Rant #2

To try and stave off the worst of the global financial crisis the Australian government offered all private homeowners free roof insulation. By and large it was a success, but a number of cowboy operators took advantage of the scheme and some shoddy work was done. But instead of getting off their arses and checking the credentials of those installing the insulation, more than a few of the lazy, brain-dead, fuckwitted recipients instead blamed the government directly, and especially the minister - Peter Garrett.

There's an old maxim which states that the public gets the politicians that it deserves, and I think it was George Carlin who said that selfish, ignorant people get selfish, ignorant politicians. To me, the Australian politician that sums this up the most is John Winston Howard. And here's a typical Howard voter:

(Sydney) Daily Telegraph 3rd August 2010. "Stuart" of Kurri Kurri writes:

"I had insulation put in my roof courtesy of Peter Garrett.
Last week I had to change an energy saving globe in my downlight. To get at the globe I had to pull out the globe housing. On doing so, I noticed some of the insulation around the light area.
I know the installer put a barrier around the light but when I saw the insulation I decided to ring the hotline. I could not fault the gentleman at the hotline.
He was very helpful and informed me that someone would be ringing to assist me in getting my roof area checked. Imagine my surprise upon getting a phone call and the person said "Oh you live in a rural area, it's going to take a while to get someone there".
Thanks very much.
Should my house burn down in the meantime, I will be sure to let your readers know."

This, to me, sums up everything that's wrong with this society. The bloke has got his roof insulated for nothing as part of the Labor Government's response to the current global financial crisis and all he can do is whinge. I mean fuck me what more do you want? You get it for nothing and then you moan on when a bit of it covers an electrical fitting. GET UP IN THE ROOF AND FUCKING FIX IT YOURSELF IDIOT!! Here's a bloke that is apparently capable of pulling out a globe housing, but can't manage to move a bit of insulation. Not content with that particular whinge, he then starts griping because it's going to take someone a while to come out and fix it for him, again presumably for nothing. Of course it's going to take a while to get someone out to a rural area, Australia is a huge country and if you want rural living then that's one of the pitfalls. What does he suggest, a government office in every 3 person hamlet?
I'd give people like this FUCK ALL!!!

Rant #1

I grew up in the Britain of the 1960s and 70s and it was a pretty decent society. People seemed to look out for each other and the old Tories, even if they did represent the wealthy, had a sense of mutual obligation about them. They understood that to have a harmonious society everyone had to be able to participate socially and economically. But when Keith Joseph and his protege Margaret Thatcher took over the Conservative Party, and sent it in the neo-liberal direction, that old society was smashed. Since Thatcher, Britain has become a less fair place where the rich have become richer at the expense of everyone else. And where the new Tories went, New Labour followed - a massive sell-out of its old constituency!
We are no longer a society, but individuals. And the individual is powerless against the mighty. Our trade unions and other self-help organisations have been smashed and now we stand divided and alone. As a consequence our standard of living has fallen. This is as true of Australia, where I now live, as of Britain. I remember my dad, a skilled industrial worker, supporting a wife and four children, and owning a five bedroom house. My grandfather, a carpenter, owned a detatched four bedroom house - and my grandmother never worked a day in her life! Try that today. Today both partners are forced to work, and work more hours, and if they're lucky they might be able to afford a small flat. But apparently we are much richer now. Well the rich are anyway! Public services have been decimated, education dumbed down, and popular culture driven down to the lowest common denominator. Greed, selfishness and rudeness are now virtues and this is reflected in our greedy, self-centred politicians. The standard of public debate is pathetic, the mainstream media simplistic and one-sided, there is a lack of in-depth analysis and political debate is reduced to name-calling and sloganeering.
Pissed off? You bet I am!