What you have described is WHY I am contesting the federal seat of Riverina as an independent, in May.
penpen is what my ten grandchildren call me and I sincerely hope they will experience the beautiful natural realms I was fortunate to grow up in.
As a result of the recent court case to which you referred, Sarah, which Sussan Ley won (she, or any other politician / minister?) is not responsible for caring / planning / ensuring the future for anyone.
What?
If this isn't a politician's / ministers primary role, what the f**k are they there for?
To collect a pension for the rest of their life?
I'm at the age and stage of my life where I have nothing to fear and nothing to lose.
I prefer to die in the attempt to STOP these political parties from arrogantly ignoring the wishes of the people, than to have never tried at all.
When you are fierce with love..... nothing will stop you.
So hear you Sarah. I hid my ‘intensity’ about politics for many years as a woman growing up in the materialistic 90s having this incredible wake up call now in middle age- that you have been a part of😊 reawaken the passion, the activism and the give a shit ness! Let’s go down fighting.
We seem to push to achieve then settle. Maybe that’s a natural rhythm, but there’s so many areas to try and improve. We’ve become more risk aversive.
Creatives often point it out - Van Gogh in 1884 wrote to his bro: “If one wants to be active, one mustn’t be afraid to do something wrong sometimes, not afraid to lapse into some mistakes. To be good — many people think that they’ll achieve it by doing no harm — and that’s a lie… That leads to stagnation, to mediocrity … But however meaningless and vain, however dead life appears, the man of faith, of energy, of warmth, and who knows something, doesn’t let himself be fobbed off like that. He steps in and does something, and hangs on to that, in short, breaks, ‘violates’—they say.”
I can recall the precise moment when for me, the idea of Australia as the Lucky Country simply keeled over and died. That was October 2001, the time of the Tampa affair when Howard was still Head Honcho. Politics had always been ugly, but after that moment all the xenophobic asylum seeker policy came into play, Australia really ran out of luck in my eyes.
Mark Twain astutely observed that "Australian history is .. picturesque; It does not read like history, but like the most beautiful lies." Yep, the Lucky Country is the biggest lie we ever told ourselves, along with "She'll be right." Australian identity is like having a savage sunburn in just the wrong place.
I agree - ordinary and comfortable doesn't cut it.
And yet, I grapple daily with the conflict between my desire (and need) to work and grow a business, and my desire to devote my life's attention and work to improving our country's leadership and action on all the big clusterfuck-ish problems we face as a species.
Some days, I feel aligned; as though my work helps people come home to themselves, to be better equipped to face major existential crises with aplomb. And, ergo, I am doing "my bit" to help the planet heal.
Other days, I feel like running, screaming and crying, into the ocean/bush. Like it's just too big. The gulf between myself and influence/power is too great.
It's a grappling match worthy of my life. But some days I feel like ordinary and comfortable would be nice for a while.
Reminds me of my maternal grandfather - a sheep farmer - who told everyone he was a 'self-made man'. Well, that and the hefty dowry he got for marrying my long-suffering grandmother.
The stories we tell ourselves help us to sleep at night, but they are often just that - stories.
Oh my goodness Sarah! What you so poetically put into words is what I have been feeling sick about for years also. I’ve been banging on to anyone who’ll listen about no one actually showing LEADERSHIP in this country. No one saying the stuff we have to hear and telling us we need to do it for the greater good. You know. LEADING. The fuckers. And yes, I too am over intense and too sensitive at family gatherings full of old white men who don’t see what the problem is. Fuckers. Keep the megaphone to your lips my friend. 💥💪🏽🙏🏽💃🏻
I think you are on the right track… I think we can be more bold as a country and we need to listen to some amazing experts and talent right here at home.
In terms of other people to have on the podcast - there are some great Australians doing great work with wild ideas.
These include:
- Hugh Mackay (Australia Reimagined)
- Danielle Wood - CEO Grattan Institute (the generational bargain) - her John Button oration was amazing.
- Jess Scully - Sydney Councillor - Her book is Glimpses of Utopia - Real Ideas for a Fairer World
It would appear that prolonged exposure to sunburn has caused a societal cancer of mediocrity. Forget the blancmange people, I want the chilli, the sour and the umami flavours to spice up and motivate it's people with a renewed hunger.
However the point you made about sending your kids to a public school rather than private made me think.
If parents do this - will children really get the best education without the government supporting public education? I’d imagine if we did this right now many would become overcrowded and education worse off.
I love the idea but people voice and government action is needed before we al just switch.
I'm in my 30s and grew up in a predominantly white, middle class suburb. I feel disconnected from nearly everyone in my life right now because no one seems to care about anything important. I know I annoy people with my 'intensity' but I am really getting over hearing how it is much worse in other countries. Some, yes. But overall? Australia is not what our parents brought us up to think it is. My partner moved here from New Zealand for the opportunities and we're contemplating moving back to NZ for the future because I am just so disheartened by where things are going in Aus. People think I'm a bit weird for getting so down about it but I think they're the odd ones for not caring at all!
You speak for me Sarah and we need loud megaphones to be heard. I left Australia in the mid1990s to work & live in UK & Europe. Brexit turned me into an activist. I joined pro-EU campaign groups, marched, campaigned, wrote to MPs, picketed & protested - all to no avail. Having watched with disbelief how easily a country can destroy itself, I became a Brexit refugee & returned to Australia 3 years ago. A child of the Whitlam era, I had always believed in our approach to multicultural Australia, seeing first hand the wonderful transformation that our post war migration had wrought. I believed we were welcoming, committed to solving challenges like the environment & transforming the lives of all people including indigenous Australians no matter how slow that process seemed. i returned to a country I hardly recognise - obsessed with affluence, house prices, safety, comfortable lives for some, the rest left to shift for themselves. People on pensions & other public support shamed, micro-managed & humiliated. Elders left to an mostly failed aged care system. Humanities, heritage & cultural lives unfunded, cut, destroyed. It has taken me a long time to accept I am a nomad - a person of the world rather than espousing narrow nationalism - & Australia today seems a very small, mean place, determined to present itself as uncaring, punishing & cruel to refugees, ignoring indigenous visions of a future in the wonderful Uluru Statement, care less about the impact of climate change & hellbent on putting personal comfort ahead of general well-being & global responsibility. When I speak passionately to others of this I am accused of complaining, that that ‘is how it is’, that there is nothing we can do, that I am always angry & I should just stop looking at the problems. Now I have returned I cannot afford a roof over my head - rent or buy - as a 68 yr old divorced woman who always worked in the humanities I have little super & while I have money, it is not enough for both a roof & living. I see so much wrong here & so much powerlessness & complacency - a tax system unfit for purpose, a punitive welfare system & above all leaders who are criminally negligent of the people & the land.
I'm with you Sarah. So sick of people not caring enough, it worries me that people may have become so turned off and apathetic that we may end up stuck with the same government for yet another term.
What you have described is WHY I am contesting the federal seat of Riverina as an independent, in May.
penpen is what my ten grandchildren call me and I sincerely hope they will experience the beautiful natural realms I was fortunate to grow up in.
As a result of the recent court case to which you referred, Sarah, which Sussan Ley won (she, or any other politician / minister?) is not responsible for caring / planning / ensuring the future for anyone.
What?
If this isn't a politician's / ministers primary role, what the f**k are they there for?
To collect a pension for the rest of their life?
I'm at the age and stage of my life where I have nothing to fear and nothing to lose.
I prefer to die in the attempt to STOP these political parties from arrogantly ignoring the wishes of the people, than to have never tried at all.
When you are fierce with love..... nothing will stop you.
penniescott.com.au
So hear you Sarah. I hid my ‘intensity’ about politics for many years as a woman growing up in the materialistic 90s having this incredible wake up call now in middle age- that you have been a part of😊 reawaken the passion, the activism and the give a shit ness! Let’s go down fighting.
We seem to push to achieve then settle. Maybe that’s a natural rhythm, but there’s so many areas to try and improve. We’ve become more risk aversive.
Creatives often point it out - Van Gogh in 1884 wrote to his bro: “If one wants to be active, one mustn’t be afraid to do something wrong sometimes, not afraid to lapse into some mistakes. To be good — many people think that they’ll achieve it by doing no harm — and that’s a lie… That leads to stagnation, to mediocrity … But however meaningless and vain, however dead life appears, the man of faith, of energy, of warmth, and who knows something, doesn’t let himself be fobbed off like that. He steps in and does something, and hangs on to that, in short, breaks, ‘violates’—they say.”
I can recall the precise moment when for me, the idea of Australia as the Lucky Country simply keeled over and died. That was October 2001, the time of the Tampa affair when Howard was still Head Honcho. Politics had always been ugly, but after that moment all the xenophobic asylum seeker policy came into play, Australia really ran out of luck in my eyes.
Mark Twain astutely observed that "Australian history is .. picturesque; It does not read like history, but like the most beautiful lies." Yep, the Lucky Country is the biggest lie we ever told ourselves, along with "She'll be right." Australian identity is like having a savage sunburn in just the wrong place.
I agree - ordinary and comfortable doesn't cut it.
And yet, I grapple daily with the conflict between my desire (and need) to work and grow a business, and my desire to devote my life's attention and work to improving our country's leadership and action on all the big clusterfuck-ish problems we face as a species.
Some days, I feel aligned; as though my work helps people come home to themselves, to be better equipped to face major existential crises with aplomb. And, ergo, I am doing "my bit" to help the planet heal.
Other days, I feel like running, screaming and crying, into the ocean/bush. Like it's just too big. The gulf between myself and influence/power is too great.
It's a grappling match worthy of my life. But some days I feel like ordinary and comfortable would be nice for a while.
Reminds me of my maternal grandfather - a sheep farmer - who told everyone he was a 'self-made man'. Well, that and the hefty dowry he got for marrying my long-suffering grandmother.
The stories we tell ourselves help us to sleep at night, but they are often just that - stories.
Oh my goodness Sarah! What you so poetically put into words is what I have been feeling sick about for years also. I’ve been banging on to anyone who’ll listen about no one actually showing LEADERSHIP in this country. No one saying the stuff we have to hear and telling us we need to do it for the greater good. You know. LEADING. The fuckers. And yes, I too am over intense and too sensitive at family gatherings full of old white men who don’t see what the problem is. Fuckers. Keep the megaphone to your lips my friend. 💥💪🏽🙏🏽💃🏻
I could not agree with you more on this. Exactly how I feel about people in my life and how I’m criticised for trying to help the planet :(
Thank you for writing this. My first response from my body was F*&^%$Ck YES!
I love your newsletter and podcast…
I think you are on the right track… I think we can be more bold as a country and we need to listen to some amazing experts and talent right here at home.
In terms of other people to have on the podcast - there are some great Australians doing great work with wild ideas.
These include:
- Hugh Mackay (Australia Reimagined)
- Danielle Wood - CEO Grattan Institute (the generational bargain) - her John Button oration was amazing.
- Jess Scully - Sydney Councillor - Her book is Glimpses of Utopia - Real Ideas for a Fairer World
It would appear that prolonged exposure to sunburn has caused a societal cancer of mediocrity. Forget the blancmange people, I want the chilli, the sour and the umami flavours to spice up and motivate it's people with a renewed hunger.
Loved the podcast with Peter singer.
However the point you made about sending your kids to a public school rather than private made me think.
If parents do this - will children really get the best education without the government supporting public education? I’d imagine if we did this right now many would become overcrowded and education worse off.
I love the idea but people voice and government action is needed before we al just switch.
I'm in my 30s and grew up in a predominantly white, middle class suburb. I feel disconnected from nearly everyone in my life right now because no one seems to care about anything important. I know I annoy people with my 'intensity' but I am really getting over hearing how it is much worse in other countries. Some, yes. But overall? Australia is not what our parents brought us up to think it is. My partner moved here from New Zealand for the opportunities and we're contemplating moving back to NZ for the future because I am just so disheartened by where things are going in Aus. People think I'm a bit weird for getting so down about it but I think they're the odd ones for not caring at all!
Don’t you just want to take all the politicians for a hike. They need it.
You speak for me Sarah and we need loud megaphones to be heard. I left Australia in the mid1990s to work & live in UK & Europe. Brexit turned me into an activist. I joined pro-EU campaign groups, marched, campaigned, wrote to MPs, picketed & protested - all to no avail. Having watched with disbelief how easily a country can destroy itself, I became a Brexit refugee & returned to Australia 3 years ago. A child of the Whitlam era, I had always believed in our approach to multicultural Australia, seeing first hand the wonderful transformation that our post war migration had wrought. I believed we were welcoming, committed to solving challenges like the environment & transforming the lives of all people including indigenous Australians no matter how slow that process seemed. i returned to a country I hardly recognise - obsessed with affluence, house prices, safety, comfortable lives for some, the rest left to shift for themselves. People on pensions & other public support shamed, micro-managed & humiliated. Elders left to an mostly failed aged care system. Humanities, heritage & cultural lives unfunded, cut, destroyed. It has taken me a long time to accept I am a nomad - a person of the world rather than espousing narrow nationalism - & Australia today seems a very small, mean place, determined to present itself as uncaring, punishing & cruel to refugees, ignoring indigenous visions of a future in the wonderful Uluru Statement, care less about the impact of climate change & hellbent on putting personal comfort ahead of general well-being & global responsibility. When I speak passionately to others of this I am accused of complaining, that that ‘is how it is’, that there is nothing we can do, that I am always angry & I should just stop looking at the problems. Now I have returned I cannot afford a roof over my head - rent or buy - as a 68 yr old divorced woman who always worked in the humanities I have little super & while I have money, it is not enough for both a roof & living. I see so much wrong here & so much powerlessness & complacency - a tax system unfit for purpose, a punitive welfare system & above all leaders who are criminally negligent of the people & the land.
I'm with you Sarah. So sick of people not caring enough, it worries me that people may have become so turned off and apathetic that we may end up stuck with the same government for yet another term.