Australia — State of the Nation
In the wealthy and largely Christian world at least, including Australia, my view is that this time of year is one of self-indulgence, gluttony, waste, drunkenness, domestic violence, hypocrisy, & heightened indicators of the differences between those of even moderate wealth and privilege and those without, i.e. those within the bottom social strata.
At the same time, it also heightens my awareness of the difference between the privileged lives that even most of the‘poorly paid’ or ‘low economic status’ people in our population have when compared with those in the Majority World — that which is commonly and, in my opinion, disparagingly, known as the Third World or Developing World.
I donate what I can from a State Pension that I’m fortunate to have, despite it being little. I also have to spread my donations over many issues for, it seems, our governments and the people who elect them clearly are more than happy to indulge themselves and waste billions of dollars whilst leaving charities and philanthropists to do what they can. [The $ millions that goes up in smoke in firework displays is a good example of poorly chosen priorities.]
It is a sad indictment on our nation and those others, generally the whole of the wealthy world, where this happens.
I no longer know what to do. Each week I receive several requests for donations, presumably because I have supported such a wide range of causes and charities in the past. I receive them whether I have donated to the group or not. I understand that it may be difficult for that to be avoided but, having managed a CRM database in the past, I know that it is possible. Each time I receive a request to which I am unable to respond, I become increasingly dispirited and guilty.
I would suggest that there are many who experience similar feelings.
I see politicians on high salaries and substantial expense allowances, many making business connections that will ensure their future financial security at a level of which most of us could only dream. At the same time, I see these ‘representatives’ making decisions and spending public funds in all manner of devious ways, often contrary to evidence, selectively targeted to enhance their own electoral chances, and more often than not, other than their own, serving only the wealthy, big business or the interests of larger or more influential nations and ideologies, such as those of the USA and the UK.
Our political system is broken. Preferential voting coupled with mandatory voting effectively precludes other than one of 2 major, (& each obsolescent), political parties to achieve government. Instead of government being by the Parliament, i.e. all representatives elected to the House, (as it ought to be), it becomes government by the Party and, in effect, government by the oligarchy that rules that Party and those with significant influence on that oligarchy, such as Murdoch, or the IPA or the Union Movement. It is also, of course, unrepresentative of the substantial cohort of the population who don’t support it, ironically this number usually being greater than 50%.
So, I wonder, what can a political party in our system do? What can they do to break this appalling impasse that allows our democracy to be so defiled as to be largely a facade that most electors fail to realise is such, just as so many would fail to recognise a well made veneered cabinet from one made of solid wood? How can attention be brought to this fundamental and scurrilously obscene situation where the best that a third or other non-major party can hope to do is to seek to command the ‘Balance of Power’, which itself is unhealthily akin to the position held by a blackmailer and often used in much the same way, i.e. to achieve profit for the one holding the trigger for catastrophe but none of the responsibility.
Currently, our political system is a tragedy as opposed to a well-constructed, equitable and truly representative system that actually fulfills its obligations to *all* people of the nation as well as those to humanity as a whole.
These and similar such questions are those to which I seek answers. I am both sickened and saddened by the charade of democracy and pretensions of concern for public well-being shown by our political representatives generally. Yes, I am aware that there are ‘the exceptions that prove the rule’ and I very much value them and attempt to support them when and where I can, regardless of their Party allegiances. Sadly, those exceptions are few and far between and, in the main, as far as I can see are rarely members of the two major parties but instead are members of those which have little, probably zero, hope of ever obtaining government.
In my view, this is a major component of an explanation for why middle aged single women are often homeless or living in shelters. Why hundreds of thousands of children suffer a similar fate. Why the wealth and influence of the smallest fraction of the population stands in inverse proportion to that of the largest fraction. Why one person, (usually male, still), i.e. the Prime Minister, is empowered to take our nation to War, to enter into military agreements that have implications for the whole nation and not only if conflict eventuates but even in consequences of actions taken to prepare for or deter it. Why corruption, sexual discrimination, sexual abuse and misuse of public funds is rife.
When I witness a political party in this nation begin to articulate and move to rectify these issues, (and the many more associated failings of our society that I haven’t mentioned but are similarly a result of our system), then I will be both surprised and refreshed. If I see real action, I may even regain some hope for the future and that our nation has not become so dumbed-down that rational, compassionate, inclusive and equitable government and society is no longer simply wishful thinking about a state of being that will never, or can never, exist.
Sadly, right now I see little sign that there is any chance of improvement coming about. Neither our formal education system nor our media are used to teach and encourage morality, caring and compassion for others, let alone altruism and service. Even the notion of a ‘calling’ has as good as disappeared from our vocabulary. We now have excuses for almost any selfish behaviour or attitude that may and usually does harmfully effect others. Not least is the hypocrisy of “Freedom” being called out in defense of totally irrational & myth driven views that target those who attempt to safeguard the population. It seems that the individuals who act in that way do not understand that ‘freedom’ cannot exist without ‘responsibility’ — that we do not live or operate in a vacuum but that all we do has an effect on and affects others.
The only sign for hope that I can see emanates from so many of our youth — a youth so often maligned. If there is change for the better, the possibility of a less selfish, more caring and compassionate community, and change that brings about acceptance and equity to all, it will be because of the revolt against materialism, hypocrisy, the chains of ‘jobs’, and the autocrats and oligarchs who rain disadvantage, poverty, destruction and self-centered greed and perversion on our society and World.
Then again, perhaps you feel differently.
Thank you for your time if you have read this far. Those who have heard such sentiments from me in the past have usually dismissed them as the rantings of an unrealistic idealist. I have not yet been able to determine what is so terrible about idealism and/or the belief that as individuals and as a community we cannot aspire to increase equity, well-being and respect for all.
