[ Cranky Lizard does not whinge. There are some questions to be asked, as indeed, they are being asked in other press forums; and we, as Australians need to start thinking about answers. Those answers will come from the community – not from politicians – they will respond to community pressure, but very, very few of them will take the lead. Some will, around Moreton Bay we have a couple…]
Who is thinking clearly about what we are doing?
Maybe it is time for this country to “ piss off ‘ the tall poppy syndrome because we need excellence, we need high achievers to deal with an increasing level of separation between us and our political leadership.
We do not need well-educated drongos, waving their degrees about like betting forms at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day. We need, our communities need, this bloody country needs men and women who can get things done!
Men and women, who have the backbone to speak out and to shine spotlights into dark places; to give the lie to the malicious rubbish that poses for diversity culture; to expose the self-important nonsense of Local Government Councils declaring that they determine the history of this Nation by insulting Australia Day.
Men and women who have the leadership skills to deal with the ever-widening gap and the incipient generational hostility that is being peddled by grubby agenda bearing politicians and academics, who, have concluded that this current generation of Australian citizens, men and women approaching their retirement – generally referred to as – ‘ Baby Boomers ‘ = are responsible for squandering the resources of this planet and are endangering the future of the next generation of Australians.
Cranky Lizard asks where are we going to find the men and women with the “ guts “ to take this stuff on and deal with it sensibly.
Because we must do this. We are drifting. We are complacent. Life has become too easy for us to make hard decisions. We have become ‘ pie eaters ‘ not ‘ pie makers ‘.
Some examples – you ask?
A little over 10 years ago this Nation had NO DEBT!
Today, depending upon the bureaucratic twaddle used to explain it – this Nations’ debt is $500 billion dollars.
Our tertiary education system has been allowed to become highly politicised – the scene of ideological struggles between political forces with little if any regard for the welfare of the young people expecting a decent shot at life by a sound tertiary education experience in our Universities. Lecturing in our Tertiary system and Teaching in our Primary and Secondary systems should be a highly regarded and respected profession, rewarded accordingly – not an ideological battleground of opposing political forces.
We have racked up huge debt and built nothing! Nothing! No dams. No means of generating baseload power for future generations of Australians. Government debt, at almost all levels, has been used to give money to people to make them feel better! The next generation of Australians will be carrying that debt burden for all their lives – no wonder some of them are pissed off?
There exists, within our communities, an uncontrollable social media phenomenon which spews hatred against authority, parents, the disadvantaged and provides a public forum for cowards to attack and insult our leaders, our institutions, our religions, our community groups and individuals.
And that, Folks, was just a small sample of what Cranky Lizard sees as glaring anomalies in our modern way of life.
Cranky Lizard thrives on optimism and has lived in this Nation for many years. Mostly self-employed, paying taxes and employing, at one time up to 180 people. Cranky Lizard believes in the principles of private enterprise, making a life for your self and your family, being self-reliant. Cranky Lizard believes that contributing to the community and giving back, where possible, is a balanced way of living. Give others a fair go, respect the views of others and look forward to future opportunities, combined with personal hard work with the diligence and intelligence of fellow Australians with common goals.
But, somewhere, in the last 10 years, this Nation has swerved off its path of growth and commonsense and travelled along a sidetrack of self-indulgence, a political indulgence even an ideological indulgence. And, all that is very well, if you have the resources and the population to do that; but, if you don’t, and we don’t, then your actions, as a Nation, become questionable.
Who, for example, would say that we should close all the coal mines in Queensland? Who would say that? It is the revenue from the coal mines that allows Governments to borrow massive amounts of money from international sources. We are a good bet for a loan because we have abundant wealth – but- we know – that we have politicians who would, given the chance, shut down these wealth-creating assets. Have they considered that without the revenue from these assets their self-indulgent frolics of alternative power and community handouts could not be funded?
Cranky Lizard questions their bloody sanity.
Why have we not built dams? We are the driest continent in the World, in a general sense, and we have not built any major, economy preserving dams for many years. Our rainfall patterns have always been problematic, our short historical records show that. Why have we, as a Nation of Australians allowed our politicians to get away with this? Is it too hard to call them to account? I don’t think so …
Try this …” If you do not build dams, or commence a programme to build dams in this term of Government, we shall not vote for you. “
That will get their attention.
As you contemplate approaching your local member, at whatever level, you will first run into the ‘ staff ‘. It is their job to look after the interests of the local Member- not your interests – so make your point clearly and politely, that you want your local Member to contact you.
Cranky Lizard believes that we, as citizens, have allowed the system to become too controlling and too egocentric. Each time you elect a politician, you also provide jobs for a number of ‘ advisers and staff ‘ who not be there if you had not voted for their Member. So tell them, be polite, make your points and make sure that people in that Office are aware that their payroll and the salary of their Member, are funded by you and you want action. But be polite. You need not insult people to make your point.
It seems to Cranky Lizard that we have not done this enough, in times past, and now we have, quite frankly, a buggers muddle of a finance problem and a political system which assumes it is omnipotent.
Well. Cranky Lizard suggests that it is time to burst that bubble. Tell our elected leaders what we want.
Cranky Lizard is also aware that this wagon has been pushed before, but, the fact is, it is the sensible wagon that we have – we must, we really must, communicate with our elected Members and tell them what we want, or express our disapproval at what is happening; otherwise, they cannot know how to respond to events surrounding our communities.
There is no point, sitting in a pub, on a stool, whingeing about your local Member if you have not told that Member what you feel. Too many people already do that and that is why we have the muddles that we have.
There are plenty of spectators in our communities; we need more participants!
There is contaminated ground in Moreton Shire – some of it may well be the home of a University, or so it is reported. Is that you are not happy about that, ask your local councillor.
Are you happy with debt levels in Australia? If you are not, tell your local Federal Member what you think. Would you be prepared to make a personal sacrifice, if all others did the same, to address the problem? You do not have to provide the answers to the debt issue, but you have to ask the questions.
Australia does face some difficult times ahead and some critical choices need to be made; how we manage our water, how we deal with food supplies and demand, how we deal with foreign challenges to our place in the region, how we use our wonderful natural resources. These are not lightweight matters and how we deal with them will affect your life, make no mistake about that.
So be a part of it, Folks, Cranky Lizard repeats, be a participant, not a spectator.
Enjoy your days. Life is good and there is plenty of it about.