Meanwhile in the concentration camp formerly known as Australia...
— Joe Dan Gorman - Intellectual Froglegs (@JoeDanMedia) October 6, 2021
Govt officials will call your phone randomly.
You must respond w/ a selfie to prove it's you within 5 mins so they can "geo-track' ur location
or officials show up at your door.
They want this here. pic.twitter.com/j2BcTs9jj3
Thank God we don't have that kind of craziness here in the states. Oh, wait...
Yes but that's for people in home quarantine, such as those returning from overseas. People prefer it to being locked up in a hotel for 2 weeks, and it saves being visited in person.
ReplyDeleteI'm not justifying the overall approach here, but omitting key details doesn't help. Just like that Jazz Shaw article had 'the Australian government' when it's actually a half dozen state governments' leaders competing for 'tough' image, while our Feds are lame, and the real problem is our (weak) federation has almost collapsed. The US is of course totally different in that way, and that won't generate sensational headlines.
I don't object to any of this, just an FYI to US friends.
When people ask 'what happened to Australia?' they're ignoring that in the 20th century we used to have a lot in common with South Africa as both former British colonies. You don't have to go back to the convict era, in our lifetimes Australia was authoritarian in the 1960s.
ReplyDeleteExamples? Well compulsory voting is an ongoing one. If you forget to vote in an election here, even for some local council, and then fail to pay a penalty fine, there are 'electoral officers' who will hunt you down and harass you, as happened to a neighbor of mine - until I chased the 'officer' away by calling the cops. Sicking them on each other used to work.
ReplyDeleteI worked for Social Security from 1970, and had the option of sending out an 'Inquiry Officer', like a private detective, who'd make a detailed report including analyzing washing on people's clotheslines and interviewing neighbors. Most people didn't know how invasive the government was, but I saw it first hand. I prepared briefs for federal police on welfare fraud (often just caused by govt typing errors!). Civil servants had huge power, not as much has changed as we'd hoped.
Another example, I know an old Italian family been here over a century. During WW2 they had a fruit shop. Their neighbors complained about 'suspicious activity' with fruit trucks coming and going, so they were 'interned'to a camp for the duration of the war. Yes we interned Italian shopkeepers in Australia during the war, not just Japanese.
ReplyDeleteTheir uncle had a fishing boat which was among many commandeered by MacArthur at the outset of the Pacific campaign - before the PT boats arrived from the US. He never saw the boat again.
The internment camp was on the south coast, comfortable and all. But freedom was never a big priority in Australia.
I appreciate the clarification, Bruce.
ReplyDeleteI can't say about Australia, but here in the Yew Ess of Eh!, the lefties tend to share their ideas like dopers share their needles, i.e., without any thought about the consequences. Less than a hive mind, more than a herd of sheep without a shepherd. So ANY bad idea must be exposed as one.
An example of this are the states composing the so-called "Left Coast": the formerly great states of Kalifornia (not a misspelling), Oregon, and Washington. All three have bats**t crazy governors. In order: Gavin Newsome, a relative of Nancy Pelosi; Kate Brown, a gay activist elected as lieutenant governor, who ascended into office after the previous governor resigned following corruption charges; and Jay Inslee, a junior example of Joe Biden, who seeks out new ways of weaponizing state agencies.
I bring them up because they actually signed an agreement on how to reopen the economies of all three states in a unified manner. What one did, the other will follow, if not exactly, then in general.
And they've been doing that, pretty much along those lines.
This tends to make the sane members of American society a tad sensitive and twitchy on matters of government intervention.
I just hope they're prepared for a lot of butt cheeks if they try that here.
ReplyDeleteI bet grandmas will be doing that with text 'kiss this'.
D*ck pics from grandpas of course.