Saturday, March 25, 2017

Protester... or not

Euripides seemed to know, thousands of years ago, what came from evil. These days I see evil on this planet. Oh I know it's not “new”, it's been around for so long, but evil-thinking people probably don't even think that their thoughts are evil – they simply don't know anyone in poverty.


Thinking this was supposed to be sending me to the March for March in Brisbane today. I'd put my name down to go there, I'd worked myself up so much against far too much evil I see in the government. Except now I'm over-excited; I can't go today. I can't talk to anyone, I would be there entirely alone.

On Wednesday this week there was a march to protest education becoming far too expensive. It should be free, unless, of course, some church runs their own. Yes, pay for that. Not everyone has – or takes – the choice. I'd planned on going to that protest, but on Wednesday I was even too tired to really enjoy the Streetbeat rehearsal. I took the train home after that and lay on my bed, hoping that the education march would be successful. They'd never miss me.

My intention to go to the protest today is something I've done often for the last 5 or more years. I had friends who came with me, I met up and chatted with people. I felt so strong about the protests for the reef, domestic violence, education, mining, tax, you name it. Anything under the previous ALP government, and much, much worse under the current LNP government. Today I would have gone along as a disabled person who suffers from my stroke with aphasia and is pretty close to poverty with no personal choice... but aphasia would stop me from talking to people. Chatting to people.

No government should cut the tax charged to huge businesses. No government should cut the unemployment or disability payments. No government should play with the child care allowance. No government should roll over unions when they can't even prove whatever they think! Euripides didn't know anything about how our planet now lives, but he knew why evil happens.


Too many people – even rich or well-off people – object to poverty. Most people who live in poverty or very close, like me, did not choose. I didn't choose to have a stroke. I didn't choose to have aphasia. I didn't choose to stop working. Dame Jane Morris Goodall DBE, a “British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace”, according to Wikipaedia, said that 80% of the people living in poverty should have their standard of living raised. What's happening in this country looks, to me, like it's getting worse.

I know I'm not alone, proverbially. The unemployment ratio has grown. The part-employment has grown hugely! ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) said that the unemployment percentage was 5.8%, and the “labour underutilisation” (part employment) is up to 14.4%. Female underutilisation has increased to 16.8%. In February, according to them, the participation rate remains at 64.6%, employment increased, but so did unemployment. By 5,200 nationally.


The protest is also reacting as a result of the penalty wages change; perhaps you needed to be aware of what the Commission said about this. I absolutely disagree with what they did, and I object to how they turned down the submission by the unions. For me, unions are extremely important to many “normal” workers, because that's how we got to where we were/are. Have a read of this link.

Mining is a huge protest, especially Adani mining which is setting up in Queensland, with a port into the reef area (Abbott Point). That is absolutely unreal, yet the government – and the Qld government state government – will give Adani $1 billion. Right now Aus doesn't even make a profit on whatever fossil fuel we are selling! ABC's PM program on Wednesday 22nd March said that Adani protest groups were “vow[ing] to launch mass protest against mining giant Adani.” Perhaps they'll be separate from today's protest – but I don't think they will start separately. I've walked in their protests before.

Within this country, right now, there is far too much communication: “misunderstandable” communication, “fake” news, long articles, short articles, “shares” throughout media, Twitter, Facebook, too many groups who oppose whatever the government does. Too many people have stopped reading anything, because they can't understand it – or politics turns them off. Most of those people won't go to the protest today, or any other day. But every government action hits them. I don't know “rich” people; I do know many beneficiaries. I didn't choose where I am. I didn't choose to have a stroke. I didn't choose to be on DSP, yet this is my present reality. Whatever is being passed through this government now will not be in my favour.

Today I can not communicate with anyone.
 



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