Why not?<\/p>\n
This video of Friday morning’s eviction of Occupy Melbourne is neat.<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Inspired by <a href=\"http:\/\/left-flank.blogspot.com\/2011\/10\/occupyoz-captures-mood-but-its-critics.html\">Dr_Tad<\/a>, Mark Bahnisch @ Larvatus Proedo has some blah on <a href=\"http:\/\/larvatusprodeo.net\/2011\/10\/22\/occupy-australia-and-the-antipodean-bubble\/\">Occupy Australia and the Antipodean \u201cbubble\u201d<\/a> (October 22, 2011), talkin’ ’bout <strike>a revolution<\/strike> Australian exceptionalism. <em>Why is Australia a \u201cbubble\u201d, seemingly insulated from the winds of change blowing throughout the world?<\/em> queries Mark.<\/p>\n<p>Something to do with history, apparently. That, and the fact that Australia isn’t NotAustralia (where things are different).<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of bubbles, <em>Living on a Knife’s Edge<\/em> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cleanstart.org.au\/files\/living-on-a-knifes-edge\">PDF<\/a>), a report released last (<a href=\"http:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=27143\">“Anti-Poverty”<\/a>) week by United Voice, cites the following statistics with regards social inequality in Australia:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2022 Close to 20% of Australian workers are categorised as low-paid, an increase from 14.5% three decades ago.<br \/>\n\u2022 A study of working poverty found that in 2005-2006, 10% of Australians lived in poverty, or approximately 1.16 million households. Of these 1.16 million households 18% had someone in paid employment.<br \/>\n\u2022 The wealthiest 20% of households in 2009\u201310, accounted for 62% of total household net worth; an average net worth of $2.2 million per household. The poorest 20% of households, accounted for 1% of total household net worth; an average net worth of $32,000 per household.<br \/>\n\u2022 Low to moderate income households are resorting to increasing their levels of debt to keep up with the cost of living. RBA statistics show that in March 2011 the ratio of household debt to disposable income was 155.1%, compared to 33.7% in March 1977.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It’s not all bad news, however. While Spotless cleaners moan and groan, QANTAS CEO Alan Joyce is enjoying a 71 per cent rise, taking his annual pay package to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/business\/qantas-chiefs-pay-rise-sparks-anger-20110907-1jx7b.html\">$5 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>More blah on why some people are angry and upset @ <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theaustralian.com.au\/national-affairs\/opinion\/occupy-movement-will-go-on-as-long-as-the-people-are-feeling-aggrieved\/story-e6frgd0x-1226173441328\">Occupy movement will go on as long as the people are feeling aggrieved<\/a> (Mike Steketee, <em>The Australian<\/em>, October 22, 2011); Joseph Stiglitz expresses concern over <strike>bikies<\/strike> bankers in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/society\/features\/2011\/05\/top-one-percent-201105\">Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%<\/a> (<em>Vanity Fair<\/em>, May 2011). A slightly odd reflection on why (not) Occupy Melbourne <a href=\"http:\/\/dyladad.wordpress.com\/2011\/10\/23\/conflicted-thoughts-on-occupy-melbourne\/\">here<\/a>; Raili Simojoki recalls her experience <a href=\"http:\/\/railisimojoki.wordpress.com\/2011\/10\/22\/occupy-melbourne-neither-category-a-nor-b\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>See also<\/em> : <a href=\"http:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=19779\">Gramsci and Left Managerialism : Kees van der Pijl<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=16174\">Confronting Neoliberal Regimes: The Post-Marxist Embrace of Populism and Realpolitik (Boris Frankel)<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=5131\">\u201cCrisis\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/bopsecrets.org\/PS\/joyrev1.htm#Utopia%20or%20bust\">Utopia or bust<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Never in history has there been such a glaring contrast between what could be and what actually exists.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hardly necessary to go into all the problems in the world today \u2014 most of them are widely known, and to dwell on them usually does little more than dull us to their reality. But even if we are \u201cstoic enough to endure the misfortunes of others,\u201d the present social deterioration ultimately impinges on us all. Those who don\u2019t face direct physical repression still have to face the mental repressions imposed by an increasingly mean, stressful, ignorant and ugly world. Those who escape economic poverty cannot escape the general impoverishment of life.<\/p>\n<p>And even life at this pitiful level cannot continue for long. The ravaging of the planet by the global development of capitalism has brought us to the point where humanity may become extinct within a few decades.<\/p>\n<p>Yet this same development has made it possible to abolish the system of hierarchy and exploitation that was previously based on material scarcity and to inaugurate a new, genuinely liberated form of society.<\/p>\n<p>Plunging from one disaster to another on its way to mass insanity and ecological apocalypse, this system has developed a momentum that is out of control, even by its supposed masters. As we approach a world in which we won\u2019t be able to leave our fortified ghettoes without armed guards, or even go outdoors without applying sunscreen lest we get skin cancer, it\u2019s hard to take seriously those who advise us to beg for a few reforms.<\/p>\n<p>What is needed, I believe, is a worldwide participatory-democracy revolution that would abolish both capitalism and the state. This is admittedly a big order, but I\u2019m afraid that nothing less can get to the root of our problems. It may seem absurd to talk about revolution; but all the alternatives assume the continuation of the present system, which is even more absurd…<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fYFw3O--2R0?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why not? This video of Friday morning’s eviction of Occupy Melbourne is neat. Inspired by Dr_Tad, Mark Bahnisch @ Larvatus Proedo has some blah on Occupy Australia and the Antipodean \u201cbubble\u201d (October 22, 2011), talkin’ ’bout a revolution Australian exceptionalism. … <a href=\"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/?p=27449\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29,28,10,6,9,893],"tags":[1310],"class_list":["post-27449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broken-windows","category-death","category-film","category-history","category-state","category-thats-capitalism","tag-occupy-melbourne"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6AyE-78J","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27449"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27465,"href":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27449\/revisions\/27465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/slackbastard.anarchobase.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}