Sunday 26 April 2020

Why the Right Wing is Victorious?


Memoirs, I suspect, are likely tainted by subjectivity. A driver inevitably remembers the car crash from her own personal perspective, not from that of the other driver. She is quick to recollect the things she did right and how reckless the other guy was. Self-justification fills autobiographies.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that driver is wrong, only that one should exercise some skepticism. Stories have many sides.

Malcolm Turnbull has been reminiscing about the car crash that was his Prime Ministership (September 2015 to August 2018) and has been telling anyone ready to listen.

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane. Leftists may find that surprisingly instructive.

Tuesday 21 April 2020

COVID-19 App? Thanks, but no, Thanks. (Updated)


This is where I draw the line.

I’ve been complying with everything the Government has asked us to do to slow down COVID-19. And no, I don’t sympathise with the crazies in the US.

I’ve done everything, from avoiding panic shopping to coughing/sneezing into the crook of my elbow to washing my hands endlessly. It was easy to comply with that.

Sunday 19 April 2020

Short & Simple: JobKeeper Wage Subsidy.



The JobKeeper Wage Subsidy scheme PM Scott Morrison announced a few weeks ago has generated many comments, some positive, some less enthusiastic.

The article below, from The Conversation, offers a first evaluation. It raises many interesting questions, but it is not exhaustive.

JobKeeper payment: how will it work, who will miss out and how to get it?





@shotsoflouis/Upplash, CC BY-NC
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University and Alan Duncan, Curtin University

The A$130 billion $1,500-per-fortnight JobKeeper payment will benefit six million Australians for six months, with payments expected from May 1.

Thursday 2 April 2020

Two Peas in a Pod.


These words were uttered today (13:17 AEDT) by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a conservative leader in the “centre-right, libertarian, conservative” Liberal Party of Australia and the first Evangelical to hold that job:
There are no more unions or bosses. There are just Australians now. That is all that matters. An Australian national interest and all Australians working together and I thank all of those who are coming together in that spirit and that will be very important as we move to put in place the arrangements that we are for this jobseeker program and the many things that relate to that.”
While this was Neil Wilson, a well-known MMT enthusiast and self-described leftist, a few days back (March 29, 2020 at 14:06):
Always worth remembering that bankers and capitalists are workers too. They work, earn and consume. And they also save a lot – which is part of the problem.”
You’ve heard the phrase “like two peas in a pod”, I trust.