Email can keep racism simmering

Just recently I have received some emails that first surfaced in the grim (from a Democracy viewpoint) Howard years and I’ll bet the same sort of material accompanied the Bush Administration too. It’s a feature of that kind of politics that when you struggle to defend your actions you attack those who disagree.

It’s the old Australia - love it or leave it.

Of course it is always accompanied by perceived slights on society from a rort or a handout the author doesn’t agree with. Invariably it never used to happen in the Good Ol’ Days.

There are so many things wrong with this type of email.

• ·         They suggest you should not keep on your politicians backs to improve their governance.
• ·         It tries to say that voting is a “Winner takes all” rather than a Democratic process
• ·         They are invariably against supporting to bottom end of the financial ladder
• ·         They try to ignore the principle of a “Fair Go” which is part of our history in Oz.
• ·         Often when you delve into the story the facts have been altered to support the complaint.
• ·         They always have an Aussie flag in the text. Usually several.

The fact that these sometimes come to me from older Aussies is appalling. It shows a distinct lack of their understanding of our history. Being founded from the most part of criminal stock, we have always regarded the Ruling Class with a great deal of cynicism. We used to expect the worst from them and even good performers were regarded as “OK. But let’s see what skeletons turn up in the closet next week”. It’s a grudging respect tempered with an expectation that eventually they might turn feral.

The most annoying thing about the catch phrase is the “winner takes all” attitude and the idea that somehow you become a 2^nd class citizen if you don’t embrace the current Government. Even as a person who voted Labor last time around, I can’t imagine praying to Kevin 07 just because he won and heaven forbid that I would just accept whatever he puts forward even if it was Labor policy at election time. The current fiasco of filtering the Net at ISP level is a case in point. The policy is wrong and going to hurt my Net speed and access. We should hardly just put up with a dumb idea. Much better to guide them back to the generally smarter ideas they have been following so far.

The principal of the “Fair Go” is usually ignored probably because it’s the only way to handle it. Just hope people ignore the jailing of children as some did during the Howard years.

Waving the flag. I have said it before and will say so again. Waving the flag is no excuse from thinking and it shouldn’t add credibility. I have mentioned to folk before that some of their intolerance would qualify them to lead the Aussie version of the Taliban and guys like Donald Rumsfeld could run the American version.

So when these kinds of emails turn up, I have a read to check off the shortcomings then confine them to the digital dustbin. The serve no other purpose than to try and reinforce a background racism and to promote dissatisfaction with the status quo. Thoughtful, intelligent criticism is much more helpful.