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John Howard believes that Australia is not a racist country. He also happens to believe that there are no poor, only those who choose to be poor. He happily believes that workers all want to work harder for less pay. He lives in bliss with the belief that young, single mothers are young, single mothers because they want to rip off the rest of us. In a state of perpetual joy he believes that the sick, the elderly and the disabled should be able to take care of themselves without tax payer support. John Howard is a deluded but happy man.
Now I do not say these things lightly. John Howard honestly believes them. He was quite able to watch the tele last Sunday night and at his Monday press conference say, having seen young, white blokes and sheilas beat the shit out of young, dark skinned blokes and sheilas, “I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country. I have always taken a more optimistic view of the character of the Australian people.”
Let’s look at his words in the light of his recent history. Wasn’t it John Howard who said, “We will choose who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.” You can almost hear the echo at Cronulla beach last Sunday as hundreds of white people were whipped into a frenzy by white supremacists who might well have said, “We will decide who comes to the beach and then beat the shit of the black bastards”. Strange isn’t it how these ‘non-racists’ also deny that the beach is not there’s in the first place but was stolen from the original owners.
The central reason behind these blatant acts of terrorism is a lack of real political leadership and direction. In short, John Howard’s dream of turning us into some simile of his dream of a “real Australia” is being realised and he is proud of it. However, like a ship without a rudder in calm water, it is difficult to get a sense of the true situation until the deep currents move you too close to the rocks to make repairs.
John Howard rails against what he might call “anarchy” in the streets unless his anti-terrorist laws are passed, but what we see is an anarchy of leadership. Totally decentralised and without any guiding principles except what the so called “market” can deliver, our society could potentially become that shabby 1950’s vision Howard wants simply because he is too busy enjoying power to truly lead the nation.
Howard’s vision is so blinkered by the trappings of office and power that he fails to see he is the true anarchist – in the worst sense of the word. Anarchists believe (and this is the very brief version) that people, if left to their own devices, can organise into collectives that will work for the betterment of the whole. Anarchist cells or collectives are self governed and do not rely on a centralised government to serve a whole state. What Australia under Howard is suffering from is an anarchic leadership. That is, there are no central guiding moral values or vision that is inclusive or accepting of anything other than the chaos of the market. Race, therefore does not compute, to quote that famous robot. Let me try and explain.
Looking back at the rise of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party, we find that Howard was virtually silent on her racist utterances. The closest he came to condemning her and those who hold her racist views, was probably when he said that everyone was entitled to free speech. Holding the same white Australia values at heart as Hanson, Howard has been quite happy to play the race card at every opportunity. Tampa was a dry run, to mix the metaphor.
Howard is not as simple as Hanson however. Every word he utters is carefully rehearsed and said for maximum effect. He is the current master of the political ‘dog whistle’. His words, “I do not accept that there is underlying racism” allow him an escape clause. The message he gives to one audience is that he could be wrong “I do not accept”. He leaves it open (so it appears) for others to prove him wrong. However, if others should ‘prove’ him wrong, he can use the fall back that “I have always taken a more optimistic view of the character of the Australian people”. To the perpetrators of the violent terror tactics of this last week, he offers a reassurance that he believes they are the ones who really uphold “the Australian” way of life (whatever that means).
By adopting this ambiguous phraseology, Howard demonstrates the type of anarchic leadership (in the negative sense of the word) I’m talking about. He removes all responsibility from his government and places it on the heads of those he says he leads. “I do not accept” tells his various audiences that he, personally, does not accept “underlying racism” as the reason. But he does not explain what it is he believes caused the riots. To do so would be to voice a moral position. He would, then, have to state his real belief in what is right and wrong. He would have to condemn that for which he truly stands. A White Australia. A relaxed and white nation.
Howard is becoming more and more vacuous as time passes. His grasp of what the reality of life is for the vast majority of Australians is so far gone he can no longer even try and imagine. He has become, I believe, one of the most dangerous politicians our nation has ever seen. No matter what the failings of previous Prime Ministers, the common thread they all carried was a vision to move the country forward. In their own way, to advance Australia fair. Under Howard the real question is, “Advance Australia where?”
The race riots at Cronulla beach and elsewhere are a direct response to the lack of leadership at the top of the political totem in Australia. Howard’s backwards looking, white supremacist views need to be talked about in open debate. The weak and ineffectual mainstream media will not press him. The snivelling commercial shock jocks who thrive in the atmosphere of hysteria Howard also revels in will never confront him or his government with the truth about their world view.
Howard might believe that Australia should be white, white, white but I know that many, many more believe that we can live together peacefully. Howard believes in an outdated and dangerous ideology that is long past its use by date. He, like it should be jettisoned as soon as possible by any peaceful means available.
The disgraceful and racist attacks that have taken place this week shame us all – black and white. The same people who cry that their children are not safe on the streets will be the same ones on the streets carrying weapons of terror and hunting down those they believe are responsible – on both sides. The open racism we are seeing is being whipped up by a false belief in an impossible dream. The dream long held by those who believe in white supremacy and extremist religious ideologies. Howard’s dream is not my dream and nor is it the dream of any right minded Australian.
The battles that will come and spread to a suburb or town near you have been stoked by the flames of intolerance and are a direct result of Howard’s lack of vision and his belief in a small minded Australia in which he is, perpetually, on top of the pile. And perhaps that is all he will remain king of. A small, stinking pile of racist bigots who will, as I believe, be overcome by the vast majority who reject their beliefs. The challenge to for all of us is to publicly demonstrate whether we are on the side of tolerance and justice or that of the narrow minded who share Howard’s beliefs.