The difference
Jan. 5th, 2006 11:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Labor are incompetent.
The Liberals (or at least, the ones running the place) are actively malevolant.
Oh, they both say they're doing the best thing for the country, but they're both lying.
One, because they aren't, nor could they in a pink fit.
The other, because their definition of 'the country' is so narrow and exclusive that they may as well just say "we're doing the best for billionaires and multinational corporations, the rest of you can just f*ck off."
Trouble is, that doesn't leave much.
The Liberals (or at least, the ones running the place) are actively malevolant.
Oh, they both say they're doing the best thing for the country, but they're both lying.
One, because they aren't, nor could they in a pink fit.
The other, because their definition of 'the country' is so narrow and exclusive that they may as well just say "we're doing the best for billionaires and multinational corporations, the rest of you can just f*ck off."
Trouble is, that doesn't leave much.
Spelling
Date: 2006-01-05 05:13 am (UTC)Re: Spelling
Date: 2006-01-05 02:39 pm (UTC)Trade
Date: 2006-01-05 05:16 am (UTC)And the idea that exports representing "winning" and imports represent "losing" is a seriously inadequate way at looking at trade which Adam Smith, among others, demolished more than two centuries ago. Do you really think every time you buy something, you're a loser? (In which case, why do you keep doing it?)
Re: Trade
Date: 2006-01-05 03:09 pm (UTC)And the arguments from the pharma industry that evergreening and the outlawing of generics is necessary for continued research are blowing smoke, because the profit margins are obscenely high as it is, and the R&D is payed for long before the patent runs out. The rest is gravy. (see, for example, here.)
The FTA is not just a Free Trade Agreement. If it were, it wouldn't have so many arbitrary restrictions on free trade. It is a trojan to get US and Multinational hobbyhorses to override Australian legislation and interests, like, for instance, Copyright law. How's that for a restriction on trade? Or the aformentioned push by Pharma? Or how Australian markets were opened to the US almost immediately, but we don't get our (limited) access to theirs for years yet?
Trade is good. And even if you accept as a matter of faith that Free Trade is good more-or-less by definition (what about weapons?), even then you should be against the Orwellian-named FTA. Because Free Trade is the last thing it is about.