Comments on: Rudd’s risky marginalisation of the Greens

By: Venise Alstergren#2

Venise Alstergren#2 — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Mmm: You make some interesting comments. But there’s one I don’t understand. You ascribe over-breeding to personal ambition? It might be for a man. “Look at me! I can afford ten kids, aren’t I clever! But surely women have some say in the matter, and if they don’t say anything I imagine it’s more to do with blind faith (especially Catholic Church faith. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, I’m not sure that the Quran encourages violent over-breeding; it’s just the men who want to have the children. After all they don’t bear them do they?) blind stupidity, blind faith, blind lethargy and dire poverty. Desperate poverty will be around as long as the planet is over-populated. Stupidity, Faith born of stupidity and Lethargy-unless the result of poverty-are incurable.

By: wilful

wilful — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

what a remarkable, refreshing difference between Bernard keane and Christopher whatsisname, the old Crikey hack. Finally someone can talk about the greens without using an excess of vitriol and bile.

By: matt c

matt c — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Good god Keane is boring. People criticise crikey for all sorts, but inaccuracy is better than tedium.

By: Dave Liberts

Dave Liberts — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

From my brief and unfortunate flirtation with the Greens, I don’t think they’re ever likely to get too far. They enjoy the luxury of being all things to all their supporters, which will disappear as they start to put themselves in a position where they can actually exert influence. They’re great at publicity seeking, but hard to pin down on specifics. I’m amazed at the restraint they’ve shown recently on pensions - they’re pushing for a $30 per week increase. Why stop there? Why not a $3000 per week increase? Greens politicians tend to be either fairly sensible and quiet (eg SA MLC Mark Parnell) or loonies who jump up and down about everything (eg Kerry Nettle) but the impression I’m left with is that the more power they get, the faster the whole party will explode. It will make the Dems look like managerial geniuses.

By: robert

robert — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

here! here! i couldn’t believe how ‘poorly’ the Greens did in the election. Given Australians’ supposed concern over AGW and Kevin07’s singular lack of anything approaching a serious plan to tackle the problem - I thought the only sensible thing to do was vote Green and send the preferences to Kev. That way we’d get rid of Howard and send a clear message to KRudd that a half-arsed, centrist approach to the climate crisis wasn’t going to wash. Maybe those who put their trust in Kev thought that his softly, softly approach was a “cunning plan”, and that he’d really get serious once in power. If so, they must be disappointed in his honesty: what we saw is what we got. We need a leader with brains and courage and vision… and all we got is a manager.

By: Mmm

Mmm — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I still wonder if the Greens are an existential threat … not now but down the track, say 15 years. I think with the critical mass they are building, and if they build an alternative Big Media (not so unsubtle as green party branded, but asserting mainstream news space), they will get government but by then it will be ‘looking at a forest as a picture on a billboard’ time. In other words too effing late. The problem is that humans, especially Australians, are such voyeurs. They will study it, and debate it, and race around chasing their tail to be seen to care, while hanging on grimly to their orthodox careers and current jobs - and they don’t like changing much. I call it taking the cure … from personal ambition (most perfectly expressed by excessive breeding). Clive Hamilton calls it affluenza. Recently I worked in a big corporate firm on a temping job for 4 weeks and they were nice enough people, charming, witty, effecient but I doubt they had a clue what the news was in the press that day or knew what was going on in their world. It was a civil death walk, a Sienfeld show about nothing, a Shakespearean strut upon the stage. People all over the CBD like this are in charge of our society and our future. God help us. The political economic momentum is irresistable while the closing ecological window is similarly inexorable. It’s going to end in tears …. and/or talking Mandarin.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Precisely: Riveted-on ALP voters for whom the environmental issues are the most important will frequently vote ALP via The Greens. They didn’t vote for some silver-haired little God-botherer telling them they should get the hots over photos of naked nine -year- old girls. Many of these voters are outraged at so little action on the environmental front by this reforming centrist (moderate). WTF has he reformed? And if he wants to be a moderate, perhaps he should moderate his OS traveling, and cease groveling to China.
If the electorate had wanted just another neo-con they could have deleted the ‘neo’ and re-voted for JWH. Speaking of which; does our Kevin want the whole stage to himself? Ahem, cough, cough. Who ever hears the words Maxine McKew any more?