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| After a revisionist address from the Mad Mahdi let's have some true revisionism? |
paraclete |
09/21/06 |
Who needs values? Let's have slaves, straight roads
Paul Munroe
September 21, 2006
WHILE John Howard and Kim Beazley make us reflect on Australian values, is it worth considering alternatives? We are being exhorted to embrace the values of "mateship" and "a fair go" and the ethos of a society which frankly ceased to exist after Robert Menzies.
Perhaps some lateral thinking is required. If we want to take up the values of a bygone age, there has to be a strong case for us to return to values espoused by another bygone society, the Romans.
Take roads. These guys really knew how to build roads. Straight as a die and built to last. In contrast, the Pacific Highway is a disgrace. For much of its length it's a winding, deathtrap of a semi-tarred goat track.
Let's rebuild it the Roman way: an eight lane, straight line superhighway between Sydney and Brisbane.
Of course, the Romans could put down these highly effective transport links in no time at all because of an inexhaustible supply of cheap labour: slaves. Let's reintroduce slavery as well.
There are plenty of lost souls in Centrelink offices looking for a challenge in life. Let's give them one. With a few 16-hour days being put in by our newly enabled, low-cost, lash-motivated workforce, Sydneysiders will be enjoying long weekends in Byron by Easter.
Taking that a step further, Centrelink staff will be quickly joining the ranks of the idle, so let's enslave them too. If we run low on a workforce, we can easily "recruit" more in the Roman way. We simply invade and conquer nearby lands and enslave the locals; New Zealand will do for a start.
A welcome side effect is that they'll no longer be able to thump us at rugby three times a year.
Roman entertainment has lots to commend it too. Let's put bums on the seats of the empty amphitheatres at Homebush and bring back the days of the Colosseum. We loved Russell Crowe as Maximus in Gladiator; let's watch him put George Piggins to the sword for real.
Roman religion has much to commend it too. Single deity modes of worship seem to be a cause of conflict and a reason to hate (nice one, Pope Benedict). Let's take the Roman view, where there are lots of gods and you simply choose the one you like best, erect a small shrine in the garden shed and go there and worship.
There are other reasons to love the Romans. Wearing a toga is pretty much an invitation to party these days. Moreover, the appointment of a horse as a senator has to be an improvement on much of the National Party.
Of course, there will be a few drawbacks. Our political masters handing over power to their children is a worry. Lead plumbing has a few unwelcome side effects, too.
Finally, does anyone understand the Roman numbering system? I suppose if the FII and the MIV are straight, fast and uncongested, will anyone care?
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all I can say about this is, the thinking is too small. There are large numbers of unemployed in Iraq, right, of course, right, SO! why can't they be used to recreate the Garden of Eden, the marshes should be about the right place, just a few well placed trees and displaced arabs and you have the job done and all for the small price of 500 Billion Dollars (US) Cheap? |
Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 09/21/06 12:53 pm:
Sorry about the double-post. Bad computer, bad, bad!!! No Scoobie Snacks for you!!!
Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 09/22/06 11:43 am:
All right, Clete. Let's assume that we do decide that going back to strong core family values means going back to the Roman Empire period. Does that mean that we accept slavery? Can't we take the good (like the concepts of honor, national pride, family loyalty, etc.) and leave out the bad (like slavery, disease, torture of people who follow a different religion), and still be better for it?
When we talk of old-style values, we're talking of the stuff that we think is good... the VALUES... not the stuff that made life miserable. When I talk of going back to the values of the 1920s-1940s, I don't mean that we need to resurrect prohibition, Naziism or racial hatred. I DO mean that we need to ressurect the value of the traditional family unit, national pride, personal responsibility, respect for the rule of law, morality, valuing life over death, etc. Exactly which of these values do you consider "evil"? And why are you and the author of this article so bent on linking those good, life-enhancing, positive values with slavery and prohibition? Don't you think that it is possible to have these traditional values and also value freedom from slavery?
That is why the argument made by this author is so rediculous. It makes a connection between core traditional values and slavery that was neither intended nor implied by those who believe in those traditional values, thus denigrating those values without reason. If the only reason he has for not believing in traditional values is because they might lead to slavery, don't you think that the argument is kinda on the loopy side of the mental-health line?
Elliot
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