CHINA

[Old Koreelah]

17 hours ago, nomadpete said:

I most partucularly agree with your last paragraph.

 

I also worry that we do not teach open minds, relience, and lateral thinking.

 

And not to trust that any anonymous 'authority' will always get us out of the shyte

The dilemna for governments responding to disasters: a thoughtful approach involves an open inquiry into what should be done might yield long-term benefits, but take yonks. All the while, the Daily Terrorgraph will be screaming for their blood, so they tend to give short-term aid. Our short electoral cycles make it very likely we’ll rebuild on a floodplain or in a bushfire zone. 

 

We’ve come to expect the Guvmint to come to our aid. Administrators I’ve spoken to have little interest in promoting volunteering; they want “professionals” (paid by government) to respond to emergencies of all sorts. How will our aging society pay for that, with a shrinking tax base? Surely the best approach to allow old farts with time on their hands to do the jobs that governments will never be able to pay for.

 

[nomadpete]

54 minutes ago, Old Koreelah said:

best approach to allow old farts with time on their hands to do the jobs that governments will never be able to pay for.

My previous remark about resilience was intended to apply to education at a early life stage of the individual. To teach people to roll with the punches as life deals out its inevitable ups and downs. People at present expect a magic helping hand to appear every time something unpleasant happens.

 

And at present, the grubmint expects volunteers to do the heavy work for free whenever the funded emergency services are needed but obviously underfunded.

SES, bush fire fighting, hospitals, teaching, etc all rely heavily on free work carried out by volunteers. Most of whom are 'old farts'.

And there is resentment in the ranks  because State emergency services and State fire service have well paid bureaucrats 'in charge' who like to publicly take credit for the work - which was mostly carried out by volunteers.

 

In my opinion, many old farts already contribute big time to the community.

[facthunter]

None of MY farts are OLD.. I make NEW ones every day.  Nev

[nomadpete]

Thanks for the update, Nev

[facthunter]

I change the needle to protect the record.  Nev

[nomadpete]

6 minutes ago, facthunter said:

I change the needle to protect the record.  Nev

Now there's a saying that a milennial will never understand

[Old Koreelah]

Back to China:

This bloke reckons China is on the ropes: 

 

 

And another headache for governments that comes from left field: super rich buggers who think they know about international diplomacy:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/10/22/elon-musk-ukraine-russia-washington-lawmakers/

[spacesailor]

Please don,t call ALL those SES Volunteers OLD !!!..

my daughter was given a medal for her work during the Maitland floods AND the Pasha Bulka grounding. 

spacesailor

[nomadpete]

Sorry, Sailor.

We have recently gained some nice young blood in our Fire Brigade, too. I must say it improves morale - otherwise every training night ends up being a whinge session about hospitals, and competition of age related symptoms.

[Yenn]

The reason I left the SES was that it became taken over by theoretical bureaucrats. They were full of theory, but couldn't spot a flaw in their workings when it was obvious to all the practical people on the ground. My son was also in the SES and experienced exactly the same problems. He was in vertical rescue as I was, but in his case he was active several times a year, rescuing people off Mt Tibrogargan or Mt Beerwah.

Nowadays the SES has a mile more equipment supplied by the government, but I doubt that it can be used to its ultimate ability because of bureaucracy.

[spacesailor]

Yes !.

My daughter gave it away for those very same reasons .

Also the huge back stabing problem,  From those climbing the ladder .

spacesailor

 

[onetrack]

Here's an excellent article summarising Xi Jinpings attitudes and possible future moves - from a position of weakness, in the form of a Chinese economy going backwards.

 

Unfortunately, Xi Jinping appears to be lumbered with the faults of two other world leaders - an inability to possess shrewd judgement, and to properly calculate the weaknesses of his "enemies" - plus a sizeable ego that means he trusts his own judgement more than any advice from any worthy and educated advisers - plus a plethora of misguided policies and plans that are not working, but which he will not abandon, for fear of being seen as "weak".

 

Putin and Trump share similar problems as Xi Jinping, and all share the "dictator" gene, and all share in a record of their countries going backwards under their "guidance".

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/24/xi-weak-spot-economy-00063171

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by onetrack

[old man emu]

11 hours ago, onetrack said:

all share the "dictator" gene, and all share in a record of their countries going backwards under their "guidance".

If there was one thing the English did correctly, it was to make the Monarch answerable to Parliament. After the English Civil War and subsequent Protectorate, dictatorship became impossible in England and eventually Great Britain. 

 

That is something we should have in mind when we start developing our form of a republic.

[facthunter]

One Ship, ONE Captain.  Nev

[nomadpete]

30 minutes ago, facthunter said:

One Ship, ONE Captain.  Nev

Globally?

[facthunter]

 There's ALWAYS the designated PIC. Where that's not clear, catastrophe results.   "Handing over... I HAVE it". Nev

[nomadpete]

A poor comparison. It is'nt like flying. In politics there are always others in the background applying their own pressure to the controls.

 

The designated political PIC doesn't have much control, he/she is mainly there to take the blame after the crash.

Edited November 3, 2022 by nomadpete

[facthunter]

I beg to differ. The problem to avoid is to have two elected persons and no clear delineation off the extent of their Powers.  Nev

[nomadpete]

My point is, that having one elected leader in politics is not like a pilot's job.

A pilot has a relatively limited number of survival variables that can be listed on simple checklists.

A political leader has a whole bag of possible disasters, impossible to make into a practical flow chart.

[facthunter]

 OK then, Where do you see two bosses on a site or two CEOs . The buck has to stop with SOMEONE. There's plenty of decisions a pilot may have to make that aren't on any checklists. When the CEO is unavailable, someone will be designated to that function with the authority to decide  and sign documents.  Nev

[nomadpete]

I understand your point.

But I differ in the comparison. Political leaders and, for that matter business leaders provide policy, not absolute control. A CEO never takes part in the actual worksite. However, a pilot is in control of the instantaneous survival of all onboard. But we are distracting from the theme - China and dictators.

Xi is trying to 'fly the plane' of China and to me he is proving that it takes more than one person to fly the wellbeing and destiny of six billion people. That is too much for even 'one true god' to achieve

Edited November 3, 2022 by nomadpete

[facthunter]

Indeed and I doubt it ever works. Shown by Putin who surrounds himself with people who say  only what he wants to hear.  China's God -Emperor has to deliver or perish but has the Power to do what IRAN is now doing.  to avoid being over thrown, The difference is the Politburo (cast of thousands). Nev

[Yenn]

If the leader gets advice he doesn't like he ignores it, or as in Australia's case he makes it a draft advice, but still ignores it. we are seeing the same problems all over the world. Leaders are only interested in maintaining their position. They have no desire to do what a leader should do, which is do things for the benefit of his country.