ACG Meetups, Federal Election

[tcpip]

Over the past few weeks I've had the good fortune of meeting up with a number of old friends from usenet's aus.culture.gothic; two weeks ago it was where I lunched (thank you, good sir) mr_e_cat, and also met his delightful partner in kittens, mrs_e_cat. Also in attendance was the ever futuristic damien_wise. Last week lunched with a_carnal_mink and aided in some civil duties. Today finally visited frou_frou at her store, Circa Vintage and purchased her book, "Love Vintage". All three gatherings were thoroughly enjoyable, and made me recall the greater level of intimacy and depth that the old acg 'things' used to have, and even communication via usenet and livejournal, in a manner that Facebook doesn't seem to generate.

The crazy Australian election continues with a former refugee gaining skill cognitive dissonance. The LOTO has a trilogy of idiocy, firstly by referring to the suppository of wisdom, then by suggesting the quality if one the his candidates is her sex appeal, and today marriage equality as the fashion of the moment. In the Coalition's favour, the latest Essential Poll has them leading 51-49; however the stunner for me is the issues survey; forty three percent of those polled claimed that the Australian national debt was equal to, or greater, than other developed countries, when in reality we have one of the lowest in the world. I despair when I read statistics like this. It is a grim reminder that democracy only functions when a population is informed, and in an uninformed electorate, it is belief, not truth, that dominates.

Comments

[zenicurean.livejournal.com]

I actually surmise they have one or two embarrassing statistics of their own. Everyone seems to have a few.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Sure, "a few" isn't so bad when having a look at the general level of informed public opinion in other countries. The broad range of Scandinavian countries (and I'm including Finland and Iceland in this) seem to an informed and interested citizenship.

Yes, there are some wacky exceptions. The Swedish laws on prostitution is possibly as weird, ineffectual, and as dangerous as imaginable. The rise of right-wing populism worries me significantly.

Yet, overall, the Scandinavian countries remain the best examples of a union between liberal and social democracy today...

[zenicurean.livejournal.com]

We generally like to think that. If it's true, though, some appreciable percentage of people not knowing what the parliament even does (Sweden, 1998) or which parties are actually in government (Finland, 2008) makes me despair at what political life might be like in places that don't conduct themselves reasonably well.