This is not entirely a China topic, but if China continues to prosper, it will become so, I guess. Meanwhile, I'd like to hate on Tony Abbott (and all the middle-class motherfuckers in Australia that have for the last decade or so helped Tony Abbott, and similar people on both sides of politics, be such jackals).
Tony Abbott urges Europe to adopt boat turnbacks in response to refugee crisisEurope's compassion towards refugees is leading it into "catastrophic error", former prime minister Tony Abbott warned a gathering of British conservatives in London on Tuesday night.
The professed Catholic, surprisingly, spoke against one of Jesus' greatest commandments.
"The imperative to 'love your neighbour as yourself' is at the heart of every Western polity … but right now this wholesome instinct is leading much of Europe into catastrophic error," Mr Abbott said....The particular elements of his speech that stand out are these:
"Our moral obligation is to receive people fleeing for their lives," he said.
"It's not to provide permanent residency to anyone who would rather live in a prosperous Western country than their own. That's why the countries of Europe, while absolutely obliged to support the countries neighbouring the Syrian conflict, are more than entitled to control their own borders against those who are no longer fleeing a conflict but seeking a better life.
"This means turning boats around, for people coming by sea. It means denying entry at the border for people with no legal right to come; and it means establishing camps for people who currently have nowhere to go.
"It will require some force; it will require massive logistics and expense; it will gnaw at our consciences - yet it is the only way to prevent a tide of humanity surging through Europe and quite possibly changing it forever."Now, for those who don't know, Tony Abbott is the newly ex-PM of Australia, deposed in a party spill and replaced by Malcolm Turnbull. Tony is, like a lot of Liberal politicians, riding on the economic creations of the last decade of Labour, and has little left to do except, perversely, try making Australia more anti-social. Or that is my impression from this far away.
For some time now, I've been hearing about the Australian policies with respect to refugees, and for several years now been growing increasingly horrified at what our bureaucracies have become. I mean, Australia now has refugee camps, and they were created by the government. The main purpose of these camps is not to house people while they wait for their status to be assessed. The camps are unpleasant, borderline lawless, and rife with distress, depression, and violence. I believe they are created and maintained this way so as to deter future asylum seekers. That is, aside from making people suffer, Australia is using people as a means to an end. What end? It looks a lot like the protection of white Australia.
I don't know if it's worth also discussing the impact of refugees on a nation. That doesn't seem to be what's really at issue. It might be in Europe where the scale is so much larger. But in Australia it's political, first and foremost. Or so I believe.
Goddamned country is making me ashamed.