That probably got your attention. I should add its not personally directed at you, unless you are in one of the groups on my hit list.
A few things have happened
recently regarding the culture of entitlement and victimhood. We really need to
be talking about this stuff. Freely, openly and, honestly.
I’ll start by saying I was delighted with the announcement
from the High Court of Australia confirming they have thrown out the challenge
by four former federal MP’s to retaining Gold Passes entitling them to free
travel for life. They are now entitled to 10 domestic free trips per year. This
greedy bunch; Barry Cunningham, Tony Lamb and Barry Cohen (Labor) John Moore
(Liberal) wanted more.
It has emerged, this High Court decision has saved taxpayers
MILLIONS on top of our annual $40MILLION pension bill; current payments to
former politicians. Had the High Court
upheld the appeal, 350 ex-MPs and 100 spouses would have benefitted. So well
done and three cheers to the seven member bench of the Court.
Yesterday, Linda Burney, Labor MP was in printed sprouting
on about domestic violence within the indigenous community. Ms Burney
highlighted one particular case that resulted in the death of a young woman.
Yes, it is both very sad and appalling. Yes, there’s a problem. But I object to
this statement. “The blame for
that murder lies firmly with the person who committed the crime but the failure
of the system is the result of government funding cuts.” Every time it comes
back to money.
Ms Burney went to say, “The
violent history of colonisation, policies of forced removal and the breakdown
of kinship structures have long-lasting legacies. It must engage those in
communities already battling the issue.”
Ms Burney goes on to lay blame at
the feet of Liberal state and federal governments. Stating Policy failures rest with government,
not communities who have been crying out for decades offering solutions, only
to be ignored.
These problems are not new. Ms
Burney wants to blame the problems on our violent history, forced removal and
the breakdown of kinship structures, they didn’t happen yesterday. How many
more years have to be spent on trying to fix these issues? We already
contribute millions and millions annually to indigenous causes. So from where I
sit, it’s not about money or which government is in power. It’s about the
status of victimhood and entitlement. Take ownership and fix the problems
yourselves.
I read an interesting article
recently. It was about peacekeeping and justice. They made some excellent points.
This one really resonated; it was about claims of deservingness. How that can
lead to societies where rights and access to state resources depends on what
group you belong to rather than on fairness and equality. So, special rights
can present a problem for social justice.
Based on research conducted by Vamik
Volkan the article also highlighted victims tend to behave selfishly. This is
led by a sense of entitlement to ‘equal the score’. We see this behaviour a lot
during the indigenous discourse. I’ve been wronged so you pay. Professor Volkan
observed such “exaggerated entitlement” in studying groups of victims that make
claims for their own group regardless of the costs and consequences for others. In the globalised field of
peacebuilding, the status of victimhood has experienced an “upgrading”. Victims
have had an almost sacred “aura” now.
We are really struggling as a society in Australia to keep up with the demands on the public purse. We have been warned time and again we are living beyond our means. But still they line up for more. This is the point Professor Volkan is making. Where we have entrenched entitlement it is all about them and their group. They don't consider or care about anyone else. It's so selfish.
How many times do we have to hear I’m entitled because of what
happened two hundred ago? Or the stock standard I’m entitled because I can’t get a
job. More likely far too many are not prepared to sacrifice anything in the efforts to actually get a
job. Then we have those who are ripping off the system based on both
entitlement and victimhood. The list is too long. To long to cover each group but disability cheats are way at the top.
Get off your bums and do something constructive with your
lives should be the message we send. Whenever sobs stories emerge
I am reminded of the wonderful Nick Vujicic. Nick is an Aussie. He was born
with no arms or legs. His motto, “No arms, no legs, no worries.” Nick has a career,
a family and a wonderfully productive life. Pity more didn’t follow his lead. If he can do it. So can so many others who will never have to face the challenges Nick has.
Whilst the example of greedy
politicians and, our indigenous are coming from different standpoints the
mindsets are the same. My group deserves more than your group. We see the same
with many welfare recipients. Recently we were made aware of whole families
feeding off the public purse, year, after year, after year. The trouble with
these entitlement parasites is people who really need and deserve help are
struggling to get it. Worse still, they have political parties doing their
bidding for them. It’s galling when you think it about it. We pay politicians (who
rip us off) to do the bidding for the ‘entitlement’ “victimhood’ industry to
rip us off even more.
“A society where victims become
the protagonists based on the ‘compassion and entitlement economy’ based on the
‘commoditisation of so called suffering’. Entitlement and victimhood has become
extremely profitable bringing with it self-appointed moral authority crusaders,
contrived political legitimacy and significant economic victimhood industry benefits.”
Oh what an incestuous society we
have created.
