The Rudd government's plan to expropriate wealth from mining sector investors is the most opportunistic grab for cash we have probably seen in the last 100 years. Oh, there was an attempt by a Labor state government to seize the private property in the name of the public good in Parramatta a few years ago. That issue when to the High Court. Clearly this issue is heading in the same direction.
Rudd is clearly dividing the country on an important issue. It is a surprising issue. One would have hoped that we would have developed a respect for people's property centuries ago, but because of the intellectual ambivalence or inefficacy of a great many Australians, the prospect of individuals or governments stealing wealth from others is just controversial. We might have some sympathy for a person without moral guidance, if they resorted to stealing, then we might appreciate their 'grab for cash' in order to feed themselves.
The problem is that such arguments are not about 'needs' trumping rights (or wants), but about the litany of non-thoughts, non-decisions which manifested in that person needing to steal. Why did he become a thief when he could have become a productive person. No positive influences. So what type of role model is the Rudd government when it seeks to expropriate the wealth of Australians, and why is it opportunistically stealing this cash after just having passed through one of the most glorious market conditions the country has ever seen? Its not even short for cash. This is all about power over money. Rudd is not content to marry a multi-millionaire, he has to extort a thousand more besides. Legally of course. Its a fine line under fascism. All you have to do is offer the 'appearance' of a concession to enough voters, and they will sell their souls for some short range benefit. The strategy is old - divide and rule. This month the target is miners. In a few years, the Rudd would have diminished the ego of Australians by another quart, and the extent of their repression would have sunk another decibel. The number of productive members in society would have shrunk another 0.5%, and tax receipts will need a kick up to help all those extra cases of mental illness and anxiety that have been added to the cues because Rudd and a litany of other political middlemen have offered 'carrots' to those who did not deserve them, and effectively bludgeoned the productive people in this country.
We owe the productive class in any country a great deal. We do not honour them by expropriating their wealth. The reason they evade taxes, the reason why your claims exceed your generosity, is because you did not earn the right to enslave them. You never will. It is an indefensible principle. Your justification that the 'common good' trumps the individual is an illusion long since dispelled. You are not convinced because no one has appealed to your better interest at the level which you need. There are two arguments:
1. Self worth: There are those who argue that personal self worth is intrinsic or unconditional, and those who argue that its conditional or earned. This debate is mostly conceded to the collectivists or socialists. There is a great deal of rationalism here and equivocation. Right to life should not amount to claims on others rights.
2. Cognition: So long as people think cognitive efficacy is based on intuition, the collective will, there will be no chance of achieving any sense of mental efficacy, and thus no prospect of anyone retaining self-esteem.
Kevin Rudd is undermining the intellectual capital of this country. The foreign capital which will find over markets is just the start. Australia's brightest minds will head offshore. They already have. There are already a million-odd Australians living abroad. They have left the 'lucky country'. I dare say, most of them did it for the money....a very concrete reason. Rudd has given them a more compelling reason....a desire to find a country where thinkers and achievers are valued, and not bludgeoned, both financially and intellectually.
If you want an example, of what life under Rudd will be like, look no further than NZ. NZ very much lives under Australia's shadow because it cannot attract skilled people. It therefore has problem with business starts. It therefore has to substitute departing skilled NZ'ers with semi-skilled imports from Asia with collectivist values. The problem with collectivism is that its indulgent and non-intellectual. They are the basis for simple jobs like waiting on tables. They are not the values which underpin business. To be fair to these migrants, they are the best in their country. The implication is that there is a brain drain from Asia, and then we have 0.5 million NZ'ers in Australia. This is a brain drain as well. They are not just chasing money, the underlying values are different.
NZ is not a country you would associate with aspirational values. The aspirational ones leave. This of course concentrates the parasitical souls who think it is acceptable to renounce responsibility and live off the efforts of other people. As parents, we know that life is about teaching kids the consequences of their actions. Its also why we don't spoil them. If we spoil them, these cease to value, they cease to achieve. Only humanity, the 'conceptual animal' possesses the stupidity to do that. Animals cannot afford it, no species can afford to renounce its only self-worth...its too fundamental. That is what Kevin Rudd is doing, by giving people an ultimatum between:
1. Perpetrator - if you support or suspend your judgement about this Resource Rent Tax
2. Victim - loss of wealth, loss of efficacy, disempowerment, brain drain if you allow the Resource Rent Tax to be adopted.
This is not a single issue...it is a principle that has to be grasped. The line should have been drawn not at some arbitrary point, but a principle - respect for property rights. This breach was made possible by the judiciary which sanctioned the enactment of arbitrary rule. This was a departure from Common Law, which is based on principles. When 'the people' allowed that, when the judiciary allowed that, government became capable of anything. Now we have a plethora of publicly-funded spineless academics advocating far worse. Yes, miners are forced to support a whole industry which because of their concrete-based thinking, will end up destroying them, or punishing them offshore.
The problem is that governments around the world are reducing the standards of value all around the world. There is no where to find. Eventually the internet transactions will be taxed. Google on 0.1% tax rate in Australia...it will have no where to hide. Google I think pays a 10% tax in Ireland. Not in future. There will be a litany of new regulations to stop it. And you will support this new tax or law because its in your 'narrow', 'concrete' interests. You will give no thought to the more abstract principles involved. By that point the number of intellectuals will be a fraction of a percent.
Basically there is not going to be anywhere to hide. You can confront the parasites in your government, or you can confront the parasites in Asia, where you might be compelled to live because money goes further. The problem is - they know you have money. The paradox is that they want to get out of their country. There is literary no where to hide from arbitrary government. On forums, I warn Americans coming to Australia or NZ of their false hope...they have this expectation that they can escape the parasites in their government...there is no where to hide. These people have to be confronted.
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Author
Andrew Sheldon
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