It is hard to view the speech for
the second reading of the Citizenship Bill by Ian Campbell and not see it is as legislation which elevates the state above the individual.
From the tabled speech;
Becoming an Australian citizen is a significant commitment. It involves undertaking to fulfil the responsibilities of Australian citizenship as well as being able to take advantage of the opportunities that come with citizenship. It requires the pledging of loyalty to Australia and its people, a shared belief in the democratic process, respect for the rights and liberties of others, and a willingness to uphold and obey the law.
Importantly, the bill retains the principle that Australian citizenship is a privilege and not a right.
A right is a just exclusion from discrimination that the individual has from the state. Rights become a liberty, exclusive to the individual, that are derived from the fundamental relationship between individual and government.
In this respect no individual should be denied the full rights of citizenship as the relationship between individual and government is defined by being an individual being under the jurisdiction of the government - not by accidents of birth, swearing to the tribe, or other forms of political inequity.
Anyone who has undergone the citizenship ceremony can ask themselves how they were different on the day before, the day they took the oath, and the day after. They are the same individual. The only difference is the amount the state is willing to discriminate against them on the matter of political equity.
Citizenship is a right. The fact that citizens allow the state to exist is a privilege.
The speech continues;
As recommended by the Committee, the Preamble has been amended to recognise that Australian citizenship represents "full and" formal membership of the community of the Commonwealth of Australia. It is indeed that - full membership of the Australian community, involving reciprocal rights and obligations.
The language of obligation is another elevation of the state above the individual. An individual seeks to be the most moral and ethical person they can be. Their obligation is not to the state.
It should not be forgotten that nationalism is a recent technology. It only matured in the 19thC and was largely a result of the need for taxation and bureaucratic organisation to ensure sufficient military force for defence and expansion.
It was by definition a form of collective-decision making that was militarised with the relative new technology of diplomacy in the stead of marrying a heir to an opposing monarch. Arguably nationalism is a form of organisation developed for an era of industrialised warfare and violence.
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Phoenix Eats Out is the restaurant review site for
Phoenix,
Scottsdale and
Old Town Scottsdale which lists the modernist and contemporary restaurants, taverns and bars in the greater Phoenix area.
This is the list of the most popular restaurants pages from phoenixeatsout.com that have been viewed the most;
My personal favourite restaurants in Phoenix are
AZ88,
Postinos,
Bomberos with
Grazie,
Humble Pie,
Orange Table,
The Vig,
Fez and others coming close behind. View the complete list with the photo-journalistic style images on
phoenixeatsout.com
Arizona is an outdoor state and has lots of hiking in the city and around the state. Phoenix is unusual for most cities in having several large mountains in the center of the city with great hiking. Anyone who comes to Phoenix has to do the
Echo Canyon trail on Camelback and the
Summit Hike on Squaw Peak or Piesta Peak. The views of the city, suburbs and surrounding mountains are wonderful from Camelback and Piesta Peak.
For more experienced hikers there is the McDowell Mountains in North Scottsdale that has several difficult and strenuous hikes in
Tom's Thumb and
Bell Pass. Alternatively, you can hike the highest mountain in Arizona. At 12,600 feet
Humphrey's Peak is a long and difficult hike.
Between 2004 and 2009 this site,
southsearepublic.org, was a constitutional blog based on scoop which focused on Australian and global constitutional issues.
One of the strongest aspects of it was the development of constitutions by those involved in the blog. These constitutions are the outcome:
The constitutions were built using principles from Montesquieu's separation of powers, the enlightnment's universal political rights and the ancient Athenian technology of sortition and choice by lot.
South Sea Republic started in 2004 as an Australian constitutional blog in 2004 based on scoop software. It was an immigrative outgrowth of Kuro5hin. The archives for each year since then;
The articles are ordered by views.
I am an Australian living in the United States as a permanent resident.
I am a software developer by trade and mostly work in Java and jump between middleware and front end.
I originally worked in the New York area of the United States in telecommunications before moving to Washington DC and
working in a mix of telecommunications, energy and ITS. I started my own software company before heading out to
Arizona and working with Shutterfly. Since then I have joined a startup in the Phoenix area and am thoroughly enjoying myself.
I do a lot of photography which I post on this website, but also on flickr. I have a photo-journalistic website which lists
the modernist and contemporary restaurants in phoenix. I have a site on the
Australian Flying Corps [AFC] which has been around since the 1990s and which I unfortunately
lost the .org URL to during a life event; however, it is under the
www.australianflyingcorps.com URL now.
The AFC website has gone through several iterations since the 90s and the two most recent are
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2004-2002) and
Australian Flying Corps Archives(2002-1999) which are good places to start.
