Whether the gathering of Australia's supposedly best and brightest will be yet another dreary Canberra talk-fest or a history-making congress that maps out the future of Australia through wise and productive policies .... there is one thing missing:
No mention of the men and women who will have to carry out the policies and the actions of our government and who will defend us from aggression.
There is no mention in the agenda of how Australian Defence Force personnel can be recruited, trained, organized, supported, committed, retained and then returned to fulfilling civilian life. That is a serious [but not surprising] omission.
It is entirely consistent with other responses to the perils of living in a dangerous world - just pretend a problem doesn't exist and it will go away .... and then when it becomes obvious it problem hasn't gone away but has got far worse, try to cope by crisis management.
Instead of allowing a crisis to develop and then trying to manage it in a blind panic, let's try a rational approach for a change .... by putting the discussion of new policies involving the ADF on the agenda of this Summit.
[Oh yes - and all the best for St Patrick's Day too :-) ]
-----------
Since I put up this post a few days ago, Australian Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, has made a statement on the crisis in recruitment for the Australian Defence Force. A news item about it is on the ABC website at
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/18/2193456.htm
Discrimination and vilification against war veterans and peacekeepers would have a wee bit to do with discouraging relatives and neighbours from joining up. The bureaucratic abuse and cheating of widows and wounded might have some bearing on it too.
Don't hold your breath waiting for the thousand best-and-brightest to consider this issue at the Australia 2020 Summit.
17 March, 2008
31 January, 2008
Kevin Rudd and Australian Veterans
The incompetent anti-veteran government of John Howard and his Liberals and Nationals coalition sycophants fell at the last election. Thank goodness. They were nothing but an insult to the conservative free-enterprise side of politics.
The new government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Australian Labor Party looks set to slash government spending, and, given the traditional hostility of the Labor Party towards war veterans, you can bet your proverbials that Veterans' Affairs will get high priority for the chopping block.
They might abolish the Department of Veterans' Affairs and associated bodies altogether and merge their facilities and services with those of Social Security. Or, they might privatize them - as was done with the Repatriation Hospitals and with War Service Home Loans; of course, if that did happen, I wonder if major Japanese finance institutions would be the new owners? Now there's a thought.
Reform and improvement of the whole veterans' affairs system so that it better serves the actual needs of veterans and their families just isn't on the cards at all. Even though improving the veterans' affairs system would reduce waste and so lead to hefty savings in that area.
One worrying thing is that slashing by stealth may have started already, not in places where there has been a huge waste of the taxpayers' money but by sneaky administrative means: cutting the pensions of veterans who are at the bottom of the system and incapable of defending themselves.
There are rumours - which I have no way of confirming and which I hope are wrong - that many [the usual figure spoken is four hundred] war veterans who have had their pensions cut or taken off them because they "failed to comply with medication regimes or doctors orders".
Does anyone - veterans, civil liberties people or anyone at all - have any reliable information to confirm or refute these stories?
The new government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Australian Labor Party looks set to slash government spending, and, given the traditional hostility of the Labor Party towards war veterans, you can bet your proverbials that Veterans' Affairs will get high priority for the chopping block.
They might abolish the Department of Veterans' Affairs and associated bodies altogether and merge their facilities and services with those of Social Security. Or, they might privatize them - as was done with the Repatriation Hospitals and with War Service Home Loans; of course, if that did happen, I wonder if major Japanese finance institutions would be the new owners? Now there's a thought.
Reform and improvement of the whole veterans' affairs system so that it better serves the actual needs of veterans and their families just isn't on the cards at all. Even though improving the veterans' affairs system would reduce waste and so lead to hefty savings in that area.
One worrying thing is that slashing by stealth may have started already, not in places where there has been a huge waste of the taxpayers' money but by sneaky administrative means: cutting the pensions of veterans who are at the bottom of the system and incapable of defending themselves.
There are rumours - which I have no way of confirming and which I hope are wrong - that many [the usual figure spoken is four hundred] war veterans who have had their pensions cut or taken off them because they "failed to comply with medication regimes or doctors orders".
Does anyone - veterans, civil liberties people or anyone at all - have any reliable information to confirm or refute these stories?
09 January, 2008
Social Contract & Military Service
An old concept has turned up in discussion again; this time following the death of a good American soldier in the Iraq Conflict. It is the concept of the Social Contact that is implied in Military Service.
It is a social contract that is implied not just in voluntary military service; it is implied - in a slightly different way – in conscripted military service too. It is implied whether the service is within one's national borders or overseas. It is implied – in various ways and in varying degrees – whether one's service is in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Foreign Legion, Marines, Waffen-SS, MVD, FSB, WJ, Coast Guard , Insurgent Forces, Partisans, Gurkhas or a private security firm; it is implied wherever there is an organized armed force with a responsible system or chain of command and that has definable political objectives [which excludes bandit gangs, no matter how military they may appear]. It is implied regardless of rank – although Generals and other senior commanders do have additional onerous responsibilities that come with their position or rank.
In a grossly over-simplified way, the social contract goes something like this:
I will risk my life fighting for your cause [which is usually but not always, my cause too].
I will attack your Enemies where this is unavoidable and I will defend you against your Enemies where this is necessary.
In return, you will not attack nor abandon nor despise nor cheat me for having done so.
If I am injured in your conflict with your Enemies, you will not scorn me nor exacerbate my injuries nor prevent these injuries being ameliorated nor deprive me of whatever living I can then make nor rob me.
If I die in doing this service for you, you will not attack nor shun nor neglect nor ill-treat nor defraud my loved ones in their grief.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You will make clear to me exactly who your Enemies are and who are not your enemies. You will also tell me why these people – who themselves may be good decent people in normal circumstances – have become your Enemies.
I will do everything in my power to overcome your Enemies, to frustrate their schemes and, if it is at all possible, to deflect their hostile attention from you.
If there is no alternative but to do so – and your Enemies wilfully and repeatedly refuse to go away or change their hostility to you - I will strive to destroy them.
If you decide your Enemies are no longer your enemies, you will tell me by the swiftest possible means so that unnecessary suffering and destruction can be stopped abruptly – or even prevented.
You yourself will strive, in every possible way, to overcome your Enemies too. Furthermore, you will not make profit from my suffering or death by doing normal business with your Enemies, either directly or through third parties.
You will keep open channels of communication so that you could – if the opportunity arises and it is ultimately beneficial for our cause to do so – enter into negotiations for the end of fighting, suffering and destruction [whether that results in a win, a loss, a draw or whatever].
However, you will not betray me or my family merely because you have become tired or bored with the conflict or because you lack the courage to face up to the consequences of going into conflict with people you deemed to be your Enemies.
You will keep me regularly and truthfully informed [in the broadest terms and without revealing our side's plans or other secrets] about how the conflict is going – whether that be good or bad – so that my morale is not shattered by hearing the truth first from the lips of the Enemies. I will not be lied to. I will be given the truth so that even if things are going very badly, I can still be resolute in carrying out my duty to you and in so doing, preserve your honour as well as my own..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You will supply me with sufficient and suitable material in serviceable condition and in a timely manner.
I will use that material as best I can to overcome your Enemies.
You will supply me with the best material that can be obtained at the best price and not with the material that can get you the most lucrative kick-back from the supplier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You will not make false promises of reward for my service nor will you steal from me any rewards or payments you have already given to me. If my only reward is the praise and respect of my fellow citizens then so be it. You will not condemn me nor humiliate me for having done my duty. If the treasure or other assets of your Enemies falls into our hands, you will not plunder it for your own selfish purposes but instead you will stand aside and allow it to be added to our own national treasury for the benefit of all the people of our nation.
There is probably a lot more in such a social contract – but you'll get the idea.
This is a social contract. It is definitely not a legal contract. It lacks some of the features of a regular legal contract. It is not an Enlistment Form nor an Employment Contract nor an Appointment nor any other document.
There is not a court of law in the whole wide world that could or would enforce such a social contract.
It is enforced under only one law: the pitiless, iron-hard Law Of Victory And Defeat – the law that determines whether a nation and its people survive or get annihilated.
It is a social contract that is implied not just in voluntary military service; it is implied - in a slightly different way – in conscripted military service too. It is implied whether the service is within one's national borders or overseas. It is implied – in various ways and in varying degrees – whether one's service is in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Foreign Legion, Marines, Waffen-SS, MVD, FSB, WJ, Coast Guard , Insurgent Forces, Partisans, Gurkhas or a private security firm; it is implied wherever there is an organized armed force with a responsible system or chain of command and that has definable political objectives [which excludes bandit gangs, no matter how military they may appear]. It is implied regardless of rank – although Generals and other senior commanders do have additional onerous responsibilities that come with their position or rank.
In a grossly over-simplified way, the social contract goes something like this:
I will risk my life fighting for your cause [which is usually but not always, my cause too].
I will attack your Enemies where this is unavoidable and I will defend you against your Enemies where this is necessary.
In return, you will not attack nor abandon nor despise nor cheat me for having done so.
If I am injured in your conflict with your Enemies, you will not scorn me nor exacerbate my injuries nor prevent these injuries being ameliorated nor deprive me of whatever living I can then make nor rob me.
If I die in doing this service for you, you will not attack nor shun nor neglect nor ill-treat nor defraud my loved ones in their grief.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You will make clear to me exactly who your Enemies are and who are not your enemies. You will also tell me why these people – who themselves may be good decent people in normal circumstances – have become your Enemies.
I will do everything in my power to overcome your Enemies, to frustrate their schemes and, if it is at all possible, to deflect their hostile attention from you.
If there is no alternative but to do so – and your Enemies wilfully and repeatedly refuse to go away or change their hostility to you - I will strive to destroy them.
If you decide your Enemies are no longer your enemies, you will tell me by the swiftest possible means so that unnecessary suffering and destruction can be stopped abruptly – or even prevented.
You yourself will strive, in every possible way, to overcome your Enemies too. Furthermore, you will not make profit from my suffering or death by doing normal business with your Enemies, either directly or through third parties.
You will keep open channels of communication so that you could – if the opportunity arises and it is ultimately beneficial for our cause to do so – enter into negotiations for the end of fighting, suffering and destruction [whether that results in a win, a loss, a draw or whatever].
However, you will not betray me or my family merely because you have become tired or bored with the conflict or because you lack the courage to face up to the consequences of going into conflict with people you deemed to be your Enemies.
You will keep me regularly and truthfully informed [in the broadest terms and without revealing our side's plans or other secrets] about how the conflict is going – whether that be good or bad – so that my morale is not shattered by hearing the truth first from the lips of the Enemies. I will not be lied to. I will be given the truth so that even if things are going very badly, I can still be resolute in carrying out my duty to you and in so doing, preserve your honour as well as my own..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You will supply me with sufficient and suitable material in serviceable condition and in a timely manner.
I will use that material as best I can to overcome your Enemies.
You will supply me with the best material that can be obtained at the best price and not with the material that can get you the most lucrative kick-back from the supplier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You will not make false promises of reward for my service nor will you steal from me any rewards or payments you have already given to me. If my only reward is the praise and respect of my fellow citizens then so be it. You will not condemn me nor humiliate me for having done my duty. If the treasure or other assets of your Enemies falls into our hands, you will not plunder it for your own selfish purposes but instead you will stand aside and allow it to be added to our own national treasury for the benefit of all the people of our nation.
There is probably a lot more in such a social contract – but you'll get the idea.
This is a social contract. It is definitely not a legal contract. It lacks some of the features of a regular legal contract. It is not an Enlistment Form nor an Employment Contract nor an Appointment nor any other document.
There is not a court of law in the whole wide world that could or would enforce such a social contract.
It is enforced under only one law: the pitiless, iron-hard Law Of Victory And Defeat – the law that determines whether a nation and its people survive or get annihilated.
07 January, 2008
Back .... and badder than ever!
Sorry folks.
Thought I had somehow locked myself out of my own blog. Tried everything and nothing worked. What was going on .... or not going on??
Anyway, quite recently, some software that had been giving me a lot of trouble was flung into orbit as a frisbee and replaced with "cheaper" and much better software designed for much the same job. Just for fun, I tried yet again to get into my own blog .... and "Open Sesame" at the first try .... so here I am again.
A lot has happened. The Howard regime fell in a somewhat dodgy election but thankfully it all happened without a fake state-of-emergency being called and without any violence at all. David Hicks has been returned to Australia. A long-overdue apology to the Aboriginal people of Australia is being planned; no sign of any apology yet from the former colonial power, Britain.
2008 looks like an exciting year .... so hang on, it's going to be a bumpy ride. :-).
Thought I had somehow locked myself out of my own blog. Tried everything and nothing worked. What was going on .... or not going on??
Anyway, quite recently, some software that had been giving me a lot of trouble was flung into orbit as a frisbee and replaced with "cheaper" and much better software designed for much the same job. Just for fun, I tried yet again to get into my own blog .... and "Open Sesame" at the first try .... so here I am again.
A lot has happened. The Howard regime fell in a somewhat dodgy election but thankfully it all happened without a fake state-of-emergency being called and without any violence at all. David Hicks has been returned to Australia. A long-overdue apology to the Aboriginal people of Australia is being planned; no sign of any apology yet from the former colonial power, Britain.
2008 looks like an exciting year .... so hang on, it's going to be a bumpy ride. :-).
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