Stories, Questions, and Mysteries

Stories, Questions, and Mysteries

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Current views which may gain ground

In the last few days there has been mention of Australians who own enough money to tell the government what to do. Wayne Swan has published his views in The Monthly. Clive Palmer has responded with personal attacks rather than a critique of Swan's ideas. So who does decide the good of the people who elected the current government? Doesn't every citizen have a right to express their views?
But there are several factors which make the equity and fairness values invisible.
In the world of ideas Palmer would respond in The Monthly or some similar medium. Not so.
Why speak when you can use a PA system? Not all citizens are equal in the power of the media they can command, nor for that matter the governments they can chummy up to with donations.
So if we want a democracy we need to accept that not all voters are equal and if that is the case there needs be some balancing mechanism. If not capitalism is no better than  the animalistic law of the survival of the fittest; in current terms the survival of those with most money.
If the Greek notion of democracy rested on notions of government of the people  by thoughtfulness we have lost our way from that source. If sufficient or a surfeit of money enables a citizen to change ideas or government policy pity help the rest of us who may have different ideas, less money and thought we had elected a government, with all its faults, to manage the country.
Recently I saw a video clip, which seemed reliable enough, recording a meeting of Australian
mining magnates and others with Lord Monckton in which the Viscount advises the special few to buy up media  to get their message out denying climate change as the Viscount does and like a good consultant offers his services to assist. Within a few days Gina Rinehart was buying bit into Fairfax Media. Have a look:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/feb/08/fox-news-lord-monckton-australia

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