I'd probably feel the same way too. But the American resistance movement needs our Australian brothers and sisters to stand with us right now. Please don't abandon us. We deeply appreciate your solidarity and moral support. All the decent people of planet Earth need to come together right now.
We need to be united and stand up together for what's right. When we stand together, we are strong.
Oh absolutely man.
What i'm getting at is not like "fuck america" - just fuck war, and fuck trump.
And we're with you guys - all the way.
I didn't see the point of attending anti-trump protests here when he was elected, but lots of people turned up in a couple of the capital cities.
I'm also not trying to suggest that i see anything better about australia - it's a shithole, for the most part.
But i'm definitely in favour of socialised healthcare, education and the welfare state. Since australian universities have been increasingly privatised, it's been terrible for the sector, which is one of the reasons i don't work at universities any more.
I think there are some pretty fucked up ideologies that have remained largely unchallenged in the US for way too long - but it seems that the madness of the trump administration is forcing people to consider and discuss what they actually want their government to do.
And it seems a
lot of people are starting to demand more - rather than less - government programs to help communities.
There is an awful lot of ideology about rugged individualism in american politics or whatever - but the reality of that sort of "economic rights" is that it leaves a lot of people out in the cold when times get tough.
One of the realities of the capitalist model we live under is that not everyone prospers. Even if every single one of us had the skills and determination to work hard to sell our labour - the reality is that things aren't set up for that to work.
Even if there were enough jobs around for everyone to make a livable wage, the reality is that some people are too sick, too mentally ill or too disabled to work.
That means that some people suffer terribly - and die unnecessarily - because of the poverty these systems force upon them.
In wealthy countries, that seems unnecessarily cruel - especially somewhere as prosperous as the USA.
I know some people who think americans that voted for trump deserve whatever they get. Some folks think its good to see america's global power and influenced being flushed down the toilet by trump.
I don't agree with them though - i care about the wellbeing of the american people (like all people on this crazy fucking planet, honestly).
It's not about us aussies and you yanks - it's about all of us fighting to keep the fascists from destroying democracy, the earth, humanity.
We are all in this together, and we need to fight together to stop these fuckers. We outnumber them, and they know this.
That's why "divide and conquer" works so well. We have to find ways to unite people, and transcend the idiotic tribalism that so many of us fall into.
Well, let me ask you this. Would you say that the Australian liberal party stands for liberal values? Going by how you'd define the term liberalism.
I don't think there is any one definition, but yeah - the liberal party likes to go from this ideological base of opposition to economic regulation (when it suits them).
Look at the australian media, for instance. For decades, there were laws about how many media platforms companies were able to own. For instance, there were strict limits on media ownership, and to try to ensure that there was a diversity of journalistic and editorial voices, organisations were limited in how many radio stations, tv and newpapers they could own in each market.
The liberal/national coalition watered the cross media ownership laws over the last 20 years - and they've all but scrapped them now, which has contributed to the lack of diversity in who owns and produces local media content.
Obviously this works for them politically as well, as they are the party that governs for the "big end of town"; corporate interests, not those of people.
It's all a load of bullshit though, really - as they're fucking happy to regulate the shit out of what consumer products are available to be sold to the public - like drugs or weapons or porno or whatever. A lot of it is just superficial right wing moralising.
What the "conservatives" (what a fucking meanjngless tern that has become - there is
nothing conservative about radical right wingers like trump) do really is govern
for the interests of the privileged.
Whether it's the US, the UK, australia, new zealand, canada or whatever "western democracy" (and whatever words we use to describe it) that's largely what it comes down to.
The
last thing these people want to do is provide opportunities - or services - for working people. It's not on their radar.
Incidentally, that's why ocasio-cortes is so refreshing. She's talking about
real fucking issues that affect real people - not this big pantomime of political theory.
The US has sorely lacked her kind of perspective for as long as any of us can remember - and look at how many people suffer for it. Obscene homelessness and unaffordable medical treatment - it is why so many parts of the US have third world poverty and social problems; conservative and libertarian philosophy says "fuck em - if they can't afford to see a doctor or to rent a home for their families, they should work harder". Obscene, offensive bullshit, if you ask me.
And besides. The Australians are way more like us than either of us are like the Chinese.
So if you gotta pick one of two poor choices, I'd still say you should stick with us.
True. And it's never been a question of abandoning america - but under trump, it does feel like america (the US government) has abandoned us and all of the other allies that went "all the way with LBJ" and every other misguided US military campaign since then too.
I think we'll always be america's lapdog, but for the love of gawd, america - please don't keep electing fucking fascist presidents! It's really straining the friendship.
