A Political Revolution!

I’ve got the shits with politicians. And I mean ALL politicians. I’ve been very vocal about being a Labor voter, but for the purposes of this rant think of me as apolitical.

But before we get down to the reasons why, what are we currently dealing with?

I just feel the whole political system is not making much sense at the moment. My perception is that Julia says one thing and then Tony will instinctually argue the opposite until he is blue in the face. The precarious Labor government then starts to waver, polls come out, everyone gets more nervous or wound-up…. The whole time I don’t feel that anything is actually working or moving forward in any purposeful way.

Firstly, whatever Tony Abbott says I profoundly believe the opposite. It is a primal reaction. The man revolts me both personally and professionally. The fact that he gets so much air-time JUST because he is the leader of the opposition scares the hell out of me. I’ve never wanted to put someone over my knee and give them a good spanking like I do with Abbott. And can I be very clear, there is NO sexual undertone there, just that I think he’s a child.

REPULSIVE!!!!

Julia, who I have previously loved and adored, seems to have lost her way somehow. I find myself saying ‘poor Julia’ far too often. I sense she is really struggling to rally her troops. And is it just me or is her voice becoming slightly weird now. I think the stress levels are slowly increasing the tightness of her vocal chords. The rest of the Labor party leave me ‘underwhelmed’ to say the least.

The only political subject I am truly passionate about is legalising gay marriage so of course I am completely in love with Sarah Hanson-Young from the Greens. She speaks at the Gay Marriage rallies for god’s sake, this is why she is my favourite.

So why, when all these pollies are elected as our representatives to make the important decisions, am I so disillusioned with them all. It’s simple. Cause they are not human in the way you and I are. They have not lived the same lives that we have. They do not have the life experience that I need from a politician to adequately represent me and my views.

The reality in Australian politics is that the media weed out anyone who has a remotely interesting story, plaster it all over their pages and the web, and cripples their political career. On the flipside, no political party is going to endorse a candidate with a personal history of say, someone like me. It would be fraught with danger due to the level of scrutiny of their personal life.

Using my story as the example (and please do not see this as a desire to enter politics). I’ve played hard, worked hard and made a shitload of mistakes along the way. I’ve been too drunk too many times, I’ve been to the biggest of the dance parties, I’ve mingled with the seedier side of life. I’ve done a lot of stupid things that have not only embarrassed me but also my friends and family. But I do not think I am a bad person or that this should disqualify me from public service.

I’d love to be able to vote for a politician who has experienced some of the same things that I have. Someone that has been so riddled with credit card debt they couldn’t afford a decent vodka. That they have slept with the wrong person at the wrong time in the wrong place – and on more than one occasion. I want to vote for someone who’s done a shit load of weird stuff just because they could. I do not want a clean-living, sterile and sheltered politician representing my views in Parliament.

Just like so many other people I know, love and respect… we have never been involved in violence, we have never caused injury or harm to others, we do not discriminate or harass, we have never committed any form of abuse, we have never been involved with anyone who wasn’t our equal. But our life experiences would completely rule us out of ever entering the political domain.

I just don’t see how that without making some big mistakes in life and pushing some of your boundaries that you can really get a handle on what is important or just in life. 

There are so many smart, sensitive, socially aware, driven, motivated people in our society who would be brilliant ambassadors for their electorate who could never conceivably run for a seat in parliament. As soon as their opposing party or the media did any digging they would be publicly crucified. Simply because they have lived their life!

And I passionately believe that our political system lacks character because of this. It also means that I do not think I will ever be comfortable with the decisions of my government while I know that the people making the decisions can in no possible way understand the views of big chunks of the electorate. Too much cleansing and sterilisation of our politicians has taken place.

As a result we are lumbered with the boring, narrow-minded politicians and a total disconnect with the electorate.