1st October 1998

9:42 pm Saturday 3rd October 1998

Well here I am, Saturday night, sitting alone in my room, with only my computer and Billy Bragg for company. It's election night tonight, so I can't watch TV or listen to the radio as I'd only get annoying crap updates. Nobody is going to know the results for many hours I don't think. Apparently there's been a big swing to One Nation, so that should make things interesting. A bunch of people from here went up to the tally room which is somewhere up towards Mitchell, so there's nobody around. I wanted to go, but there were 5 people in the car, so I was left out. Not that I really made a big push to go, I guess I'm just not assertive enough. Not enough testosterone… ;)
What else has been happening? Szusza went to a Sharon's place, and Sharon had invited about 4 tranny's as well as a couple of her lesbian friends. Apparently it was heaps of fun. I kind of wish I had gone now, but never mind. Jules has gone back over to Kiwi Land for two weeks, and Susan has gone out for the night with a bunch of friends from Cooma. I feel like having something to eat, but that's just because I'm bored.
Bored! Bored! Bored! Nothing to do…
Well, election results are back, Liberals are in by about 6 seats. This depresses me quite a bit, I have hope for the future, because I believe that in the next election the Liberals will be defeated. Their majority has been sliced, but I have to admit that the thought of John's fee's going up 10% is completely depressing. That means I'm going to be paying 2/3 of my income to John's if I stay here next year, and that's including with tutor's discount included.
I have to admit that Susan's attitude towards the GST confuses me. Her family is by no means well off, but she supports the GST. Perhaps as an economist she can see the benefits for the Australian economy, but she and her family will be worse off. Is she so selfless, that she would undergo personal hardship simply so that a much richer segment of the population can benefit?
Isn't it strange, there seems to be this eternal battle between the group and the individual. This duality might be represented by the ideals of responsibility to others versus personal gain. I have no trouble in believing that it is unjust that one person should starve while others make millions, but why do other deny this? I hark back to the win-lose scenario of game theory where for one to win, another must lose. Therefore, this capitalistic system is built on exploitation.
"No-one likes being exploited unless they are not aware of it." - Marx (?)
A system built on exploitation therefore has two classes of people, those who exploit, and those who are exploited. It is unlikely (indeed impossible) that the exploiters could be a majority, and typically are a small minority. There is obviously going to be competition among the exploiters, and hence the amount of wealth becomes continually concentrated. This eventually leads to a tiny class of ultra-well off and a much larger group of exploited. Exploitation is probably not reversible, I cannot see any reason why exploiters would give back anything they have taken, unless they are going to take back it and more later on. A good strategy for exploitation would be to gradually increase the level of exploitation, occasionally giving token concessions, but continuing overall to increase the level of exploitation.
The question now is whence the future? What does not advance only regresses. There is no such things as a static situation, all things are if flux. What would spur an increase in human good ness? It certainly seems to be a commodity in short supply these days.
I'm wondering what Marx's position on the service industry is? Do they actually produce anything? Factories as the "Means of production" is still true, but obviously a smaller population is employed there. Do service people count as the "New Proletariat"? They do not actually produce anything, but then all they have is their "labor-power". (?)
I don't know, this has just been a stream of consciousness, I suppose as a closing quote, I like the description as to why the Capitalistic system has produced so many Hitler's, Nixon's, Piochet's and so on.
"Any system which carries the destructive seeds of class warfare will eventually fade away… but not before defending themselves like savage wounded beasts."

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