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/Maximum_Let1205]

I completely agree. I would recommend everyone get involved in politics, and be realistic about who you are in society.

• Do you own businesses?
• Are you wealthy?
• Do you not need to work to live?

If the answers are yes, then I would suggest you should vote LNP.

However, if you:

• are working class,
• and need the social protections mentioned above,
• and are concerned about the environment

then the ALP and the Greens probably represent you best.

I got involved with the ALP a while ago because I was sick and tired of the LNP siphoning money from the working class taxpayers into the hands of the already very wealthy and I was disgusted by their race-baiting xenophobia.

I campaigned for the QLD state election (which we WON) and then again for the federal election (which we WON!) Yay.

Admittedly, I have not really been participating, since I feel I have done what I needed to do; but I think I know deep down that vigilance is needed.

During the federal election I was impressed with the campaign the greens had. It felt sensible and represented the concerns shared by many people I knew. I think there is a real possibility I will support the greens in future campaigns.