strike while the irons hot

[Frank&Earnest]

We are a sad lot really.

Until there are people like you around there is hope.

[RETIRED]

It may get moved again.

[astrid]

who gives a toss about the economy.
in good old oz weve got winners ( them with shares)
and weve got losers ( them that dont)
I am sick o living in an economy, could we get back to community

astrid

[Frank&Earnest]

I am sick o living in an economy, could we get back to community

Yes, every now and then I would like to go and do voluntary work among the 2 billion people who still live on less than $2 a day, but then the usual excuses (health, family) prevail. Maybe we all, "winners" or "losers" according to your definition, could try to do something concrete, like supporting only policies based on humanitarian principles.

It might be useful to remember that 700,000,000 of those people live in China, one of the fastest growing economies of the world, with a currency that, according to peeved importers, is kept artificially weak.

So, to address specifically the opening post, we can "strike while the iron's hot" and let the market forces take their course, or think about the world "community" and put our money to less selfish uses.

The competence in economics of our politicians is indeed outside of this topic, so those willing to discuss it might want to open a new thread. And test the fairness of the moderators.

[Sebastiaan56]

who gives a toss about the economy.
in good old oz weve got winners ( them with shares)
and weve got losers ( them that dont)
I am sick o living in an economy, could we get back to community

astrid

Hi Astrid,

To my simple way of thinking we live firstly in an environment (we have to breathe, drink, eat etc), then a society (everyone needs at least their mum for the first couple of years) and finally an economy. Unfortunately an economy is easier to manage than a society or an environment and our pollies are mentally lazy. This is why I believe we have so much to learn from what is left of our traditional cultures. Our obsession with cash has made us all much poorer.

ABC and INDEPENDENT can not be spelled in the same sentence.
ABC goes with words like agenda, labor, left wing, socialist, and other words to that effect.

Hi Marc,

Curious then that the ABC has produced equal numbers of member for each of the "L" parties. Actually, I rather have my $17 billion cash stolen from the Australian economy spent on the ABC than making war but that is another post.

The 90c exchange rate may be here for a while, its got me looking at timber on ebay....

[Marc]

....or think about the world "community" and put our money to less selfish uses.

We would have to define selfish then.

Is it selfish to take advantage of the exchange rate and buy undervalued goods made by quasi slave labor?
Or is it altruistic to share our wealth with countries who are surging from poverty to a better life stile?
Would it be less selfish if the exchange rate is 40c ? (just a thought)
Should we wait for the dollar to go down then in order to be less bad?
Rich is bad.
Poor is good.
Hard is right.
Easy is wrong......etc

[Frank&Earnest]

We would have to define selfish then.

OK. You go first.

[ernknot]

We should be more concerned about getting our democracy back. Australian politics whichever ilk has hijacked it.

[Marc]

OK...perhaps it is my background... Having lived in "never never land" (the land I will never go back to), having seen the results of "socialist" politics who's politicians sweep away the opposition by getting the army to do home visits at 2 am, and then the next lot of "conservative" politicians who send the police at 2am for home visits to whoever has a different view.

Once in Australia I thought that it was nice to see how politics is some sort of "dirty" subject and that decent people don't have political opinions, don't talk about it just like they don't talk about their stool consistency or smell.

Yet just like in never never, in OZ there are two kinds of people, if I may make a gross generalization. The one who expect something from the government or community and the one who want the government to allow them the freedom to do something for themselves and by extension the community.

In countries less civilized, this two opposing forces can take some rather radical form and believe me you wouldn't want to associate with neither. In OZ things are much more civilized and therefore both sides have civilized representation and therefore it seems that it is a matter of fashion who to barrack for.

Yet it is not fashion nor timing, believe me
It is a simple matter of economics, and I am sorry for those who dislike this topic and prefer the communal approach. Communities exist because there is an economic form that supports them and allows them to exist.

Yet when we get what appears to be something for nothing, make no mistake.
We always pay.
Always.