“The system that led us into our environmental, social and economic position, is not the system that can lead us out” - Anonymous
In whatever year you read this, there are just three possibilities of what your current political practice looks like. 1 - your political system is the same as it has always been. 2 - you maintain a better political system than the one I lived under in 2020. 3 - your political system is worse than mine.
To change yourself is hard enough, but to improve a political system means amending the way things have been done for hundreds of years. Only by changing the mindsets of people who are in a political system, can we change a political system. As the public is not allowed to help improve our political system, that is the greatest failing of the system we have.
Why does a political system in a stable country like Australia need to be changed? If what we have a system that favours only one section of society, which is the political ruling class, then to be fair and equal, it should be changed.
The political system that exists now, in 2020, is the same system that existed in 1920. In one hundred years, there has been so little progress that it is almost impossible to see any improvement.
Countless numbers of political parties and people have come and gone who wanted to change things. Some tried to improve our political system but were thwarted by those in power. Their efforts amounted to nothing. We still maintain the same types of politicians implementing the same kinds of policies as they did in 1920.
The reason we kept the same political system is that what our forefathers set up is constructed not to be changed. Almost no politician has had the will to create any real change. And that is because the system holds the same people with the same ideologies in power. Our system is governed by white middle-aged conservative males who have at their heart, vested interests in keeping white middle-aged conservative males in power. These people deny others who do not fit their way of thinking; their ideology. They keep change out by preventing people from joining political movements based on their race, sex and ideology.
Like a lot of countries, Australia has an almost equal number of males and females. Our current elected government is the Liberal Party (LP). There are 11 women in the LP, just one is Caucasian. The LP consists of 61 males, all but one is Caucasian. There is not one woman in the LP executive, and they are only Caucasian.
Our system prefers the same people who not only think the same, but they must look the same.
Today, there are about seven million people here who were not born in Australia. They have moved here and become citizens or permanent residents. The population of Australia sits at 25 million; so, 28% of Australians were not born here. However, in the LP team, there are two non-Australian born people out of 72 in total. So less than three per cent of people in the LP were not born here. And, only 11% of people in the LP are women. While in Australia, over 50% of the population are women. I offer you these figures to highlight how our political system works. Just in case you think I am giving you fake news; you can research my claim. The figures show that our political system supports by far just the one type of people. But, what’s more important, these people all think, vote and make policies that benefit their system and their ideology.
So what can you do to change the system?
Your voice is important. Being heard is important. However, by the time you step up to the microphone, it's too late. The system is set; the stage is set for another show that contains more of the same dialogue surrounded by the same worn-out ideology.
Nothing will change if you get up to the microphone to scream or cry out, because the system is still the same. You can't change the system after it is set in place. You can scream and cry if you want, but you will be screaming into a void where people cannot voice change, and no one is listening. As the rock band, The Who said in their song Won't Get Fooled Again, ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss’. The new boss learnt everything he knows from the old boss.
You need to set up a new system if you want to affect change that gets rid of bosses running everything.
The old boss learned to master the game of politics many years ago. Now, the game can only be played within their rules. But, rules can be remade. The game can be redesigned.
The past democratic political systems have many attributes that are worthwhile including in a new system. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel; you just need to make sure it well lubricated with the right balance of fairness and equality. Injustice is the block in the road that holds back progression. To remove that blockage, the system needs to be changed.
When the major roadblocks in our political system are removed, the road to further change will become much easier to achieve. We can then start to see real progress and achieve equality for all.
