This sort of stuff would never happen on this forum....
http://www.news.com.au/finance/work...l/news-story/da6ff9c7fd2aa6448aa54070bfe96d09
The thing that divides us could be our downfall
A LOT of people have stopped thinking for themselves, and if they don’t start up their brains again, politics is doomed.
Recently, I can’t help noticing the positions some people have on important topics seem to rapidly change in a way that is illogical and unprincipled … It’s almost as if they’re not thinking for themselves.
A very sharp and very recent example is the way people view Wikileaks, and its founder, Julian Assange. One day most American Republicans thought the silver-haired Aussie was an enemy of the state. The next day they decided he was a public hero.
When Assange was leaking national security secrets, the American right hated him. When he started leaking Hillary Clinton’s emails, they did a quick U-turn. What a great guy! The left flipped their positions too.
It’s not just professional politicians who are making up their minds with the herd. Normal people are getting their views out of this matrix as well. In 2017 principles are too puny and they get trampled under the feet of partisanship.
For example, I see Vladimir Putin is now Pauline Hanson’s
idea of a good guy. I doubt she’s ever had a thought about Russian politics in her life. Her admiration for Vlad, no doubt, is just a vibe she picked up from Donald Trump. If Trump changes his view on Putin you can bet Pauline will too.
This kind of partisanship stops us from thinking. Instead of weighing issues up on their own terms, people just pick the side of a debate that their “own” people are on.
Once you decide Trump is your guy, you see the world through a difference lens. Picture: AP Photo / Luis M. Alvarez
Source:AP
PARTISANSHIP SUCKS THE LOGIC OUT
The word partisan comes to politics from its meaning as guerilla fighter. These days we say people are partisan if they stick to their party through thick and thin.
Research from America shows partisanship makes you hate and fear your fellow citizens. In America, around half of Democrats say they are “afraid” of the Republican party, and vice versa. And they literally think the other side are bad people, as this next chart shows.
Spend a few minutes on Australian political Twitter and you can have no doubt the same effect would show up here too.
POLITICAL FOOTBALL
This is way beyond loyalty to a group of policy principles. This is mad. It reminds me most of football.
I was born into supporting a football team, and I support it without questioning. I like my team’s players for no reason other than they wear the right jumper. If the umpire sees a player on my team break the rules, I disagree. If the umpire fails to notice a player on my team break the rules, I’m happy. Following football like this is fun. Everything is simple.
Politics should not be like football. You may disagree. You may believe politics is actually a forum for us to have intense culture wars. In which case you must be very happy.
THE MYSTERY OF THE UNMENTIONED POLICIES
In the past five years, one Australian politician put a big fat tax on Australians earning more than $180,000. Another one started locking people up Pacific detention centres.
The politician that taxed the richest is Tony Abbott. He put a tax on top income earners, called the Budget repair levy.
The politician that locked people up in humid camps is Julia Gillard. She reopened the camps that Kevin Rudd had closed.
The policies don’t fit, right? The Coalition is supposed to be the tax cuts party — the one that is kind to the wealthy. Labor is supposed to be kind to the oppressed. But these policies show them doing the exact opposite.
It’s not in the Liberals’ interest to mention their big tax on the rich. It’s not in Labor’s interest to mention it either. So it doesn’t get mentioned, and people forget about it.
Regular people don’t mind because partisanship blinds them. They don’t want to have a nuanced position about their “own” side so they conveniently forget the times their favourite politicians did things that they don’t agree with.
TOO MUCH HATE, TOO MUCH FORGIVENESS
This even spills over into things that are not policy. If a politician from your side rorts their travel allowance or fails to declare their investment property, it’s bad, but if a politician from the other side does it, it’s a national crisis and just more evidence that whole side of politics is morally bankrupt and corrupt.
The problem with partisanship is this: People started supporting their party to get policies they want. But long after the policies they support have been watered down, the passion for their side is still there. That passion creates far too much forgiveness of their own side. They forgive far more than they gain, and the quality of politics flops.
We need to judge policies on their merits, and politicians on their merits too.
Jason Murphy is an economist. He publishes the blog Thomas The Thinkengine. Follow Jason on Twitter @Jasemurphy
