Something Wrong In The State Of Victoria
Is something wrong in the state of Victoria? A gutless, coward runs down a middle aged woman. Yes, a 43 YO man attacks an older woman with his 4WD in the main street of Wangaratta. Helen Haines, the local MP, is fighting for her life in hospital. We have had a ‘so-called’ Sovereign Citizen gun down and murder 2 police officers in Porepunkah. Plus, multiple rapes and murders in and around Ballarat over the last few years. The neo-Nazis are prominent in Victoria; and there appears to be a preponderance of far right, manosphere types making their presence felt.
One Nation Stirring Up Trouble In Victoria
One Nation, the far right political party has been stirring things up in Victoria of late. This xenophobic hate speech prone group has been promising to gaol former Labor premiers of Victoria by Christmas. This would have to occur outside of the current rule of law to meet that timeframe and would indicate a plan to impose authoritarian legislation if they were elected to power. Populist politicians promise much but rarely deliver, in my experience. It is all piss and wind. However, the nasty piece of work that Pauline Hanson is contributes to increased threats and cases of actual political violence. If you go around throwing shit at your enemies and blaming them for everything unbalanced folk get riled up to commit such vile acts for real.
American Right Wing Influence
America and its culture of complaint in the era of social media is, also, at the heart of this fucked up world we now live in. Trump mines the politics of grievance for his political success. Turning Americans against one another has been the modus operandi of those on the Right. Fox News exploits this for its profit and rarely lets the truth get in the way. President Donald Trump is a compulsive liar and shameless to boot. The Republican party has been taken over by MAGA extremists and grifters. Australians tune into social media feeds promoting American extremism. Political violence in the USA has a rich and deadly history. Racism in the United States is at another level than in Australia. News Corp, an American company, owns most of our newspapers and Fox News and News24. Many Australians consider themselves tacit Americans, as they have been steeped in its pop culture all their lives. Especially, those Aussies who did not finish high school, drive their pickup trucks, drink bourbon and ogle the manosphere online. Populism in this dumbed down age is thriving. There is something wrong in the state of Victoria.
Divide & Conquer Australia
Pauline Hanson and Gina Rinehart are big fans of Donald Trump and MAGA. One Nation models itself on Trump via his propensity for saying vile things about his many enemies. Anyone that stands up to Trump is labelled an enemy. One Nation makes fun of its targets via nasty cartoons available online. Right wing politics likes to belittle its opponents in the eyes of its supporters. There is a nastiness present in everything they do and say. Many of those who support One Nation are in that third of adult Australians who own their homes outright. Older, white Australians who largely focus on themselves and their families. Far right groups are all about divide and conquer strategies. They encourage us to view some of our neighbours as unAustralian. Exploiting the blame game in the politics of grievance. Making out that all Muslims are bad and rorting the system. Attacking Indigenous Aussies as all welfare cheats. Appealing to prejudices against LGBTQI folk. Selfish people like to think that everyone else is less worthy than themselves and theirs. These One Nation voters have an investment in believing lies and exaggerations about other Australians. The colour of your skin does not define you.
There is something wrong in the state of Victoria.
“Rates of sexual violence in Ballarat are still higher than the state average, as are rates of family and gendered violence. In the year ending March 2024, sexual offences stood at a rate of 580 per 100,000 compared to 222 per 100,000 statewide”
“As neo-Nazis occupied the steps of Victoria’s parliament for the second time in as many years, many are asking the question: how has this happened again – and what can be done to prevent it? “
“Two Victoria Police officers killed in ambush involving ‘sovereign citizen’ “
“Psychologically those individuals who back strongman leaders often feel that they need the protection of bullies. Trump voters in America, the MAGA faithful fall into this category. Why do people back the loudest voice in the room? White supremacists and racists are, when you boil it down, fearful of those they perceive as different from themselves. They want the faces on their streets to comfortably resemble their own. Far right political parties like One Nation use social media to emphasise examples of crimes being committed by Australians with dark skin, as if these folk are the only ones doing such things. This misleading propaganda rallies their supporters around key elements of their anti-immigration platform.”
There is something wrong in the state of Victoria.
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of The Stoic Golfer; The AI Heresy; What Price Life?; America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump; and other titles. NOW AVAILABLE AT APPLE BOOKS & GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS. Google Play Books AUDIOBOOK
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