What's natural about the natural order?

I started life as a teacher of English and History. One of the first classes I taught was feudal history to Year 8 students and I clearly remember the order of society was on the syllabus.  We learnt about  ‘a society based on status and prestige, a society based on the division of orders according to one's function -- those who work, those who fight and those who pray. ’ (http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture23b.html) and looked upon this as the natural order.

My students in early settlement Mount Druitt loved building castles and learning about the warfare, but even in their government relocated status, were really not that connected to believing that if their parent was a garbo, so would they have been expected to be, because that was how god wanted it .

I’m frequently jolted into understanding that what I take as normal in the world is often not so – there seems to have been a lot of sudden bumping against other people’s reality of late. 

Not the least of which has been the world of Cory Bernardi and his notion of ‘natural order’.

Julia Gillard tried to warn against the anti abortion lobby rising like a phoenix under the conservative old school tie. Who would have predicted it would stick up its Medusa head quite so soon.

One of the things this particular political strain is good at is language and rhetoric. Bernardi’s reference to pro-choicers as ‘pro-death’ and abortion as the ‘death industry’ leave no doubt that he has achieved his aim that he is : ‘not going to hide behind ambiguous words’ (ABC Interview http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-06/cory-bernardi-says-pro-choice-is-pro-death/5183852). 

Ambiguous? 

No indeed. 

Highly charged, emotive, provocative, offensive language?

Hell yes!

I’ve listened to him railing about his right to speak out against political correctness claiming it stifles debate. Yet for mine he lambasts political correctness so as he may proffer intolerant, discourteous, unkind, bigoted, inconsiderate, faith based ideology that masquerades as the ‘natural order’. 

I suggest, dear senator,  that you do a bit of Googling to see what the natural order actually consists of.

Having not insulted enough of the population he takes on single families, same sex relationships, green philosophy and Islam claiming:

“You can't tamper with tradition and not expect there to be adverse consequences.”

Mmmm does that mean that traditions like child abuse; female genital mutilation, stoning of adulterers; infanticide should be left alone? 

You can’t have it both ways Father Bernadi.

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Rootin' for who?

I started this blog with an intent that is recorded in its name. I was frustrated with reading about how the polls were saying this or the polls were saying that. And I couldn’t remember a time when I was ever polled for any sort of political position in my whole life.

 I was similarly frustrated with the growingly obvious fact that as I aged I became part of a disappearing , but increasingly larger group of the population whose needs were being ignored or grossly stereotyped by twenty something political advisers and Gen Y advertising genii.

Recently I thought I would join the online survey community whose opinions are being sought about a range of matters.  I got one request to participate, but when I filled in the first question: Which age category do you fit?  the screen went blank and re-emerged with a dismissive message that they already had enough people from that group thank you very much. In four months I haven’t had another request to contribute.

I’ve decided I am either ahead of, or behind the times. I‘ve been searching for green boots for the last three winter seasons. No luck. I have just started to look for a new house only to find that if I had started my search two months ago I could have got what I wanted, where I wanted for the price I was prepared to pay. 

And I lived in Sydney’s West in the 70’s and 80’s before it was seen as the bell weather area for political parties. The irony there is that when I started teaching and lived in a converted single garage in Rooty Hill which was still without sewerage attachment to many houses,  no one even knew where it was, let alone cared about what the locals thought. No Julia or her precedecessors walked the streets, met with important locals, or spent the night holed up in a Rooty Hill Motel so that they could get the feel of the electorate. 

I refuse to buy the Daily Telegraph after it did a number on Mount Druitt High School many years ago and. I have to acknowledge I had taught there and felt that a great injustice had been done to the students and teachers of the place. However, I accidentally come across bits of the Telegraph on line and today I’m reading that Julia is in trouble, that her sleepover in Rooty Hill did more harm than good and the party will move on her leadership in the next two weeks.

….mummm….. dejuvu Julia.

On the other hand Tony has a plan – not just a visit!. 

There’s a slogan for the election: Tony the show pony; the man with the plan. 

He will cut the cost of living by abolishing the carbon tax, take the pressure off police through the use of CCTV in crime hotspots, sort out transport problems and address environmental issues. 

And yes, he is a changed man, he has really learnt and many of the ideological positions he held before this election really started to loom large he has now changed his mind on – truly, rooly cross my heart. He has rolled out the wife, the daughters and now the gay sister to convince us he surely is a sensitive, lovable 21^st century man of the people. 

Look at me ladies…obviously the speedos  haven’t done  the trick up to now.

So, where does that leave us?  I know what: somebody poll me where I live in the national capital having lived in Western Sydney, the North Coast of NSW and its south west. 

Here’s my advice to all political aspirants and parties:

• Get advisors who have life experience not just party and educational know-how – stop the arrogant navel gazing.
• Plan for the long term, not just for the four year political cycle – which really means we get about 2 years worth of short sighted activity based on potential personal political outcomes – ie, will I get elected next time if I do this?
• Be careful about campaigning only to the 1.6m people in one part of the country – there are millions more out here who are rapidly losing patience.
• LEAD.
• Read the definition of democracy: government of the people, by the people, for the people. We are watching you and expect more than sledging and name calling. It’s just not cricket.
• Cut the crap. Forget the weasel words, answer the question with truth and honesty based on the knowledge that any action that is being discussed has a strong ethical foundation.
•  Look for the connections and don’t think we are too dumb to understand them ; if we support wars in other countries  refugees will result. They will expect to have somewhere safe to go as a result of our actions.  John Donne told you in 1624 never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.
• And finally for the Canberrans amongst us, remember when you talk about cutting the public service you are talking about getting rid of the jobs of Australian citizens equally entitled to a living as the factory worker, the fish and chip shop hand and the builder.

There, that should give you a starting point for policy.

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This week's Art Work 

A little light relief from the political rambling painted from photograps taken during my recent visit

Happy New Year Singapore. Acrylic on paper 220x350 mm