Ok. You get 24 hours.
24 hours to despair. 24 hours to be angry. You get 24 hours to be shocked, scared, horrified and/or despondent.
And then you shut up. Then you look at what will help, what will be constructive and what you can do. But you don’t whinge. You don’t insult people, you don’t shout at them, you don’t unfriend them. Because if you do, you’re part of the problem – possibly a bigger problem.
Was this a good result? Hell to the fuck no. This is a terrible election result in so many ways. Abbott’s eviction is the only bright light here. And yes, really really bad things will happen. Refugees will die in prisons. Adani will be approved. Emissions will increase. The economy will weaken. Pauline will open her mouth and words will come out. This is a terrible result and very bad things will happen.
But the long march of civilization still heads towards progressivism. This was not a landslide victory for the Coalition, it was a narrow defeat for Labor. That means close to 50% of the country are on the side of compassion and science. Mostly all the states that aren’t Queensland, really, which isn’t particularly surprising. So let’s not panic.
Things. Can. Get. Better. But we have to fight – constructively – for that change. And we’re fighting a powerful enemy – we’re fighting the propaganda machines of Murdoch and Palmer. We’re fighting the racism and fear of Hanson and Anning. And the selfishness and political pragmatism of Dutton, Morrison, Frydenberg and Joyce.
Throwing in the towel only helps them. So we need to figure out how we can counter the misinformation, fear and ignorance. Play to your strengths – if you’re not a people person who can engage people and generate meaningful dialog then maybe door-knocking isn’t for you. Maybe you’re better suited to writing to your elected representatives and their opposition. Or maybe you’re better able to help at volunteer organisations, or you can let businesses know why you won’t be buying from them. Or maybe none of those, maybe you need to find something effective to do. But please: make it constructive.
And if you can’t be constructive, be quiet.
You’ve got 24 hours. Then we pick ourselves up and get on with the job.
