Thursday, May 16, 2013

Why Do We Bother Giving Air-time To The Rich? They're As Stupid As Anyone Else, You Know.


So -- radio headline news teaser today was "Gina Rinehart delivers warning."

Let me be honest. My first thought was that she was planning to politely let us know she was preparing to fart, just to give time for Western Australia to be evacuated. But no!

Turns out that financial genius Rinehart, who became filthy rich by inheriting a metric fuckload of mines from her father, is telling us that if we don't cut taxes AND government spending, we'll go the way of those European countries.

Er... what?

Last time I checked, Australia's proportion of debt to GDP was among the very lowest in the world. We're behind Norway, of course, and a couple other countries, but seriously? We don't have a debt issue. Further: the Rudd and Gillard governments brought this country through the global financial fuckup in a manner which is quite literally the envy of every other developed country in the world. Further: the gold-plated economic paper that showed how important it is that governments cut debt and practice austerity  has been completely debunked. A Kiwi economics student checked the math, couldn't believe his results, and went slowly up the food chain of economic researchers... turns out that yes, the original paper was shit. Lazy, biased, mathematically fucked-up shit.

So. We're in great shape, in terms of debt and more importantly, in terms of current economic activity. And it's current government policies which put us there. And the "science" behind austerity (tax cuts and spending cuts) turns out to be utter bullshit. And on top of that, Gina Rinehart is not a self-made billionaire, but an heiress... so where the fuck does she come off delivering "warnings" about Australian economic policy?

Seriously: why are this person's mouth noises news? Why do we actually give a damn for her pinheaded prognostications?

Put a sock in it, Gina. Go comment on something you're qualified for... like 'how to inherit a lot of money, and then fight with your family'. I hear you're good at that.
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2 comments:

  1. MickHMay 16, 2013 at 8:40 PM

    I think that Gina should be recognised as Australia's greatest glutton. It really pisses me off to see a person who was so lucky, actively go after her family for more money. And apparently her half sister lives in poverty in Sydney. Its beyond despicable.

    But its not just her, If it wasn't for Palmer's riches, he'd be seen as a raving loony..oh..wait!

    And what about the Egglestones! Who cares! Personally I was hoping for her implants to end up around her ears when she dived off in that idiot celebrity dive competition

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    1. FlinthartMay 17, 2013 at 4:41 PM

      Yeah.

      I'm a little concerned, actually. The US has always treated their excessively rich as superstars; like the royalty they deliberately chucked out. Here in Australia, though, being rich was just a matter of wealth. And mostly, the rich were sensible enough to keep their heads down, because as a society we didn't think much of them.

      But that's changing. The Ginas and the Twiggies and the Palmers -- they're acting like wealth somehow gives them the right to decide for the rest of us. Like we don't have governance and political will and civil society.

      These people need a good, old-fashioned Australian tall-poppy massacre. Soon.

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