Politics sucks. I'm a social libertarian, which means I want the government to reduce wasting my taxes on shit I don't understand rather than meddling with my personal affairs. The rights of the individual are paramount, because the individual is the ultimate minority and should be protected without being a pawn. Politicians weild power without merit, a concept that has become so pervasive that we now have an entire Generation Y that that believe an unmerited sense of entitlement is meant to be the norm. Hell, if I was still living at home in my 20's, passing unqualified judgments on the rest of the world, I guess I'd feel the same way.
But while the big boy parties are doing the same old clique thing and churning out the usual, highly predictable voter candy, it's the fringe parties that always catch my attention. They know nothing about economics - the one thing a government must do - but everything about socially stinging issues. I know fuck all about global economics too, nor do I really comprehend the intricacies of corporate law or foriegn policy. That's why I'll only focus on the socio-sexual related issues - it's in my mythical job description. And what better contrast on such matters than these two parties?
FAMILY FIRST
Right off the bat, the mere mention of this party always makes me think of an archaic cult. Any collective title that includes the word 'Family' but is in fact not an actual family makes me think 'cult'. Sinister as all hell, and ready to supplant your own hard-earned moral philosophies with their own, pre-fab, middle class ideals. These people want to be your parents. You can tell this by the amount of times they use phrases like 'to protect your children'. Because, you know, it's too confusing for you to be expected to do that yourselves.
Meet FF candidate Bob Day. He got richer than any 10 of you by monopolising
the housing industry for years and now likes to strum instead of masturbate.
[As a quick aside, I don't think too many of my fellow aussie citizens fully realise that much of western culture still considers Australia to be one of the rascist places in the world. We have been openly compared by the UN to apartheid-era South Africa. Then in 1998 we managed to actually enhance this view by coming up with national 'Sorry Day' to somehow atone for a century of systematic racial eugenics. That's barely a step up from calling it 'Embarrased Shrug Day'.]
Anyway, Family First is really worried about our children, particularly when it comes to the internet. I'm guessing much of the party are a little unsure on how or why the internet works, so they assume you don't know either. They want tougher censorship and ISP filtering to stop kids watching porn, and to stop adults from watching child porn. Apparently child pornography is bad.
In fact, that may consider the internet worse than witchcraft if for no other
reason than it's less flammmable
Child pornography is bad!? I fucking hate anyone with a political agenda when they say that. Before you start reporting me to your ISP, I'm not talking about the content of that message. And that's the whole point. I use to work in child protection, I know exactly how damaging the sexual exploitation of children is. So does everyone else, you shallow, lazy fucks. Resorting to this 'begging the question' mentality, where you make a non-arguable moral statement in lieu of a realistic solution, is the lowest of political devices. Next you'll be inforning us that rape is not cool either, or that clubbing baby seals makes us feel sad. Censoring the internet on the basis of such rhetoric is pointless. Worse than pointless. Kids already have a highly effective filter at home to combat porn access and child predator incursions. It's called their parents.
Oh, and as for those in your electorate who do support child porn - techno-pedophiles, they don'y give a shit about ISP internet filtering because they don't use it to get their sicko media fix. They're already subscribed to undernet p2p services and covert, hard storage exchange schemes that are two generations ahead of anything you can throw at them. You're targeting the wrong market, dickheads, and taking the heat off the real offenders as a result.
Abortion, that old chestnut, the universal point of moral contention. Are you, the public, pro-choice or ant-choice, or simply too scared to even broach the topic, pussy*? FF are anti-choice, of course, but try to skirt around the ethics by being pro-adoption. Only we already have adoption programs and no one disagrees that it's an option. It's just not the only option. And while I know that some women really regret having an abortion, other women also regret adopting out a kid too. No one's saying it's any easy choice, but at least the choice is there.
But FF have a big problem with the whole pro-choice thing. They claim unexpectant mothers-to-be lack informed consent when making the decision, or are often coerced into termination procedures by the medical establishment. Remember all those government Pro-Abortion media campaigns you watch every night? Didn't think so, but FF is pretty much claiming that. I think they're under the impression that clinics somehow generate huge profits from dead foetuses or something and that it's all a big conspiracy to accelerate stem cell research. Also, there's a 1 in 14 000 chance a woman wil suffer adverse medical complications from having an abortion. That's an unholy rate of 0.007%, making it safer than a tetanus shot or having a couple of stitches sown. Do you know what is dangerous? Underground and backyard abortions, just like the ones we'll revert to if you get your way. We all know the real complications from abortion are emotional. But I'm afraid that's the price of sexual responsibility, the price of freedom, if you will.
See, there's not really any incentive for women to use abortion as a retroactive contraceptive anymore (though I'm sure a minority still do). The recent baby bonus payments from the government have done more to reduce abortion rates more than any amount of preaching. Cynical but true, fools.
* Is it your body in question? No? Then fuck off.
AUSTRALIAN SEX PARTY
The Sex Party. How is that not the coolest name for a political group? Before I read about them I envisioned tax-exempt dildoes, orgy-based national holidays, and brothels being reclassified as charitable organsisations. But as far as political parties go, where the wishy-washy lies of the FF lack sense, the brutal honesty of the ASP is a gamble. It might be just too real for a lot middle-class suburbia to soak up, relying instead on more liberated, sex-savvy Gen X types like myself to carry them over the line. No offence, middle-class surburbia, but ever since you got funny about me fucking your daughter you can go to hell.
Here's ASP Prez, Fiona Patten. She's hotter than Family First, gives better head
but can't compete when it comes to sneaky reach-arounds
As far as policies go, they make total sense to anyone who really takes a look at how our society sexually operates. The sex industry needs to be regulated properly. Drug use requires more harm minimisation and less punishment for the end-user. Internet filtering is a disempowering joke that does nothing to educate. Organised child sex abuse and pornography is a real, insidious thing happening right in this country right now, and needs to be better tackled by law enforcement, especially in semi-protected organisations like churches and state insitutions. Government should be secular, like in the US only more so. Expression of sexuality should be a right, not a risk. Same-sex marriages should be recognised under law.
None of this is wrong, not to anyone who knows how humans work. There's is a list of things that people are going to do regardless of what a government says, so you might as well regulate it. Let's take traditional crime, shall we. You can reduce certain, minor crimes either by expending extra resources and personnel on fighting them or by decriminalising them, like we did with cannibas use in SA. One option costs money, the other generates it. Decriminalising or legalising things are a great way to address what are ultimately constant yet victimless offences. Drug use is one. Sex is another. And sex is what I'm all about.
Same-sex marriage is a global topic. All these governments know that it's inevitable, but are unwilling to be the first to take the plunge. It will happen, and it's not even like the current government here is morally opposed to the concept, they simply can't be fucked dealing with the issue right now. Instead you get B-grade concessions like 'civil unions' or 'de facto recognition'. We're slowly getting there, but it's a frustrating process. Still, 40 years ago it was illegal in my state to engage in homosexual activity. Then we got a gay premier and things changed. As we get more and more homosexual (openly so) politicians on board, things will change again for the better.
The sex industry and related adult productions are also gaining better recognition in the last few decades. Religious based peeps, like Family First, hate this shit in the same way I hate Panic At The Disco - quietly yet vigorously. They know damn well prostitution outdates any current religion on the planet, and that controlling sex means controlling people. The Sex Party also knows this, only they know that liberating sexual norms means less tension and stress for everyone. They also have a great sense of humour, if you care to check out their web flicks. It's a social libertarian thing - a government either takes control of your life or lets you take control of your own.
The Sex Industry currently lacks regulated quality control, but we're doing
everything we can to fix that.
Conclusion
The great thing about representative democratic elections is that they're like Choose Your Own Adventure books.
If you want to be Anti-Choice, turn to this page. If you'd rather be Pro-Choice, there's a whole bunch of specific policy, libertarian parties out there, which means you, as a functional adult, get to choose any fucking page you want! You know, just like you're meant to.
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