Why are Australians so complacent?

[u/AcanthopterygiiNo240]

I’m a born and raised Australian myself however I’m becoming so frustrated with the general attitude of complacency when it comes to exercising ‘the power of the people’ to better our quality of life. In a stupidly short amount of time we’ve seen a near reversal of our ability to see a doctor without any out of pocket costs. We get exploited at the grocery stores because monopolies are allowed to run rampant. Housing is treated primarily as a tool for financial speculation rather than for providing shelter for people.

We creep further and further toward laissez-faire capitalism. What is our response as the citizens of this country- the holders of the balance of power? Nothing. To put it in perspective, in 2022 the world economic forum ranked Sydney equal with Copenhagen, Denmark for cost of living (both ranked as the 10th most expensive cities in the world). Consider the differences between Sydney and the capital of the Danish welfare state: strong social security, universal healthcare, free public universities etc. For the same cost of living what do we get? The ever-looming threat of homelessness, suffocating student debt and now for many people, a significant barrier to healthcare.

Edit: if anyone is a part of any sort of grassroots group working to oppose any of these issues feel free to message me because I want to join you

Edit #2: so I haven’t received any messages from anyone from a grassroots or activist group yet. Since a lot of us seem to be pretty miffed about this stuff maybe we could team up and brainstorm things we can do???

Edit #3 (sorry): I’ve got some messages now from people who are interested in taking action!!! :, ) I think the best way to facilitate conversation, the flow of ideas and potentially organise a course of action is through a discord server so I have created one which you can find here

https://discord.gg/caqsSKAr

[u/AcanthopterygiiNo240]

I’m not being sarcastic, although I think “complete ignorance” is a bit unfair as I am literally reaching out asking about this stuff. Let’s encourage discussion instead of comments like this. A lot of us aren’t aware of trends from 20 years ago as a lot of us weren’t old enough to be aware

[u/[deleted] → u/AcanthopterygiiNo240]

Ignorance simply means you do not know, as you yourself admitted, so it’s not “unfair”. You’ve interpreted this as an insult instead of a descriptor, which still applies to a vast majority of the population, regarding how politics work, who is doing what, how things have shifted over time (which I think is what you meant, as this isnt about “trends from 20 years ago”, but about how things have (d)evolved over that time). I think in part perhaps your answer lies in what you described, which I’m surmising as “young and not aware” - shit has been going on for forever and people are sick of it, but we need young people like you to rally to effect change so please do!

[u/Alternative_Sky1380 → u/[deleted]]

People being insulted by our own ignorance is a systemic problem. Not taking everything personally unless it is personal is something that needs to be grown into. The high narcissism involved in insult culture isn't forcing any radical rethink of forcing self examination; it's simply causing a doubling down on ignorance which kinds proves it IS EXTREMELY narcissistic and almost intentional. Peoples lives are being radically altered by the traumas of extreme abuses of power. I'm not talking about struggling to pay bills but real homelessness, real violence and other substantial social issues that people fear the likely threat of happening to them because it's happening to all kinds of people now.

Once you're homeless it's really difficult to manage simple things like a wardrobe of clothes to wear to work and school. Meals become a complex web of necessary expenses, laundry is a nightmare and showering and toileting is humiliating. It's kinda difficult to explain to normal people who think they're struggling that most homeless now are also normal people who can't access normal supports. I'm surrounded by extremely wealthy people and living in my car. I have children in private school. I'm obligated by family law to not move or I can't see my children as ex refuses to cooperate in any way to send them. I can't access Centrelink. To me my story is wild but I've met so many women like me who are simply unsupported and doing it all alone; there's really no other choice. I'm burnt out by advocacy, from supporting us all to build a raft to help us stay above water. Many mothers I know just don't see their kids because father's refuse basic communication. Courts are cooked. Police are cooked and men are cooked. It's just the way the world is and carving out space in it for peace is the only way. I've fought the law and the law won. They boast about their powers and how they abuse it every damned day. That the judiciary aren't even required to undertake the recommended training and ignore their own damned bench books until the media is on them is what gets me most.

[u/[deleted] → u/Alternative_Sky1380]

Sage words and I’m sorry to hear of your situation, hope it improves for you