Saturday, March 30, 2013

No choice.



Why is choice – in a democracy like Australia – being eroded by Capitalism (with a big “C”)? It is a sad fact that the two giants of Australian supermarkets – Woolworths and Coles - are working to reduce the range of products that we customers can buy. They are trying to force us into buying their “home” or in-house brands. Certainly “home” brand prices appear cheaper than those of other suppliers (I will admit to purchasing some “home” branded products because of their price) – but at what cost to us?

The range of alternative products on the shelves of these two supermarkets is certainly less than it was some years ago – some branded products are no longer stocked. And the “home” branded products are often given pride of place.

My concern is that once I/we are conditioned into buying on price only we will be left with nothing but the “home” branded products. Now with most “home” branded products – certainly when it comes to food – the small print states that it is “Produced in - New Zealand or the Netherlands or (occasionally) Australia - from local and imported products”.

I have learned that this phrase “from local and imported products” means that “imported” is a euphemism for “China” and local most probably refers to the cardboard packaging. But what goes into the products we get from China?

Never having been to China I am reliant on what the media chooses to report and what, carefully controlled, snippets of information are allowed out of China by the censors. This is not very much but I know that China is neither a democracy nor a truly Communist country. In fact I would say that a country of 1.2 billion people is virtually ungovernable – certainly not from a central “office”. Furthermore the Chinese legal system is somewhat problematical and it is doubtful that “justice is seen to be done” in a conventional (Westminster) sense.

It is no secret that corruption is endemic and this together with the huge disparity of income between the very rich and desperately poor would suggest that social unrest is bubbling away beneath the smooth surface the Chinese authorities like to portray.

This leads me to question the standard of product that we (Australia) import from China. There is heavily polluted water – a recent audit indicates that 28 000 (Yes! Twenty-eight thousand) rivers and waterways have “disappeared” in China due mainly to poor water management!! Much of the water that remains is of such poor quality that it is alleged to be unsuitable for drinking and fishing is discouraged. You will recall that, recently, about 15000 dead pigs were found floating in a major river!

Is this the water being used to irrigate the vegetables that Australia imports?

Then there are continuing reports of contaminated infant foods and milk powders. Furthermore it is known that indiscriminate use of antibiotics in animal welfare is one reason we are seeing a rise in antibiotic resistant strains of previously controllable diseases. What are the controls the Chinese have in place to prevent any such abuse of antibiotic use just because they are available and cheap? No one knows. The same applies to pesticides – are they using banned carcinogenic products because they are available and cheap? No one knows.

What is the quality of the food that Coles and Woolworths are importing and “forcing” us to purchase their "home" brands because they undercut the prices of other products and thus drive out competition?

They won’t tell and the Chinese Government won’t say!

I will add that if Coles and Woolworths are just trying to please their shareholders with high share prices and increased dividends at the consumers cost then they forget that shareholders are also consumers!! 

There is an old saying that you can't have your cake and eat it too!!!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Man and God.



Oh boy!! This is an intensely personal and a highly emotive issue but it needs to be talked about – openly. So here goes!!

First up let me state, clearly, that I am not a follower of any particular religion or faith. Nominally an Anglican or Church of England – I was baptised as one – there are beliefs held by Buddhism and Sufism that I find satisfying and meaningful, just as I enjoy some of the hymns associated with the English Church and I find the the ideas and language of the King James Bible quite wonderful. Likewise certain aspects of the Kabbalah (an ancient Jewish spiritual tradition) and the Hindu beliefs about life and spirituality I also find comforting. So I suppose I could be called an “all sorts” – and possibly be despised as such, even condemned by some for blasphemy and as an apostate.

No matter! What I have found is that all these different forms of belief have one goal – to direct a follower to God, no matter what God is called; God, Allah, Krishna, Brahma, Yahweh, the Absolute – there is only One God. So I really don’t believe it matters much HOW you believe as long as you DO believe. And how you believe is your personal choice, once you have reached an age when you can reflect, reason and choose accordingly.

What got me onto all this are three things: firstly, the recent resignation or abdication of the (now former) Pope – Benedict XVI. Secondly, the long running scandal – affecting ALL religions – relating to the physical and sexual abuse, by those entrusted with their welfare, of children and women. Thirdly, the apparent secularisation of the Western countries (by this I mean the more developed countries of the world) and the corollary of falling church attendances.  

Now, I am not claiming that these three are directly linked in any way, it is just that the three go together. I’ll explain why:-

Trust is one of the most fragile of human feelings. And trust is a feeling – not an emotion – it is a gut feeling. Trust usually takes a long time to develop but can be lost in a split second. In the current environment how can trust be engendered when government officials, lawyers, accountants and clergy have been known to abuse their positions for personal gain? How can trust be engendered or maintained particularly when the clergy, imams, rabbis, priests – call them what you will – of any religious order abuse the very people they have been entrusted to protect, to educate and to lead on a spiritual journey to God?

Of a certainty only a minority of clergy are abusers – there are many very fine men and women helping many people. But I wonder if it is the system, the environment, that is the baleful influence and not as the saying goes, “that one bad apple can spoil the barrel” but the “barrel” itself that is bad?

When people, particularly young people place themselves in the hands of someone they view as “superior”; someone who is supposed to be a spiritual and life  “guide”; someone who directs them on a weekly basis; someone who influences that least understood and most delicate of human attributes – spirituality, then almost unlimited “power” is given to that guide. Unconsciously this transference of “power” to influence and control a person’s thoughts and actions may damage both.

 When a priest, imam or rabbi (as an example) is given this influence over a young person (for example), there is now scope for, shall we say, “ungodly” activities. When young men are influenced to blow themselves up and kill as many “unbelievers” (Christian westerners) as they can; when strict adherence to the letter of the Bible, Koran or Torah is demanded as a requirement to “belong” in a particular society or group; when “believers” are controlled to the extent that they are discouraged from socialising with those not of their “faith” then something is out of kilter. When Christians and Muslims kill Jews; when Jews isolate Muslims from their land and Holy places; when Muslims burn Christian churches; when Christians burn Mosques; when Hindus burn the places of worship of both Muslims and Christians; when Christians categorize all Muslims as potential terrorists; when Muslims consider all non-Muslims as unacceptable to God and legitimate targets for punishment (a jihad or “holy” war); when women are considered secondary citizens and denied basic human rights (by ALL religions); when people are harmed in any way and when there is injustice in any form, a crime is committed and trust is broken.

Why then should anyone believe in the “sanctity” of any particular faith or religious cause again?
Certainly with the Christian Churches, and the Catholic Church is the biggest one, I believe that the “system” is corrupt and broken. It is the current, broken, system that encourages priestly influence and authority over parishioners for money and “power” – the Catholic Church is an immensely powerful and wealthy organization.

The religious people involved in these crimes are showing themselves as diminished beings unworthy of trust. Knowledge of any abuse spreads like effluent through a community and many people, naturally, turn away from any such toxic influences lest they become poisoned. Church attendances therefore fall.

There is little sign of  humility and adherence to the commandments that Jesus gave to his followers (King James Bible - Matthew 22.37 and 39):

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” and,
“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”.

There are not many clearer directions that this, are there? So why don’t Christians churches follow them?

Remember Jesus also said (King James Bible, Matthew 6.21):

"For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also".

My thoughts on Injustice and fear.



Well! It has taken me quite a while to get this far in writing a new post! My “muse’ had temporarily abandoned me – I experienced what I assume is “writer block”. I know that my one loyal reader will have been very disappointed but during the last month or so I have tried to write about any number of topics but stopped after a few paragraphs.

I am not sure if it is age creeping up on me or the fact that it has taken me quite a while to adapt to retirement; to the fact that I had little regularity in my day to day activities; that I had to, as it were, entertain myself. Now I have never been frightened of being alone and I enjoy my own company – as long as I can read, listen to music and can, when so inclined, go out and re-join the world and engage with people. I – we all – need the company of others of our kind to keep our sense of identity and to maintain our humanity but I prefer to choose when I do so.

This talk of people brings up a topic which has always – since I was child – engendered a sense of outrage: injustice. Injustice leads on to fear and these two – fear and injustice - inevitably have corruption as a third “ingredient”. Whether corruption causes injustice and fear or whether fear causes the other two is immaterial. The result is suffering, human grief and pain (emotional and physical) and also, I might add, the same for other sentient beings that inhabit this planet with us.

It is the mental aspect of this suffering that concerns me more than anything else. I mean just imagine the suffering that refugees, the alleged “boat people” suffer, particularly females. They would have lived in a violent society – where ever their “home” may have been. Maybe I should use another word rather than “home” with its connotations of peace and respite – possibly this place should be referred to as “their place of birth”. Whatever, they have suffered and now have an earnest desire to move to a safer place, as would I if the situations were reversed.

I am outraged at the shrill calls for the “boats to be turned back” or for the conditions made so unpleasant – waiting their “turn” in the queue that these unfortunate people would be glad to return to their place of birth. This well documented tactic, to dehumanize prisoners (for that is effect what these refugees become) then blame the victims for their sorry condition is unworthy of a country like Australia. These tactics were used by the Nazis, by Stalinist Russia and are still used by the Chinese, North Koreans, the Americans (see Guantanamo Bay Prison) and I am sure there are others that I cannot recall at the moment.

For God’s sake Australia was founded upon the inhuman and degrading policy of transportation of prisoners from England! This current “victim blame” is abuse pure and simple. 

At the very least Australia is in breach of the Declaration of Human Rights (see the following Articles of the Declaration):
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 14
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

These refugees having suffered sufficiently to force them to find a safe haven (Australia) then suffer a horrendous and dangerous journey only to be intercepted by Australian Customs or Border Patrol Authorities and then transported to either Christmas Island,  Manus Island or Narau for “processing”. This process can take years.

Such a process is not only degrading, it is unjust (see Declaration of Human Rights Articles above), it may cause fear and abuse of process – corruption.

Treat these unfortunate people as human being in distress and need of succour. There is no alternative to treating people the way you would like to be treated in similar circumstances.