howard congratulates mckew, page-39

debono,

"So we live in a democracy because you are told we do?"

we are being told many things by different people throughtout our life, but that does not mean they are not true. Admittedly some are not true, some may be exagerations, but for the most part they are closer to the truth that what people in other less democratic countries are told.

I am at ease with what I have been "told" via the many and varied channells of communications. of course, I do not accept everything I am "told". This is THE beauty of being "free", free to choose what one likes and does not like. There is a limit to all this freedom of course. There are rules and laws that are put in place for the common good of the people who live in that community. There is, to a large degree and extent, the opportunity for thses people to change and replace the people who govern them if the majority of the people being governmed do not like what is happening, as has been well evidenced by the results of the most recent federal election.

I have no difficulty in accepting certain rules, with the understanding that these rules are for the common good.

Freedom comes with a price, and we cannot for a moment pretend that we can in reality have complete freedom. that kind of freedom is fine in concept but impractical in practice, and this is not the type of freedom I am talking about.

Your example of the need for one to have a passport is not something I see as a problem in the practice of democracy. There are structures that a society puts in place for the common good. Another very good example is the traffic rules; we need to have traffic rules in order that the roads are safe for people to use, and there are penalties for those who disobey those rules. Now, we can carry on and argue about the fact that those rules are sometimes not enforced but that does not detract from the fact that those types of rules are there to ensure certainty and regulate our behaviour. You will probably say that is an infringement of our freedom, but one needs to understand and accepts that freedom does have its limitation but nevertheless it is much better that a dictatorship.

You know, the ease and peaceful way the handing over of power from the coalition to Labor has got to be the envy of most parts of the world. I really do salute the way our political system has worked and it has worked well for the most parts.

I can go on and go but I shall take a break at this point, hehehe