The one thing we have to fear is fear itself
The government’s trying to scare us, which is odd because the one thing that is truly frightening it keeps trying to tell us isn’t a problem - calamitous climate change.
There’s Medivac. Scary stuff! Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said our hospital waiting lists will be bumped out by refugees evacuated from offshore detention camps.
Then there was the problem of violence by African-Australians in Melbourne, also pointed to by Dutton and ministers including Greg Hunt. Never mind that you are much more likely to be attacked (and killed if you are Melbourne woman) by someone who is not African (In fact, every week in Australia, a woman is killed by a current or former partner).
Last week there was talk of recession. That’s what’s coming if Labor is elected. Ignore for the moment that figures released on Wednesday show we are already in a per-capita recession.
The Prime Minister says Labor’s extra taxes on negative-gearers and people who receive share dividends without paying tax could push us into a full-blown one. It’s impossible to say that it won’t happen, although it should be noted that, at least initially, Labor is offering much bigger personal income tax cuts than the Coalition, which ought to protect us from a recession.
All this scare-mongering mightn’t work. Long ago Greek philosopher, Aristotle, said success in arousing fear relies on the speaker making himself appear trustworthy. The government is devaluing that currency.
Research out last month showed that the level of satisfaction with Australia’s democracy had fallen from 86 percent in 2007 to just 41 per cent after four election cycles. If the trend continues, there won’t be much trust left.
“Whoever wins the 2019 federal election must address this problem as a matter of urgency,” said Mark Evans, professor of governance at Canberra University and the driver of a new initiative called Democracy 2025 at Old Parliament House.
Whoever is elected will also have to address a lack of faith in governments to arrest a more present and chilling reality.
Morrison was as conspicuously absent from the Victoria’s latest fire emergency as he was when Tasmania was threatened by dangerous fires over summer or when the Darling River’s Menindee Lakes were filling up with dead fish.
His environment minister Melissa Price keeps insisting that carbon emissions are falling, although she has conceded it is only over one quarter rather than a period of years. Meanwhile, the National’s Matt Canavan insists now is the time for more coal mines.
The problem with all these small and not so small lies is that it has normalised deceit. We have gotten used it to it, or worse, people are needlessly frightened because they are told to be so. Fear ultimately narrows human hearts.
Government ministers are not embarrassed by their tactics. When challenged, they show no or little remorse. For those of us who are appalled, we turn to social media only to find anger and anxiety on a road to nowhere.
Every government is culpable. Every election cycle is an opportunity to press the reset button.
Our best defence against more scaremongering is a fearless and independent media and a public that treasures truth. Valuing the welfare of the whole community over self-interest, vaccinates voters. The biggest porkies told are strategically aimed at our hip pockets and insecurities.
They are lies that inflate threats to personal wealth and safety over community wellbeing and environmental health. The lies almost always betray notions of the common good.
First published in The Canberra Times, March 11, 2019
There’s Medivac. Scary stuff! Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said our hospital waiting lists will be bumped out by refugees evacuated from offshore detention camps.
Then there was the problem of violence by African-Australians in Melbourne, also pointed to by Dutton and ministers including Greg Hunt. Never mind that you are much more likely to be attacked (and killed if you are Melbourne woman) by someone who is not African (In fact, every week in Australia, a woman is killed by a current or former partner).
Last week there was talk of recession. That’s what’s coming if Labor is elected. Ignore for the moment that figures released on Wednesday show we are already in a per-capita recession.
The Prime Minister says Labor’s extra taxes on negative-gearers and people who receive share dividends without paying tax could push us into a full-blown one. It’s impossible to say that it won’t happen, although it should be noted that, at least initially, Labor is offering much bigger personal income tax cuts than the Coalition, which ought to protect us from a recession.
All this scare-mongering mightn’t work. Long ago Greek philosopher, Aristotle, said success in arousing fear relies on the speaker making himself appear trustworthy. The government is devaluing that currency.
Research out last month showed that the level of satisfaction with Australia’s democracy had fallen from 86 percent in 2007 to just 41 per cent after four election cycles. If the trend continues, there won’t be much trust left.
“Whoever wins the 2019 federal election must address this problem as a matter of urgency,” said Mark Evans, professor of governance at Canberra University and the driver of a new initiative called Democracy 2025 at Old Parliament House.
Whoever is elected will also have to address a lack of faith in governments to arrest a more present and chilling reality.
Morrison was as conspicuously absent from the Victoria’s latest fire emergency as he was when Tasmania was threatened by dangerous fires over summer or when the Darling River’s Menindee Lakes were filling up with dead fish.
His environment minister Melissa Price keeps insisting that carbon emissions are falling, although she has conceded it is only over one quarter rather than a period of years. Meanwhile, the National’s Matt Canavan insists now is the time for more coal mines.
The problem with all these small and not so small lies is that it has normalised deceit. We have gotten used it to it, or worse, people are needlessly frightened because they are told to be so. Fear ultimately narrows human hearts.
Government ministers are not embarrassed by their tactics. When challenged, they show no or little remorse. For those of us who are appalled, we turn to social media only to find anger and anxiety on a road to nowhere.
Every government is culpable. Every election cycle is an opportunity to press the reset button.
Our best defence against more scaremongering is a fearless and independent media and a public that treasures truth. Valuing the welfare of the whole community over self-interest, vaccinates voters. The biggest porkies told are strategically aimed at our hip pockets and insecurities.
They are lies that inflate threats to personal wealth and safety over community wellbeing and environmental health. The lies almost always betray notions of the common good.
First published in The Canberra Times, March 11, 2019
