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Australian political leaders and their parties offer little in the way of a real vision for our futures. There is an absence of political vision for Australia. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is predominantly an American invention, as is the entire digital economy. PM Anthony Albanese in his unmitigated support for the uptake of AI by Australian businesses and society appears to have no comprehension of the consequences of this. If all of our businesses and institutions are contracted to American AI companies, where is our independence and sovereignty in that position? If AI is essential and that AI is controlled by US Big Tech corporations, where does that leave us all? Under the thumb of big brother, of course. Already, the digital economy, in the form of Visa and Mastercard, largely control the money matters in our lives. Australia has effectively lost its sovereignty in all but name in the 21C. There is a vacuum of leadership downunder.
Australian Political Leadership Lacks Vision
Our politicians play politics in the fight to achieve or maintain power within the electoral system. Populism rules the roost, when it comes to getting elected. The media focuses on political stoushes rather than policies or heaven forbid political vision. Each political party employs focus groups and pollsters to divine the will of the majority of the people. Wealthy donors and big companies pay to have their way. The Commonwealth of Australia should be more properly named the oligarchy of Oz. The big end of town, miners and fossil fuel entities, invariably get their way, when push comes to shove. Big Gas, the foreign owned LNG extractors and exporters pay relatively bugger all tax on the hundreds of billions they earn on our gas. Meanwhile, Australia is the biggest importer of diesel by volume in the whole world. That is a big statement, when you consider our paltry population. Why don’t our trucks run on LNG?
Aussie Politicians Cannot See Past Their Own Interests
Our politicians go along with the vested interests and power brokers within the business elite. Labor is too gutless to take on the billionaire miners, as we saw during Rudd and Gillard’s time over the PRRT (Petroleum Resource Rent Tax). The LNP are always in bed with big money, wherever it sleeps. An absence of political vision for Australia has existed for the longest time. Albanese is a political animal, he smells what’s on the wind and acts accordingly. This is why when watching Albo, you get the sense that the bloke has no bottle, no spear in the ground upon which defines his territory. The manosphere abhors such behaviours. His opponents pretend to have more manly integrity, even if it is all dumb show in the end. They are in it for the power and the money that will bring.
AI Will Privatise Power Into A Few Billionaire Hands
AI is being pushed upon the world via a tidal wave of money. Trillions being invested by private credit on the basis of extreme greed. Data centres are being built at an incredible rate all over the place. Data centres which gobble up vast volumes of energy and water. In a very real sense, the digital world is consuming the resources of the real world. Humanity is being pushed and cajoled into screens. Our business leaders and governments have drunk the kool aid and are singing the praises of AI for everything. Massive job losses in the many millions? No problem. AI will sort it out. A mega hungry plethora of data centres eating us out of house and home? No worries. AI will work it out, somehow. Assurances proffered without any detailed evidence. The money men are on the biggest gold fever bandwagon the world has ever seen. Neoliberalism taught us to stand aside for market forces. Follow the money! Governments are cheerleaders for this privatisation of power, for that is what is happening. Pissweak leaders like the current crop have been doing less and less for years.
The actual power has long been in the hands of business and big corporations. What we see on our screens is all for show.
No Australian AI
Australia has no AI of its own. Investment by wealthy Australians and their corporations has been moribund for years. Duopolies and oligopolies have sown up their markets and see no need to fork out more. Coles and Woolies extract their billions each year with little competition. The ACCC and ASIC have been a bad joke, if protecting competition was their remit. They have greenlighted every merger and takeover for decades. Consumer and worker power is dead downunder. Corporate profits are sky high. The rest of us ordinary citizens are doing it tough, affordability is a real issue, with rents, food and energy too high in prices for the average Joe or Joanne. If governments were supposed to govern for all, then Australian governments have failed many of their most needy. Albanese and his colleagues own multiple investment properties. Alright for some, I suppose.
Murdoch’s News Corp Pays No Corporate Tax For A Decade
News Corp, the American company, which tells Aussies how they should think every day, pays bugger all tax. New Corp has not paid any corporate tax in Australia for more than a decade. Owning most of our newspapers and Sky News Australia or News24 makes them think that they are above paying tax, it seems. This right wing peddler of extreme views and Trump style lies has profited from its divisive op/eds and contentious diatribes. American corporations avoid paying corporate tax across the board, they think that they are above the sovereignty of other nations. AI will only further the global take over by these Americans. Meanwhile, an absence of political vision for Australia consigns us to this fate. I see no saving grace in any of our current batch of leaders and pollies. Pauline Hanson has been bought by mining billionaire Gina Rinehart. One Nation is her plaything. Rinehart and Hanson are big fans of Donald Trump, the most corrupt US president ever. Hanson is a populist politician in the mould of Trump. You cannot trust anything that comes out of their mouths. She is a nasty old racist, who for 30 years has blamed others for her troubles. What kind of leader is that? It might be bearable to listen to some old pisshead in the pub go on like that, but not leading the bloody country. Wake up Australia, things can get much worse with the wrong mob in power. Retribution only lasts a short while and then, you need someone with real solutions for a better future.
Letting AI Take Over The World
If we sit back and let these AI companies take over the world, we will only have ourselves to blame. The callous disregard that these companies have for human life and human agency is abhorrent. The old chestnut, that it is good for the economy, is blatantly untrue. If millions lose their careers and jobs, what then? Where are the details for what comes next? I have, already, lost my career to AI, over a year ago. This is real and coming to your neck of the woods soon. Shareholder greed is driving the AI boom. How can something be good for the economy if it disenfranchises a sizable chunk of those in that economy? Increasing labour productivity figures by sacking workers and replacing them with machines is not a tidy answer without consequences for those workers.
Who Is The AI Economy For?
If less and less human beings are actively involved in the economy, what is that economy for, who is it for? A few rich investors? Work is more than income, it is an intrinsic part of the meaning of life for that worker. If AI replaces that, where do we find that in the future? Already, digital convenience is making many people feel more isolated, as stuff done online reduces human contact. That human contact is as important as the reason for engaging.
Convenience is killing us!
Who Will Stand Up To Big Tech America?
I do not see any courageous leaders on the horizon willing to stand up to the big money. These politicians are all subservient to vested interests on a massive financial scale. Perhaps, the Greens may emerge as a viable alternative. David Shoebridge is their new leader.
If Australia signs on for AI America, what little sovereignty we may have will be lost. If we buy the BS, that AI is essential for modern life, the dumbing down of our people will continue. It amazes me that our politicians cannot grasp this fact.
“GDP is up, but most of us are still feeling that we have less than we want or need. Why are you feeling poorer? No less an economic boffin than Alan Kohler puts the onus on moribund productivity within the Australian economy. Now, that does not infer that you are not working hard enough, rather it is due to lack of investment by the companies at the heart of our economy. Why is this so? Have a look around at the markets making up our economy. They are largely controlled by one, two or a few giant corporations. Monopolies, duopolies and oligopolies abound. The distinct lack of competition in most sectors in Australia translates as neutered consumer power in the market place. These companies have no market driven need to innovate, as they have massive market shares already. Little to no innovation means they are not investing and that means productivity gains are not happening within the Australian economy.”
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of The Stoic Golfer; The AI Heresy; What Price Life?; America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump; and other titles. NOW AVAILABLE AT APPLE BOOKS & GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS. Google Play Books AUDIOBOOK
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