I am fascinated by the process of politics and governance (hence my having an opinion on almost everything) but the older I get the more appalled I become at the failure of society in general to apply more pressure on our leaders through means other than the ballot box when we see something that just isn’t right. Don’t get me wrong, I believe democracy is the best option out of all the systems on offer, I just believe that too many of us are so concerned with our own lot we can’t even see the end of our own noses – and then even when we do manage to see past the end of our own noses it is generally little more than token gestures and empty promises that end up being bandied about.
Here is a recent excerpt from The Australian newspaper which has fired me up enough to inspire an extended kvetch (that’s me on the left by the way, a tad jaundiced but otherwise okay)
FIJI’S military rulers have imposed draconian new censorship measures on the Pacific nation, posting police in the offices of media outlets and cracking down on criticism of the regime.
Kevin Rudd today condemned the reappointment of military chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama as prime minister and his clampdown on opponents, which followed an earlier move by Fiji’s president to abrogate the constitution and sack the nation’s top judges.
“Australia condemns unequivocally this action by the military ruler of Fiji to turn this great country, Fiji, into virtually a military dictatorship,” the Prime Minister said.
Source: Kevin Rudd condemns Bainimarama’s return to power in Fiji as ‘dictatorship’ in The Australian
There are two primary reasons our Prime Minister is openly criticising the recent developments in Fiji and it certainly ain’t anything benevolent. Firstly, it makes him look like he gives a hoot about human rights and democracy and secondly, we don’t need Fiji. Plain and simple. We do, on the other hand, need China to the tune of approximately $500 million per week in government bonds, their trade, their investment dollars in local businesses, their tourism… just to name a few. Oh, and Rudd doesn’t speak Fijian so he can’t look all clever like chatting with their diplomats.
So let me get this straight Mr Rudd.
Fiji + Dictatorship = bad.
China + Dictatorship = what dictatorship?
Well, Rudd did recently host Li Changchun (China’s Minister for Propaganda) at The Lodge so maybe the old boy thinks it’s all sunshine and puppies and rainbows over there for dissidents and the working classes, to name a few. Or perhaps when Mr Li told Rudd about this fantastic new blacklist for journalists and the continuing compulsory resettlement of farmers and nomads in Tibet poor Mr Rudd’s skills in Mandarin failed and he thought Mr Li simply wanted another biscuit to go with his tea.
The point I am trying to make is where is the outrage? Why is the public and the media letting this fly under the radar? Doesn’t anyone see the hypocrisy of condemning Fiji at the same time as ignoring all of the gross and flagrant human rights violations occuring in China simply because we need them, or more specifically because we need their money? Does no one see the nexus between ignoring China’s relationship with the Sudan and the resultant effect that has on the complete and utter disregard for human rights in the latter? And by human rights I don’t mean the sort demanded by the ragtag bunch of squatters in the picture below, I mean real human rights abuses, little things like genocide and torture and rape y’know?
I’m also outraged by the fact that even expressing such a view as mine at the moment is belittled as anti-China hysteria, whipping up the old images of the yellow peril and red hordes. I don’t care if you are from Beijing or Bairnsdale or Timbuktu, if I see human rights being trodden on to only then be coated with diplomatic paint I will become incensed and tell you to shut up and look at the facts.
I guess I am ultimately disappointed and, moreover, saddened by the commodification of condemnation of human rights abuses. The wristband and benefit gig culture is a prime example of this, but I will save my opinion on those for another post. In the end we only really condemn human rights abuses when it suits us and slippery eels like Krudd are getting away with it by throwing the tried and true racism card at anyone who questions them. I’m not calling for a revolution, I can’t reiterate enough my commitment to democracy, no matter how imperfect it seems at times, I merely wish the public would look past their own noses for long enough to generate the political will to institute changes from the ground up rather than expecting our politicians to do all the work.
In conclusion, let’s be realistic people, all politicians really want is to be re-elected; the public has the power to influence what issues politicians will base their election platforms on, not to mention the responsibility to put these political platforms in context and to continually demand tangible proof of their veracity. So what I am basically saying is get off yer asses before the true safeguarding of human rights is relegated to little more than relativist PR exercises utilised by relevance deprived politicians (and the occasional self-righteous celebrity) to make them look good to, well, us.
April 14th, 2009 at 1:53 am
We also need/want China’s investment in our (well, maybe just the US?) bonds and other forms of debt which keep us afloat. Good, eh?
But yeah… China sucks in various ways, even with the little tiny somewhat democratic tics they have displayed.
I know! Let’s drop some massive sanctions on Fiji!!! Maybe they’ve even got WMDs! Let’s invade!
April 14th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
nice alliteration. i appreciate it and other elements of style.
politics is the art of the possible. consider what would happen if you cut off trade with china. i don’t know how much oz imports from there, but here’s what would happen in lithuania: no more dollar stores, employees left unemployed, 99% less low price clothing at maxima (our top supermarket chain), 75% less clothing available at other stores, basically at least half of clothing retailers are going out of business or shutting down temporarily, employees left unemployed, 80% less electronics, including no mice for your computer and no mp3 players that i’ve been able to find, no furniture that anybody making minimum wage can afford, and no more codfish.
eventually these products would be replaced with non-chinese products that would be higher quality, less poisonous, and not support a dictatorship. but the interim period while little is available, and the inevitability of sky rocketing prices, makes the whole situation a little bit far fetched. people’s standard of living will go down with the mean price of things going up; additionally, people’s wages will decrease as employers costs of operation increase. oh, and don’t forget your taxes are going up to cover the unemployed masses welfare benefits of course.
i’ve mentioned in my comments before that i don’t buy chinese except when i have no other choice for essential goods, such as a mouse for my computer, a collapsible closet, and an mp3 player that my wife desperately wants for xmas; the closet i couldn’t afford to get from any other country, and the electronics simply aren’t made anywhere else and sold in lithuania; i actually bought a mouse that said on the box it was made elsewhere, but when i got home and opened it the mouse said right on it made in china.
ergo, i don’t mind the truly revolutionary act of boycotting china until they stop abusing human rights and clean up their product standards. but are you sure you don’t mind, considering what might happen to your standard of living? any politician who backed something like that could say goodbye to reelection, but he couldn’t wave goodbye with his thumb stuck so far up his ass.
April 15th, 2009 at 1:50 am
Pragmatism indeed.