Comments on: Rediscovering the language of moderation http://stilgherrian.com/politics/rediscovering_moderation/ All publication is a political act. All communication is propaganda. All art is pornography. All business is personal. All hail Eris. Vive le poisson rouge sauvages! Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:12:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Stilgherrian http://stilgherrian.com/politics/rediscovering_moderation/#comment-8927 Stilgherrian Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:58:01 +0000 http://stilgherrian.com/politics/rediscovering_moderation/#comment-8927 <strong>@jason:</strong> There is indeed an awful lot of short-term thinking. It's only natural that politicians whose jobs depend on a 3-year electoral cycle won't look any further. We can't blame them for that since that's the selection process we've created. It used to be that public servants, who had tenure and other inducements to longer-term thinking like knighthoods, would provide those long-term plans. However as the top levels of the public service have been moved to individual contracts, again short-term, then they're naturally keen to deliver the answers that the politicians want. <a href="http://stilgherrian.com/politics/how_rich_are_you/">Australians who earn the median wage are amongst the top1% richest people on the planet</a> and have, as you point out, fantastically good housing, but still whinge that they've got financial problems. @jason: There is indeed an awful lot of short-term thinking. It’s only natural that politicians whose jobs depend on a 3-year electoral cycle won’t look any further. We can’t blame them for that since that’s the selection process we’ve created.

It used to be that public servants, who had tenure and other inducements to longer-term thinking like knighthoods, would provide those long-term plans. However as the top levels of the public service have been moved to individual contracts, again short-term, then they’re naturally keen to deliver the answers that the politicians want.

Australians who earn the median wage are amongst the top1% richest people on the planet and have, as you point out, fantastically good housing, but still whinge that they’ve got financial problems.

]]> By: jason http://stilgherrian.com/politics/rediscovering_moderation/#comment-8925 jason Mon, 12 Nov 2007 09:48:54 +0000 http://stilgherrian.com/politics/rediscovering_moderation/#comment-8925 It's weird how tax cuts are being used to soften the interest rise blow, while at the same time fueling the next one to some extent. Mr.Latham's comments from the grave really hit the nail on the head: "There is no crisis for the hundreds of thousands of families that have already put themselves into debt and built large new homes, the so-called McMansions, across the country. In most cases they are enjoying a quality of housing well beyond the expectations of their parents and grandparents before them.....The dominant ethos is greed, not generosity. I expect a Labor administration to be even more timid, more conservative.... " It’s weird how tax cuts are being used to soften the interest rise blow, while at the same time fueling the next one to some extent.

Mr.Latham’s comments from the grave really hit the nail on the head: “There is no crisis for the hundreds of thousands of families that have already put themselves into debt and built large new homes, the so-called McMansions, across the country. In most cases they are enjoying a quality of housing well beyond the expectations of their parents and grandparents before them…..The dominant ethos is greed, not generosity. I expect a Labor administration to be even more timid, more conservative…. “

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