Get Off Your Backside & Take Responsibility For Yourself

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.

POLITICS IS A DIRTY GAME : WHY?

Politics is a dirty game, but why should it be? Why should we not demand more from those whom we elect and entrust to establish and uphold our laws? The people that we put in office to manage the country and to make decisions on our behalf, in the best interests of the greater good? 

In business, we expect leaders to lead by example. We expect them to behave in a way that inspires others to follow their lead. We expect them to deliver the required results forbthe business and we expect them to "do that the rught way." I read recently that a Western ethical philosophy can be divided roughly into three types:

Virtues such as justice, charity and generosity benefit the person and the person's society. This as pointed out is largely based on Aristotle's ideas.

Ethics are central to morality - a human duty - based on rational people's respect for other rational people. (Notably supported by Kant.)

The guiding principle is based on conduct which produces the greatest happiness or benefit to the greatest number of people. (Referred to as utilitarianism - this might be also be considered 'the greater good' concept.)

Great leaders live by a personal a moral code of honesty, integrity, fairness and ethics. Personal responsibility, compliance with the law, relationships; treating people with respect and dignity are core attributes. They understand the dangers of conflict of interest and therefore limit their acceptance of gifts. The most ethical simply decline rather than risk compromise. They are responsible when it comes to managing company money and assets. They set the standard that others aim for in building great organisations. In essence, they walk the talk.. 

When I am coaching and mentoring young leaders, I encourage them to seek out those people who demonstrate the core values that makes them great leaders and to target those people as their role models and mentors. 

So why do we not expect and demand the same from politicians? Why should politicians not be viewed as role models. The last time I looked they were about third from the bottom of the ethical career chart.  

I read this morning that young women admire Julia Gillard and view hercas a role model. Why? Because she is a female? Because she became Prime Minister? Do they ever consider how she got there? As we have learnt over recent months there was nothing honourable in her elevation. I certainly wouldn’t be encouraging any of the young females I coach to use Julia as an example. And before anyone jumps to conclusions, that has nothing to do with her political allegiance. It’s purely based on her leadership values. 

I've worked with some truly great leaders. It each case the following quote was key to how they wanted to be remembered. 

“It’s not what you achieve, it’s how you achieve it, that defines the quality of us as individuals” 

I am sure I am not alone in thinking that the personal standards of many of our politicians are simply not up to scratch. Their personal attacks on others are commonplace. Rorting the system has turned into a national sport. Undermining colleagues in leaking to the press is endemic. Threatening and abusive behaviour is worn as a badge of honour by others, and then we have the lying. Lying to undermine, lying to scare the population and the worst; lying in an attempt to destroy the reputation of others, for self gain. Shabby, grubby behaviour, and certainly not worthy of their honourable title. 

I’ve never been in favour of appraisal systems. My reasons why is another story, but, I would be in favour of an appraisal system for politicians based on their personal standards of behaviour. I expect if we had one, a reasonable percentage of the current crop would be fired. And a fair proportion would receive a must improve or else card. 

So why do we put up with it? Politics should be challenging. Any competitive environment is, but it shouldn’t be ‘dirty’. We should be demanding better. We deserve better. Until we do demand better, we will never attract enough people of real quality to the top jobs in the country. We will always be stuck with the D & E team players and the few A team will be left to struggle, I find that a very, very depressing. Not to mention fearful for the country and therefore our future. 

TIME TO DEMAND MORE....