This page is dedicated to explaining how the
AEM's Egalitarian society deals with issues that have been recently receiving media and
political attention.
Many of these issue however, are usually discussed
in more detail somewhere on this website.
The Global Recession
Within the AEM's Egalitarian
Australia, the global recessions and depressions will have little
impact upon the lives of its citizens or upon the societies economy.
There are several reasons for this. First, Australia will be fully
owned by its citizens, which means that none of our businesses are
listed on the stock exchange. Secondly, the Australian dollar will
regulated, and not floated within the money market. If there were
lending of money within the AEM's Egalitarian society, this money
would be lent interest-free by the state and not by international
lenders. The import and export industries may be affected to some
degree, but because the Egalitarian state is able to regulate
imports in relation to exports, we can easily cut back or increase
imports or exports in relation to how well or poorly the
domestically and the international economies are doing.
Carbon Emissions Trading
Within our contemporary capitalist
societies, the greatest barrier to preventing the reduction of
carbon emissions is not a shortage of low-carbon technologies, but
because the state leaves the responsibility of reducing carbon
emissions up to the owners and shareholder of businesses and the
citizens, which is why government are forced to create economic
disincentives in order to persuade business and citizens to stop
emitting so much carbon. And this is exactly why a carbon emissions
trading scheme is resisted so strongly by the owners and
shareholders of business and the citizens.
Carbon emissions trading is not an
issue that will affect the citizens within the AEM's Egalitarian
society because it is the state responsibility to solve and bear the
costs. That is, it is the state that must develop and install
technologies that serve to radically reduce our nation's carbon
emissions because the state owns all businesses and supplies all
available products to its citizens. See the section below, titled
"Global Warming" for some idea about what the AEM hopes to achieve
in relation to the reduction of carbon emissions and our reliance
upon non-renewable forms of energy and resources.
Interest Rates on Housing Loans
It is an indictment against
capitalism when our economy is said to be booming, but that we can't
raise wages or pensions (wages and pensions that need to be raised
because they have not kept up with inflation, regardless of oil
prices) because it will serve to increase inflation, which will
serve to increase interest rates, which will put more economic
pressure on home buyers and other borrowers. This situation is
exasperated further buy our citizens greater and continually growing
dependence upon credit to survive. If these are the good times,
let's hope our economy doesn't wane. The fact is, we are on a
downward spiral and there is no way back up. Things are only going
to get worse. This is where capitalism leads you, and the citizens
of Australia may be just starting to realise it.
Within the AEM's Egalitarian society,
interest rates become a redundant issue because nobody buys or owns
the home that they live in (other than those people who already own their
own home or those who are already paying off their home and wishing
to continue doing so). That is, there no credit and therefore no
interest rates. Instead, everybody, including those people
who run the society, rent from the state at
very reasonable rates that everyone can easily afford. Generally,
all reusable items, including your car, are rented from the state,
and it is the states responsibility to maintain them (and to produce
products that emit low carbon). See our 'The AEM's
Egalitarian Economy' to gather a better understanding about how
the AEM Egalitarian economy works.
Rising House Prices and Property Rental Prices
As mentioned above, nobody owns their
own home within the AEM's Egalitarian society, but even if they did,
which is possible, house prices (and rent prices) do not rise unless
the house or property has been upgraded in some way. Generally,
their is no inflation associated with domestic products within the
AEM's Egalitarian society. See 'The AEM's
Egalitarian Economy' to gather a better understanding about how
the AEM Egalitarian economy works.
Homelessness
Homelessness is said to have doubled
during the 12 year reign of the Liberal government. We believe that
it has tripled, and then there are still many more people relying on
family and friends, or living in emergency accommodation,
overcrowded conditions, tents, or home garages etc. That this is
occurring in a time of economic affluence is extremely disturbing,
and within our capitalist society, there appears to be no real
solution to this problem in sight. It also tends to make a lie out
of the Liberal Party's claim that when businesses are doing well, so
is the society.
As mentioned on our home page, the
AEM believes that it can stop all homelessness within 24 hours of
taking control of the state, for those people who are not living in
remote regions. Our plan is initially, to put these people in vacant
motel accommodations until we find or build places for them to live
in.
Shortage of Doctors within Public Hospitals
Ironically, there are no shortages of
doctors within private hospitals. Thanks once again to the Liberal
government, funding for public healthcare has been deliberately
decreased in order to promote and support private healthcare.
In the AEM's Egalitarian society, all
children and working people can consider themselves to have free
private healthcare cover. Limitations on this healthcare cover may
apply when one stops working. This policy is designed to encourage
people to work part-time (i.e. 15-20 hours/week) after the age of
65, and to not squander all of your considerable savings during your
working life.
Global Warming
The main contributors to global
warming are the burning of fossil fuels and land clearing. Upon
taking control of the state, the AEM will immediately begin the
process of winding down all coal fire power stations as it begins
the construction of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind,
and tidal electric power stations. It is hoped that coal fire power
stations will be eliminated within 10 years. It is also hoped that
all fossil fuel burning vehicles will be replaced by electric
powered vehicles within 15 years.
All new homes and buildings will
incorporate the latest energy efficiency technologies, and many
existing properties will be upgraded to be more energy efficient.
All land clearing will cease, and
tree planting will begin in earnest for four main reasons (although
there are other reasons). First, to combat the effects of global
warming cause by carbon emissions. Second, to restore more natural habitats for our native
fauna. Third, to provide for industrial applications in preference
to using non-renewable metals in the construction of many products.
Forth, to stop relying upon imported timber for our housing needs
(much of which comes from the illegal timber industry).
Struggling on the Pension
Currently, pensioners, particularly
those who rent, are struggling to survive economically. Because
pensions are a governmental expense, this problem is never going to
go away within our capitalist society. In the AEM's Egalitarian
society, those who run the state, live on the same wage that you do
and face the same retirement conditions that you do. As such, this
guarantees that life for all retired citizens (and all other
citizens) will never be economically stressful.
Increasing
Food Prices and Insufficient Wages
As just mentioned, in the AEM's
Egalitarian society, those who run the state, live on the same wage
that you do. They also pay the same prices that you do, and
therefore you can be assured that you will always be able to afford
a comfortable standard of living, no mater how expensive food prices
become. However, if you read 'The AEM's
Egalitarian Economy', you will see that inflation virtually
stops within the AEM's Egalitarian society, and therefore rising
prices is not an issue that will ever concern you.
Increasing Petrol Prices
Unfortunately, this is not a problem
that anybody can solve, and as you already know, the problem is only
going to get worse. The solution then, is to stop
using vehicles that use fossil fuels. As mentioned earlier, this is
something that the AEM hopes to achieve within the first 15 years of
taking control of the society. This also serves to reduce global
warming, and it also stops the nation's heavy and expensive reliance
upon imported oil.
This problem could have been solved
many years ago, and it is actually capitalism that has served to
prevent this technological change and development form occurring,
because the oil and petrol industries serve to make individuals rich
and provide lots of revenue for governments. Further, we need to
rely upon the owners and shareholders of privately owned business to
provide new types of vehicles and the wide-spread infrastructure
required to power these vehicles. The costs involved as well as the
knowledge that the majority of consumers are not be able to afford
to change to new vehicles at a fast rate serves to make such
ventures economically unviable for many years, and privately owned
companies, particularly share held companies, are reluctant to
invest in such projects when it will serve to decrease profits and
share prices for this period. Further, consumers, particularly low
paid consumers, resist change because they must bear the costs of
buying new vehicles. In the AEM's Egalitarian society, this change
in vehicles and infrastructure becomes the responsibility of the
state (not privately owned businesses) and therefore change happens
quickly because it is in the state's economic interests to do so,
unlike in our capitalist society where government revenue is lost by
the lack of consumption of oil based products. Also, in the AEM's
Egalitarian society, everybody rents their vehicles from the state,
and therefore we do not rely upon consumers to have enough money to
change to new vehicles. Another issue within the capitalist society
that helps resist change is that many workers lose their livelihoods
when these industries and their jobs become redundant, thus adding
to unemployment growth. As such, the workers resist the collapse of
the industries they work in and so do governments. In the AEM's
Egalitarian society, there is no unemployment and it is the state's
responsibility to find suitable new jobs for you when the industry
you work in closes down.
