It's not often that I get topical on politics, but I think this is useful with an election coming up.
Australian politics is too tribal.
You might laugh at that statement, but it's true. Most democracies are tribal - you belong to a tribe, even if you don't see it in the ethnic sense. The swinging voters in the political system are really those who don't identify with the tribe options available.
When we get presented with the idea of tribes in politics, the immediate thought is racial division, like Fiji, or religious division, like Syria or Egypt. The reality is that demographic division, like Australia & the UK, is just as tribal. Labor is considered working class. Liberal is considered ... not. If you identify with the ideals of the former - socialism, unionism, etc, then you are an ideological member of that tribe. If you don't directly believe in those things, then you are a member of the diametrically opposed tribe. If you don't like either tribe, or have been ostracised by one, then you have no tribe to belong to.
This notion of the tribe - the need to convince the tribe that there is still a strong leader who will be able to feed them with media pap over the cruel winter of the parliamentary year - drives politics. If the government did not represent one tribe to the detriment of the other, & did not need to pacify its own tribe or else make it grow, then politics would become nigh on boring, except for the occasional interesting issue where individual opinion comes into play - gay marriage being one such.
Tribe membership is generally long term - there is a personal investment of your ideals when you join a tribe. Occasionally, the tribe lets you down & you decide to leave it. You might even join the opposition tribe. In a time of war (elections), this may mean fighting (voting) against your former neighbours. There is a tendency to be the cruelest warrior in the new tribe - seeking revenge for past wrongs (real or imagined). But then, who are you really hurting? Did you leave the old tribe because it had so changed that their ideals no longer matched yours? Or did you simply leave it because the ideals represented in the tribe didn't match as closely as you'd once thought? Does your new tribe match your personal beliefs any better? Will the world be a better place if your new tribe rules over your old tribe & tries to impose their beliefs on you?
As a metaphor, this can be stretched to breaking point, but too few people put themselves in the position of understanding why they act in a particular way, & what the consequences will be. My brother-in-law, long-time working class, changed his voting preferences in recent years. He knows what he's no longer supporting, but I often wonder if he understands that he now supports the opposite - whatever that may be. "They must be punished!" I hear him thunder. Must is so strong a word.
12 June 2013
06 June 2013
Children of the Community
Children are an important part of the community - they become us. I mean that in the sense that, many years from now, they will be the driving force, the adults in power, & take our place in the community. I also mean that they will become like us - they will take their guidance from what they see us do. If we are mean-spirited, then they will be. If we are generous, then they will learn from that.
The children of different cultures grow up to be different adults as a result of this. Those who were brought up to respect their elders expect that respect out of their children. Those who were brought up secluded from the world will keep their naivety & transfer it to their children. In some cases, this is the promulgation of social norms, in others it is a deviation in one family that singles them out & their future generations. This is a form of social genetics - small mutations in each generation make the whole of society evolve.
We, as intelligent humans, do get the opportunity to change the social genetics if we act consciously, as opposed pre-destined genes. If we have the vision to see what is happening around us, we can determine what we prefer our society to be, &, hopefully, take some responsibility for changing it.
Our choice is the first step - taking responsibility.
I look on children as inspirational. If I see a few toddlers running around in circles giggling, it makes me laugh. I have no idea what they find funny, but they have such joy in their lives. If a stranger sees me smiling in public at such children, there is the risk that I get seen as a pedophile. The worst part is that the person who thinks that will probably not do anything about it - they will just move on with the thought in their mind. They will take no responsibility for that thought they had. It's a worst-possible-scenario case that they allow to fester in their own mind. After all, it's not their children.
If the average person sees two young teenagers in a fight, they will avoid it - turn away, walk quickly past, keep clear - because they don't want to get involved. Not their children. It's the modern way.
My wife, on the other hand, comes from one of those backward countries where children are a part of the community. You can be guaranteed that someone will recognise one of the children, the two will be broken apart, & each will be cuffed around the ear. Not only that, but the parents of both children will be informed - & both boys know it! - so they can look forward to another cuffing when they each get home.
The children of that community know how they should behave, & are reminded of it. They are appropriately admonished by society as well as their family. That is a very healthy community.
If I go back to the Australian scenario, there is always a little old lady up the street who notices the boys' fighting. She's the only one who might go to the parents with the tale. If she tried to break up the fight - the only one who would try - then she'd be knocked over by one of the boys. When she gets to the boy's home, the mother is shocked that her son would be fighting "Not my little Johnny - he's never been in a fight!" When Johnny comes home, he is asked about the incident. He feigns innocence. His mother is justified in her opinion. The boy escapes justice - & then plots his revenge on the nosy old lady up the street.
Who has been punished? Who has learned a lesson here?
We, as intelligent humans, get the opportunity to change our society.
It just takes a first step - taking responsibility.
The children of different cultures grow up to be different adults as a result of this. Those who were brought up to respect their elders expect that respect out of their children. Those who were brought up secluded from the world will keep their naivety & transfer it to their children. In some cases, this is the promulgation of social norms, in others it is a deviation in one family that singles them out & their future generations. This is a form of social genetics - small mutations in each generation make the whole of society evolve.
We, as intelligent humans, do get the opportunity to change the social genetics if we act consciously, as opposed pre-destined genes. If we have the vision to see what is happening around us, we can determine what we prefer our society to be, &, hopefully, take some responsibility for changing it.
Our choice is the first step - taking responsibility.
I look on children as inspirational. If I see a few toddlers running around in circles giggling, it makes me laugh. I have no idea what they find funny, but they have such joy in their lives. If a stranger sees me smiling in public at such children, there is the risk that I get seen as a pedophile. The worst part is that the person who thinks that will probably not do anything about it - they will just move on with the thought in their mind. They will take no responsibility for that thought they had. It's a worst-possible-scenario case that they allow to fester in their own mind. After all, it's not their children.
If the average person sees two young teenagers in a fight, they will avoid it - turn away, walk quickly past, keep clear - because they don't want to get involved. Not their children. It's the modern way.
My wife, on the other hand, comes from one of those backward countries where children are a part of the community. You can be guaranteed that someone will recognise one of the children, the two will be broken apart, & each will be cuffed around the ear. Not only that, but the parents of both children will be informed - & both boys know it! - so they can look forward to another cuffing when they each get home.
The children of that community know how they should behave, & are reminded of it. They are appropriately admonished by society as well as their family. That is a very healthy community.
If I go back to the Australian scenario, there is always a little old lady up the street who notices the boys' fighting. She's the only one who might go to the parents with the tale. If she tried to break up the fight - the only one who would try - then she'd be knocked over by one of the boys. When she gets to the boy's home, the mother is shocked that her son would be fighting "Not my little Johnny - he's never been in a fight!" When Johnny comes home, he is asked about the incident. He feigns innocence. His mother is justified in her opinion. The boy escapes justice - & then plots his revenge on the nosy old lady up the street.
Who has been punished? Who has learned a lesson here?
We, as intelligent humans, get the opportunity to change our society.
It just takes a first step - taking responsibility.