A likeable bloke in a difficult scenario

I like Barack Obama.

Barack Obama

He appears, and I say “appears” as I have never meet him and so depend upon media images to form my view, to be a genuinely pleasant bloke with life-affirming values.
However, and as with everything there always seems to be a “however”, he is ensnared in an unsettling political structure deemed democracy, but is really something quite different.
Should the fellow, described as “the most powerful man in the world”, be allowed to implement, unfettered, his ideas then America would unquestionably be a better place.
Sadly, because of the political intrigue in which he is enmeshed and the irrational fanatical-like beliefs and the neo-liberal forces he confronts, his political survival is at best, tenuous.
Whatever he may or may not be, the US president is heavily influenced, some say “controlled”, by the military/industrial complex that revolves around short-termism that give precedence to corporate profit ahead of the broader welfare of the people.
Australia has long supped at the US dinner table, or more correctly scrounged the scraps, and always been in bed with them, but now the electric blanket has been cranked up another notch.
A US military base will soon be a feature of the northern Australian landscape further implicating Australia in America’s hegemonic plans, something about which we should be remarkably cautious considering their successes, read failures, in the past century.
Americans generally, but not specifically, have an arrogance about their way of life and are so sensitive about it, that they undertake in other countries a style of social engineering that many see as simply a military invasion.
They are legendary for claiming their actions as self-defence and within that, helping build democracy.
Comforted by such self-congratulatory thoughts, they killed thousands in Vietnam, mostly children, women and peasant farmers, and despite some of the heaviest bombing the world has ever seen, the Americans, and of course us, were chased out of the country by a rag-tag army – democracy, of a type, had won the day.
Conscious that America has been involved in historical events, historical means “to this day”, that if perpetrated by others, they would be considered war crimes, we need to be cautious about aligning ourselves with such a questionable friend.
America should look to its own troubles before turning its attentions to the world’s dilemmas.
Considering the hierarchy of those matters on which a nation’s wellbeing is measured, America has much social engineering to do at home to help the legions of their own who are falling through the cracks in its societal structures.
American life may look glamorous, but reality is different with millions struggling to maintain even the rudiments of life.
Obama is a nice bloke, but rather than accommodating America’s imperialistic ambitions, we should suggest he invest his time, money and effort at home.

Considering the past, building the future

Seemingly unproductive discussions about the latest Murray Darling Basin plan cause reflection upon Malcolm Turnbull’s first speech to the Australian parliament eleven years ago.

Richard Heinberg has written about the end
of growth, to which the modern world
 is addicted.

The then newly elected member for the New South Wales seat of Wentworth said: “I am proud to be a part of a government which has led the way in better management of our water resources”.
Honourable thoughts and intent, but after a more than a decade of talk, we are still talking and while that outcome is not personally Turnbull’s responsibility, it is about the tolerance, fairness, justice and frustrating procrastination attributable to democracy.
Being in the shadows of the recent failure of climate talks at Durban, what Turnbull said in that maiden speech seemed prescient; “We must assume on the basis of current science that our world is getting warmer and our country, at least, drier”.
The Sydney based politician, however, is obviously an agent of economic growth, a fact clearly illustrated by his private successful business interests, when, among other things, he said in 2004: “Nothing increase choice or widens the horizons of families more than a strong economy”.

Richard Heinberg's latest
book, The End of Growth.

That was more than a decade ago and economic growth is still today the mandate of governments around the world and is simply the extension of a paradigm that prompts quantitative decisions; decisions that determines success or failure in our contemporary business world.
However, the idea that growth will reveal a future rich in happiness and material goods is dead.
One who is unafraid to talk about the end of growth, having in fact written a book with that title, is American author, journalist and educator, Richard Heinberg.
Writing in his latest newsletter, Heinberg said, after explaining the economic contractions the world faces because of energy depletion: “There is light at the end of the tunnel. If we focus on improving quality of life rather than boosting quantity of consumption, we could be happier even as our economy downsizes to fit nature’s limits”.
Standing at the eve of a New Year, the least we could do is seriously consider how we equate the exhaustion of the world’s resources with the idea of ever expanding growth, and in doing that it would quickly become obvious that the tumour-like growth driven optimism of most is sadly misplaced.
The downsizing Heinberg points to is inevitable, but the decision to favour quality ahead of quantity is a choice.
Modern business parlance is about quality, but that push for excellence is primarily about ensuring the achievement of goals aligned with quantity, or in simple terms, growth.
Future happiness and contentment hinges on us having the integrity to ensure that in everything we do in 2012, quality should precede quantity.