Moving beyond either/or in politics and business

Eminent human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC, who is advising Australians stranded overseas who have filed legal action against the Australian federal government in the United Nations’ Human Rights Committee in Geneva, says the following:

“Both our political parties have, in the past, done what they can to help Australians overseas but Mr Morrison is behaving as if in a moral vacuum – he does not seem to care very much about the suffering caused to fellow Australians.”

Source

Moral vaccum according to my Urban dictionary is "A complete lack of morals and integrity, in most cases acting belligerently and knowingly rejecting scrutiny."

'Moral vaccum' in my view is a perfect description of our current Federal Government in Australia. As one whose cause is #eliminatinginjustice I have for sometime used Twitter as one way that I can influence changing the narrative and moving to a world beyond either/or politics.

Here's a recent Tweet of mine

Replying to @Paul_Karp

"This needs repeating over and over I feel "the real story is the PM's terrible handling of gender equity, harassment and violence". I might add among other things. The PM's mistakes, missteps and malice are in plain sight. Can we have an election please?"

Paul Karp is a political reporter at Guardian Australia. I was replying to his tweet below:

"I think identifying the target of PM's bad misfire at News Corp is fine, but most other details in that AFR smash-up on Sam Maiden were gratuitous. Her reporting speaks for itself. She isn't the story, the PM's terrible handling of gender equity, harassment and violence is."

I sometimes cop some criticism from my colleagues for my comments about politics and religion on Twitter. I accept and acknowledge it and am committed to being kind, fair and respectful. I speak out because of Karl Poppers paradox of intolerance. See this article by Theo Sheppard. My thanks to Twitter friend Sue Barrett for putting me in touch with Poppers work.

Quoting from the above article "Karl Popper, the influential Austrian-born British philosopher and academic, stated that unlimited and unchecked tolerance will almost inevitably lead to the extinction of tolerance in its entirety."

Personally I cannot stay silent while conservative governments around the world fail to address climate change, inequality, domestic violence and other ills hindering us as a civilisation from being the best that we can be.

To be fair progressive politicians don't always do what must be done either. I want to move beyond either/or politics to a place where politicians are collaborating for the common good.

I will say that in my country, Australia, is it difficult to name one social change for the better that conservative politicians have made, that they initiated, in 100 years.

And in America I am flabbergasted that the conservatives there seem to be hellbent on restricting voting rights as a tactic to gain power.

Below are just a few areas in Australia where the current conservative government is failing society in my view. 

Please write to me at ian@ianberry.biz to share the story in your country. Write also if there is in fact a social change initiated by conservatives in Australia in the past 100 years. And write too if you can add to the following:

Areas where better, more valuable and wiser leadership and governance is required in Australia (and why I won’t be voting conservative at the next Federal election)

• Adult behaviour in the parliament question time and at press conferences.
• Aboriginal deaths in custody.
• Aboriginal inclusion in our constitution.
• Aged care.
• Air travel.
• Allowing people who are not members of the government to speak and other standing orders of parliament.
• Answering questions.
• Asylum seekers.
• Bushfire and other disaster relief.
• Childcare.
• Child abuse protection.
• Climate action.
• Democracy definition and adherence.
• Education relevance to life.
• Energy policy.
• Equality for women, indigenous people, people with disabilities, 
• Legal action being taken against whistleblowers by the government (and lack of support for whistleblowers e.g. Julian Assange).
• LGBTIQ people.
• Gaslighting.
• Government funding of projects during or just before elections.
• Independent Commission Against Corruption and behaviour standards in general.
• Infrastructure e.g. Energy, NBN. Public Transport.
• Investment in renewable energy and positioning Australia as a world leader in this field.
• Job Seeker Investment.
• Jobs gained by politicians post their political careers.
• Lobby groups.
• Political donations.
• Psychological as well as physically safe workplaces.
• Sexual harassment.
• TAFE funding.
• Timely and professional response to inquiries (Royal Commissions and others).
• Transitioning fossil fuel industry.
• Truth-telling.
• University funding.
• Violence and abuse against women and children.

What would you add to the list?

The biggest reason I will be voting for an Independent next election is lack of integrity and the moral vaccum mentioned at the beginning of this post. We have a Prime Minister and a string of Ministers who are captured on film today saying one thing and then tomorrow saying they never said what they did. 

Very few people question this lack of integrity. The Independents we have speak truth to power and are endeavouring it seems to me to do the right thing unencumbered by either/or or ideologies.

Who will you become? What will you do next?

Become the wise leader you want to be.

Ian

PS Of course if either/or is present in your business you are simply working with the brakes on. If you are a boss who believes that your way is the only way then I beg you for your own sanity and for your best future and that of your business, change your ways and learn how to find and sustain shared-view.