Shana tovah and good health and life to you,
Liat

Dear Liat
Thank you for your generous comment to my changing my mind – clearly moving closer to you.If only to the extent that Michael Danby was correct. I did indeed shift the subject to a comparitive study of friens of friends / e=nemies et al/

This has become far to prolix for any blog.

My regrets for what were surely not complimentary comments concerning you.
Who knows where political events leads us and how history will view socialism.

Surely it is not my intention to further comment on this theme: preferring to write a major essay which will contain it all – and not have to be multi – repeated …..to wit – there are too many subjects here for now – and I will drop out for now: it is not my intention to comment for now on the viccicitudinous matters relating to so many semi – related themes.

THAT IS:
THE AUSTRALIAN AND THEIR STRANGE WRITTNGS MAINLY OCT 2
The Turnbull / Bishop government’s recent actions re Iran.
And of course the eternal paradox arising from friend of our friend is our friend and the strange contradictions from the obverses and corrolaries.

I will henceforth leave it to you and the talented Otto to have your friendly debates.
Perhaps people will be generous to what I have scribbled here and elsewhere?

By the way people I will respond to matters as my time and commitments allow.
IN RUSH/

Shalom Otto et al
Shana tova

Dear Liat
I am about an hour from going to my Bucharest (only one of 2 ) Shule functioning to celebrate Simchat Torah. In keeping the right perspective for the occasion and ever, I celebrate, among so many things, while lstening/watching the finale of Mahler’s 9th symphony , the harmony of thought I find in these pages of J-wire.
Serenity of the spirit, the purity of affection for human values, the adoration of Jewish neshama carried with our comments allow for convergence of respect for what we must all respect.
I should be numbed by the last cords yet I find in me torrents of passion for the beauty in the suffering at the sight of torment in arriving at the right words, right answers to those essentials in our existence.

Having said that, I cannot escape the rationale demanded by those tangibles we encounter with necessary fortitude outside the generous perimeter of our ethics.
THE GREAT MAJORITY OF HUMANITY IS AL BEST INDIFFERENT TO NOBLE MUSINGS, TO PRINCIPLES THAT BRING US TOGETHER TONIGHT AND ALWAYS IN FRONT OF OUR RESPONSIBILITIES TOWARD WHAT WE PROFESS TO BELIEVE IN.

I cannot extend my willingness to help to all who claim deprivation, lack of means and wld cries of oppression.
All people have the same responsibilities and mine has always been to fight for improvement, improvement in my own condition as well as, at large, for my fellow humans. The larger segment of bludgers are also those who partake in “philosophies” of abuse of others’ kindness and strive for justice. If we invite “victims” to enjoy our commitments we see oceans of those who reckon we have the RESPONSIBILITY to act on their behalf. Well, as Cicero once said…quousque tandem abutere patientia (et clementa) nostra…
Must run but will continue….
A gitte Yom Tev to all of yourse….

Capitalism in the past has indeed been altered to allow better, fairer systems within which people can live. It can be done. However, it has now been allowed to go too far without modification, and with ‘free trade’as excuse for what is now inequity (most especially in the last twenty years). Corporate power is King, entrenched to a degree that it has as much influence as government. I guess if one is rich enough not to be bothered about this, indeed become richer as a result of it, that will only be an issue insofar as safeguarding it, viz. the likes of Gina Rineheart and CEOs of various companies, including those such as the CEO of Australia Post, would you believe! Yes, I would. This is a phenomenon that has come more and more into play over the past twenty years. It is the responsibility of government to change the dynamics, not become intertwined in areas outside its brief. And it is not happening thus far. There are talk fests about it, due to the unrest that can be felt at root level, but no real action. In the meantime government privatises more and more that they were once responsible for (I remember the good old days of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria – efficient, professional service and reasonable utility bills, ceasing somewhere in the mid 1990s.), ignoring the expensive inefficiency this has caused in the UK across so many areas, which could have been good guidance, all for short-term gain. However, in this country we are not interested in the lessons of history, further back or more recent, or for the real good of the societies we represent. We mouth how wonderful we are as a nation, this Australia of plenty, as we hold on greedily to what we have at the top and ignore those in different circumstances (mere fodder to the ECONOMY), as well as refugees, ignore the realities of so many.

Have you ever heard of anything so ludicrous as forking out 4 billion to Cambodia to take refugees who volunteer to go from Manus Island or Nauru, and parroting on about such a fine agreement with our neighbour?! Cambodia – so poor, so blatantly corrupt (our corruption is much more veiled), so totally unequipped to give even one refugee the hope of a better life. So far, we have flown four people to Cambodia to take advantage of this wonderful idea – four: that’s 1 billion each. Well, this is another matter altogether, I do realise. But one thing leads to another. And I’m a highly associative creature. It must have been that word ‘refugee’ and that other word ‘government’. From there we can loosely throw in the notion of how power and money can blunt the intellect and the soul. Etc. etc.

I know there are billionaires in Scandinavia, Otto. There are also billionaires in China. It’s not billionaires as such that bother me; it’s the broader canvas, with so much of a country’s wealth resting with such a small percentage of people, while people with less are ripped off and not given enough in the way of constructive and meaningful opportunities to improve their lot (because the system is now against them), and while poverty and poorer education and health facilities widen at that other lower of the spectrum. What used to be lower-middle class has become part of the poorer sector, and those slightly more comfortable in the middle are now straining to survive well. It’s this that must be attended to. And it can be, through changes to the taxation system primarily, which also must involve corporate tax and their shifty evasions offshore; as well, taxes must be used effectively by government, with real vision for the future, which State and Federal governments have not done for many years.

Give me a break, Otto, from mouthing easy Joe Hockey type statements (do you have a cigar in your mouth?) … you’re better than that, I’m sure. If you walked in the shoes of the ‘bludgers’ you view, you would no longer consider many of them bludgers. (There is something somewhere in the tomes of Jewish lore and law that tells us to walk in another’s shoes before judgement – I’ll try to locate it; with your knowledge, you might find it before me.) And know this, to pull your weight you need hope – without hope there is no striving for anything – for so many of these people the situation is such that hope departed a long time ago.

I am quite open to suggestions, however yours to me are without relevance, and would be offensive if not for the obvious ignorance and sincerity they show. I am almost never careless with words and I do not use my ‘life experiences’ often. If you bother to read the hundreds of lines I have now contributed to J-Wire postings, you will find the few personal revelations are always in context with the opinions proferred. (I wonder that you do not find Otto’s remarks of a personal nature irrelevant in any way, and suggest to you that it’s your sense of personal affiliation and the gender factor coming into it that makes the difference.) Yes, of course, my sons will be reading my works ‘forever’, including my published works of poetry – I stand by all of them, and my sons, and others can make of them what they will. My sons know my thoughts and published words well and are proud of me, as well as love and respect me. Thank you for your concern in this quarter. I won’t engage with your further suggestions re socialist skills, as you yourself are not equipped to have an opinion on that due your extreme bias.

I want to commend you on your courage to change your mind in print about Michael Danby’s comments and the Julie Bishop/Malcolm Turnbull take on Iran. I’m impressed with this, not because the opinion accords with mine, but because you have the integrity and sincerity to voice it. Otto’s response to it, so forgiving and understanding of the Liberal politics behind the situation, is a whitewash and wishful thinking – the retort of a died-in-the-wool supporter. He’s not completely wrong, but in avoiding the core of the problem the Liberal thinking makes manifest, he is shutting his eyes to the truth. Amongst other things, we most definitely do not want Iranian embassies in Melbourne and Sydney, and it is completely unnecessary for Julie Bishop to fawn over Iranian politicos in her dealings with them – courtesy by itself is more than enough.

One thing, Geoff, pointing out that Andrew Bolt agrees with you is not something one should broadcast. He is not exactly the epitome of intellectual excellence.

Thank you for your good wishes (Kol Tov); I appreciate the cordiality and generosity that comes with them. I do enjoy the interaction in JWire, and it does us, and the Jewish community a great service in allowing that. There are many diverse views, and that’s the stuff of life. Politics aside, most of us agree on the need to support Israel, especially in such dangerous times.

and a worthy Shalom to you too, Geoff. Impossible not to notice that you are engaged on a sincere and dedicated mission to disect minutely what a certain newspaper smudges on on a daily and arrogant basis. I, for one , leave professional newstwisters to their own devices and, as you’ll also notice, devote my concerns to realities and concepts thereof.
To mine, the strategy of appeasing a fairly numerous and potentially unruly , NOT a valuable electoral, demographic/religious segment, implies the regular tactic of addressing THEM, the unruly ones, as necessarily accepted members of our society. The idea is being practiced everywhere we see muslims “at it”. It is used in France, USA etc.
There are NO ways of eliminating the said community(ies) in practical terms, but only the use of various and seemingly conflicting means of keeping them under constant attention/control are now the norm. I agree with what Malcolm is doing and he must know that, after all I live and vote in Wentworth and he knows that without me he’s gurnischt…..

Shalom, Otto

You demonstrate in your writings a generosity of spirit: and I thank you for your comments herein and ex Sept 27 and Oct 1.

This generosity of yours extends to your responses to ‘Liat’ – with whom you plainly do not agree.

And I suggest to Liat that instead of carelessly posting her life experiences and postulations, she realize soon that her no doubt loving children will be reading her works ‘forever’. She should get some socialist with skills to advise her.
THERE MUST BE SOME SOCIALIST WITH SKILLS: I KNOW AT LEAST 2 from the Hawke – Keating governments!

You may be right in your comments of Oct 2. Certainly I hope so.

The purpose of this is to draw your attention to various things as follows.

1
The Australian has published much material over the years that is commendable. It is also fair to say that whenever they publish material not deemed ‘commendable’ – they allow reasonable space for the contrary view.
It is also fair to say they published cartoons that were FAR FROM COMMENDABLE: I WILL ON DAY …….

2
However what they published on Friday Oct 2 on pages 1 – 2 was outrageous and was written by their OWN journalists. It remains untenable. The comments were untenable basis The Oz’s own documentation over recent years. I have no time for prolix analysis.

3
As it turned out this style was continued on Saturday Oct 3 – yesterday.
Note their editorial yesterday and much more! [However Greg Sheridan is, as always a must – read. Greg has often demonstrated courage under pressure]]
It is irrelevant of course that I did not know this when I made my comments of Oct 2.

4
But please note that one could only comment at any point in time on what was in front of me. Thus it is not for me to be over – generous with respect to what may indeed happen with coalition policy in the future.

5
But it is reasonable to question the blame put on Tony Abbott in the way it was ‘writ’! Given that the Libs may not change much in future???
IT ALSO SEEMED TO ME THAT TURNBULL AND BISHOP WERE KEEN TO GET A PERCENTAGE OF THE MUSLIM VOTE – THUS EVENTS DESCRIBED HERE.NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE MUSLIM VOTES> SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS…..

6
May I point out that Andrew Bolt this morning [TV CH 10] from 10 am to merely 10 05 am – completely agreed with me. He also gave merely 3 video examples of the duplicity of comments in The Oz over the past 2 days per above.

7
Kindly note that there must be over 100 quotes available in THE OZ over the recent years that could be easily discovered that contradicts Rupert’s paper of the past 2 days.

KoL Tov
GS
To you as well, Liat: may you find much happiness in your contributions in JWIRE

E &OE

Dear Liat, we are not really digressing but refining points. The system under which we function – called capitalist – is not unalterable, is supports and can endure changes. The main quality is precisely the possibilities afforded by the system itself for improvements while maintaining more or less the same denomination. .
The most important feature of this system is the freedom of action according to belief preferences. Wealth polarisation does not concern the one who is satisfied that the same society can intervene – by virtue of democracy – and regulate the wealth distribution. Your Scandinavian example is the best. I can assure you that there are plenty billionaires in Scandinavia….
In Australia, if everyone or at least MORE people would pull their weight, all of us would fare much better. I cringe at the knowledge – and view – of the number of bludgers in our midst.

Geoff, I trust you to be able to go well beyond the “codified” terms used by both the political sources and the seemingly enthusiastic muslims in regards to what `Turnbull is perceived to change and generally to represent.
It is quite safe to believe that the Libs. are not about to change what has been termed as the “Abbott line” in regards to muslims and alike.The statement put out by the muslim leaders is a decoy, a farcical tactic of inducing – they think – a radical change by the new Liberal leadership in their attitude to the islamic radicalisation and its pervasiveness alongside the implicit responsibilities of the muslim leadership. Anyone familiar with political rhetoric and the concrete structure of a certain Party will be satisfied that , in the case of our Libs., there are no reasons for the Liberal Party to alter its known/current policies on the same. Malcolm talks the way he does, but Malcolm NEVER stated that he was/is about changing ANY policies within his party. All we got is JUST A COSMETIC image slight alteration, nothing of substance. Otherwise, wishing for a political transgender at ANY political formation within the same socio-economic parameters is simply unrealistic.

Scandinavian countries impose high personal income tax on their people, but spend it wisely with the whole of society in mind. Why must we go backwards and forwards between the idea of the old socialism/communism and the current capitalism, in argument and favour, as if nothing else could or should be devised?