A Trend Toward A Concern For Individual Freedoms
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Since the global pandemic we have seen a trend toward a concern for individual freedoms. This is no surprise after the lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and heavier government controls. However, these social health policies were necessary and will be again if and when another virus emerges. I am reminded of times of war when governments are forced to curtail public freedoms and demand much more from their citizens. Do not fall for those promising some sovereign citizen nirvana because such things do not exist in reality. The world is not all about you or me, we are all a part of communities, whether we like it or not. Populations are rising and this by its very nature means more rules to govern the many.
Don’t Believe The Promises Of Libertarian Politicians
It is immature to expect that you can have it all the way you want it, all the time. Children have these unrealistic expectations. I blame the consumeristic societies we have lived in for the past 50 years. People have been lied to by companies trying to sell them stuff. Governments and politicians have also been pissing in everyone’s pockets on the advice of PR experts. These appeals to the public via always praising them has produced generations of self-centred consumerists only ever interested in their own satisfaction. During times of mass threat to the survival of nations and communities you cannot have everyone running around doing their own thing oblivious to the dangers.
The Right Wing Blame Game Promising Greater Individual Freedoms
The political games played by political parties exacerbates the situation we find ourselves in. Those on the right, the conservative forces, play this libertarian card whenever they can. Funnily enough the world has seen far more authoritarian totalitarian dictatorships on the hard right than on the other side of politics. However, autocratic governments end up doing the same things to the people no matter what side of the political spectrum they started on. Those on the right play a particular game where they are funded by big business but appeal to the disgruntled just the same. They foster villains and people to blame elsewhere and usually down the wealth ladder. Downward envy is actively encouraged by blaming social spending on the welfare state. The people are being ripped off by the wealthy and powerful interests but they remain largely untouchable – too powerful to fight. Therefore the disgruntled in the electorate are directed to softer targets like the unemployed, the Indigenous, refugees, and LGBTQI folk. These often vulnerable and fairly powerless sections of the community become the scapegoats for the disgruntled among the dominant white cohort. Any responsible economist will tell you that government spending is not reliant on tax payer revenue. Government budgets are not like household budgets, as they do not work the same way. There is no finite gold standard anymore. Nations just print more money as they require it irrespective of incoming revenue. The US has a $3 trillion deficit and it is the global superpower. It is another political game this concern with deficits and surpluses. When governments spend money they are investing in us, the people, so what is important is what they are spending money on. Money spent on health, education, and infrastructure projects are good for the country.
Blaming The Powerless Won’t Get You Anywhere
Insecurity intensifies the need to blame within human beings. We have seen this manifest again and again historically. The Nazis pinpointed the Jews as the epitome of evil during their rise and time in power. Antisemitism still flares up around the world despite the absolute irrationality of it. Yes, the roots of the Christian religion blame the Jews rather than the Romans for killing Christ, which is another reason to see this religion as rather illogical and without much scientific favour. White people always want to blame black people for their woes. Established cultures regularly blame new migrants for problems within their communities. Gender identity issues are a hot topic in the 21C, with older folk getting particularly het up at people thinking that they can just change their biologically assigned sex to suit them. The fact that this issue affects a miniscule volume of people and is click bait on social media platforms should be front of mind. Political parties that seek voter support on such things are playing games and should be viewed with suspicion. The economic truth is that most Indigenous communities are underfunded and their lives are more often blighted by poverty. Refugees need assistance to get started in their new homes. Spending more money on creating a fairer and more equitable society is economically better for the country in the long run. Allowing a few to become obscenely rich is not ever good for a nation, as they will manipulate the system by buying political favour at the expense of everyone else. Russia is a good example of this, as it was a Frankenstein monster created by neoliberal Americans after the fall of the Soviet Union. America has plenty of its own problems in regard to billionaires manipulating the economic and political systems there. Trump and his cronies are a bad lot and have taken the US further down a dangerous road toward the death of democracy and an autocratic state. Hopefully the justice system and the many indictments facing Donald J Trump will see his demise shortly.
There is corruption happening in the Supreme Court in America and this will need to be addressed. Billionaires buying favour with SCOTUS judges have damaged their credibility and independence.
“The Liberal MP Julian Leeser has warned that the American-style politics at the heart of the anti-voice campaign are “damaging the shared project that is Australia” and raised fears about a lack of empathy for Indigenous people.”
A trend toward a concern for individual freedoms has morphed into extremist behaviour in more than a few incidents. Poorly educated people running around telling those that hamper them in any way that they are a state unto themselves and do not abide by the laws of the land. Some of these folk are armed and think that they will be able to force their point. The truth is the state is much better armed and has bigger guns when push comes to shove.
We have seen this in the January 6th outcomes for many of the terrorist foot soldiers that invaded the Capital. Lengthy prison sentences for hundreds of them. Now, hopefully, Trump and his cronies will also pay the price for inciting a riot and potential coup that cost the lives of those whose job was to defend the Capital. An orange jumpsuit to go with the orange hair – I would like to see that!
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of Money Matters: Navigating Credit, Debt, and Financial Freedom.
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