One-Post Politics

[stylofone]

So Mike Lindell, who is facing a 1.3b lawsuit from Dominion, has not been paying his lawyers, and has informed them he probably will never pay them what he owes them, smart move that man!

I'm reminded of the episode of the Simpsons where Unky Herb goes from being a millionaire to penniless and homeless, living under a bridge with bunch of vagrants. Well, I can dream can't I?

[Irrev-Black]

And cue fuckin' Cliev...

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/nation ... 5e3k8.html

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Another waste of money.

[Irrev-Black]

We should also remember that...nobody wants to work anymore....isn't a new phenomena. In fact it's a good bet that most of those people complaining about people not wanting to work anymore come from a generation that was accused of not wanting to work anymore!

(SNIPPO)

And for 200 years, QLD has been in the grip of a wave of increasing crime, because of "spoilt yoofs", "slap on the wrist instead of a sentence", and bad parenting.

Shit apparently doesn't change.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-13/ ... /102957034

[MissGreen]

Aparently the no cunts got the vote, im mad about it. For fuck sake i'd hoped the astroturfed bulldhit wouldnt work....but it did. We can't escape the basic nature of our white supremisist fucking government and society

[stylofone]

Meanwhile NZ Labour was also voted out. According to this report, Chris Hipkins dumped Jacinda's progressive agenda, but he couldn't win any support from the right, all he did was lose votes to the Greens and the Maori Party.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-15/ ... /102976938

[Irrev-Black]

The transphobe Deves, a unique mind?

[stylofone]

Not too obscure to be notable I hope, but it's looking like Poland's right wing populist government (anti-abortion, anti-immigrant, pro-hate) has been ousted.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/ ... ollow-live

[pipbarber]

https://www.theguardian.com/news/databl ... ing-prices

The immigration question is always fascinating to me. It gets kicked about all the time, like an ever present football, but the lines are weird and blurry and it's hard to discern who is playing for who. Neoliberalism demands high immigration numbers because it needs unemployment and it prospers magnificently from a flexible, rights and benefits free, gig economy. On the other hand, 'foreigners taking our jobs' is a constant bullseye for the coalition, even though foreigners taking our jobs are an absolute necessity for the National party's constituency - who else would pick the fruit in subhuman working conditions, for minimum pay and in a climate charged furnace of rural Australian farmland, beside people who need a visa extension?

And now there's the question of 'foreigners renting our houses' or even worse, 'foreigners buying our houses!' A pearl clutching horror indeed. Then again, 'foreigners buying our houses' is excellent for the property market and property investors and a ridiculously high number of MPs own investment properties. Despite that, blaming the foreigns on the cost of buying a house, or the cost of renting a house is a convenient diversion from blaming neoliberalism, which clearly laboral have no intention of doing, and probably no capacity of even thinking.

Cutting student visas and short term visa holders will not benefit our neoliberal economy. It won't help small and medium sized businesses that rely on this workforce (hospitality), it won't help the care industries and it won't help higher education and the VET and EAL sectors. All it actually does is feed racism, which in Australia is a safe political position to take. Then again, fewer short term visas will probably provide some relief for the rental market, maybe? A vexing issue, but the political expediency of racism in this country is never far from the surface.

[Irrev-Black]

https://www.theguardian.com/news/databl ... ing-prices

The immigration question is always fascinating to me. It gets kicked about all the time, like an ever present football, but the lines are weird and blurry and it's hard to discern who is playing for who. Neoliberalism demands high immigration numbers because it needs unemployment and it prospers magnificently from a flexible, rights and benefits free, gig economy. On the other hand, 'foreigners taking our jobs' is a constant bullseye for the coalition, even though foreigners taking our jobs are an absolute necessity for the National party's constituency - who else would pick the fruit in subhuman working conditions, for minimum pay and in a climate charged furnace of rural Australian farmland, beside people who need a visa extension?

And now there's the question of 'foreigners renting our houses' or even worse, 'foreigners buying our houses!' A pearl clutching horror indeed. Then again, 'foreigners buying our houses' is excellent for the property market and property investors and a ridiculously high number of MPs own investment properties. Despite that, blaming the foreigns on the cost of buying a house, or the cost of renting a house is a convenient diversion from blaming neoliberalism, which clearly laboral have no intention of doing, and probably no capacity of even thinking.

Cutting student visas and short term visa holders will not benefit our neoliberal economy. It won't help small and medium sized businesses that rely on this workforce (hospitality), it won't help the care industries and it won't help higher education and the VET and EAL sectors. All it actually does is feed racism, which in Australia is a safe political position to take. Then again, fewer short term visas will probably provide some relief for the rental market, maybe? A vexing issue, but the political expediency of racism in this country is never far from the surface.

2mywya9xsa011.jpg (69.15 KiB) Viewed 841 times

[stylofone]

The immigration question is always fascinating to me.

Racists are opportunistic and they will jump on any comment about immigration that feeds their hateful cause. In response to that, from a cultural perspective I am happy for Australia to be as mixed and multicultural as it turns out to be. Bring it on, the diversity of backgrounds only ever gives me pleasure. Just as well, there's a growing cohort of mixed relationships and babies in my extended family - Japan, the Philippines, Latvia are the marvelous contributors.

But immigration has other aspects. Aside from the neo-liberal exploitation issue outlined by Pip, I also fear that without real indigenous representation (voice, treaty and more), immigration is just a continuation of colonisation. This could be applied to many aspects of our national life, but Arthur Philip was the first people smuggler so I think it has a bit more resonance with immigration.

The other worry I have is that immigration fuels a massive amount of air travel, and it is going to have to stop because of all the emissions. This could make things a bit harder for people with relatives in more than one country.