Democracy and decency demand recognition

Democracy and decency demand that we recognise those who lived in this country before the Englanders arrived in 1788.

Many here believe they enjoy the privileges of a democracy, and some do, but it is slanted to favour just a few, those who by birth and so social class fall in with the machinations of the moneyed minority.

Democracy in its truest sense will not exist in Australia until we have, initially at least, recognized in our constitution that other people lived in this country before Europeans set up camp in Botany Bay.

Australians are inherently easy going and tolerant to a fault, and so have stood back in quietist fashion allowing the more aggressive to supplant democracy with other processes that favour a minority and disenfranchise most.

We now live in a militarized plutocracy; we have been duped into endorsing governance processes that protect the affairs of the elite, while we are rewarded with crumbs from the main table and garrulous distracting entertainments.

The progeny of those who have lived here for 40 000 years mostly make-up the disenfranchised; democracy has failed them; racism has railed against them; and forever seeking refuge in claims of innocence, our ignorance has reigned over two centuries of missed opportunities, brought about by our arrogance and our failure to acknowledge that through our ways we were unable to accommodate the needs of others.

Suggestions that we wait until 2017 to even vote upon the idea of recognizing those original inhabitants is an indefensible delay; the white man’s ways have disrupted and in many cases destroyed the lives of indigenous people and all they seek now is recognition.

Humans, irrespective of where they are from or their affiliations and what their interests might be, need to be recognised.

Recognition is a fundamental human need and right with research clearly illustrating that people emotionally prosper when they are embraced and welcomed into the group or community.

Anarchy - is misunderstood,
 but has an
 inherent decency about it.

Democracy is about recognizing your fellows and with that allowing them to be an integral and so useful part of our community.

Indigenous people traditionally enjoyed a powerful tribal culture in which the expectations of individuals were defined and adherence to those values was demanded, but within and around that was a freedom that most today would consider anarchy.

The perverse tolerance and liberty introduced by the invading Englanders, along with their foreign ways, destroyed existing inherent tribal culture and through the application of a militaristic and authoritarian colonialism built around those who had survived here successfully for 40 000 years a way of life they didn’t understand, and mostly still don’t.

Democracy in its truest sense, as opposed to the present plutocracy, is what all Australians need, or maybe even the genuine exploration and understanding of anarchy.

The incoherency of democracy stumbling from a 'low blow'

Writing coherently about something that is decidedly incoherent is difficult.

Democracy stumbled recently as it took a low blow with the repeal of the carbon pricing mechanism and so appears ill-equipped to untangle the complexities of climate change.

Former Australian PM, Kevin Rudd, among others, including many from the other side of the ideological divide, have declared climate change as humanity’s greatest ever moral challenge.

That observation follows an even earlier comment from former U.S. President, Jimmy Carter who said in 1971 that the energy crisis was “the moral equivalent to war”. Climate change is about many things, but chief among them is our frivolous use of energy.

Few, if any have argued for the abandonment of democracy, a social governance process that has underpinned societies for more than two centuries , but it was no less than Albert Einstein who said a problem cannot be resolved by the thinking from which is arose.

The world now faces difficulties created and encouraged by democracy and so applying the Einstein maxim that revered social governance process should now be questioned.

Democracy allows for debate, difference of opinion, the rule of law and within and around those attributes, tolerance.

That heady mix of values are now entrenched, most certainly in developed countries and although they now have a foothold in many other places, their import is as varied as the cultures which have embraced them.

Returning again to Mr Rudd’s 2007 observations, he noted then that climate change was so vast that it was beyond politics.

His prescient comments apply to what presently exists – climate change is unquestionably the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced and democracy appears unequal to those challenges.

Beyond that, the magnitude of what is ahead appears to escape the understanding of the Abbott-led government.

Yes, addressing the causes and mitigation of climate change is something that is beyond politics and demands creative, innovative and courageous ideas that appear to exceed the capacities of existing egalitarianism.

Democracy as an ideal is to be celebrated, but it was adherence to its fundamentals that gave rise to the Anthropocene – a scientifically recognized era acknowledging the influence of man; an era of industry, growth, conflict and profit that has disrupted the world’s climate.

Sadly, the climate change conversation has been politicized creating a “them and us”, a “goodies and baddies”-type discussion, which is simply wrong for no-one is correct or incorrect, no-one is either good or bad rather, we’re all responsible and so together face the unintended consequences of the natural expression of our species’ will to survive.

So where do we go from here?

Work hard to understand and reclaim democracy; support those who epitomise its values and step away from those who don’t.

A life of discontinuities and risk - certainly a strange affair

A promotional brochure
 for Al Gore's newest
book, "The Future".

Life is a strange affair, full of weird happenings and discontinuities and as a friend once said, “It’s so risky we’ll not get out of it alive”.

Much of it can be, and is, so intellectually dishevelled that it gives pause to wonder “why”, but then equally, many moments burst upon you leaving a beautiful sense of hope and an enrichment of purpose.

Recently while walking with my brother, two young boys approached on their bicycles and a step off the footpath to allow them to pass resulted in a rather clumsy fall.

Hurting all over, my spirits were repaired somewhat and for a moment made me forget the pain, when the two young boys who could have easily sped on laughing about the “old bloke” who fell over, stopped and enquired about my welfare.

The pain was momentarily gone and a few seconds, I was not feeling as glum about humanity as is often the case.

Just a few days ago while travelling on and standing in a crowded tram in central Melbourne, a young Indian fellow offered me his seat – again, for a moment, the world seemed like reasonable place.

However, those moments of personal encouragement seem irrelevant and trivial in consequence when by chance of birth, your country prefers to be governed by a group of people whose passions are driven by short-term objectives and beliefs that the good life is to be found in materialism and the momentary joy of acquisition.

Promises in the lead-up to Australia’s recent federal election were many, but rarely did anyone illustrate concern for, a suggest anything that might enable you and me to endure the unfolding decades that will be clearly, and unquestionably, decidedly different from which we have just emerged.

It seems our leaders are devoid of the robust and bold thinking that enables them to imagine equality, decency, collaboration and fairness; things not fundamental to the economy rather behaviours that evolve from sharing, friendship, caring and empathy.

Should you consider that utopian thinking then, for a moment, consider the alternative to which humanity has adhered to for three centuries and upon any reasonable measure, what we have is a distressing dystopia in which the world economy is vacuumed up by just a few and billions are left either in or teeter on poverty.

Complicating that is the fragility of world governance with our much fêted democracy being sold to the highest bidder leaving it obligated to corporatism.

Writing in “The Future”, Al Gore said: “The extreme concentration of wealth is destructive to economic vitality and to the health of democracy”.

Yes, it’s a weird world in which a few have plenty, billions are in poverty, democracy is almost a memory and uplifting moments are disappointingly rare.

Where are we now? What do we do? What do we want?

Our politicians, regardless of philosophy, right or left, or anywhere else on the political spectrum, appear disconnected from reality.

Albert Einstein - doing
the same thing and
 expecting a different
 result equates with
insanity.

The Greens are probably closest to being in the moment, but because we live in a liberal democracy, they too are powerless to make the changes needed if humanity is to flourish.

The voting process is a vital and if nothing else is a symbol that the idea of democracy is still intact and so whatever we may think or imagine, vote we must and vote we should.

We cannot ignore the September 7 election and hope that something will change, for doing nothing and expecting a different result echoes with the Albert Einstein observation that insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.

So where are we now?

The world is in environmental, economic and resource disarray; food security for billions is a fantasy, happiness for an equal number rests with the fluff of consumerism, peace is always seemingly out of reach, and history, both ancient and contemporary, clearly illustrates that it is the rich, and responsible men, who decide on our future.

Interestingly the status quo, which has been, and is, the engine behind this shambles with which the world community presently wrestles, has many influential advocates, while the future is abandoned largely to silence and chance.

The future is an unknown place for no-one has ever been there, but our behaviour today is the building blocks from which tomorrow is constructed.

Sadly, most candidates on September 7 offer little or nothing to enable us to break the status quo shackles that bind us to a profit and growth paradigm that is destined only for chaos and disaster.

What do we do?

We need wake-up and arise from our entertainment induced slumber and understand that we are not powerless, rather not accepting responsibility and being powerless are either side of the one coin and so in accepting responsibility, we become powerful.

Our politicians, right, left or otherwise, must, beyond anything else, accept responsibility for the broad ethical, inequality and societal collapse that have engulfed Australia, and pressure from a responsible electorate, that is you and me, will force that attitudinal change.

What do we want?

We want acceptance and understanding from our government that all is not well with the world; we want them to acknowledge and act on the fact that our climate is in grave danger; we want them to also acknowledge that our economy is collapsing and can only be rescued through the implementation of a steady state economy; we want the decentralization of all services; the localization of food supplies; we want them to re-shape how we live, making traditional work less important; and to create and build resilient communities.

Democracy is alive and well in Shepparton

Democracy, it appears, is alive and well in the City of Greater Shepparton.

A diverse group of 26 people have nominated for the October 27 municipal election, but just seven will take their place at the council table.

The record field of candidates suggests the vibrancy of democracy, but the caveat of “it appears” shifts the responsibility to you and me, the voters.

Should we care about the future and welfare of our city, we will diligently sift through what is an impressive array of people; consider their positions and then vote for those you believe are best equipped to manifest a city that equates with your values.

However, democracy is not that easy and it doesn’t end at the ballot box or in this case with your postal vote.

Simply voting for this or that person is not playing your role in democracy rather, it is just the beginning.

Success in business is about relationships and a similar template is needed if democracy is to operate in full flower.

Democracy is noisy, discordant and rarely without its contrarian thinkers; is disruptive and frequently contradictory in its essence, but oddly that sometimes jarring behaviour is in fact its strength.

Although councillors may not publically agree about much, there needs to be an underlying sympathy for a similar goal and the Rule of Law – councillors need to step beyond the pungent influence of individuality and although passions and desires maybe diverse, and robust, they need to be sacrificed to concerns for the long-term viability of the City of Greater Shepparton.

Our relationship with those we elect extends way past simply putting a cross on a ballot paper for without input from us, our councillors operate in a perverse knowledge vacuum.

Although elected to administer our city, it is not something they can do effectively unless they hear regularly from us about how we would like our city to evolve.

Our councillors don’t need criticism; they need encouragement.

Obviously things don’t always happen in a way we hope or imagine, but rather than bleat among friends about our city’s shortcomings and failure to take opportunities, we need to take our views to the council and individual councillors in a formal manner.

Whatever we might say or think, the 60 000 strong City of Greater Shepparton is the modern manifestation of a tribe and history is loaded with examples of the success found by tight-knit and empathetic tribes.

Democracy is adversarial in intent, but if treated with care and respect; the care and respect on which genuine relationships are founded it can serve our city well.

Vote for who you believe will guide Shepparton in the direction you prefer and then engage with them and make democracy work.

 

Unfolding dilemmas are greater than our vocabulary

Our vocabulary is inadequate to help us understand and address dilemmas presently facing humanity.

What is evolving, what faces us, what must be addressed and so resolved are changes to our lifestyle so different from our experience, understanding and knowledge that they are beyond language; they have a complexities that largely exceed quantitative and qualitative description.

Lester R. Brown.

Standing between us and the resolution of those difficulties is, oddly, democracy and, understandably, the egotism, individualism and the natural human hunger for what is better that drives the concept that is capitalism.

Democracy has been society’s friend for centuries, but the resolution of the world’s climate difficulties, dealing with the exhaustion of our finite resources and managing the intricacies of the world’s imploding economy needs an authoritarian-like government: or maybe a kindly dictator.

The long-term survival of society and its maturity to something in which people are put before profit will force the abandonment of what is understood to be capitalism; finally we will grasp that the blatant antagonism of capitalism is foreign to the broad wellbeing of society.

One of Europe’s leading experts in sustainability strategies and corporate responsibilities, French woman, Elisabeth Laville, has argued that the rich of the world (that’s you and I) should be focussed on increasing their wellbeing, while decreasing material possessions.

Laville’s ideas can only be implemented if maturity brings with it a comprehension of the terms, the ideas, the concepts and the vocabulary that allowed the construct of an unbalanced world; a world that favours the rich both in terms of possessions and around that, rights.

Our vocabulary is our identity and although one is no better than any other, in our capitalistic world those “who have the gold, make the rules”.

Those “rules” are obviously not working, but the vocabulary which supports and authenticates them is embedded in our language and the survival (literally) of our society hinges on us truly understanding the implications of what it is we are saying.

Writing in the preface to “How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse” Lester R. Brown said it was not easy to talk about the prospect of social collapse, because it is difficult to imagine something we have never experienced.

 “No generation has faced a challenge with the complexity, scale, and urgency of the one that we face,” he said.

Discussing the collapse of civilizations Brown quoted former Rockefeller Foundation president, Peter Goldmark, who said: “The death of our civilization is no longer a theory or an academic possibility; it is the road we’re on”.

Signposts urging us to change direction abound, but we need to understand and comprehend the vocabulary in which they are written or we will continue on this troublesome road.

Shepparton Access trades in equity

Equity is something about which most of us know little.

That is not a damnation of individuals, necessarily, rather an observation that we are who and what we are through accident of birth or circumstance.

Driven by those causations we gravitate naturally to our role in life and so equity within our societal stratum is as expected and we only take note when some obvious injustice, or glaring inequity, crashes into view.

Democracy, in its idealistic shape, is the home of equity and so those who pretend their behaviour is rooted in that paradigm, which it rarely is, claim to be equity’s greatest champions.

Standing at the door of troublesome times brought on by a collision of an unravelling world economy, a burgeoning population, energy scarcity and human-induced damaging changes to our climate, our understanding and application of fairness and justice will determine our reaction to these changes.

Writing in his latest book, “The Better Angles of OurNature: The Decline of Violence in History and Its Causes”, author Steven Pinker argued violence, the antithesis of justice, was not linked to arguments over life’s fundamental needs – food, water and shelter -  rather, equity.

Equity is one of those things high on the agenda for Shepparton Access; the local team of enthusiasts who work hard to ensure those among us who have not been as favoured by life can expect impartiality within their respective communities.

Troubled by our misunderstanding of equity; a confusion that escapes us until we step out of our comfortable orbit of our imagined normality and stand in the shoes of another whose “ordinary” is decidedly different.

It is important to remember that the “other” is not necessarily better or worse, just different.

As we stumble into a different future, the idea of equity is to become a foothold on which humanity will depend with each of us needing to understand and involve ourselves in sharing, collaboration and co-operation.

Democracy must encapsulate those traits along with honesty, fairness, reason and justice as it builds a system free of superstition that ensures liberty and decisions of integrity are being made by the people, for the people.

True, that sounds somewhat idealistic, but anything of consequence is grounded in utopian values and an equity that has a visionary substance, without which navigating the shoals of energy depletion, climate change and economic chaos will be difficult, if not impossible.

The equity encouraged by Shepparton Access is about willingly sharing the public sphere with your fellows, which, in essence, is quite like how we will be required to behave as we are about to be engulfed, seemingly unaware, by the changes that await us.

Equity rises above the individualism so characteristic of contemporary life.

The choas of democracy is our responsibilty

Canberra's Old Parliament House is
 a museum of Australian Democracy.

Democracy and chaos are somewhat symbiotic.

 

As a political process, democracy appears to be at its best when the noise is loudest, opinion discordant and the idea of a civil and just society seemingly lost in a fog that obscures the common good.

However, beneath all that jarring chatter, flows a placid river of common intent; a commonality that bonds people, a mutual understanding and a strangely silent agreement that the process will, finally, enliven and enrich the lives of all.

That, of course, doesn’t make the art of democracy any easier.

Wrestling with the seemingly unassailable dichotomies of democracy we should remember what the former Great Britain Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, said in 1947: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time".

The success, or otherwise, of democracy is deeply subjective for personal judgment is shaped by ideology, morals and ethics.

Where you stand in life, a position that might have fell your way because of hereditary fortunes or the circumstantial happenings that might have simply dumped you where you are, is what shapes your views.

Should you have landed on your feet among the favoured few, then, for you, democracy works perfectly; the machinery of politics is in good working order; but if the events of life have not been so kind, then democracy seems weighted in the favour of others.
From this unappealing mess of personal wants and needs, peppered with ideological passions evolving from nurture, society must plot a course toward some sort of social good that allows for diversity, but in the same breath encourages a discipline that keeps the barbarians at bay.

Considering Churchill’s view, democracy does appear the best of societal administrative processes, but right now the idea that a free market unimpeded by government is testing its inherent fragility.

Free market ideologues argue the democracy they favour encourages endeavor, entrepreneurship and rewards individual effort, while those who might be called “social-democrats” see an enriched life for all arising from an understanding and appreciation of, and the application of, all that is public.

Through whatever prism you see democracy its validity depends on people engaging with the process; it depends on a willingness to declare ownership, a willingness that can only be expressed by expanding your life to encounter that of others.

Athens is the celebrated birthplace of democracy and one who was there at the time, Pericles, said: “We do not say that man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own affairs; we say that he has no business here at all”.

It is both our business and in our interest to participate in politics and ensure the chaos continues.

Malcolm Turnbull's appeal goes beyond politics

Malcolm Turnbull is of the wrong political stripe, but I would vote for him.

That, however, is unlikely for I live in Shepparton and he represents the central Sydney-based seat of Wentworth, and for now, as he has indicated his intent to retire.

Malcolm Turnbull

The 56-year-old former investment banker, and journalist, is a considered and articulate man who values reason more than emotion and has that mysterious panache that frequently attaches itself to leaders.
Turnbull became the leader of the national Liberal Party late in 2008 and just over a year later was defeated by Tony Abbott, who continues in that role – although unaware of the accompanying political intrigue, that change in Liberal leadership makes me wonder about what value the Liberals put on reason and intelligence?
A recent free public lecture given by Mr Turnbull at the University of Melbourne attracted about 250 people, many, no doubt, who would have been students of politics, social dynamics and, of course, those interested in the broader machinations of society.
The present Shadow Minister for Communications spoke for about 40 minutes and although the hour-long session was meant to end at 7:30pm, Mr Turnbull was still answering questions at nearly eight o’clock.
The recently retired head of the university’s Centre for Advanced Journalism, Michael Gwenda, closed the conversation and in thanking Mr Turnbull asked for a show of thanks, igniting applause louder than heard at most similar events.
It was Mr Turnbull’s belief in the seriousness of human induced climate change that led to the end of his Liberal Party leadership, despite the fact that many of fellow party members vouched their support.
Listening to Mr Turnbull speak affirmed, in reverse, the Socrates observation that "the unexamined life is not worth living" for he allows nothing by until he has considered and examined the detail.
Interestingly, I do not stand alone in my admiration of Mr Turnbull for beyond most of those who heard the recent lecture - “Politics, Journalism and the 24/7 News Cycle” – there was a visiting professor who had played a senior role in American public life and spoke a few weeks earlier said: “American politics needs someone like Malcolm Turnbull”.
Australians have had their chance to luxuriate in Mr Turnbull’s intelligence, but generally abused that opportunity and rather than have him lead the Liberal Party, and then, hopefully, the country, they have opted for a regression into what he calls “the game” of politics, rather than the examination of and substance of what it is that makes democracy work and the subsequent implications of benefits for all.
Democracy demands many things, among them good journalism, but beyond that it also critically needs thoughtful and visionary fellows such as Malcolm Turnbull.

A seminal year in Australian history

This is a seminal year in Australian history.
More Australians will retire from work in 2011 than will set out on their work-life journey.

CEO of the Committee for
 Melbourne, Andrew
McLeod.

And then, some 15 years later, 2025, there will be a whole raft of Australians retiring who have had superannuation all their work life.
Both matters will shape our towns and cities and are just two critical demographics being considered by the Committee for Melbourne.
The committee arose some 25 years ago from what was then a seemingly directionless city and since has been actively working to make the whole geographic organism that is Greater Melbourne a better place in which to live.
The idea that became the City for Melbourne was driven by who were then some of the city’s leading businessmen backed by some of Australia’s pre-eminent companies.
Those same ideas have spread to several regional Victoria centres and recently the committee’s Chief Executive Office, Andrew McLeod, said he and another from his team would happily visit Shepparton to discuss, and initiate the groundwork, for the establishment of a Committee for Shepparton.
Asked why such a committee would be different than an existing chamber of commerce, Mr McLeod, said such organisations have a primary interest in the commercial wellbeing and health of a town or city, while a Committee for Shepparton would have a more sweeping mandate.
Such committees consider all aspects of a city’s liveability, transport, the placement of residential areas and their density, services available in and to the city, access to and availability of leisure and recreation, and the creation of public spaces.
Considering the demographics of Melbourne, Mr McLeod said his committee anticipates Melbourne’s population growing to about eight million by 2060.
Melbourne had about two million in 1960 and according to Mr McLeod those of his parent’s generation had overseen the doubling of that number to recently see it voted as the world’s most liveable city. “Why”, he asked, “can’t we do that again”.
Talking recently with a group of architects, planners, urban designers and others involved in shaping our cities, Mr McLeod said it was critical to get people excited about the future and heighten their optimism.
Supported by business, the committee obviously leans toward projects and ideas that improve the city’s commercial life, but that is softened through membership and involvement by academia and a number of welfare organizations.
Such organizations, Mr McLeod points out, are free from the rigours of democracy in that the effectiveness of those involved is not time restricted and do not depend on fanciful populist impressions of those who elect them.
“Committees for” concern themselves with many things, among them social cohesion, which Mr McLeod says, is a rare and fragile commodity.

We need to watch and learn from our front row seat

Goulburn Valley people, and their Australian fellows, have a front row seat to watch the removal of another rivet in the superstructure supporting the U.S.

America's President,
Mr Barack Obama.

U.S. president, Barack Obama, has argued for a package of tax cuts and government spending aimed at invigorating his country’s economy.
The package, worth about $US447 billion ($A421 billion), is ill-directed, being aimed at a return to business as usual and in doing so appeasing most Americans who see their comfort in living as they have for many decades.
Rather than spend the country’s wealth on a way of life that is unquestionably unsustainable, Mr Obama and those around him, should overtly embrace the hope, audacity and the idea of change that saw him elected in 2008.
America is staring at economic collapse; a societal breakdown that will end its world hegemony and is the natural outcome of what former political philosophy professor and noted author, Sheldon Wolin, has described as “inverted totalitarianism”.
Wolin sees decided danger in the dysfunctional marriage between government and the corporate world, a union that he argues has routed democracy leaving America with a militarized, industrial complex.
Survival of that complex hinges on an obedient populace, one, which in Wolin’s terms, is distracted and titillated by such things as sport, entertainment and discussion and debates about what are ultimately unimportant matters.
And so while democracy survives in name, what America has, and Australia trails along behind, is inverted totalitarianism – a facade claiming social equity, but which is really a process favouring a few.
Mr Obama’s plan does have tax cuts for both employee and employers and billions to prevent teacher lay-offs and hire more police and fire officers, and it would spend $50 billion to improve highways, railroads, transit and aviation.
Examined, however, through the prism of climate change and seriously depleted energy resources, the plan’s outline quickly becomes distorted and dated.
Rather than grasp at exhausted ideas, the Americans need to abandon what once worked, and failed, allowing them to embark on an adventurous and exciting new project that would fundamentally change the fabric of its society.
Such systemic change is resisted by an American elite that appears unable to comprehend the fraying of its empire and beyond that is so misled by its own beliefs and values, that its impending doom goes unseen.
Rather than rescuing flailing and failing companies, the U.S. should be advancing concepts that call for the localization of communities and employing the idea of late author and influential economist and statistician, E.F. Schumacher that “small is beautiful”.
America is the world’s biggest and most influential economy and as its collapse will render ours destitute; we need to watch attentively, and learn, from our front row seat.