I like lazy takeaway as much as the next person. Well, actually I prefer a simple meal at home, but I do sometimes enjoy lazy takeaways, especially late in the week. Where I certainly don't use lazy takeaways is for interpreting election results. After the six year shit-show of heartless incompetence and cronyism, it is understandable that many people would be disappointed to see Rupert Murdoch and Gina Reinhart retain power through their puppets in the Liberal Party for another three years. Add in the widely reported media narrative that Labor would win and the result was doubly painful. And it truly was a bad result for our country and an indictment on our voters. But when you’re upset is not usually when we do our best analyses, nor when we are gloating insufferably (quick note to all the Liberal supporters I know, the fact that the Coalition were re-elected does nothing to make me respect you more) and while I sympathise with the anger and concerns many have for the future, I couldn’t really go along with some of the popular narratives used to describe the admittedly disastrous result for our country. After the six year shit show of heartless incompetence and cronyism, it is understandable that many people would be disappointed to see Rupert Murdoch and Gina Reinhart retain power through their puppets int eh Liberal Party for another three yearr. Add in the widely reported media narrative that Labor would win and the result was doubly painful.
And it truly was a bad result for our country and an indictment on our voters. But when you’re upset is not usually when we do our best analyses, nor when we are gloating insufferably (quick note to all the Liberal supporters I know, the fact that the Coalition were re-elected does nothing to make me respect you more) friends and while I sympathise with the anger and … many are feeling, I couldn’t … One phrase I have heard a few times in different iterations since that sad day is that Labor had lost the “Unlosable election.” This was a particular theme in the Newscorpse rags and networks belonging to Rupert Murdoch. I’ll talk about why they. For the record this election was never unlosable for Labor. Aside from the ideologically precarious position it tries to hold between the true progressive policies of the Greens and the outright regressive policies of the Coalition, the ALP walks a tightrope with its policy positions and even in a fair election, it was only ever going to take one or two slips to be their undoing. But this wasn’t a fair election. Morrison barely bothered to try. He let the media, clive palmer and … do most of the work for him He went the whole drawn-out campaign without releasing a policy for what he would do if re-elected, which would have been bad enough if he could point to … The media (or which Murdoch owns the majority) failed to even pretend to hold him to account for it- all whilst forensically dissecting every utterance from ALP representatives for any hint of weakness. Whilst I dared to believe Australians were smarter than I gave them credit and let myself think we might see the end of this toxic government, it was by no means a foregone conclusion. I actually wrote late last year that the partisan headlines would be coming and that I was not comforted by the polls at the time. I even had money on the Coalition winning, (although the winnings feel tainted) as I felt the odds were very generous. Another kneejerk I saw all over social media was from the Jonathon Pie fans (that is not an insult I do enjoy a lot of Jonathon Pie’s material myself) telling everyone this was the result of leftists not being respectful enough when engaging with undecided voters. I find this argument problematic for a few reasons. Firstly, the overwhelming public messaging I was exposed to was not … Secondly, I would suggest Liberal voters have been getting off lightly for years. The party they are voting for is killing the economy and the country, whilst slashing Australians’ quality of life and making themselves rich in the process. if anything I think climate sceptics are treated pretty leniently- can you imagine if we gave anti-vaccers (a highly analogous belief structure that denies overwhelming scientific opinion) as politely and Could progressive activists find a more effective and inclusive way to get their message across? Given the number of voters who blaming progressives for not convincing enough people not to commit electoral self-harm (voting for a party that will actually …) kind of absolves Secondly this narrative irrespective of the widely held belief that Labor would be victorious. While I hadn’t allo I certainly was Like most people who were displeased with the 6 year shit-show that the Liberal govern So like most people that have paid much attention to the Coalition’s abysmal record of cronyism, unaccountability and incompetence, I was pretty disappointed by the federal election result. There’s been a few common narratives of The radical left force people to vote right. This argument seems to get a rehash every year or so and gets extra traction every time a conservative conman gains power. I’m kind of getting sick of it actually, because neither tack works- nor do the radical right seem to be pushing people to the left. I I’ve written a number of articles about how unfit the Coalition is to govern and most Lazy Labor lost an unlosable election and it is Bill Shorten’s fault. … If they lost for being too progressive, then that saddens me. But that is more of an indictment of how scared and self-centred our country really is. Maybe they misread the room Is that the truth or did you hear it from Newscorpse? With unbalanced media narrative of the conservative media (of which the … ABC gets closer and closer to each year) constantly pushed on us, it raises the question of whether it is better to be uninformed or misinformed? Because unless you are willing to look closely, they are the main options available. Finally, I may not live in a totalitarian state (yet- Peter Dutton hasn’t given up though), but is a depressingly low bar to set for judging a nation’s democratic institutions. So no, I don’t have to be grateful that I had the opportunity to participate in an election that was skewed heavily by the lies and money of a few greedy billionaires. Nor do I have to respect Scott Morrison. The man is an empty, unrepentant liar and hypocrite who has blood on his hands. I can’t respect that, no matter how many people vote for him. If that sounds bitter, so be it. I don’t mind being on the losing side at almost anything and like to think I lose with grace and sportsmanship, but this isn’t a game to be won or lost. A government that governs primarily for itself is … and bad policy affects people’s lives. In my mind Liberal politicians and their allies in the media are treasonous, self-serving , selling out our country’s future for their own short-term gain.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories |