Okay,
so the election was yesterday. Far from detaching myself from the
whole process, I actually got slightly emotionally involved, which
was nice... and interesting to boot. I think I'm going to start
volunteering for the AYCC on a regular basis, it could be a really
cool opportunity to do some public speaking and put the skills I've
been learning in comedy to an effective and noble use.
I think the key to engaging emotionally in political issues in the way that I was bemoaning being unable to in my post last week is that I just have to become more involved. Rather than just sitting around thinking about them and waiting for emotional inspiration to strike, if I start engaging physically with the issues and actually putting in work towards the goal that I know I intellectually support, then I'll be able to attach emotions to that work, and to the community around it.
I also think I'm starting to understand just what it is that is messed up about our country, please forgive me now for working through the ideas in writing here, for those who care, I'm sure you already know, and for those who haven't thought about it, I'm sure you don't care:
When I used to read TakiMag it always made a lot of sense to me because I had missed the foul assumption that all of those right-wing thinkers make when they talk about national government policy; they assume that they only have the responsibility to care for those within their own nation-states. Or states, or nations, whatever. That's why they can morally rationalize harsh immigration policy and low taxes supporting a consumer economy. But how is that fair? It's not fair at all. Our economy is supported and paid for by raw materials and cheap labour in the poorest regions of the world, all so that we can continue to spend money on the consumer purchases that keep our economies afloat. So then governments like the Abbott-led Coalition that has just been elected in Australia campaign on the idea that we only need to look after our own, without making mention of the fact that us and our own have been and continue to be propped up by the suffering of millions beyond our shores. It's selfish thinking, but by omitting all mention of the source of our wealth, right-wing, protectionist governments give the masses in consumer-capitalist societies a way of absolving ourselves from responsibility for the suffering we create.
This is where the often-quoted, always smilingly dismissed 'hippie mushroom-rhetoric' about seeing all of us as one and forgetting the arbitrary distinctions of nationality should become so much more important than it is. People seem to accept this thinking readily, and espouse it wherever possible, but no one goes on to live by it. I don't, neither does anyone in our society.
I don't know that I feel guilty, because I don't think it's realistic to expect someone who is advertised to every single second of their life to be able to make decisions like 'what should I have for lunch today' whilst considering the global ramifications for their choice of salad dressing. I am angry though, firstly at everyone who voted for Tony Abbott for not recognizing the weakness that exists within ourselves that allows us to discount the suffering of billions of people that we are partly responsible for. Also though, I'm angry at myself for not recognizing sooner that I should have been trying to do something about the cause that I am and have always been so passionate about, and only expecting that if I sat and thought about it long enough, a concise, and developed opinion would avail itself of me, and I would be ready to enter the world, a fully-armed crusader for truth.
Ah the complacencies of affluence... it's a nice day outside today.
Peace, Taco.
I think the key to engaging emotionally in political issues in the way that I was bemoaning being unable to in my post last week is that I just have to become more involved. Rather than just sitting around thinking about them and waiting for emotional inspiration to strike, if I start engaging physically with the issues and actually putting in work towards the goal that I know I intellectually support, then I'll be able to attach emotions to that work, and to the community around it.
I also think I'm starting to understand just what it is that is messed up about our country, please forgive me now for working through the ideas in writing here, for those who care, I'm sure you already know, and for those who haven't thought about it, I'm sure you don't care:
When I used to read TakiMag it always made a lot of sense to me because I had missed the foul assumption that all of those right-wing thinkers make when they talk about national government policy; they assume that they only have the responsibility to care for those within their own nation-states. Or states, or nations, whatever. That's why they can morally rationalize harsh immigration policy and low taxes supporting a consumer economy. But how is that fair? It's not fair at all. Our economy is supported and paid for by raw materials and cheap labour in the poorest regions of the world, all so that we can continue to spend money on the consumer purchases that keep our economies afloat. So then governments like the Abbott-led Coalition that has just been elected in Australia campaign on the idea that we only need to look after our own, without making mention of the fact that us and our own have been and continue to be propped up by the suffering of millions beyond our shores. It's selfish thinking, but by omitting all mention of the source of our wealth, right-wing, protectionist governments give the masses in consumer-capitalist societies a way of absolving ourselves from responsibility for the suffering we create.
This is where the often-quoted, always smilingly dismissed 'hippie mushroom-rhetoric' about seeing all of us as one and forgetting the arbitrary distinctions of nationality should become so much more important than it is. People seem to accept this thinking readily, and espouse it wherever possible, but no one goes on to live by it. I don't, neither does anyone in our society.
I don't know that I feel guilty, because I don't think it's realistic to expect someone who is advertised to every single second of their life to be able to make decisions like 'what should I have for lunch today' whilst considering the global ramifications for their choice of salad dressing. I am angry though, firstly at everyone who voted for Tony Abbott for not recognizing the weakness that exists within ourselves that allows us to discount the suffering of billions of people that we are partly responsible for. Also though, I'm angry at myself for not recognizing sooner that I should have been trying to do something about the cause that I am and have always been so passionate about, and only expecting that if I sat and thought about it long enough, a concise, and developed opinion would avail itself of me, and I would be ready to enter the world, a fully-armed crusader for truth.
Ah the complacencies of affluence... it's a nice day outside today.
Peace, Taco.
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