Death Rattle Of Multiculturalism?

David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, is a recent convert to white extremism. Joining a fast growing flock that includes German Chancellor Merkel, French President Sarkozy and has beens, John Howard and former Spanish Premier Jose Maria Anzar. All declaring, with no ambiguity, that multiculturalism has failed.

Will this retrenchment to a pre-chicken tikka masala fairyland hold steam? Will Gillard catch the bug?

Cameron, not unlike a metrosexual skinhead, has put forth a detailed criteria for immigrants. ‘Do they believe in universal human rights- including woman and people of other faiths? Do they believe in equality of all before the law? Do they believe in democracy and the right of people to elect their own Government? Do they encourage integration or separatism?’

Britain, pompously proud of the freedom she enjoys north of the White Cliffs of Dover made a legendary success at suffocating no less than a third of the world. She reigned an Empire of subjects not citizens. You have to believe your subjects are human before granting them a right.

They have emotionally never let go of that ‘greatness’ and have never managed to find the courage to look themselves in the mirror to see an impotent, pasty old man.

This delusional belief in themselves prompted their participation in the unholy wars of Iraq and Afghanistan. The fascist practices of these conflicts included torture of citizens kidnapped and imprisoned, wholly illegally, and the murder of thousands of families in air raids. Not an immediately obvious way to express a belief in universal human rights and a deep respect of other faiths.

Cameron insists that to qualify for British residency you must believe in democracy and the right of people to elect their own Government. With the revolutions in North Africa this has triggered a collective giggle. The West’s almost unquestionable support of Mubarak, who was no pin-up of democracy, has received a widely televised, brutal assessment by the media.

Furthermore, Cameron’s Foreign Minister has said that the Egyptian people should be encouraged to elect whomever they want in Government as long as it’s not the Muslim Brotherhood. This is a school of democracy that deserves further study as it seems to be a new branch of the institution.

His demand that they should encourage integration and not separatism is welcome as Cameron is plainly a separatist.

The sheer insurmountable impracticality of judging these criteria is proof enough this new gated community will convincingly fail. Would prospective immigrants be given a multi choice exam? Was Hitler a: - a) genocidal maniac b) famous composer c) grossly misunderstood.

Wilde said that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Racism is the lowest form of politics. It is the refuge of the mediocre.

Cameron has good company with Merkel and Sarkozy. They are all leaders that have failed to project a uniting vision. Like Hitler they have contracted with the politic’s of race when the coffers are empty. Hate is free and unites the bewildered.

Gillard may have an on-again, off-again relationship with the truth but she not a person of hate. She will have enough smarts not to commit political suicide in our rainbow country.

Though to be seen as an evangelist of the multicultural ideal is politically daft. So she won my heart when denouncing Abbott and his Klan henchmen’s attack on travel expenses of the grieving relatives of the Christmas Island tragedy. She declared that Australia would not be drawn yet again in to the policies One Nation. A rare display of principle that would have had her pollster spin doctors gagging for a designer cup of herbal tea.

My initial perception of Chris Bowen, The Immigration Minister, was someone who had been put in the job to give grave television interviews that made it plain that the Government rescued boat people only if it really, really had to. My heart swelled when he strongly spoke against the ‘fashionable’ sweep of world leaders declaring multiculturalism dead on arrival.

History will show that this will be an enduring definition of Australia. Further differentiating us from a Europe that cannot dictate our culture. The eagerly anticipated dying, last breaths of white Australia.

But white Australia is far from buried. It is a nation that histrionically apologises to it’s indigenous people but wouldn’t have an aboriginal over for tea and scones. A nation that sacrifices it’s young in the fight against terrorism but detains and deports refugees who flee from terror.

But for now our leaders will continue to define us. It is who we are.

Besides, going back to boiled cabbage and cold mince is a fate worse than death.

Julian Assange No Dr Devi Shetty

Dr Devi Shetty is tragically out of step with the times. If it were an even remotely fair world he would the 21^st century’s Julian Assange. But he is a man of vision and action. Not a smelly peddler of the bleeding obvious.

Establishing the Narayana Hrudyalaya Institute of Cardiac Sciences only 10 years ago, it now performs the highest number of cardiac surgeries in the world. . “One hundred years after the first heart surgery was done, only 8 percent of the world’s population can afford it. What happens to the rest?” asks Shetty.

Having practiced in Britain for years he also asked himself why an Indian equivalent of the National Health system had not been established.

Up against the conventional wisdom that India is simply too vast in size and population for a financially struggling Government to adopt such a revolutionary institution, Dr Shetty responded by becoming a disciple of the what he calls the ‘Wall-Mart Effect’.

A system of bringing down costs and prices with huge scales of economy. Allowing a corporation rather than the Government to serve the poor profitably and astoundingly effectively. A less harsh user pays concept.

His health city near Bangalore has over 1,000 beds. Performing a heart stopping 30 plus cardiac operations a day. Shetty himself has performed over 15,000 operations in his career. They have a staggering 1,000 walk-in patients a day. The sister concern in Kolkata is looking to expand to 5,000 beds!

This astronomical infrastructure is where the ‘Wal-Mart effect’ kicks in.

Dr Shetty, demands, with his enormous buying power, that manufacturers of hospital consumables supply directly from the factory not via a problematic and expensive broker. This brings down costs.

Illustrated dramatically by Dr Shetty refusing to pay for laboratory machines that cost as much as $40,000. The manufacturer has to contend with making profit from the chemicals that the machine consumes in return for leasing the machine free to the hospital.

Every evening Doctors are sent an SMS that gives a breakdown of their individual profit/loss statement. Every Doctor is responsible for their consumption and revenue. Dr Shetty tells of how even stitch thread left on the spool is not wasted. For in other Indian hospitals the patient is charged for consumables and there is a careless attitude to conserving resources.

A blood gas analyse will cost 20 cents compared to $10 dollars elsewhere. Simply because of the huge amount of outpatients that are treated. In-patient care is considerably less profitable.

Another seismic achievement of Dr Shetty’s is Yeshasvini. This is a Karnataka comprehensive health insurance scheme that has nearly 3 million members. The monthly premiums are 15 cents a month. They now sleep in peace knowing that they will not die from not having $2000 dollars.

Dr Shetty’s sublime progress was inspired by the West but now they study him. The mortality rates at Bangalore, less than 5%, are considerably lower than New York State.

We should be scratching our heads at how he can have a dedicated nurse for every ICU patient. We should be staggered that he only charges one in 6 patients for open heart surgery. We should be rabidly supporting his plan for a health city in every Indian State.

But we won’t. I pray we see an age where he will get more respect than disaffected hackers and programmers of social websites.