Descartes wrote, “I think, therefore I am.”
I prefer my own version: “𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.”
Someone made a very relevant comment this morning:
“But I don’t think a lot of Australians are interested in the principle of democracy at this stage. They are too angry, disillusioned, confused or not really engaged.”
And therein lies the problem. Anger, disengagement and confusion create fertile ground for simplistic slogans and emotional politics.
A few months ago, I wrote about the difficulty of being a voice of reason in an overtly tribal society, where issue after issue in public debate has hardened into moral absolutes, leaving little room for caution, complexity or constitutional restraint.
I also wrote about how social media has accelerated the collapse of nuance. Complex legal or constitutional arguments rarely survive the demand for instant outrage. Calm voices are flattened into caricatures, accused of “both-sideism” or cowardice simply for refusing to inflame. Ignorance and misunderstanding flourish, mistruths spread like wildfire, and facts are buried in the melee. Behind much of that lies the fuelling of anger.
And I will restate it.
Being the voice of reason isn’t about cold calculation. It isn’t driven by anger, ideology or playing to the loudest crowd. In Australian politics, reason means exercising judgment under pressure—choosing what is right over what is easy, and holding to principle even when it comes at a political cost.
Reason is not the absence of conviction. It is conviction disciplined by evidence, proportion and principle.
Hard times test a country. When met with restraint and fairness, they don’t weaken us—they sharpen our sense of responsibility to one another. That is how trust is built and social cohesion is maintained.
A politics without reason slides into division and outrage. A politics guided by reason resists that pull, values proportion over theatrics, and remembers that unity in Australia is earned through fairness, restraint and respect—not slogans. Perhaps we have lost sight of that, but we should strive to regain it for all our sakes.
If we are to dig ourselves out of this hole, we have to rediscover the value of reason and the principles that underpin democracy. That doesn’t mean avoiding difficult conversations or pretending genuine differences don’t exist. It means challenging ideas honestly, resisting the temptation to inflame, and refusing to let anger become the driving force of our politics.
Each of us has a responsibility to be that voice—even when it means standing apart from the tribe.
