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Australia is run by a bunch of corrupt neoliberal oligarchs burning the place to the ground on the way out the door They have "better" things to do than worry
by IntelMiner 8y ago
Australia is run by a bunch of corrupt neoliberal oligarchs burning the place to the ground on the way out the door
They have "better" things to do than worry about some "peasant". Like their six figure pensions and lobbying deals
- collyw 8y agoIs there a country who's citizens don't think their government is corrupt?
- freyir 8y agoThe Nordic countries, New Zealand, Switzerland and Singapore are perceived as least corrupt by experts and in opinion polls. Do the citizens agree?
- pjc50 8y agoNorway is doing pretty well for a country with such a large sovereign wealth fund; most places would have had it stolen by now. It seems they just have the ordinary run of scandals: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45173500 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45173500
- mullen 8y agoI love Norwegian political scandals. Compared to American scandals, they are just nothing but people are held accountable anyways. I would love to see some American politicians career ended because they took their phone to a country they should not have.
- atombender 8y agoIt's worth noting that while the wealth fund is enormous, it is also being spent [1] to cover budget deficits. (More specifically, the returns are being spent.) The government has historically tried to avoid doing so, but had to dip into the funds in 2016–2018. The rules around spending was formalized in 2001 [2], but the extent to which Norway was dipping into the funds has been controversial the last few years, with economists warning that it puts the country at risk in a future economic downturn. Norway's wealth fund is actually codified as law, which makes it difficult for a future government to "steal" it. [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-02/norway-stops-withdrawals-from-its-1-trillion-wealth-fund https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-02/norway-st... [2] https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/okonomi-og-budsjett/norsk_okonomi/bruk-av-oljepenger-/id449281/ https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/okonomi-og-budsjett/norsk...
- interfixus 8y agoI'm Danish. Prime minister is a drunken buffoon with no apparent shred of personal integrity, and generally I hold all politicians to be only in it for the perks and the power and the sex, but no, I wouldn't call our government corrupt, just institutionally inept, because politicians are not in the business of reasoning, and the administrative apparatus is Pournelle's iron law run amok. We simply don't do corrupt to any significant degree. Probably the niftiest social trick the Scandinavian societies ever evolved. Come to think of it, I was offered a bribe today, just a few hours ago. Turned it down without even thinking.
- p1esk 8y agoThe fact that you were offered a bribe today, and it does not seem like a big deal to you, makes your argument somewhat weaker.
- shafyy 8y agoI'm Swiss and agree.
- meshenna 8y agoI'm Finnish. Almost everyone I know has lost all confidence in the political system years ago.
- emilfihlman 8y agoSame, it's pretty jarring. This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.
- freyir 8y agoWhat has caused that? What isn’t working?
- meshenna 8y agoThis is anecdotal, but I think the common perception is that voting just doesn't matter - politicians make promises to get votes and don't follow through after the elections. And it's the same politicians cycling in and out, year after year. Clearly people are voting for them, but just as clearly there is a large portion of the population that feels like their concerns aren't being addressed. What's interesting is that the people I know personally who've more or less given up on politics can't be clearly identified as belonging to a specific demographic. Some of them are students, some are male knowledge workers in their 20's and 30's, some are female medical professionals and administrators in their 50's and 60's. My father, who is an academic, has the most faith in the political process among the people I know.
- yitchelle 8y agoOne of my Singaporean friends mentioned that the population is quite content with their government, they are enjoying the countries prosperity and the country is peaceful. He said, "Why change a working system?"
- yakshaving_jgt 8y agoI lived long enough in Sweden to become a citizen, and I believe the government and justice system are not only corrupt, but also morally bankrupt. Sweden does basically nothing when a person with a certain background rapes a child. Wouldn’t happen in Poland! For the downvoters: Explain this http://www.friatider.se/f-rvaltningsr-tt-kallar-14-rig-syrisk-flicka-br-dmogen http://www.friatider.se/f-rvaltningsr-tt-kallar-14-rig-syris...
- __s 8y agoAs a Canadian I think the government is corrupt, but not dysfunctionally so
- vkou 8y agoAs a former resident of BC, I think the former government was dysfunctionally corrupt, in the sense that the corruption was actively leading to dysfunction in the province. It's one thing when politicians steal for themselves. It's another thing entirely when they steal for their friends.
- firethief 8y agoMany North Koreans hold their leadership in high regard
- Farradfahren 8y agoI hold it with such believes as i hold it with all believes whos aphostates could loose their lives. In dubio pro dubio. In my world, there are very few such north koreans and very few moslems - and there where very few catholics in the dark ages.
- markbnj 8y agoIf true this could be because all governments tend toward corruption.
- Farradfahren 8y agoEmpires amplify corruption, due to the conquered ressources, territorys and people subverting the usual repair functions of bureaucracy, governments and institutions. This can escalate enough, to actually make the people "unneeded and a liability".
- CryptoPunk 8y agoDo you really need to put "neoliberal" in front of oligarch? It imparts on them a commitment to principles that they don't uphold. This is a government that undermines core liberal values like private property rights and privacy rights, with a multitude of financial regulations, surveillance state anti-money-laundering laws, and prohibitions on unrestricted use of encrypted communication.
- firethief 8y agoBut we have to know which team they're on!!
- r_smart 8y agoAs I understand the term 'neo-liberal' it's kind of a hybrid ideology that strides the two US political parties. Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton are both neo-liberals, though ostensibly, opposed to each other. It's basically the worst of the political philosophies espoused by the two parties. Basically it means more authoritarian control and the prosecution of wars all over the planet for the sake of establishing a new world order.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- cc439 8y ago>This is a government that undermines core liberal values like private property rights and privacy rights, with a multitude of financial regulations, surveillance state anti-money-laundering laws, and prohibitions on unrestricted use of encrypted communication. That's the "neo" part of "neo-liberal".
- CryptoPunk 8y agoBut "neoliberalism" is frequently derided as a free-market fundamentalist ideology that was the driving force behind a period of alleged deregulation and government cut-backs extending from the early 1980s to the present. It's really an inaccurate characterization of both the last 40 years and the beliefs of the parties in charge.