Trickle-down economics and drought

Livestock feeds farmers; farmers feed businesses and employees who feed citizens.

Why are governments so obsessed with non-profits when those who generate jobs and ideas for their communities are disqualified from funding grants because of inappropriate policy settings? Is making a profit still a dirty word? Why should businesses spend their earnings helping their communities when governments won’t help them? Trickle-down economics is not a sound strategy.

Governments want to create jobs and support people in a drought.

They want to create more jobs, incentivise people to work, invest in their businesses and communities, employ people, and make better lives for themselves. That is what they think they are all about, but their rhetoric is often not backed up with appropriate action.

Unfortunately, governments are city-centric and have little understanding of drought and flooding rains and even less knowledge about how communities, their businesses and non-profits work. Many believe that many photos and autoresponders for communication are doing the job.

The Country Party, then the National Party, which we believe was a wrong move, was set up to leverage the votes of regional and rural people to ensure the development of non-metropolitan Australia. In reality, it has been a spectacular failure. Metropolitan cities are now bulging at the seams while country towns continue to struggle and export their kids to the cities. The pattern has remained unchanged for a century.

Trickle-down economics doesn’t create the best politicians.

Until regional, rural and remote Australia can elect a more significant bloc of MPs with the right experience and understanding to reverse the flow, Australia’s capital cities will continue to suffer under pressure. In contrast, country towns and villages continue to die, and ideologues continue to gain control of our local governments. Just keeping the seat warm should not be an option.

Over the last ten years, we have created extensive materials to help people in drought-affected areas while improving health and other types of service delivery. These materials are reliable, practical, useful, and helpful for people in our towns and villages.

Would you believe we can’t get appropriate assistance to roll it out to where it is most needed, including visits to communities and follow-up support services? This is despite the many favourable comments from people who see our work.

Australians are becoming impatient with trickle-down economics.

Why are energy prices still out of control in a resource-rich country like Australia? It is unacceptable, and unless it is turned around very quickly, quiet Australians will start “rioting”, as they do in other countries.

We need to become better at picking real leaders and entrepreneurs to help them succeed. It is also disconcerting to see what is happening in our schools and universities, and how the next crop of leaders could be much worse.

Quotable Quotes

“Ninety per cent of the politicians give the other ten per cent a bad reputation”. Henry Kissinger

“A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul”. George Bernard Shaw

“The budget should be balanced, the treasury refilled, public debt reduced, the arrogance of officialdom tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands curtailed, lest Rome become
bankrupt”. Cicero, Roman Statesman (106 B.C.- 43 B.C.)