Wednesday, 1 January 2020

Is Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison evil?

In the opinion of myself and many others, there is no doubt that Scott Morrison - or, perhaps more accurately, the Morrison "government", is incompetent (complete lack of preparation for this year's fire season), stupid (as all climate denialist dinosaurs are), and so focused on the numbers of "a budget surplus" that they are failing to govern (the numbers are supposed to be about making life better for everyday Australians, for elites and the wannabe wealthy w**kers).

Scott Morrison has also annoyed many people with his apparently inappropriate smirk, but I don't know whether that is just a physical characteristic or an indication of a deeper malaise - a flaw of character, personality and humanity.

But does any of this mean he is evil?

I don't know, yet. I looked at this with Peter Dutton once, and concluded that his actions and policies are harmful enough to be evil, but wasn't sure whether Dutton was a stooge for evil, or evil himself.

In terms of resisting Dutton's policy preferences, that makes little difference, as it is important to attack the policy, not the person, for the sake of healthy, constructive politics . . . but there are exceptions.

There is no doubt Hitler was evil. In Australia, I consider both Joh Bjelke-Peterson (aka “the Flying Peanut”, who did quite a bit of good when he first got in), and John Howard (although he did a great act of good in introducing gun control laws – that have subsequently been watered down) were evil. That raises my intensity of activism, and in that context the character of those people is a significant issue - not the idiotic distractions that the USA has on compliance with neochristian morality, but it shows the person to be dangerous and unfit to hold those levels of power.

In that sense, I consider both Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison to be unfit to hold power, because of the levels of devastation they are implementing to Australian society - and I note some opinions are that the dereliction is criminal.

However, I still have doubts as to whether they are evil in the sense that, to add a third example, former Senator Fraser Anning is.

Dangerous, inept/incompetent, and to be opposed strongly, and I wouldn't ever consider either to be a potential friend, but I still have hesitations over calling either "evil".

I've been tempted to at times, but both have also shown some redeeming features, albeit in response to pressure, and that . . . potential to improve that John Howard never exhibited, despite his ban on guns, is probably why I have that reluctance about the persons, albeit not the policies.

It would help resolve my doubts if they recognised that circumstances are equivalent to that of a war, and thus dictate the need to put a budget surplus back, at the very least.

I've seen in my life the leaders of groups (clubs, and community-based groups) stymied by circumstances, and having to abandon their dreams to respond to circumstances or events. I've also seen it with leaders - notably to me, Abraham Lincoln in 1860s USA, but, probably of more relevance to Messrs Dutton and Morrison, Menzies with the start of World War (part) Two.

Will they follow those examples, or continue to display a lack of, or at the very least problems with having, empathy?

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