An ABC Radio news program I listened to a decade back, took a survey of large numbers of Australian’s, so find out what made them happiest. The answer overwhelmingly was having the power to determine their-own lives. That answer leaves no doubt in my mind that the majority of people feel that someone else currently controls important aspects of their lives, and that they wish that weren’t the case.

This leads one to question our political leaders, who are given the greatest responsibility within our community to ensure that all are heard and where possible changes are made for the betterment of all areas of society and for the improvement of the quality of our lives, which if we are to believe this survey is ensuring freedom, human rights and equality for all, better known as democracy.

Democracy for me is not something we have, like a possession to be put on the shelf and polished just for show. It more about what we have done, are doing and continue to do to guard and maintain our political freedoms, equality and rights.

Another worldwide survey done last year interviewed many thousands of people from all western so-called democracies, and asked citizens within those countries a very simple question: “Do you believe you live in a democracy? New Zealand fared best with around 40% responding affirmatively. The country that scored least was the U.S.

Post second world war, the U.S. was synonymous with the word Democracy, and yet a recent article speculated that of the ten preconditions that defined a fascist state like Germany and Italy in the second world war. The only western country that today fulfilled all of the ten preconditions that defined fascism was again The U.S.

That fact must be clear to the entire world this week, when Republican politicians rendered several hundred thousand people unemployed whilst risking a serious world wide depression over Obama-Care which is simply caring legislative changes to the health system, changes that are endeavoring to bring some equity and fairness to the health system for the U.S. people. America’s leaders, and in particular the Republicans aided by the mad hatters of the Tea Party, are rapidly destroying what few remaining remnants of democracy the U.S. might have left.

The American post war dream has gradually become a nightmare. This is a country being run by laughable bunch of fiction specializing spin-doctors in the employ of grossly corrupt and greedy, power hungry corporations who have almost total control of a deeply corrupted Government.

The situation is similar here, the citizens hold their politicians in total contempt. This leads to a contemptuous cycle, which feeds on itself with the majority of citizens resolving “that all politicians are corrupt there’s nothing they can do about it so why even try”

This community sentiment is reflected in what remains of Australia’s form of democracy, the disaffection seems to be so widespread that it clearly defines us as cynical and as a result we are rendered powerless. Possibly locking us into our beliefs as well as painting politicians with a broad black brush which almost certainly encourages them to become even more corrupt and fall even further beneath contempt

In my mind there is only one version of democracy that stands up to scrutiny; and that’s an active living one, where people determine the reality they want by actively writing letters, emails or even tweeting sentiments of praise or contempt to encourage and/or discourage those we have elected into power. A living democracy is evident only when citizens get out on the streets and applaud positive change, or else protest and demand change where the larger community is affected adversely. Such behavior breeds an active and potent democracy where leaders are made conscious that if they do something that is not in the best interests of the majority of our citizens. They will suffer adversely, or have deserved praise heaped upon them.

Democracy is not just turning up at the ballot box on election-day, It’s surely the active participation of citizens who present a clear mandate of what they expect of our representatives. Politicians are not the only ones who have a mandate. We put them into power, and do so with expectations that they more closely match our expectations of a fairer more moral society where we are given the same legal rights as others and are able to enjoy the same privileges.

Global warming is the most important case in point.

The former Labor Government came to power during a difficult period in history, tossed out not so much for their incompetence but because U.S. rogue corporation’s are determined to corruptly induce one or the other of our two major parties to remove for example the legal barriers to bringing in a full range of Genetically modified highly suspect GM crops into our country. The Labor Government didn’t lose it was actively removed by the manufactured fictional sewer trawling of the Murdoch media machine heavily pressured by rogue corporations like cigarette manufacturers want to over-ride our legal system in order to sue our Government for Billions. And why? because the labor government had the guts to do its duty and introduce plain packaging to save our kids from future cancerous harm.

This proposed handing over of legal power by Tony Abbott to this shabby collection of rogue corporations is all about money and power, and is clear evidence that rogue corporations seem to be able to corrupt authority at will at every level in every country

We are seeing the evidence of the Labor party crucifixion this week, in south East Asia, where Tony Abbott is communicating a willingness to consider signing over Australia’s legal rights within the month.

Rogue Corporations will then be able to escape responsibility for any damage they do to Australia, or for that matter Australians. Once Abbott has signed, the power will shift to the hands of an international corporate body known as the Investor State Dispute Settlement, or the ISDS a body that has already shown a clear and obvious bias in Favor of the determination in favor of rogue corporations when in dispute with the governments of sovereign countries.

I know of no benefit to Australia or Australians that has emerged since John Howard foolishly agreed to be part of the free trade agreement, then opted out of this ISDS preposterous legal power-removing clause as a result of labor opposition pressure. This was a clause which Julia Gillard also would not sign. But as we know Tony Abbott declared three years ago that he would do anything to assume power, and clearly he meant it, even if it meant selling his country down the legal gurgler to do it.

Despite there being no positive benefits, Tony Abbott has made it known that he fully intends signing this agreement within this month, and yet I’ve heard only a single protest from a listener of Q and A, with the same fears that I hold. Nothing from news outlets, who should be making it abundantly clear that this is Abbott’s way of settling his electoral success debts to these same rogue corporations whom it would appear clearly engineered this hatchet job on Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party, to ensure Abbotts ascent to power.

If we, the Australian public, sit back and permit Abbott and the Coalition to sign this agreement, without actively and angrily protesting against this action. We will have been party to handing over an incredible amount of power to the most evil collection of greedy power hungry corporations ever to exist on this planet. The self-same collection of rogue corporations we can hold responsible for most of the destruction, pollution and poisoning of our environment. In reality they are the group we can hold most responsible both directly and indirectly for the increase in global warming.

Instead of each of us screaming to the heavens that: “we are not going to take it anymore”, monstrous corporations corrupt whom ever they can, to do what ever they want here in Australia. Meanwhile the people are silent, the press is silent and even the yet to be formed Labor opposition is so far silent on this issue, perhaps afraid if they Kick up a stink, a second Murdoch orchestrated hatchet job will ensue.

The single act of Abbott signing this agreement will most likely completely pay off the dept he owes the rogue corporations for Having induced Murdoch to crucify the Labor party over the past several years and in particular over the six week election period. Enough time it would seem, to convince all of Australia that Labor had failed when despite its Murdoch encouraged disunity, it was by any fair comparison a very successful government.

The Coalition has only been in office for a few weeks and is already out of its honeymoon-period, having made a total fool of itself over the border protection issue, big noting itself telling Indonesia it was going to do a number of things that were clearly never reasonable, sensible or practical, and yet the Murdoch Media machine is deafening with its silence, and blinding with its vacuum of editorial on the issue on this so far clearly unrealistic and incompetent government, A government so totally without vision, one can only imagine its actions reflecting U.S corporate sentiment.

If, as was noted at the beginning of this editorial we as individuals are happiest when we are in control of our lives, it would appear that if we fail to act to prevent this handover of power, we will be handing Tony Abbott and the Coalition the biggest theft of legal power in this countries history. And as with global warming, once again the main victim of this action will be our young and there offspring, with nothing but our inaction in maintaining our democracy to blame.