Critical Times

A viewing of a couple of articles from the, “The Meatworker”, journal of the Australiasian Meat Industry Employee’s Union (AMIEU) caught our eye and illustrated in very human terms how bad workplaces can become under Australian Workplace Agreements. Read on to see what awaits workers in the near future.

Unfair Dismissal (Teys Naracoorte)

One case involved a worker who was sacked after refusing to work weekends and who had to take time off work to care for her sick children.

Politics is the strife of interests. It masquerades as contrast between principles and different means of conducting public affairs. The key issue in all politics is whom does the system serve? Under capitalism it is always the greedy corporate class and their private interests.

A man enters a bar and orders a drink. The bar has a robot bartender. The robot serves him a perfectly prepared cocktail, and then asks him, “What’s your IQ?” The man replies “150” and the robot proceeds to make conversation about global warming factors, quantum physics and spirituality, biomimicry, environmental interconnectedness, string theory, nano-technology, and sexual proclivities.

During the last couple years, while President Bush’s government has been consumed with the mess caused by his heavy-handed shoot’em up foreign policies, Latin America has gradually gone pink. No not gay, worse still socialist! And not because some khaki clad Left wing guerrillas overthrew the pro-American governments either, but completely democratically. Voters threw the well-heeled bums out.

By John Pilger
First published in t r u t h o u t | Perspective, Thursday 19 January 2006

Shortly after Christmas, the Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer died in his mansion overlooking Sydney Harbor, guarded by large, salivating dogs. In Britain, he was remembered as the man who brought celebrity hoopla and money to cricket. Here, in Australia, his death provided a glimpse of the changes imposed on societies that once were proud to call themselves social democracies.

“The Revolution You Can Wear”

In 1993, American academic and cultural critic, Brian Massumi edited a collection of essays entitled The Politics Of Everyday Fear. The purpose of this collection was to draw attention to the role played by fear under modern capitalism especially in America. Fear of the indiscriminate murder, fear of car crash, fear of failure, fear of fat, fear of uncleanliness, fear of ecological disaster.