[thorn bird]

We are a strange lot aren't we Sandy, unique in the animal world.
Rather frail in stature, not particularly speedy, lacking venomous fangs, claws and jaws with which to defend ourselves against our adversaries. We have survived evolution to become preeminent in the animal kingdom because, some would say, god endowed us with a magnificent brain, with the power to reason and recall history and record it for posterity. History is recorded by winners, therefore it should give us clues as to how they won. Unfortunately another human trait is to ignore history and blunder into making the same errors over and over again, our ability to be inventive can find us solutions but often our inventiveness can makes things worse.

Consider warfare as a handy means of population control.

The American civil war was, as wars go, going along nicely, the tide going back and forth between the adversaries, until some smarty on one side invented a repeating rifle, exploding cannon shells and god forbid a machine gun. Suddenly marching bodies of men in close formation towards the enemy became problematic, the slaughter shocked the civilian population, even the generals became concerned they would run out of troops before a winner was decided.
the American civil war was perhaps the only war fought for altruistic reasons, to free humans from slavery, then again it probably was really about money and power.

Along came the first world war. Had we learnt anything? Nope. Same tactics same slaughter.
Allegedly the war stated because someone assassinated someone aristocratic. In reality it was probably about money and power.

The second world war was somewhat different. It started allegedly because a whole bunch of people believed in the rantings of a homicidal maniac, but in the end it was probably about money and power. This war however was a bit different in that far more civilians were slaughtered than combatants and was ended with another human innovation called mutual assured destruction.This invention has been very handy keeping the megalomaniacs in check, no point being a tyrant if your dead, the religious nutters are a worry but.

Since then the world has been fairly peaceful, other than a few minor skirmishes.

Money and power remains the primary motivation for humans to kill each other, it's very hard to kick a habit.

In our little democracy its a tad hard to become a megalomaniac. No Tyrant can ascend the throne without the support of others, hardly likely in a democracy. By the time we got through arguing the merits, pros and cons of the potential megalomaniac they would be long dead and buried. Becoming a Megalomaniac difficult, notwithstanding, mankind is very capable of producing petty Tyrants, lots of them. In Australia we call them the "Public Sector". Thats not to say that the Private Sector doesn't have its share of tyrants, its just they don't seem to have the same shelf life as the Public kind.

Sociopaths are drawn to the Public sector because it is relatively easy to become tyrannical and get away with it. Its also pretty well paid and you don't have to do a lot to earn the pay if you don't want to.

It could be said that Australia is the lucky country, for me that is a true statement, we've had it very good for a long time. Apathy has lead us to ignore the lessons of history and take our freedoms for granted. Subtly the sociopaths have undermined our freedoms and with very weak and pathetic oversight by the political class, over time the nanny state has arisen along with the Public sectors power, 1984 may be a little late in coming but its nearly here all the mandarins have to do is repeat the mantra over and over, Australians have become so risk averse their frightened of their own shadow willingly accepting whatever claptrap effluent that flows from the CantBerra bubble that convinces them its to keep them safe.

The aviation industry must accept a lot of the responsibility for its current predicament. We allowed mandarins sirens song to enthral the public that Australia is the safest place in the world to fly, which it ain't. We sat by while they managed to inure into the publics consciousness that those who commit aviation are homicidal criminals that must be crushed. General aviation in particular are the worst of the worst and really has no useful purpose anyway so the country is better off without them. We let them get away with that. When you listen to high officials, even the Governor General, when they mention aviation they espouse the CAsA mantra, "We are the safest" once fear is instilled it's very hard to counter. Fear is a very useful tool in a sociopaths armoury, "we and only we are keeping you safe, you might die of starvation next year, or decide to end it all, but for now you are safe because of us and you better be grateful".

We believed the politicians and mandarins that privatisation of our airports would be beneficial for the industry, they would be protected as airports safe from the hands of development sharks. What a lie that has turned out to be, even Joe public in their innocence doesn't realise they have been swindled out of billions.

The herd mentality trumps reason and common sense every time, a little bit of corruption greases the wheels.