This virus and politics are unquestionably entwined both globally and in Australia. I figured there was room for discussion on this subject, so it doesn't clog up the other virus thread. There's also not much footy to talk about and we're all in stay home mode or will be soon. This talk of 'lets not politicise the situation' is all very well at a governing level trying to cope with a rapidly unfolding and shifting national crises, while we get numbers and figures and totals thrown at us 24/7 on the media.
But politics is everywhere and in everything we do.
What about the future, how this unfolds, where do we end up? With all the businesses folded and jobs lost, supply chains affected, how will that recover quickly? What will the government look like? What will this country look like? What of other countries? Will there be a collapse? The global recession, another depression? Will the USA implode and what are the repercussions if it does? Will any nation take advantage of this vacuum and start something unimaginable?
How does footy come out of this? How much will it change? There's talk from the AFL that it won't be as we knew it?
It might not all be dystopian, there might be changes for the better in our capitalist-materialist system, there might be a positive re-evaluating of sorts..people demanding changes in their society. Manufacturing might return to this country and we become more self-contained and self-reliant. Globalism might recede as countries go into a type of isolationism to rebuild. Will this virus end soon or drag on, will we return to the same status quo or will things never be the same again?
Not being alarmist, my point is there are so many questions that arise from this unprecedented situation, about the present and the future, locally and on the global stage...unchartered waters, anything could happen..and a lot of it is driven by politics.
I'll kick it off with this article from the Guardian, which some view as a 'leftie' journal (see, it's already politicised).
FWIW, Clearly am no expert on anything, but am interested in politics, the machinations of superpowers and whatever the 'truth' is? I read ABC, SBS, Reuters, Guardian, CNN, BBC, The Washington Post, Al Jezeera etc, am not a leftie, or a rightie, just look for balance, for some insight and truth. We all have our opinions on this crises, and how it will unfold, what are yours? Hopefully we can get an informative discussion going that's not all doom+gloom or wildly tinfoil-hat speculative...(although that's always fun!)
The Guardian - article by Katharine Murphy.
"I wonder what Australia and the world will look like five years from now, because only one thing is certain: this crisis will put the world on a different axis.
The global financial crisis, which was the biggest global economic shock since the Depression, triggered a fundamental realignment. Nativism and protectionism resurfaced. Cheap jack populists expressed fatigue with experts. Americans, God help them, chose Donald Trump as their president. The far right resurfaced in parts of Europe. Britain retreated from Europe after a convulsion that paralysed one of the greatest democracies in the world for several years.
Current indications suggest this pandemic will inflict a more substantial economic shock than the GFC, because our capacity to pump prime domestic economies is curtailed. In the Depression, the government could pay people to go out and build roads and bridges. In the GFC, the government could give people money in the certainty that they would hit the shops and spend for Australia. But in this event, stimulatory measures have to be balanced against public health risks, unless you are a leader like Trump who makes a virtue of endangering his own citizens.
The thought exercise I’m embarking on this weekend is necessary, but mildly mind-blowing – what is the post-pandemic outlook for democratic governments?
Driven by the pro-market economic orthodoxy that existed pre-GFC, liberal democracies have spent decades shrinking governments. As governments have ceded power, many societies have also lost faith in the political class – in Australia, particularly over the past decade. The share of the vote going to the major parties has declined. Trust is low. Voters are disillusioned.
Yet it has been striking in this crisis how citizens in this country have looked to government as a deeply ingrained reflex. There is a hardwired collective expectation that government will provide a safety net during the economic shock, and also to tell people in clear terms what they should do to minimise the risks of infection.
So even though we are disillusioned, there appears to be a durable expectation that government will lead, and there is fury if leadership doesn’t materialise.
Also striking over the past 10 days has been the rolling dialogue within the Australian federation. In places like the United Kingdom or New Zealand, national governments just assert that various things will happen, and they happen. In Australia, responsibilities are divided, so the various tiers of government in this countries are forced to engage in an old-fashioned policy deliberation. They are forced to consider, in full public view, the health response and the economic response; as Morrison is fond of putting this exercise, weighing lives and livelihoods.
I also read in some publications now is not the time for Labor to be questioning government decision making, because apparently that’s playing politics. I mean, how bloody ridiculous. We all need to be questioning every decision as constructively as possible rather than lapsing into placid groupthink. The opposition, the media, all citizens.
Now is the time for everybody in this nation to care about one another sufficiently to show up and play our respective roles in a democracy, particularly at a time when parliament is suspended, and civil liberties are being curtailed in the service of of saving lives.
Will governments prove their worth by managing this crisis to the best of their ability, or will they fail their citizens? I don’t know the answer, but I know a lot hangs on it; lives, livelihoods, and the future of liberal democracy.
www.theguardian.com
But politics is everywhere and in everything we do.
What about the future, how this unfolds, where do we end up? With all the businesses folded and jobs lost, supply chains affected, how will that recover quickly? What will the government look like? What will this country look like? What of other countries? Will there be a collapse? The global recession, another depression? Will the USA implode and what are the repercussions if it does? Will any nation take advantage of this vacuum and start something unimaginable?
How does footy come out of this? How much will it change? There's talk from the AFL that it won't be as we knew it?
It might not all be dystopian, there might be changes for the better in our capitalist-materialist system, there might be a positive re-evaluating of sorts..people demanding changes in their society. Manufacturing might return to this country and we become more self-contained and self-reliant. Globalism might recede as countries go into a type of isolationism to rebuild. Will this virus end soon or drag on, will we return to the same status quo or will things never be the same again?
Not being alarmist, my point is there are so many questions that arise from this unprecedented situation, about the present and the future, locally and on the global stage...unchartered waters, anything could happen..and a lot of it is driven by politics.
I'll kick it off with this article from the Guardian, which some view as a 'leftie' journal (see, it's already politicised).
FWIW, Clearly am no expert on anything, but am interested in politics, the machinations of superpowers and whatever the 'truth' is? I read ABC, SBS, Reuters, Guardian, CNN, BBC, The Washington Post, Al Jezeera etc, am not a leftie, or a rightie, just look for balance, for some insight and truth. We all have our opinions on this crises, and how it will unfold, what are yours? Hopefully we can get an informative discussion going that's not all doom+gloom or wildly tinfoil-hat speculative...(although that's always fun!)
The Guardian - article by Katharine Murphy.
"I wonder what Australia and the world will look like five years from now, because only one thing is certain: this crisis will put the world on a different axis.
The global financial crisis, which was the biggest global economic shock since the Depression, triggered a fundamental realignment. Nativism and protectionism resurfaced. Cheap jack populists expressed fatigue with experts. Americans, God help them, chose Donald Trump as their president. The far right resurfaced in parts of Europe. Britain retreated from Europe after a convulsion that paralysed one of the greatest democracies in the world for several years.
Current indications suggest this pandemic will inflict a more substantial economic shock than the GFC, because our capacity to pump prime domestic economies is curtailed. In the Depression, the government could pay people to go out and build roads and bridges. In the GFC, the government could give people money in the certainty that they would hit the shops and spend for Australia. But in this event, stimulatory measures have to be balanced against public health risks, unless you are a leader like Trump who makes a virtue of endangering his own citizens.
The thought exercise I’m embarking on this weekend is necessary, but mildly mind-blowing – what is the post-pandemic outlook for democratic governments?
Driven by the pro-market economic orthodoxy that existed pre-GFC, liberal democracies have spent decades shrinking governments. As governments have ceded power, many societies have also lost faith in the political class – in Australia, particularly over the past decade. The share of the vote going to the major parties has declined. Trust is low. Voters are disillusioned.
Yet it has been striking in this crisis how citizens in this country have looked to government as a deeply ingrained reflex. There is a hardwired collective expectation that government will provide a safety net during the economic shock, and also to tell people in clear terms what they should do to minimise the risks of infection.
So even though we are disillusioned, there appears to be a durable expectation that government will lead, and there is fury if leadership doesn’t materialise.
Also striking over the past 10 days has been the rolling dialogue within the Australian federation. In places like the United Kingdom or New Zealand, national governments just assert that various things will happen, and they happen. In Australia, responsibilities are divided, so the various tiers of government in this countries are forced to engage in an old-fashioned policy deliberation. They are forced to consider, in full public view, the health response and the economic response; as Morrison is fond of putting this exercise, weighing lives and livelihoods.
I also read in some publications now is not the time for Labor to be questioning government decision making, because apparently that’s playing politics. I mean, how bloody ridiculous. We all need to be questioning every decision as constructively as possible rather than lapsing into placid groupthink. The opposition, the media, all citizens.
Now is the time for everybody in this nation to care about one another sufficiently to show up and play our respective roles in a democracy, particularly at a time when parliament is suspended, and civil liberties are being curtailed in the service of of saving lives.
Will governments prove their worth by managing this crisis to the best of their ability, or will they fail their citizens? I don’t know the answer, but I know a lot hangs on it; lives, livelihoods, and the future of liberal democracy.
After the coronavirus, Australia and the world can never be the same again | Katharine Murphy
In a deeply ingrained reflex, Australians have looked to government in this crisis. Will it prove its worth?
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