Image from Michael Yon’s blog.
As noted previously on Fluttering Under, we’re in the middle of a federal election campaign here on this big old island called Australia, and – in a way – it feels like there’s a war.
This election feels like a war between wanting to move forward (even just a little) and being dragged back to our dim dark past, between accepting that some things are complex and dumbing things down to win votes, between being open to diversity and opposing difference, between hope and fear.
If only we could live in a world without politics.
Living in a world without war wouldn’t be such a bad thing either.
Would it make things better to have more women in power?
Is it wrong to be an idealist?
I don’t know. I just don’t.
I’m rambling.
Stop.
PS. My apologies if this post gives you visions of John Lennon.
PPS. And apologies if this post is a little on the grim side – I’m reading American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis, and it’s doing my head in, as it should.
Under the counter or a flutter in the dovecote 
10 comments
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August 9, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Aug
Mwa
Women can be even more conservative than some men…
I hope the good ones win.
August 12, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Aug
Nigel Featherstone
Mwa, I’m not sure I know who the good ones are any more, though I think my dog might be a pretty good prime minister – she’d be very kind to everyone, and loyal. Not so good with kissing babies, but she’d give it a go.
August 9, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Aug
Ms. Moon
Listen to more Lennon, read less Ellis. That’s my advice.
August 12, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Aug
Nigel Featherstone
Ms Moon, so wise as always. But I’m on the home stretch with American Psycho, so to speak, and I’m finding it funny and terrifying, a bit like this federal election campaign, though without the funny.
August 9, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Aug
itallstarted
Did you watch Q & A tonight? Julia was very impressive. Yes, some of her answers I’ve already heard word for word on other forums (radio interviews, press conferences etc) but she had humour, she was calm and didn’t talk down to her audience.
I’m struggling with her take on education though (I don’t like the cash incentive scheme she’s proposing because it will be based largely upon snapshot school test results, and I don’t know a single teacher who believes those tests are accurate representations of a student’s capabilities) and I also wish she would be a little more forward thinking on the issues of same-sex marriage.
Still, I can’t fathom an Australia with Tony Abbott at the helm. He’s on Q&A next week… I want to watch, but I’m not sure I can handle a full hour!
August 12, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Aug
Nigel Featherstone
Hi Agnes, good to hear from you. No, I missed Jules on Q&A – I’m usually in bed with a good book by 8.30, so I miss all that late-night TV stuff. Plus I’ve pretty well tuned off with this election in general, which is weird for me because normally I get obsessed and love following all the twists and turns. This time around, I’d rather de-grout my bathroom…and that’s a job I HATE!
Not sure I can contribute much to the education debate beyond saying that teachers are the most hard-working but least-respected people I know. I get the sense that the education sector has been dumbed down by all concerned, which is quite a worry, on so many fronts.
Tony Abbott at the helm? Shudder. And shudder again.
August 12, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Aug
itallstarted
I’m the opposite! Usually I pay no attention at all, but I’m totally on board with this one.
The education stuff is my biggest problem – it is a really big worry. I don’t teach full time any more, and that’s largely because of my frustration with the system (it’s a bit more complicated than that, but for simplicity’s sake, that pretty much covers it!).
You are spot on about teachers not being very well respected too – over-worked and under valued, by many areas in the community, not just the government.
Education is definitely something I think we’re losing control over here, as a nation I mean, and teachers seem to be losing ownership of their jobs – and talk about being buried in paperwork. Time spent actually TEACHING seems to becoming less and less, in my opinion. It’s certainly not the job that I thought I was signing up for, which makes me really sad.
Combine that with an ageing workforce and the fact that the profession is becoming less and less attractive for young people… I worry what our education system will look like in a decade or two’s time. And I don’t think this so-called ‘education revolution’ and all these incentive schemes are going be enough to solve it somehow.
Anyway. Sorry to go on about it! It’s hard to reign it in though sometimes, isn’t it? It just makes me so mad. And sad.
Anything’s gotta be better than Abbott though. I just… no. Please, no.
August 11, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Aug
screamish
I’m with Ms Moon….actually am i dreaming this or did i hear BE Ellis on The Book Show the other day referring to himself in the third personm Alain Delon style?? perhaps not…
as for the election….i am speechless…those tv ads….
August 12, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Aug
Nigel Featherstone
Hi Screamish, I’ll have to hunt down that BE Ellis (or should that be Bee Llis, which sounds like a lovely name, an artist, some kind of potter – crikeys, I’m losing the plot) interview. I actually love it when authors speak in the third person – it’s scary and hilarious at the same time!
Election ads? Can I just say that I’ve not seen one live, mostly because I don’t do much telly, though I do love watching The Gruen Transfer, especially the spin-off Gruen Nation. Great to see the advertising wolves tearing the limbs off the really bad ads!
August 16, 2010 at 9:16+00:00Aug
Nigel Featherstone
Agnes, you’re more than welcome to let off steam here at Under the Counter! Especially when it comes to Tony Abbott.
Seriously, if that man gets in, our education will be reading the Bible before bedtime.