Life is peaceful there
In the open air
You can live life new
This is what we’ll do!
– Thanks for the quote, Pet Shop Boys!
The PM, in 2023, described Australians who are proud to be Australian as ‘dark forces’. This turn-about in the PM’s statements regarding reality was not the first, nor the last. He has often noted how divisive ‘some elements’ in Australian society are becoming. Labelling voters in a democracy who want to support democracy as ‘dark forces’ certainly achieves divisiveness.
Critical to understand is that both Labour and the Greens are determined to support their version of Australia, just as One Nation is determined to support their version of Australia.
How do we parse the difference?
Daily life in Western countries can best be described as safe, free, and open for all. It has been decades since there was any threat to this way of life that many have taken it for granted, and for generations.
Until mass immigration began about 15 years ago, there was no phenomenon which could impact this way of life. Historically, the West grew with immigration. For example, Melbourne is the second largest city of Greeks after Athens.
The safety we have in the West is based on the separation of church and state, and the application of impartial law, and these two social mechanisms took centuries to evolve, and is essentially democratic.
The freedom we have is based on impartial judgement through the sciences, which itself is based on research, objective data and rational conclusions. Science, medicine and technology developed as a direct result of our forefathers recognising the value of objectivity.
The openness we extend is based on trust: this is a trust-based society. Regulations, guarantees, warrantees, a handshake, direct eye contact, mutual respect and being ‘a man of his word’ are our social hallmarks. Being trustworthy results in a relaxed, friendly society where kindness blooms.
And now we have people who wish to destroy this society.
From their perspective, this way of living is weak, soulless, depraved and hypocritical. To others, it is the reason we are killing the planet. To others, we don’t even belong on this planet and need to all go to heaven or hell to where we do belong. Still more others wish to destroy everything we have because of what others did decades, or centuries, ago…
So many narratives!
Personally, I’m still trying to understand how I can be proud of myself. Culturally, I’m still doing the same.
Socially, I’m really happy I can walk down the road and buy food without being attacked or murdered. I’m incredibly grateful that I have enough money to buy the food. I have somewhere safe and clean to live.
The more I research the socio-cultural evolution of Western values, of secular values, the more pride I feel for what these series of societies have achieved. All the elements which gradually came together to stop religious zeal, to implement impartial law, to ensure equality under the law and freedom in society, I love these things.
Nowhere else would I rather be.
A D R A N 