The Goulburn Valley urgently needs optimists; optimists, however who are in context

Optimists are urgently needed in the Goulburn Valley.

Herman Daly - his sound advice
has been ignored by most.

However, optimism alone is not enough for what we need are positive thinkers who understand the context of the world within which they seek their utopia.

Many careful thinkers around the world have declared this to be the decade in which we, and that is you and me, must make some fundamental and critical decisions about our behaviour and so how we use and apply earth’s limited resources.

Being half-way through this vital decade our options are becoming fewer and so this is the year we must decide.

Yes, we either waste it pondering the past or apply our intuition, inventiveness and imagination and go somewhere we have never been before, the future.

And so what will we do?

With a country lead by people with values rooted in 20th Century and seemingly afraid of addressing tomorrow, it is likely we will continue to look at life through the prism of what was.

It is misplaced optimism that has brought us to where we are now; optimism that has diverted our attention elevating the economy to God-like status, blinding us to other possibilities, other ways of living, of being a healthy compassionate and considerate community; a community that understands that infinite growth on a finite planet is not only problematic, but impossible.

Embarking on the second week of 2015 and surrounded by what are generally narcissistic New Year resolutions, it seems we need to lift our gaze and consider the views University of New South Wales lecturer, Dr Ted Trainer.

Dr Trainer, who writes about sustainability and justice, has said on The Conversation (a joint universities website): “It is also now clear that increasing the GDP in a rich country does not improve the quality of life!”

“This is what the ‘limits to growth’ literature has been telling us for decades, but most economists, politicians and ordinary people still fail to grasp the point,” he writes.

Conscious of that we need to consider and act on what a senior economist in the Environment Department of the World Bank, Herman Daly, said in the early 70s about the need for a Steady State Economy.

Daly, like many others since, pointed to the weaknesses of our existing economic system, noting that it favoured only a few, marginalized most and left the bulk of humanity limping toward extinction.

Yes, we need optimists; people who can see beyond what exists, understand there is another way and stand up and holler in support of American linguist and  philosopher, Noam Chomsky, who has repeatedly argued that we should put people before profit.

Arguments that without profit we can do nought are fallacious – optimism and educative, innovative and ecologically responsible ideas are unstoppable.

Personal pools of inadequacy arise at Simon's celebration

Personal pools of inadequacy became both deeper and wider as plaudits were piled upon the life of the late Simon Furphy.

This rather special portrait of Simon Furphy
was on show at the recent celebration
of his life on the banks of the
 Sevens Creeks at Arcadia.

Funerals are rarely places of criticism or doubt and so to hear such laudable talk of a fellow who for 60 years had been an intimate player in Shepparton’s practical and social life should not have surprised.

No, the praise was not a surprise, but what did catch me unprepared was how Simon’s honesty and passion for life left me feeling like I had not really had a “crack”, how I had been less than an ideal husband, father and friend, and how I had failed to use my skills, whatever they might be, to make this a better place.

From all accounts Simon lived his life as if the glass was half full and even in the final days of his struggle with bowel cancer, he was, according to family and friends, fiercely optimistic, illustrating to the end a signature trait.

Hundreds of family and friends recently gathered on the banks of the Sevens Creek, beneath shady gum trees, at the Arcadia property of his brother and sister-in-law, Andrew and Frederica to recognise and celebrate the former Shepparton solicitor, through music and story.

Simon had been a diligent fellow, but also, so we were told at his “celebration”, of his ease in acquiring friends and his curious penchant for striking alliances that brought personal benefits or enriched whatever group he was with.

No matter how jolly people may be, funerals, or a celebration in Simon’s case can be less than uplifting for even though we might all still be alive, and that of itself is cause for joy, there is a sombre sense about the whole affair.

Listening to the wonderful optimistic, upbeat, sociality and enthusiasm Simon brought to life ignited reflection upon what it is to be human.

Unquestionable Simon, as with the rest of us, had his failings and as suggested by author Isaiah Berlin, was built from the same “crooked timbers of humanity”, just as we are.

Ironically, just about the time we gathered on the banks of the Sevens Creek to listen to music and tells stories about Simon, and celebrate his life, a book about our denial of death had slid into view.

We all live with the implicit understanding that death awaits us and so are driven to sometimes bizarre ends to achieve imagined immortality and frequently those efforts manifest themselves in less than kindly ways.

Strip away the façade that is modern life and revealed are the reasons why men hurl themselves over parapets to certain death, why we exhaust ourselves acquiring what we want, rather than need and why we are victims of a surfeit of emotion.

And yes, it was a celebration, and yes, if I perceive Simon as portrayed, it was sad we kicked up our heels without him.

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.

Card tables and raptuous applause, not paddlocks and memory sticks

Never seen before security and other restrictive arrangements around Brisbane’s recent G20 forum where the reverse of how it should have been.

Where the G20 Summit should have been
held - card tables and rapturous applause.

Rose petals and red carpets should have been thrown down before the leaders of the world’s 20 richest economies, rather than barricades and bomb searches.

Money has always perverted human values and ideals, that’s a generalization, but accurate and timely, and so rather than meeting in secretive and secluded places those same leaders should have gathered around a few card tables at the city’s King George Square.

An appreciative audience should have looked on, cheering as the leaders agreed to liberalize the world economy, making certain that the less than one percent that control most of it, agree to share their spoils with the rest of the world.

The cheering and applause would not have slowed when those G20 “men in suits” voted unanimously to instigate sweeping changes around the world to ensure everyone would not only have something to eat, but that their homes would be secure and the political intrigue with which the world is riddled, would vanish to be replaced by hitherto unseen transparency, friendship, compassion and collaboration.

Amid the continuing rapturous applause, the delegates would commit as one, vowing to act in unison with neighbouring and distant countries as they worked to build a world community in which contemporary Western lifestyles would be softened to allow less developed countries to prosper and edge ahead.

With the world fed, housed and thirsts quenched, and the economy broken to become a servant of man, rather than the reverse, the G20 leaders would have packed up their papers, folded their tables, acknowledged the crowd and taken an economy flight home.

Utopian flights of fancy always stumble and fall when reality intervenes, especially when it is the hard-edged, brutal and unforgiving economic convictions to which the contemporary world has willingly surrendered its kindness, fairness and decency.

Collusion and conspiracy breeds behind closed doors and the transparency allowed by the bright light of day is quickly obscured by darkened windows, cloistered and secreted away in brief cases and on memory sticks, hidden from public gaze by locks and impenetrable codes.

Endless arguments justify the G20 retreat from public gaze, but surely if what is discussed and decided upon is in the broad and best interests of ordinary folk, from the bloke baking your bread to the woman in charge of this newspaper, then why can’t it be laid out for all to see, and consider?

It can’t, not because of the aforementioned arguments, rather because it is simply not fair and despite the swagger and fist-pumping of G20 leaders it is about further entrenching an economic inequality that favours a few and disadvantages most.

Crowd watches as contradiction is unveiled in Tatura

About 400 people watched and applauded as a social conundrum was unveiled recently in Tatura.

Tatura's bronze statue of World War
One Victoria Cross winner,
Private Robert Mactier.

However, the unveiling of the two metre high bronze statue of World War One Victoria Cross winner, Private Robert Mactier, was more of a contradiction than a conundrum.

Whatever, it defies logic in a society troubled by violence from that which is domestic through to war mongering on a national and international level.

From now on the people of Tatura, along with most other communities throughout Australia are forced to confront each day what is the societal acceptance of violence.

Victoria’s Deputy Premier, Peter Walsh, told those watching the unveiling at the refurbished Tatura war memorial precinct, that the bronze image of Robert Mactier was not about celebrating war rather, simply recognizing his courage and sacrifice.

That may be so, but the subliminal message is rather different.

Taturians are repeatedly told, and inherently know, that a successful community, state or nation is one that is collaborative and compassionate, and one in which firearms, of any sort, are irrelevant to those aims.

In passing the Hogan St life-size image of a pistol brandishing Private Mactier, who received sweeping social recognition for exploits that in other circumstances that would have been less than admirable, they are forced into mental gymnastics to remind themselves that was then and this is now.

That sounds fine except there is still a man with a gun in a public place (true, it’s only a statue) whose killing of others was feted and recognized in bronze.

The complications are manifest for few of us truly understand the context of “then” and beyond that even fewer of us can make a meaningful connection between what was and “now”, and the malleable minds of many become ensnared in the perverse intricacies of violence, subduing the other and the indecency of war.

Private Mactier was obviously a brave, daring and decent man who played his part in what was then a perceived need, but surely a century of maturity is sufficient for us to judge our mistakes and understand that the liberty we seek is not to be found in humbling our fellows and have them adhere to our behaviours.

Australia’s relatively peaceful history is credited almost without fail to the actions of those such as Private Mactier, but considered practically Australia’s physical remoteness has been its greatest ally.

Beyond a few incursions in World War Two, and the arrival of the first fleet in 1788, modern Australians have, without fail, travelled beyond their borders in pursuit of war.

Like a gang of thugs, or a street hoodlum we have gone looking for trouble and Private Mactier was integral to that dynamic and his “presence” in Hogan St ensures its preservation

Fuel excise rises should remove cars and build great public transport systems

Rises to fuel excise charges are a good idea, but!

Increases to the fuel excise should be
 such that they remove motor vehicles
from our roads and then pay for a
modern and sophisticated public
transport system.

Just as smokers have been discouraged from inhaling nicotine through increased prices, we should be driving motorists off our roads through increased costs, and fuel excise rises will help with that.

And this is where the “but” comes into play for if we make it more expensive for motorists to drive their privately owned cars on publicly funded roads we need to provide an alternative.

The alternative is a public transport system that is efficient, clean, modern, comprehensive and sufficiently structured to make sure everyone can get quickly and easily everywhere they want to go, at a reasonable cost.

Sound impossible? Unquestionably, but to go back two centuries and suggest we aim for what we have now, there would have brought howls of utopian madness.

The collision of world circumstances, led by our misunderstanding of what impact our carbon-intensive lifestyles would have on human habitation, along with that of many other species, clearly indicates that public “everything” demands precedence over privatization.

We already have, and understand, what it is we need to do to produce electricity in a genuinely sustainable way and so that could be used to power an intricate, efficient and timely public transit system.

Presently, the public spends lavishly to build and provide an infrastructure from which private enterprises profit handsomely and although the public get some momentary benefit, the resultant riches go primarily to a privileged few.

The equation looks pretty straight forward – make motoring the preserve of the enthusiast and wealthy; invest heavily in the public transport/transit system and in doing so create many thousands of jobs in the construction, running and maintenance of this wonderfully people orientated way of sharing our resources.

Along with building, operating and maintaining our new public transport/transit system we could set about dismantling the centralized and dirty fossil fuel power sources and employ vastly more people creating, building and maintaining our democratic renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, hydro, bioenergy and in limited way the one fossil fuel, gas.

The idea of dismantling the privatized road transport system and replacing it with a sophisticated and cutting-edge public system is loaded with complexities and difficulties, but so was, and is, what we have now and if we had known before what was ahead, including the untended consequences, we would never have set out on the journey.

Ideological liberals who preach a smaller and less intrusive government have had two centuries, at least, of market-driven  and privatized opportunity to legitimize their claims, but the fallacy of their argument, now illustrated by the increasing world-wide economic chaos and brutal inequality, demands they step aside and allow “public everything” to predominate.

State level naivety prevails at Shepparton meeting

State level naivety prevailed at a recent Shepparton public meeting.

Victoria's Minister for
 Agriculture, Peter Walsh.

Victoria’s Minister of Agriculture said the state’s farms would double their production by 2030.

Mr Peter Walsh, who agreed earth’s climate was changing, argued human ingenuity and technology, along with the will to achieve an outcome, would see climate change lowered in importance.

In keeping with the stance of most climate change deniers, Mr Walsh supported his arguments saying it had been dry and wet before, and would be that way again, with a poignant example from his family’s history.

That story, with huge emotive power for the 200 at the meeting, overlooked it being an isolated event from the 20s and 30s that does not compare to 2013, which was riddled with significant weather catastrophes around the world, driven by a seriously disrupted climate system.

Obvious during Mr Walsh’s vision for the future was an ignorance, wilful or otherwise, of the collision of world circumstances making the realization of the Minister’s dream strikingly difficult, if not impossible.

It will be problematical to bring this cornucopia of food imagined by Mr Walsh to market for various reasons, among them the fact that a disrupted climate will change every growing circumstance; the implications climate change will have on water supplies; a serious depletion of energy, both in terms of oil and electricity; and a shortage of the fertilizers used in abundance to enrich Australia’s ancient and less than fertile soils.

The reality is that the earth is warming, humans are responsible and we can no longer expect the same result from the same effort, using techniques and ideas that filled our larders, even as recent at two decades ago.

Farming as we know it has a limited future and because of the atmospheric damage caused by the burning of fossil fuels, along with the inequality arising from the ruthless focus on profit and growth, we stand on the cusp of a future in which localism will prevail and the imagined riches of the South-East Asian markets will be out of reach.

Minister Walsh visualizes record harvests of grain, meat, fruit, dairy products and anything else that can be extracted from Victoria’s less than giving soils, with that produce being funnelled to the hungry and welcoming Asian people.

The reality that farming is not again going to be what it was, ever, was not something that could be discussed rationally and reasonably at the Shepparton meeting as farmers were not there to hear how success tomorrow depended upon them rejigging their operations

They were there to hear a debate between the Government and its Opposition, but within the confines of what they knew and understood, not how they needed to invent a whole new way of farming.