The 2018 Victorian election

Well, the election is over, and the result turned out to be a landslide.

I wasn't expecting that - the polls showed the ALP with a lead, but I thought it would actually probably be a close result, and maybe an ALP-independent-Greens (despite the ALP's leader saying a coalition with the Greens wouldn't happen) coalition.

So what happened?

Well, I think a very telling comment was from a Liberal voter (to a radio show) who said he had been waiting for 40 years for a government that spent on infrastructure the way the former (Liberal) Bolte government. From memory, the commentary in response was that in Bolte's day infrastructure led to a total spending (or debt?) amounting to 40% of Gross State Product, and the current proposals increase it from a grossly inadequate 6% back up to 12% (hardly enough, as the alarmists shriek, to bankrupt Victoria within a year - which exactly the sort of alarmist nonsense spruiked about things like the UK's universal health care, about separating wastewater ["sewage", to the old fashioned] and stormwater).

I've also been waiting for the focus to move away from cutting taxes for the rich and upper middle classes to publicly providing the services people need, so the recent infrastructure spending has been great, in my opinion, and I think many others have shared that.

There are more infrastructure needs (especially hospitals and schools), but we're reversing four decades of general cut backs, and over two decades of neoliberal (formerly "economic rationalism") nonsense.

I am also infinitely relived that the neoliberals inhumanity will not rob us of essential programmes such as Safe Schools. I wonder, at times, how good the understanding that neoliberals have of humanity is - are they incapable of having any empathy for LGBTIQ kids? Do they really think LGBTIQ kids are not bullied and discriminated against in schools? Are they so blind that they can only gain an understanding of difference if someone close to them is "different"?

Maybe, although to be fair, that is a flaw many people have (including some on the other side of politics).

One flaw that I suspect is more pronounced in neoliberals (the change in terminology from neoliberal to Liberal and vice versa is deliberate, and specific) is a belief in wining at all costs. I volunteered to hand out "how to vote" cards at one booth for the ALP (first time ever), and was pleasantly surprised at how pleasant and reasonable everyone was. The Liberal handing out their cards and I even showed a bit of bipartisan unity in helping a dove that had been stunned by flying into someone (while the dove was trying to dodge a magpie). However, that person was notably also wishing all the kids who were also attending that school for a basketball game for a win in their games. Now, yes, it is good to give kids confidence a boost, to encourage them, but, as a generalisation, in life winning is not everything. As an example, the race I am most leased of when I was a kid who was sailing competitively is a race where I cam last. Just before the start, my crew, who typically wore his slicker over his lifejacket, suddenly realised he had forgotten to put his lifejacket on - so we had to sail back to the beach, he ran up to club and put on his lifejacket, and then we sailed back out to the start line, beginning around 20 minutes late (in a race that normally goes for 120 minutes). We made all that time up, and were just behind the fleet at the finish. (We probably would have done better if we hadn't had some miscommunication about the tension of the vang which caused us to capsize, but that led to sorting out that problem as well.) In short, by results, we were last and a superficial mentality would decry that, but our persistence and good performance were evident and, from a people-focused perspective, the result was great.

Other races I have been pleased with are ones where I helped others realise their abilities, but that is for another post.

I consider that generosity of spirit is, to some extent, lacking in neoliberals (again, note the distinction of terminology I am using). It is difficult enough finding it in Liberals, as that party was formed with the sole intention of stopping workers having, as the academics would put it, "agency" (alternative wording is "a fair go", or "some control over their lives", or "being treated decently"). That inherently creates a certain . . . viciousness, in my view.

On that, I think the viciousness of this campaign was a factor, and I think people saw the Liberal's viciousness (which included a lot of racist and alarmist comments about crime - maybe people can see through such rubbish?) as more pronounced than others.

As a final point before I start reading other people's opinions on what caused this result, the implosion of the Australian Greens (two candidates out, a third strongly criticised, and a fourth ordered to stop campaigning the day before the election - see here, here, and here) was staggering. My sense is that they have been struggling with the change from an issues-focused minor party, full of people with passion and purpose, to a more mainstream party ultimately capable of governing, which is a change associated with the change in leadership from Bob Brown to ultimately Richard di Natale. I think the leadership knows what is required, but other levels are hampered by having many people who are still focused on their passion, and don't realise that people with an interest in power will also now be attracted to the party, and that minority has to be managed. 

Reading

Some interesting articles I have come across recently:

• from "Democracy Now", an interview with Michael Moore on his new film: "Michael Moore vs. Donald Trump in “Fahrenheit 11/9”: New Film Warns Our Democracy Is At Risk"; 
• from "The Nation", by John Nichols - a criticism of the US Supreme Court on the matter of gerrymandering: "Now It’s Up to Voters to Stop Gerrymandering"; 
• also from "The Nation" - an article on the US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, and what Mueller's undergraduate thesis indicates: https://www.thenation.com/article/robert-muellers-undergraduate-thesis-adviser-wrote-gives-hints-hell-special-counsel/.

I was going to try to write a review of these, but I don't have the time, unfortunately.