http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/greg-sheridan/we-must-beware-how-much-ruin-is-in-our-nation/news-story/fb5a3b27d262db258179dfafb5da7e30
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We must beware how much ruin is in our nation
Poor fellow my country.
I have spent a good proportion of my professional time in Third World and developing countries, most on the way up, some on the way down, and some bobbling up and down. You get to see a lot of things that distinguish a successful country from an unsuccessful one, and particularly one on the way up from one on the way down.
Australia is a rich and successful society. But we are starting to go wrong. Perhaps nowhere more fully fits Adam Smith’s observation that there is a lot of ruin in a nation. Now, with the latest being the likely defeat of the Turnbull government’s amendments to the truly wicked section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, there are too many signs of things going badly wrong.
Here are telling signs of a country going backwards.
I have had a bit to do with human rights commissions in Southeast Asia. Without exception, a key priority for the genuine ones is freedom of the press and free speech. In our country, the Human Rights Commission is the enemy of free speech and the enemy of a free media.
That’s a bad sign, for it shows a nation that has lost sight of what human rights actually are and has substituted the narrow, toxic aims of ideological conformity instead. It is no small thing that a former prime minister, Tony Abbott, and a former Labor Party leader, Mark Latham, have both called for the Human Rights Commission to be abolished.
The likely preservation by parliament of the worst elements of 18C is similarly a sign of the increasing dominance of identity politics and the always related desire to move the control of political discussion, wherever possible, into the hands of the judiciary or government tribunals that ape the judiciary. The legislation, though always foolishly drafted and bad in principle, did not cause too much damage in the past because most people were unaware of it and identity politics had not become the toxic threat to universal citizenship and a proper understanding of our universal and intractable humanity that it has recently become.
The scandal of the persecution of Bill Leak and of the wholly innocent Queensland students has led to a partial, temporary retreat. These cases were so insanely excessive and managed to achieve such unusual public notice that they became indefensible.
But if this wicked legislation survives intact it will inevitably be used to prosecute the destructive agenda of modern, ideological identity politics.
I have spent a lot of time in nations whose chief civic identity is communal rather than citizenship-based. It’s never very pretty. It is a sign of the derangement of our times that we now push in that direction. In some senses, fighting identity politics is as important, or more important, than the arguments about free speech.
And, of course, identity politics, or communal politics, is always accompanied by a hysterical, populist fear campaign. That’s how you get people to identify primarily on the basis of communal identity rather than common citizenship. The Labor-Greens activist alliance will now presumably run just this kind of dishonest, dangerous fear campaign among ethnic communities.
This is one reason why the Liberals cannot declare their position and then keep quiet.
They must campaign and persuade actively, endlessly and energetically among ethnic communities themselves.
This is not a burden. Their failure to do so generally is one reason they are so far behind.
Beyond these sorts of issues there are numerous other signs of distress among Australia’s national political culture.
The majority of young Australians, according to a Lowy poll, no longer believes democracy is the best form of government. I have seen up close a number of longstanding political systems topple. A loss of belief in your system is a typical precursor.
Similarly, the relentless ideological denigration of Western civilisation in the humanities departments of our universities betrays a loss of self-confidence. Even Australia Day is attacked.
There are more mechanical signs of policy distress.
One of the most common features of a Third World country not making it is an inability to provide reliable electricity supplies. A leader determined to fight that often has to build, hastily and uneconomically, new small power plants to plug the gaps, as Fidel Ramos did in Manila in the early 1990s. Our naval ship builders will need independent back-up generators in South Australia, which Premier Jay Weatherill has reduced almost to Third World status as an investment destination.
Policy analysts often lament the impoverishment of nations that make big foreign investment projects ever more difficult. The grotesque saga of the delays, the veritable crippling by delay, of the Adani investment in Queensland is a textbook case. All levels of government want this project to succeed, the foreign investor has spent an enormous amount of money and wants to spend much more, thousands of Australian jobs would be created, but the ideological power of an essentially nihilist Green activist vision of development manages to make such an investment all but impossible.
This is also a sign of what we might call the “deep state” of bureaucracy and tribunals becoming ever more ideological and impervious to the normal democratic decisions.
Countries going backwards often find their budget out of control. Our Senate has now made it impossible to control government expenditure. Left-wing populism will never countenance any meaningful spending cut, beyond gutting national defence. Right-wing populism typically concedes, slowly, on expenditure and makes its stand instead on identity issues.
Perhaps the most ubiquitous sign of a country that cannot function in a modern, decent way is that certain powerful interests decide that obeying the law is entirely discretionary. I have had former finance ministers in some countries tell me they simply did not have the power to compel certain entities to pay tax.
Sally McManus, the new ACTU secretary, says she and the union movement are entitled to break a law “when it’s unjust”. That means they are only obliged to obey the laws they think are just. There is a lot in common with the historical attitude, if not the methodology, of street-fighting fascists here. They too said they would only break laws that were unjust. And McManus was speaking in relation to what could be described as the militia force of the ACTU, namely the CFMEU.
A nation failing the development test often finds the state’s monopoly on the legitimate use of force is contested by powerful groups with economic and ideological objections to obeying the law.
This has nothing to do with traditional civil disobedience, or the considered refusal to comply with an instruction that is not merely unjust but wholly unconscionable. The distinction between unjust and unconscionable is an old one in ethics, but ethics don’t matter if your main consideration is power. The union movement has never represented fewer workers but is richer and more powerful than ever before. Sections of it now have the smell of an institution in love with power and increasingly untroubled by the rules of law.
I have seen all this before. Put it all together. Poor fellow my country.
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What more can anyone say? The proof is there for anyone who wants to see.
But where then are our leaders? Is no one prepared to take up a banner and fight to turn this mess around?
This is a bit too apocalyptic for my taste. I agree there are bad signs in Australia - the worst one being the energy crisis (because it's the result of failing political leadership - but nothing to think we're heading in a 3rd world direction which this article seems to imply.
The difference is that we have strong institutions . Yes, there may be a loopy union leader who is happy to break the law but is one nutcase enough to undermine our institution of rule of law? Yes the HRC has gone rogue, but the reaction against it shows the strength of our democracy. And the big difference in solving problems here, like our energy crisis, is that the government can commission a project (such as an upgrade to the Snowy Hydro) and we can be confident that it will be built properly. In a 3rd world country, most of the money will line the pockets of corrupt officials and who knows how the project will end up. That doesn't happen here (at least not regularly).
There have always been extreme arguments, organisations and figures in our politics - identity politics, extreme green movement, militant unions are today's. We are right to criticise them but let's not fall into believing it spells doom for this country.
Great First world countries can and do collapse. .Greece seems to be sliding and Italy isn't far behind. It happened to Argentina. But no-one will cry for us because we simply self-destructed.
This is the best thing Greg Sheridan has written in ages.
It is clear now that radical elements now controlling Australian Labor, Green's, Union movement, LGBTI and Get Up are driving this nation into a Marxist State with all that entails as a totalitarian state and for our freedom of speech and expression.
Now captive to these elements, Bill Shorten's diabolical "identity politics" play of appealing to the every nuance, fear or objective of every possible minority sector - now even the disabled - must been seen, even by those claiming socialist identity, as taking us to ruin.
This is precisely what my wife and I have been saying for a long time. I have voted since 1972. She has voted since 1977. Our views are regarded by Labor and those whose opinions seem to dominate the discourse as, "far right". It's the latest ploy to silence what I suspect is a significant portion of society.We are by no means far right. We haven't changed our views one iota. Middle of the road basically.
Every day we are witnessing an inexorable retreat from reason and from values. A Christian belief grounds our attitudes and hopefully guides us to being better people. But to the secular evangelists campaigning to shut the country down, we are a threat and must be silenced by any means foul or fouler.
One good thing about maintaining a Christian faith is that the decay in Australia is no accident and part of God's plan. As the negro spiritual says, "He's got the whole world in His hands" despite an enemy that is doing its level best to persuade the world that "He" doesn't exist.
Very well said Greg, sensible Australians should be very worried about our Country. The many decades it has taken and the Wars fought to protect a free, prospering and democratic country are under immense threat. In our two leaders, Turnbull and Shorten, we don't have the leaders to lead us as we need to be led. One dithers and waffles while the other, Shorten, is an extreme populist jumping on any cause whose aim is not to inspire voters but to scare them, purely to gain himself the top job with no thought as to the damage being done to the Country. We need to discuss and debate what is happening with our friends and our families. How quickly gains can be lost. This is why I support Australian Conservatives because I see Bernardi as an intelligent, articulate man who grasps the issues and advocates a sensible view consistently and does not waver. Hopefuly Bernardi's Party will flourish. There is so much at stake.
The NXT, Greens and Labor are killing this country and the values we hold dear.
@Laurence I believe that should read "Those who vote for NXT, Greens and Labor are killing this country and the values we hold dear."
Without the useful fools who vote them in these fringe parties would never have the opportunity to kill anything.
We need a fighter in the mould of Menzies. Bring back Abbott.
Maybe, But we still need Tony Abbott.
The fall of one of the greatest empires the world has known - the Roman Empire - is a chilling example it can happen to any country/countries. The sad situation now is that even if a government is elected to straighten out the mess, too many institutions have been impregnated with the socialist identity virus and the numbers are now sufficient to vote against democracy.
It's probably a bad analogy, but I feel like we parallel the heir to the estate that has been built up and improved over the generations. And within a generation, the inheritance is blown.
What strikes me most is the break down of the family unit. Living in a predominantly Muslim area, as much as I distrust their ideology, I have to credit the famiies I see, that remind of how we once were. I believe it shows that tomorrow is theirs, as we career towards Marxism and the crazy gender based engineering that seems to have erupted in the last 5 minutes.
Greg, thank you for a very insightful article. Always good to put things in perspective for a better grasp of the various trends as well as the broader picture.
Good stuff Greg. It is very easy to miss the overall effect of many individual problems. What you express concern about is of course, a structured plan by the left who, mad as they are, are good at playing the long game in order to bring about the awful state of affairs that you predict that little by little we are on the path to experiencing.
"The union movement has never represented fewer workers but is richer and more powerful than ever before. Sections of it now have the smell of an institution in love with power and increasingly untroubled by the rules of law."
This is the very nub of the problem.
Wow Greg not even bothering to try to hide even a little bit your extreme anti Labor bias. Starting the election campaign already on behalf of the Libs
@Ken More a case of bringing insight to the realities of the situation. Interesting that you don't fault anything he says.......its the inconvenience of it for your left friends that seems to drive your criticisms.
@Ken labor and its followers will suffer just as much as any of us.
@Ken Greg is more pro nation, than anti Labor.
Are you trying to say that cheap reliable power, infrastructure planning, freedom of speech and law abidance are not important?
Maybe you agree with silly Sally, that laws are only for those without the power to be able to ignore them, such as those who hold the powers of industrial war lords - union bosses?
@Ken Typical of those who see problems and solutions solely in the context of party politics.
@Ken I guess Ken that there is a lot to be "extreme anti Labor" about...
Australia is not now and never will be "beyond repair". It is entirely within the power of the current parliament and the citizens of every electorate to make their sentiments known.
Do so.
Repeal HRC Act and Racial Discrimination Act as the federal Government is exercising illegitimate power not expressly included under Section 51 of our Constitution. The States can and do have legislation and regulations that more than adequately cover issues of human rights and discrimination.
@Fiona If we have to have one bad law I would much prefer 18c to the RET.
@Fiona Still got to get changes through the Senate - things are not as easy at we would like it to be.
In fact, utterances from the Labor Party's "leadership" suggest they want to extend the areas 18C can be used for.
The regressive Left use legislation like 18C, tribunals, even the law, to reduce Freedom Of Speech for all but their own. They even encourage civil disobedience and excuse it. Add the influence of the Left in education and the media and you can see the "threat" to our preferred way of life.
Fiona, knowing what is needed and doing it are now nearly impossible with our current political system. You cannot get rid of the system as it requires the compliance of those who benefit from the status quo.
@Fiona Tell that to Argentina. Once great and now yo-yoing from great to basket case
Australia is beyond repair now. The problem is our system of government makes it impossible to fix our broken system of government. We need a military coup to oust the rot of obstructionist minority groups and then we need a new constitution. Yes it would be painful and things would get worse before it gets better. The alternative is a slide into oblivion, a disintegration of the Commonwealth.
@John True conservatives and libertarians would fight to the death against a military coup. So yes, it would be very, very bloody and would ultimately fail - if such a thing could ever happen at all in Australia, that is.
It just sounds like a silly fantasy to me. Time to grow up and look for real solutions, I think.
That is a very foolish suggestion - one military coup is never the first one. However hopeless we are, we should not want to become Latin America!
@John On the assumption you are not being facetious, the chance of a military coup in Australia is something less than zero. Our military culture is wholly opposed to undemocratic processes and the military lacks the power to conduct and sustain a coup. Moreover, the various police forces throughout the country would be strong enough to resist. And, last, could you see the troops mowing down the tens of thousands of demonstrators that would take to the streets.
One Prime Minuster sacked and replaced with a incompetent one will not now be the last coup.
Matter of time.
"But we are starting to go wrong"
No, Australian has already gone wrong, and is well down the path. It will take a strong leader to pull it out of the knee-deep muck it's currently in.
Mem Fox said that PC was just another name for politeness. What on earth has politeness to do with the stifling of free speech and the constant efforts to engineer and sanitise our behavour. The truly dishonest attempts to rewrite the history of this country, humankind, climate and the world in general is the worst of the lot.
- Free speech starts to become lost, and governmental institutions are used to moderate (control) free expression for various reasons (execuses, such as to moderate hate speech);
- Electricty supplies become unreliable;
- Infrastructure decision-making becomes erratic and reactive to emergencies as longer term planning becomes dysfunctional;
- Budgets go out of control, and expenses cannot be controlled;
- Bureacrats become ascendent through delegated institutional power to governmental agencies which then consolidate their power and autonomy from democratic influence
- Special interests gather up their power and compliance with democratic laws become optional for them;
A great summary of a nation in decline, Greg.
And, like you, many of us are very sad to observe it.
And terrorists are allowed into the country by the compassionate Left and then paid to live here!