Some thoughts – a scream – on our country's upcoming election, fear, and fascism. (And Australia Day.)
“Of course, none of this is isolated to the States. Liz Truss in the UK is running to a Mega/Project 25 platform. In Australia[*], the Liberal Party under Peter Dutton (Temu Trump) is doing the same, buoyed by Gina Rinehart’s broligarchial outbursts.”
Sarah Wilson
I'm going to (actually) keep this post short because the abovementioned article, plus the work of many, many other tenacious and well-informed independent journalists and writers, have already said it better. I merely want to add my own thoughts before a) I trundle off along the Camino trail and stick more-or-less out of the virtual world for a few months, and b) Australia's next federal vote in May, which I am going to call the AEC (are you updated on your enrolment details?) about today to see how I can get my anti-coalition vote in while on the road.
According to Sarah Wilson's post – which I highly encourage you to read; I believe it's free for everybody – 71% of the world’s populations now live in autocratic countries. Democracy is sliding big-time. Many, many, MANY of us are at a crossroads moment, wondering whether to “wait and see” or risk sounding crazy, dramatic, dissenting, alarmist, “un-Australian,” woke — whatever — by piping up wherever our platforms might be.
I have next to no influence or platform/s (or even much expertise) to speak of, though listen carefully to lots of those who do, and share like mad as much of their wisdom and research as I can. It’s not enough, not even close…but bugger me, it’s what I can manage in my somewhat mentally-paralysed state wading through all this, and I pray like hell that it gets through to somebody — anybody.
While we still have opportunities to vote. To speak freely. To show up for one another and hear each others' stories. To become channels of morality and truth. To be the brave and stern adults in this global room of grotesquely wealthy (yet ethically bankrupt and spiritually bereft), terrifyingly resourced, egregiously entitled, out-of-control (yet control-obsessed), hateful, infantile barely-humans who have lost their way beyond return.
"In Australia[*], the Liberal Party under Peter Dutton..."
* My home country, whose “she’ll be right” attitude I’ve rarely seen eye-to-eye with – because sometimes, she’s really not fucking right! – and I hope to Gaia we remember our supposed values of the “fair go” and “mateship,” even towards those who are different to us, who might appear to challenge our status quo and way of life; even when we’re struggling in the same boat…
by voting and acting from our hearts, and not our fear-driven heads.
I want to believe that the majority of us can and will; though, I also see the MAGA caps where there once were none. I see the pro-Trump bumper stickers on the fresh slew of Dodge Rams jamming our roads. I hear the piggybacked “drill-baby-drill”-style rhetoric from our mining magnates and politicians**, who hold the lion’s share of our country’s generous and poorly distributed wealth. I sense the general “American-isms” and onslaught of chokepoint capitalism, Starbucks and the like really taking hold here like they haven’t before, and misinformation and isolation and spiritual bypassing and she’ll be right-ing all the way down…and confess, I fear for it, and us, all.
This year, I did what I normally would not do on January 26th – go out in public. I avoid it as much as possible because, otherwise, I have to face what I don't want to see:
The branding of Southern Crosses on people's skin, beach towels, bathers, the backs of utes, rippling on flags draping from balconies, all over the place – never fails to leave a certain...mm, confederate taste in my mouth. Sure, it's mostly intended as a mark of true-blue Australian pride, but we all know there's more to it than that;
The public drunkenness and loud-mouthed, messy, defiant celebration of the day colonialism arrived on Australia's shores and began the process of brutally wiping out its indigenous population. We have had years to change the date as the barest-minimum courtesy to those who have suffered so much under white/colonial rule, but alas – we voted no to their voices in parliament, and kept the BBQs alight;
The bigotry that inevitably rears its ugly head around this time. I remember seeing a clip of Tony Armstrong – indigenous TV presenter and former footballer – calling out our population's regressive, racist behaviour on The Project, and...how truly revolting the ignorance and vitriole and mockery was that came back at him. (I tried to find the clip with livestream commenting for more specific examples, with no luck; rest (un)assured, it was nothing short of the vilest, most degenerate and rat-infested gutter talk. Case in point.)
Just some of the unnerving similarities between what I see brought to light every Australia Day, and the more toxic actions and attitudes of those who would vote leaders like Trump and Dutton into power. (Not to mention their billionaire cohorts with self-serving agendas, à la Musk and Rinehart and many, many more.)
Aaand I want to emphasise that I don't believe conservatives are inherently bad or toxic; I know, and love, a handful of them. It takes a nation to elect a regime, and there are insidious cultural schemas at play^ that push malleable and vulnerable demographics into widespread fear responses – flames our would-be autocratic overlords are only too happy to stoke. On that note, I'm not talking about the parties they support, per se, but the people behind them.
Like with the U.S., what we are voting for this time runs far deeper than red or blue, or even conservative/progressive. To me, this is a values election: Do we care about division or inclusion? Do we stand for nature or against her? Do we believe in the concept of democracy, or don't we? Do we believe in the integrity of our humanity, or don't we? Do we want to keep lining the already-disgustingly-stuffed pockets of tax evaders, criminals, rabid capitalists, broligarchs, sociopaths (remember Musk recently declared empathy as "humanity's fundamental weakness"), those who actively profit from keeping us confused, divided, and depleted via their apps and platforms and propaganda...or don't we?
What we must accept when we cast votes for figures like Trump, Dutton, Truss, and more (let's keep an eye on Clive Palmer) is these are not purveyors of love, safety, morality, inclusion, and human progression. A vote for them is a vote for their (severely compromised) self-interests – not yours. Not your neighbours'. Not that of the people they're supposed to serve. Not the planet. And what we decide now potentially has implications for the next...well, a long bloody time.
Read carefully and think critically about this...and consider what the heart might have to say, over the head.
“...drill-baby-drill”-style rhetoric from our mining magnates and politicians**..." and other footnotes.
** To reaffirm: There are absolutely direct links between our anticipated Liberal government takeover and the motives of Trump/Musk/the broligarchy, if you haven't seen them already – some are included in the above blog post.
The term broligarchy, as far as I know, was coined by former Guardian journalist Caroline Cadwalladr, who unpacks this concept at length on Substack; well worth a stickybeak. For now, know this refers to the billionaire tech giant "bros" – and the "manosphere" of male podcasters/pop culture figures that props them up – who use their power and resources to influence political direction and achieve a complete stranglehold of a country and its government.
Otherwise, Friendly Jordies recently released leaked footage on his YouTube channel from the National Mining Day/coalition Xmas party, in which familiar faces like Rinehart, Dutton, and even Pauline Hanson are present and actively praising the actions and policies of the Trump/tech administration. (While I don't condone how Jordan makes personal attacks based on appearance and intelligence – the content of the footage is critique enough – the intentions of our coalition government, and Rinehart's "broligarchal outbursts" as described by Wilson, are damning and oh-too-telling of what might be to come.)
Even The Australian (coalition-leaning Murdoch Media), of all platforms, has taken the time to unpack the dangers of such an administration getting its claws into our political system (though refrained from implicating Dutton and the Liberal party directly). So…yeah, this information is out there — and with it, what will we/you now choose?
^ For example, The Guardian Australia reported recently ("Election 2025 will be like no other") that Peter Lewis, executive director of the Essential poll, "homed in on the views of young men, finding they are twice as likely as the broader population to see President Trump as a positive influence on the world, and also the demographic most supportive of Peter Dutton."
There is much to say about what is causing this conservative shift in men; to my understanding, the mass programming from cultural influencers like Joe Rogan and Andrew Tate – who give air to non-compassionate, hyper-masculine, anti-feminist, "anti-woke", and other forms of unsavoury "free speech" – is largely culpable...though undoubtedly, fills a void for a despondent, increasingly apathetic and nihilistic demographic in our society that grapples with its identity and sense of purpose; once told they could do and have everything, only to be thrust into a world of uncertainty, shifting ethics and gender roles, and the horrific underlying message to just suck it up...go it alone...grab what you can...and don't fuck it up. They're subconsciously seeking rites of passage and "how to be men," which these influencers – however egregiously – provide where wider society does not.
Dejected, entitled, really freaked out and full of testosterone, young men are being drawn to more simplistic, old-fashioned, clear-cut values and policies of authoritarian-style parties that promise them their control, autonomy, and traditional masculinity back. So, yeah – to name just one example of insidious cultural schemas at play in our broken society that must be tended to with care before democracy can be salvaged.
Anyway, as usual, this went on longer than I intended. I need to go keep packing up my room now; I've got a flight to catch in a few days! I just couldn't leave without a little scream, as per the feature article in this post (re. the onset of Nazism in the 1930s and its correlation with the present):
"Uncannily (but isn’t everything now?), I just read an essay Arthur Koestler wrote in 1944 about his similar experience as “a screamer” in the face of “a crowd who walk past laughing”. It’s chilling, giving all the contexts..."
Plus, one more link I'm just going to leave here for no reason whatsoever...and because I always wish we could be a bit more like the French:
Sarah Wilson
Much love, everyone, and take care of yourselves; it's wild out there right now xx
