consumption thinly disguised as “management” of the Asia-Pacific region. These elitist world “leaders” with their snouts in the trough are totally out of touch with reality. Instead of leading by example they’re promoting the rampant consumerism that drives environmental destruction and perpetuates debt-based money.
Rampant Consumerism
Date Mon 4 Jun 2007 | Leave a Comment
There’s no doubt that the Australian government is dragging its feet on the environment. And it’s highly likely that we’ll never see an adequate response to climate change and environmental degradation until we the people demand it.
Typical of governments blinded by their desperation to be re-elected their focus is still on “economic growth” and maintenance of our “current living standards”.
What we hear from Howard is that “his” government wants to take a “measured approach” to climate change that will not impact adversely on the Australian economy or our “standard of living.”
John Howard carefully measures everything he says. He’s the consummate, “clever and increasingly cunning” politician. What he is doing here is attempting to reinforce the notion that we’re doing well.
“We’ve never had it so good” he tells us. He cites our current economic situation as a testament to “his” government’s economic credentials. But let’s quickly explore those economic credentials and our current “standard of living”…
- Australia is in the throes of a housing affordability crisis.
- Australia continues to import more than it exports despite a 10 year resources boom
- Australia is essentially living on borrowed money with growing foreign debt currently around $530 Billion
- Australia’s gap between rich and poor is widening
Those 4 economic indicators alone indicate that we are not in good shape economically.
Howard appears to subscribe to the philosophy that if he simply keeps saying everything’s good… everything’s good… everything’s good… everything’s good that somehow the people of Australia will be mesmerized into believing it.
The economy is not good. It merely appears good. It’s only an illusion that rampant consumerism is creating.
It’s fair to say that we are currently participating in an orgy of consumption that masks the underlying problems.
The Real “Standard Of Living”
If we take the emphasis away from rampant consumption and ownership of material possessions surely it’s hard to conclude that our living standard has improved in the last 30 or 40 years or that it is even “high”.
Truth is that the well-being of a society is not really represented by crude measures like mathematically derived standard of living indices. The true well-being of a society must take into account more subjective human ideals to arrive at a measure of the quality of life.
How does Australia fare in that respect? One need only look at a few facts…
- Australians are carrying high levels of personal debt
- Housing affordability is low - more and more Australians simply cannot afford to buy or even rent a home.
- Australian suicide rates are high.
- Australian divorce rates are high as families succumb to financial pressure.
- Australians are under-employed. Despite government claims of low unemployment the reality is that more people are working part-time and casual positions.
- Australian job security is low.
- Australian families now need two incomes to make ends meet
If you cast a critical eye over the Australian “quality of life” you will not see any real improvements over that which our system offered some 30 or 40 years ago.
Our governments obsession with economic growth and the maintenance of a “high living standard” in material terms is directly responsible for environmental degradation.
The Australian government is still actively promoting the accrual of material wealth i.e. rampant consumerism despite all the warnings nature and science are now sending.
The Right Response To Environmental Degradation
The root cause of environmental degradation is quite obviously rampant consumerism without regard for the environment. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to see it. Accordingly, education campaigns to help curb our insatiable appetite for consumer goods would seem to be the first place to start.
Instead we see a government whose primary focus to date has been carbon trading and other means to “offset” the release of carbon dioxide within some framework to make the continued production of carbon dioxide more palatable.
While it’s true that over time, carbon trading will raise the price of consumer goods and ultimately curb buying (in theory), Carbon trading is a bandaid that doesn’t address the core problem of rampant consumerism.
Why are we not seeing education campaigns with a clear message that our current levels of consumption are unsustainable?
Surely it’s simple to run community service announcements that encourage less consumption. Consumer manipulation through advertising is such a trivial matter. After all, advertising drives rampant consumerism so it can surely counter the same.
Government is clearly missing the point on climate change. A secure sustainable lifestyle cannot be built around rampant consumerism.
Australian Government Reform
Date Sun 27 May 2007 | Leave a Comment
The Australian Political scene is ugly. People’s opinions don’t count anymore. We’re not consulted. We’re actively ignored…
Iraq springs to mind here. Our government was sent a clear message at the time. “Not in our name” was the cry.
When questioned Howard’s response was “The mob haven’t made up their mind”. To me that smacks of disdain for the voters and general public.
Howard classifies us as the “mob”. As if we’re somehow unfit to make important decisions. Unfortunately that mentality is rife throughout our government. Governments think they know best. Should you try to engage in the political process and offer a view or solutions you’ll be politely patronized and told - “We’re looking into it… rest assured we’ll make the right decisions for our country.”
It’s not their job to think anything or make decisions. Their role is to represent us and act on our decision. Nothing more.
An issue as serious as a war in foreign lands should be decided by the people. We should have been consulted.
The current Australian political system is deeply flawed. There is NO way for us to have our say. Government points to elections as the means for expressing our wishes - Howard has even claimed a “mandate” from the electoral process. But the process is deeply flawed.
Our only effective vote (a mandatory one at that) is a choice between two parties. Labour or Liberal. We are told to select a raft of policies from one side or the other.
Our political system is downright dumb. There’s no means for us to cherry-pick the best policies and ideas. We are effectively divided over a non-issue. All we get to decide is which party is at the helm of our current dumb system!
Australia requires urgent reform to the political process but it’s not on their agenda. Politicians and bureaucrats have their snouts in the trough and they don’t want to change the situation.
They offer up all kinds of reforms but never political reform. It’s not an option. Australians have been hoodwinked by a very clever campaign directed by big business.
The following quote from The United States Banker’s Association magazine of August 1924 spells out the real agenda…
“Capital must protect itself in every possible way, both by combination and legislation. Debts must be collected, mortgages foreclosed as rapidly as possible. When, through the process of law the common people lose their homes, they will become more docile and more easily governed through the strong arm of government applied by a central power of wealth under leading financiers. These truths are well known among our principal men who are now engaged in forming an imperialism to govern the world.
By dividing the voter through the political party system we can get them to expend their energies in fighting for questions of no importance. It is thus by discreet action we can secure for ourselves that which has been so well planned and so successfully accomplished.”
It’s time for Australians to speak up. Demand accountability from Governments. Demand that government be restored as the servant not the master.
Building A Non-Sustainable Economy
Date Wed 23 May 2007 | 1 Comment
The Australian government is building an unsustainable economy.
As GST increasingly becomes the revenue base for government we are confronted with a serious dilemma…
Rampant consumerism is the primary cause of environmental degradation. Yet thanks to the GST the government now has a real vested interest in us continuing to consume and degrade the environment in the process.
Talk about conflict of interest!
Governments are telling us the economy is in great shape… Inflation is low… Interest rates are “low” and stable. They’re practically coaxing us to spend these days. Consumer sentiment is up.
Our government is actively promoting consumption because the more we spend the more they get. It is that simple. The Australian government is now hooked on GST revenue.
Successive Australian governments have been seduced by “global interests” and bought the lie of false money and rampant consumption. They’re now attempting to run a consumer economy just like they do in the good old US of A. (It’s not only their wars we copy).
They’re building an unsustainable economy where our spending props up the system. Never mind that we can’t afford it. Never mind that we’re living beyond our means to the tune of $550 Billion in foreign debt. Never mind that rampant consumerism is destroying our planet.
Buy, spend and consume - it’s good for the economy is their mantra. So where is their “real” response to climate change and environmental degradation? The two ideas are at odds here.
How can the government effectively combat environmental degradation when it is hooked on the revenue from us spending and consuming? It simply can’t.
Governments, Bureaucracy and Sustainable Living
Date Tue 22 May 2007 | Leave a Comment
When you boil it all down sustainable living is about efficiency. That’s why no serious discussion about sustainable practice can ignore the rise of big bloated governments and their attendant bureaucracies.
Fact is the institution of government is directly responsible for unsustainable practice.
The French philosopher and libertarian, Bastiat, said it best:
“Government is the myth whereby one half of the population live off the other half.”
That’s precisely the problem faced by all so-called developed economies and the world at large. We are seeing the sickening, debilitating rise of an unproductive sector.
An ever-growing percentage of our workforce is engaged in a whole range of unproductive pursuits; administration, ensuring compliance, rubber-stamping, pen-pushing, bean-counting and big brother style tracking of others.
Big bloated governments have a natural tendency to drive the growth of non-productive “work”. Their focus on “full employment” or low unemployment as an election aid means they do not consider the intrinsic value to the community of the jobs created. To them it’s job creation and simply a numbers game – a job is a job.
But the reality is we’re seeing an explosion of administrators and public servants paid reasonably well for doing unreasonably little of real value for the community. They’re given perk packages, government cars and travel allowances to abuse. All in the name of job creation and low unemployment.
It’s essentially a grandiose public dole scheme that’s open to abuse. And abused it is…
The government sector suffers from entrenched cronyism and jobs-for-the-boys mentality that ensures further growth of the non-productive sector.
What we are seeing is an explosion of parasitic bureaucracy and over-regulation that stifles creative enterprise and produces vast inefficiencies. Big bloated governments are unsustainable. Tell them to get a real job.
Politics, Money And Sustainable Living
Date Sun 20 May 2007 | 1 Comment
If you want to get serious about sustainability, the politics cannot be ignored.
Governments are directly responsible for much of the greed and corruption that hinders truly sustainable development. The whole institution of government is a large part of the problem we face today.
The current monetary system under which we labour, save, invest and live is flawed. Our monetary system is corrupt to the core. This corrupt monetary system is responsible for “artificial competition” and therefore directly responsible for unsustainable development.
It’s all about the money we use…
Money is created out of thin air.
It seems hard to believe. It goes against what we’ve been told about banks and how they operate. But the truth is money is created out of thin air. And the consequences for a sustainable future are dire as we’ll see.
As a kid your parents probably explained the virtue of saving for the future. It was most likely explained to you that banks would pay you interest and that your savings would grow. If you were inquisitive enough to ask why, the answer would seem to make sense…
Banks take your money and lend it to other people. The people who borrow that money would be happy to pay interest. The bank takes a small fee for the service and then pays you interest.
The only problem is it does not work that way at all. It’s simply not true.
Money is created out of thin air. Worse still, all the money in existence has been borrowed from private banks and attracts interest.
How can they do this?
The banks use the FRACTIONAL RESERVE system to CREATE CREDIT.
The fractional reserve system is a system whereby banks are able to lend (create) more “money” than they have on hand.
Every country has different regulations regarding the amount banks must have in reserve (note well that this reserve is not necessarily cash).
It is generally accepted that banks are able to lend up to 10 times their reserve, however many researchers believe and report that in many cases banks lend up to 70 times their reserve requirement.
To establish as fact that banks create “money” (credit) let’s see what experts in the field have said…
“Banks create credit. It is a mistake to suppose that bank credit is created to any extent by the payment of money into banks. A loan made by a bank is a clear addition to the amount of money in the community.”
– The Encyclopaedia Britannica (14th Edition)
“By means of a loan, an advance, an overdraft, or by the cashing of bills, the banks are able to increase the volume of deposits in the community, and because of this process it is not correct to say that a bank loans out deposits which the people make with it. It is clear that it creates the deposit by the issue of the loan. The loan travels back to the bank, or to another bank and assumes the form of a deposit”.
– Professor A.L.G. Mackey,
Professor of Economics, University of Rangoon.
“The essential and distinctive feature of a bank and banker is to create and issue credit payable on demand, and this credit is intended to be put into circulation and serve the purposes of money. A bank therefore, is not an office for the borrowing and lending of money, it is a manufactory of credit.”
– H.A.D. Macleod, MA. Barrister-at-law.
The theory and Practice of Banking
“The banker creates the means of payment out of nothing.”
– RAG. Hartwell, Assistant Secretary to the British Treasury
“The modern banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight-of-hand that was ever invented. Banking was conceived in iniquity and born in sin. Bankers own the Earth.” …He continued and concluded…”But if you want to continue to be slaves of the bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, then let the bankers continue to create money and control credit.”
– Sir Josiah Stamp. The Bank of England.
BANKS CREATE MONEY OUT OF THIN AIR then CHARGE INTEREST ON THAT WHICH DID NOT EXIST IN THE FIRST PLACE.
The Interest On Borrowed Money Can Never Be Paid
Why can’t we pay the interest?
Let us answer that with a question:
Where will we GET the “money” to pay the interest? (without borrowing it).
Here is a simple illustration which will help you understand the situation:
Imagine a closed economic system, a room with 11 people. One acts as banker. The ten others each go to the banker and ask for a $10000 loan. The banker obliges, creates out of thin air, then loans the money at a mere 5% interest per annum to each of the ten for a period of one year. Exactly one year later the banker calls in the loans.
How can the interest be paid?
The banker has not created, nor put into circulation the $5000 with which to pay the interest !
In effect, the only means to pay the interest is to borrow more money that attracts interest!
The modern world has been enslaved by what is known as the debt money system. Your government has endorsed this system by licensing banks to act in this manner.
The slaves of this system must compete with each other for their slice of “interest”.
The Outcome For Sustainable Society
Thanks to fractional reserve banking we live in an environment of artificial competition. As people struggle to meet their interest obligation there are winners and losers.
Winners are the shrewd who increase output, cut corners, mine more, smelt more, sell more or outwit their competitors in other ways. The process forces all competitors and especially the winners to unwittingly pollute more, consume more and cause more harm to the environment in the race to get ahead.
The bottom line is every product and every service is made more expensive in the process. All output is hindered and made inefficient through an artificially induced debt load.
It’s the root cause of unsustainable development. Yet your government endorses and licenses banks and lending institutions to operate in this manner.
Truly sustainable development cannot take place without a drastic rethink and societal shift away from a debt based money system.
The way forward is collaboration not competition.