For this to become the basic principle of thought then we need to acknowledge, firstly, that modern circumstance has crippled us. We have become alienated from our true selves – or what we ought to be. I don’t believe we can look at “human nature” as it stands in the dominant capitalist system. The reason for this is we have become a “thing” in the capitalist system – existing to either produce, consume or both! Until we realise that we are human then we will be unable to grasp our true selves.

Our constant interaction with the economy on a producer/consumer basis is what has shaped us but we also help mould the economy in some way. Therefore, we are not powerless.

Our passions and striving are the roots of our inner selves and can once again become the most powerful force in our society’s development. As someone once wrote, “we have nothing to lose but our chains.” On the contrary, in losing the chains we also have to lose all those irrational needs and satisfactions which originated while we have been wearing the chains. This means there are irrational forces in humans which make us afraid of freedom and only produce a lust for power and destruction.

There is a way forward if we realise that our moral compass has been set by popular culture. Popular culture is determined by corporate propaganda. A better society cannot be brought to life by people who have not undergone a moral transformation within themselves. The alienation of humans by advertisements means there must be a focus on the human aspects of our social problems. In order to transform our current society we must criticise it from the view point of what it has done to our human qualities, to our soul, our spirit. Asking ourselves how we can contribute toward ending our alienation and idolatry of the economy is a first step.

The use of words such as “Marxist”, “far-left”, “socialist” are used to engender fear in those who do not understand those words. An interesting note is that Peter states “university-educated professionals and academics……are even more hostile to the Liberal Party.” Suggesting then that people who think would not naturally vote for the conservative do nothing agenda.

But the purpose of this post is not to rubbish any particular political party not matter how easy some people make it. The purpose is to highlight the fact that politics, it seems, is less about doing good and fostering progress but more about playing games. I’m sure your immediate thought is that politics has always been about playing games after all isn’t this where the term, “playing political games” comes from? Playing these games is wasteful and achieves very little, if anything, in the way of progress.

It may come as no great revelation that politicians of all stripes have lost the basic sense of doing what’s right. Instead their whole being is obsessed with political motives based on a desire to gain power, to compete against others, to expand control, to exercise force over others, to gain prestige, and to boost ones owns pride and financial security.

The amazing thing to me is that there’s no outcry from the population. It appears we have been conditioned to accept this as the normal state of play. To me, it is this type of serial apathy that eventually led to the French Revolution and the American War for Independence – generations of people accepted the status quo until one day a critical mass was reached and there was a revolt against self-serving “aristocrats.”

It will take nothing less than a revolution in Australia before we realise that these self-serving “peers of the realm” need to be brought back down to earth. They need to be reminded that our political system does not exist for them but it exists for us. While they merrily play their silly, wasteful, spiteful little games, the gap between rich and poor continues to increase, multi-national companies continue to rape our resources, crime continues to impact on people’s lives, people cannot afford accommodation and most are working longer hours than they ever have.

It is time that we wake up and believe in better…….change is in your hands.

Why does this matter? Because if Australian kids don’t see scientists and engineers as leaders but only as geeks, nerds or such like, then they’re hardly likely to choose them as professions. In a global, knowledge-driven economy there is a direct correlation between engineering education and innovation. Our success or failure as a nation will be measured by how well we do with the innovation agenda, and by how well we can advance medical research, create game-changing devices and improve the world.

I love the experiences I have had as an engineer; I believe that these experiences set me apart from others without the same exposure. Science and engineering is a diverse continual educational experience that produces broad thinkers who appreciate the critical links between technology and society. That’s why we are valuable.

Many countries are doing a much better job than us in setting good foundations in science and engineering. Ireland, despite a devastated economy, just announced it will increase spending on basic research. Russia is building an “innovation city” outside of Moscow. Saudi Arabia has a new university for science and engineering with a staggering $10 billion endowment. China is creating new technology universities literally by the dozens. In comparison, Australia is selling business degrees to international students.

Overseas nations have rightly concluded that the way to win in the world economy is by doing a better job of educating and innovating. And Australia? We’re losing our edge. For many reasons, innovation is something we’ve always been good at. Until recently, we’ve been ‘punching above our weight’ when it comes to finding new ideas through basic research, translating those ideas into products through world-class engineering, and getting to market first.

The World Economic Forum ranks Australia 45 (out of 138) in the availability of scientists and engineers – behind countries such as Coast Rica, Algeria and Bahrain, with the top three being Finland, Japan and the US.

Innovation is the key to survival in an increasingly global economy. Charles Darwin observed that it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change. Right now Australia is not responding to change as we need to. The way forward is to rid ourselves narrow 20^th century thinking.

Australia does not possess an innate knack for greatness. Greatness must be worked for and won by each new generation. Right now that is not happening. If we place emphasis on education, research and innovation we can lead the world. But the only way to ensure we lead tomorrow is to increase our investment in science and engineering today.

Ref: Norm Augustine entitled, “Danger: America Is Losing Its Edge in Innovation.”

Moralistic Judgements are a form of communication that alienates the giver and receiver. They are judgements that imply “wrongness” or “badness” on the part of people who don’t seem to act in agreement with our values. Moralistic judgements are reflected in language that project blame, insults, comparisons, and diagnoses. For example a comment such as, “The problem with you is that you think you are superior” or “They’re radical” are both forms of judgement.

In the world of judgements, our concern centres on WHO is WHAT and traps us in a cycle of ideas about rightness and wrongness. When we think and speak this type of language we judge others and their behaviour while preoccupying ourselves with whose good, bad, normal, abnormal, responsible, irresponsible, smart, ignorant, etc…

When we express our values and needs in this way we increase defensiveness and resistance to them in the very people whose behaviours are of concern to us. At times people may agree to act in harmony with our values but they do so out of fear, guilt, shame or some other negative emotion. Sooner or later though, these people experience resentment due to feeling coerced into complying. This leads to a decreased likelihood of people responding compassionately to our needs and values in the future.

One American writer suggested that at the root of much, if not all, violence – whether verbal, psychological, or physical, whether among family members, tribes, or nations – is a kind of thinking that attributes the cause of conflict to wrongness in one’s adversaries, and a corresponding inability to think of oneself or others in terms of vulnerability – what one might be feeling, fearing, yearning for, missing etc…We see this quite often in our media; some people on one side of politics view The Australian Greens Political Party as “evil” hell bent on destroying the Australian way of life. The ALP might refer to the Liberals as “the Extreme Right” who are trying to impose their radical beliefs on everyone. Neither side acknowledging the fear lurking behind such labels.

People with differing values need to recognise that moralistic judgements alienate people and that there are much better ways to achieve positive outcomes. Another way we alienate ourselves is by the denial of responsibility. Denial of responsibility clouds our awareness that we are each responsible for our own thoughts, feelings, and actions. Our language obscures awareness of personal responsibility, e.g. “I have to drive my car to work.” The use of the common expression “have to” illustrates how personal responsibility for our actions is obscured in such speech and facilitates denial. “I started smoking because all my friends did” is another example.

Modern society, with the help of political leaders, advertising and mass media, has become very adept at moralistic judgements and denial of responsibility – both forms of alienating communication. The French Novelist George Bernanos says it well when he writes:

“I have thought for a long time now that if, some day, the increasing efficiency for the technique of destruction finally causes our species to disappear from the earth, it will not be cruelty that will be responsible for our extinction and still less, of course, the indignation that cruelty awakens and the reprisals and vengeance that it brings upon itself…but the docility, the lack of responsibility of the modern man, his base subservient acceptance of every common decree. The horrors that we have seen, the still greater horrors we shall presently see, are not signs that rebels, insubordinate, untameable men are increasing in number throughout the world, but rather that there is a constant increase in the number of obedient, docile men.”

Now imagine that you spent the same amount of time and energy researching who to vote for in the NSW election on the 26^th March! Yeah crazy thought eh? Sadly, most people will only spend a fleeting moment contemplating their vote, if they think at all. Yet, choosing who to vote for can easily be one of the most important choices you make.

It seems to me that in recent times Australians increasingly like to have a good old whinge. We whinge about this, whine about that, yet when it comes to actually doing something about the very things we whinge about most sit on their hands. Think about this, the majority of the laws we have in NSW have been created and decided by the two so-called “major” parties. Traffic congestion didn’t happen overnight, it is a result of over 20 years of poor planning and short term thinking. Who were the two players at the helm? Lack of infrastructure in the ever expanding suburbs…it didn’t happen overnight; it is a result of a continuous string of bad governments dominated by the “major” parties.

The Greens get attacked on many fronts, but they aren’t responsible for congestion, they aren’t responsible for poor infrastructure, they aren’t responsible for the growing cost of housing. In fact, the Greens aren’t responsible for any of the mess you currently see in NSW, yet a vote for the Lib/Labs is to say continue with business as usual.

Unfortunately, the big political parties like to hide their policies because they really don’t want people knowing about everything they intend to do. The Greens, on the other hand, allow people to scrutinise all their policies via their website. If you don’t agree with them, fine, but at least you have had the opportunity to check them out. The Greens do this because they believe in open and honest government not back room or bottom draw deals.

If people spent as much time researching their vote as they do searching for a new fridge we might just end up with a government worth having. I know this is probably too much to ask but I plea for common sense on the 26^th March, your vote could mean the difference between more of the same or real change, for a change.

The Sydney Morning Herald has run a few articles of late pointing to the signs of things to come. First there was Former Victoria Premier Jeff Kennett suggesting that O’Farrell must “rush pre-written legislation through Parliament and unleash a whirlwind of change on half a dozen fronts if he wants to reform the state.” In his time as premier Jeff Kennett “retrenched 50,000 public servants, closed 350 schools and privatised a host of government services.”

The last time the NSW Liberals had control of the government (during the Fahey and Greiner years) they sacked more than 50,000 public servants (including 2000 teachers, 5000 school cleaners and more than 8000 rail workers).

Now, let me just say that numbers on a page are just that, numbers. But behind those 50,000 public servants are people with families: husbands and wives who need to provide.

Make no mistake, a NSW Liberal government WILL decimate government services, the only decision you need to make is whether or not you are comfortable with that.

If you are comfortable to give Liberal a rubber stamp to create massive pain and anxiety in the lives of public servants and the wider community, then go ahead vote for the Liberals. If, however, you are like me and feel that there is a better way of doing things rather than selling our silverware to pay for short term gain, then vote 1 Green.

People need to be reminded as often as possible that there is another way of doing things; that the neo-liberal thinking of the last 30 years has not solved our problems. In fact this philosophy has created more problems and caused much grief for those at the bottom of the pile. It has facilitated the rise and rise of “the haves.”

The man “advising” the Liberals at the moment runs a company that has been described as ”living organism that has found a very rich payload of nutrients”. This is a person (and company) who fundamentally believes that people are a liability and that if something can be done by a robot or if something can be done on the cheap then it should be – regardless of the human cost. These people think that the dumping of 500,000 British public servants is a good thing – as long as it is not them!

O’Farrell has recently said: ”We don’t have a default position that says privatisation is in our DNA.” Forgive me if I don’t believe you Mr O’Farrell, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

There is a way to restore sanity and that way is to vote Green in the upcoming election. Then and only then can you be assured that people will come before profit.