Australian Political Discussion Thread 3.0

I’d say more power and perks.
Can earn way more in the private sector.
But I take your point - and so it should be well paid - a thankless 7 day a week slog that has only gotten more intense in the social media age. No thanks, I prefer the anonymity and ability to fully disengage when I want.

There's this interesting psychological effect people have when it comes to any point of authority. People think that all politicians are corrupt. That they all take kickbacks. Fact is that most politicians aren't corrupt. Most don't take bribes. They don't join politics hoping to get rich. They join because they believe strongly in something and when they refuse to accept when they're wrong, it's not because they're being paid by some corrupt corporation. It's because they're ideologically locked to their beliefs the same way everyone else is.

You see this in every field though. If the options are that 99.99% of climate scientists are lying about climate change, or 99.99% of climate scientists are paid off by a secret organisation and only a few climate scientists are telling the truth (even though they're sponsored by Shell and ExxonMobil), people will choose the latter. Because conspiracy is much more believeable for many.

Fact is that people are normally driven by their values. Scientists, politicians, green grocers. There's always going to be some corrupt individuals, but they are the exception to the rule. Most are just so driven by their core values that they ignore the facts.
 
There's this interesting psychological effect people have when it comes to any point of authority. People think that all politicians are corrupt. That they all take kickbacks. Fact is that most politicians aren't corrupt. Most don't take bribes. They don't join politics hoping to get rich. They join because they believe strongly in something and when they refuse to accept when they're wrong, it's not because they're being paid by some corrupt corporation. It's because they're ideologically locked to their beliefs the same way everyone else is.

You see this in every field though. If the options are that 99.99% of climate scientists are lying about climate change, or 99.99% of climate scientists are paid off by a secret organisation and only a few climate scientists are telling the truth (even though they're sponsored by Shell and ExxonMobil), people will choose the latter. Because conspiracy is much more believeable for many.

Fact is that people are normally driven by their values. Scientists, politicians, green grocers. There's always going to be some corrupt individuals, but they are the exception to the rule. Most are just so driven by their core values that they ignore the facts.
I agree - I don’t think most of them are corrupt - take Vladimir Putin for example - squeaky clean :-).

I totally take your point though - it starts from a good place but slowly the machine must eat away at you. I guess some people thrive with the challenge as well.
 
Abbott's issue was that he was a little too ideologically driven. He believed strongly in helping people, but he also believed strongly in opposition. He would support a bill just to because Labor opposed it. And he would do some stupid stuff. Like bragging about wasting money on broken airforce planes.

At least he was honest. I personally think Turnbull was a better PM than Abbott when it came to policies and such, and Turnbull failed due to a lack of support in his own party, but Turnbull was also extremely dishonest. He was peak politician. He's the kind of person that would cut off your leg so he could praise you for your disability.
Yeah, agree - Mal more polished. Toned Abs more genuine. Tone wasn’t great at reading the room - the Knights and Dames thing and opposition to SSM in 2015 was so out of touch. Mal was too left for the neo-cons of the LNP and that undid him - didn’t learn the first time they punted him in 2009 which is likely all ego.
 
I agree - I don’t think most of them are corrupt - take Vladimir Putin for example - squeaky clean :-).

I totally take your point though - it starts from a good place but slowly the machine must eat away at you. I guess some people thrive with the challenge as well.

Putin is a shining example. It's not like he gets paid to be a prick. It's the opposite. He wants to prove that he's right and he ignores any opposition.
 
Putin is a shining example. It's not like he gets paid to be a prick. It's the opposite. He wants to prove that he's right and he ignores any opposition.
On that note, just announced that Navalny died in prison. Chalk up another crushed opponent Vlad…
 
On that note, just announced that Navalny died in prison. Chalk up another crushed opponent Vlad…

Nah. The rest of his opponents weren't crushed. They were just clumsy. They all slipped and fell out the same window.
 
There's this interesting psychological effect people have when it comes to any point of authority. People think that all politicians are corrupt. That they all take kickbacks. Fact is that most politicians aren't corrupt. Most don't take bribes. They don't join politics hoping to get rich. They join because they believe strongly in something and when they refuse to accept when they're wrong, it's not because they're being paid by some corrupt corporation. It's because they're ideologically locked to their beliefs the same way everyone else is.

You see this in every field though. If the options are that 99.99% of climate scientists are lying about climate change, or 99.99% of climate scientists are paid off by a secret organisation and only a few climate scientists are telling the truth (even though they're sponsored by Shell and ExxonMobil), people will choose the latter. Because conspiracy is much more believeable for many.

Fact is that people are normally driven by their values. Scientists, politicians, green grocers. There's always going to be some corrupt individuals, but they are the exception to the rule. Most are just so driven by their core values that they ignore the facts.
I cannot find one program that Turnbull proposed that was any good. Snowy 11. Failure. NBN. Failure
SMS marriage. Failure. NEG. Failure. Plus there are probably a lot more. He was a Labor supporter, that says a lot for a Conservative leader.
 
I cannot find one program that Turnbull proposed that was any good. Snowy 11. Failure. NBN. Failure
SMS marriage. Failure. NEG. Failure. Plus there are probably a lot more. He was a Labor supporter, that says a lot for a Conservative leader.

How was SMS marriage a failure? You get married via SMS and never have to see your wife. Perfect for arranged marriages.
 
How was SMS marriage a failure? You get married via SMS and never have to see your wife. Perfect for arranged marriages.
I was not opposed to the concept, just the implementation. It was a mail in plebiscite. There were numerous photocopies made of the forms and they were submitted and counted. The whole thing was hijacked.
 
Surely you reach across the party divide and get Barnaby involved?

 
I was not opposed to the concept, just the implementation. It was a mail in plebiscite. There were numerous photocopies made of the forms and they were submitted and counted. The whole thing was hijacked.
Sounds like Trump and rigged election claims.
Where’s the evidence that happened?

A plebiscite was probably smarter than a referendum because it was voluntary, mail-in and non-binding - but when 60%+ responded yes there was no way the Government was ignoring that, hence it was legislated.
 
Sounds like Trump and rigged election claims.
Where’s the evidence that happened?

A plebiscite was probably smarter than a referendum because it was voluntary, mail-in and non-binding - but when 60%+ responded yes there was no way the Government was ignoring that, hence it was legislated.
Your forgetting the numerous voting forms that were stolen from letter boxes, and found in foyers and stairwells etc.
Not to mention the photocopies made and submitted.
 
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