TOO SIMPLISTIC?

As we write, it is possible that the killing drought, which has gripped most of Eastern Australia for so long, has started to break. In some areas floods have replaced drought conditions in a matter of a few short hours. A combination of water and sunshine will bring the miracle of new life. As yet, not even the certified economists have suggested that any type of a tax should be applied to what is a complete gift to man. But the ritualistic comments will continue to be uttered: "There is no such thing as a free lunch", "Something for nothing is immoral", "We must all work harder and increase productivity", and "Australia's future depends upon becoming more internationally competitive."
Those mouthing these and similar statements have never seriously considered the implications of the Doctrine of Unearned Grace in a world where the major factor in production is the cultural heritage, which belongs to all by virtue of the fact that they have been born.

As every parent knows, young children can often be embarrassingly direct about what they see. It is only when they are subjected to "education" that their perception of Truth becomes dimmed. In Hans Anderson's delightful little fairy story, all the people kept telling one another about how beautiful were the Emperor's new clothes, even though they couldn't actually see them. It was the little child who simply said, "But Mummy, the Emperor is naked and has no clothes." Little children faced with an abundance can see no good reason why they shouldn't consume it.

During the Great Depression of the 'thirties, created by the same kind of people responsible for the present depression, and expressing the same kind of philosophy and moral judgments still being expressed, one of Australia's greatest essayists, Professor Walter Murdoch, wrote an article, which was widely distributed around Australia. The heading simply said, "GIVE THE PEOPLE MONEY".

Professor Murdoch had freed himself from the tyranny of the Black Magic known as orthodox finance, had grasped that money, irrespective of its description and form, was merely a man evolved system which made it easier to distribute production. Like the present situation, there was no problem about production, only with distribution. A just distribution of money would have enabled actual or potential production to be distributed. But the certified economists said that Professor Murdoch's suggestion was "too simplistic". And apart from that, it would be "immoral" for people to obtain "something for nothing".

Nothing has changed, and those who fashion financial policies insist on imposing policies which have ruined millions of lives and blasphemously dispute Christ's revelation that He had come to free the individual and to make possible the life more abundant.

The regeneration of a sick and dying Christian Civilisation requires that more people become as little children, thus making it possible to enter the Kingdom, which Christ taught His disciples to pray, would come on earth.

We wish all our readers a Holy and Happy Christmas period during which spiritual realities will take precedence over a destructive and soul killing materialism.

THE REALITY OF CRISIS

As Australia moves towards Christmas 1991, the stark reality of truth is breaking through the mirage of party politics and propaganda. The dimensions of the economic crisis can no longer be hidden by false promises of hope. The sordid little drama as to who will be the next incumbent at the Lodge is insignificant compared to the desperate need for sound alternative policies. No matter how good Hewson's GST can be made to look by the media make up artists, there is no political party in Australia which has faced up to the true situation and designed policies to turn Australia round. It is probably true to say that, in normal times, Australians would never accept a new tax designed to add 15% to the price structure, to be collected under rigorous government supervision by 750,000 businesses, firms, companies and enterprises. But the situation is so bad that Australians will clutch at ANY straw, no matter how much commonsense and reason tells them it is yet one more false hope.

A feature article in The Bulletin (December 17th, 1991) was a sobering picture of reality: "... It is a year since then treasurer Paul Keating was forced to admit that the economy was recessed. Those at the coalface had been screaming for months that the nation was falling fast and he would not believe them. Now the same leaders cry there is no recovery and Hawke tells them to stop talking down the economy. But there IS no recovery. Furthermore, the growth expected in 1992-93 is likely to be coming off such a dull base and so slowly that "recovery" might be too kind a word for "less pain".

The economy's excess capacity in both human and capital terms is such that it will take years before we are seriously going forward…." Australia's position is a microcosm of the general world situation. The Financial Review (December 12th, 1991), under the heading "WEST HIT BY RENEWED FEARS OF A PROLONGED RECESSION", commented:
"A period of increasing confidence of economic recovery in major industrialised nations in 1992 has given way to renewed fears of a prolonged recession. In the US, the locomotive hoped to pull world demand higher next year, nervousness that the world recovery has stalled is growing, and the prospect of a much discussed "double dip" recession can neither be rejected nor confirmed ..."

The last month of 1991 shows "official" unemployment figures over 10%. But, like most modern statistics, they are 'cooked' to hide the real position. Criteria for unemployment figures have been doctored. Anyone, for instance, who has done one hour's work in the week of the survey is taken off the unemployment figures. Likewise, anyone who has not applied for work in the four weeks up to the survey is no longer counted, even though they may have applied for more than 100 jobs in the previous six months.
People wanting work, but unable to find childcare for dependent children are taken off the list, as are those who are temporarily sick. It is estimated the real unemployment figures may be as much as 750,000 higher than the "official" figures. Whatever the truth, another 190,000 school leavers are, this month, scheduled to join the job seekers.

Why this misery and stagnation in the West? Because, despite the encouragement of banks and governments, individuals and businesses alike are loathe to borrow any more money. There are too many debt casualties - farmers, manufacturers, homeowners, etc. - round them for people to fall for the "debt-psychology" of the 'seventies and early 'eighties. The only practical stimulant is the release of calculated amounts of "debt free" money into the economy in a way, which will reduce the level of taxes and overhead costs. How deep must the crisis get before such alternatives are considered.

FALSE PRIDE

There is something infinitely pathetic about the once popular demagogue who clings frantically to the trappings of office long after the people have lost faith in him. The actor who struts the stage in an empty theatre after skills have deserted him, or the punch drunk pug shuffling into the ring believing he is still the champ are symptoms of the same delusion.
It may be that Bob Hawke can evade the stabbing knives of his opponents for a little while longer. It is reported that he hopes to stay in office into the New Year, when scheduled visits by President Bush and Her Majesty the Queen may turn the tide in his favour. Yet Bob Hawke has never been a monarchist.

The Sunday Telegraph (December 15th, 1991) in an article reviewing Hawke's chequered career, found this quote from the "little silver bodgie", in 1979: "What is peculiar about Parliament? The only thing peculiar about Parliament is that we inherited the bloody thing from that little bloody island 500 years ago. I don't understand what's sacrosanct about that." If the current Caesar is politically stabbed to death, the incoming Cassius promises nothing but a continuation of the same thing. Australia may need to beware the Ides of March.

MORAL DUTIES FORGOTTEN

from Sunday Herald-Sun (Melbourne, December 15th)
"When teachers charge a 6-year-old boy with sexual harassment, then I question the moral integrity of those who were involved in establishing such a charge. "I ask why must a school focus exclusively on sexual matters? Why must youngsters so early be brought into the world of adult sexuality? "In the animal world, we can, for example, watch puppies play for hours, doing all sorts of exploratory things. It would be wrong, misleading and outright dishonest to interpret such behaviour in purely sexual terms. "So, too, is the schoolyard, where healthy, boisterous, naughty and rude children are beginning to discover themselves and their world. To do a Freud on these youngsters, then interpret their behaviour through sexual glasses, would be inflicting a great injustice upon these children.

"Our legal system adequately copes with the basic forms of human behaviour by holding that citizens have three duties - legal, social, and moral. "It is an educator's task to balance these three duties. "To date the focus has usually been on either social or legal duties, much to the detriment of our moral duties. "Progressive educators of the 60s pushed hard for changes in education, and during the 80s they set about dismantling our education system. "A breakdown in discipline caused a breakdown in serious learning. And thus was imposed the equality of outcome ideology as a cover-up for the deteriorating circumstances in which bread and circus replaced serious leadership. "In practical terms this means that the new VCE is not an achievement certificate but rather an attendance certificate.

"Our social manipulators have now reached the third of our duties, namely moral duties, from which they shied away for years. "However, instead of focusing upon the full range of moral issues, they narrowed their perspective to an unbalanced sexual, specifically female, point of view. "The result is that victims, very young victims, are being created in the classroom.

"By charging children with sexual harassment, we are labeling them for life. No child is strong and robust enough to challenge and defend itself against the intellectual framework of sexual harassment. Nor should children ever have to do such a thing. However, there is hope. Sexual harassment will signal to ordinary parents that our progressive educators have this time gone too far. Soon our morally bankrupt education system will breathe a sigh of relief as it begins to free itself from the bondage of a perverse educational ideology.

"Let's replace sexual harassment with the old concept of good manners - and let our teachers set a personal example by lifting their own standards of behaviour. (Dr. Frederick Toben, Goroke, Vic.)