There was a time when we believed....

We believed that our dad was the biggest, strongest and smartest man in the world.

Then as we grew up, we discovered that this was not totally true, but he is still the best bloke in the world.

There was a time when we believed that schools would teach, but now we have some students who can't read or write, while the primary concern appears to be about the right of students to choose what bathroom they want to use. We are now ranked somewhere behind Vietnam on the OECD league table but somehow bathroom choices appears to be more important than reading, writing and arithmetic.

There was a time we believed that our religious institutions would defend the weak and innocent, only to discover abuse against children covered up by senior clergy.

There was a time we believed in our judicial system and the fairness of courts, but now we see criminals walking away with a slap on the wrist, and a legal system driven by the almighty dollar, not by justice.  

There was a time when we could trust the media to provide honest reporting, but now they are presenting opinions and allegations as fact and serve as an echo chamber for political and other pressure groups.

There was a time when we believed our political parties and leaders cared about us and our country. Yet over the years it has become clear that this is simply no longer true.

We expect our elected leaders to have some principles, but you will never hear any clear principles articulated by any politician. It is far too dangerous, as once they state their principles, their actions can be measured to these principles and they cant ever allow that to happen.

We hear loud proclamations about Australian Values, morals and ethics, but when politicians use these words they have no meaning other than as an effort to sound sincere, while they continue to do whatever they want to do.

We become cynical after spending years trying to speak, in vain, to any level of government, because they are terminally deaf and have no mechanism or desire to hear from us, the great unwashed deplorables, however loudly they proclaim that "they are listening".

We notice that once they have our votes, they go from appointed to anointed, "demigods" in their own eyes and answerable only to the "party room" and we unfortunately have no idea who the "party room" is answerable to, but we know it is not us.

We hear the politicians commissioning yet another enquiry or investigation or report, but somehow it appears we always need one more. There are never definitive answers or actions and vast amounts of borrowed money somehow disappear down some rabbit hole, without ever producing much other than more debt.

We try to speak but are fearful of having an opinion, because there might just be some snowflake who will be offended and use 18c to lay charges against us.

We watch as drug use escalates every year and alcohol consumption increases along with gambling debts.

We watch as 50% of those in prisons are reported to have both drug and mental health issues, while  more prisons are being built.

We watch as domestic violence increases and children are killed in the process, while yet another investigation is launched.

We watch as the homeless numbers climb steadily and social services decline along with pensions.

We watch as foreign aid is dispensed using borrowed money, while Australia participates in illegal wars in distant lands, with questionable outcomes, all paid for with more borrowed money.

We watch the massive expenditure on military hardware, to be paid for with borrowed money.

We watch as our industries are destroyed on the altar of Free trade and globalisation while jobs are shipped overseas to save a buck.

We watch as our utility bills continue to increase, road tolls, fees, charges and taxes escalate, while multinational corporations ship their profits off to some tax haven, avoiding paying tax in Australia.

We hear our prime minister say "We're not defined by race or religion or culture, as many other nations are" but rather by Common Values. We are still waiting to hear what these "common values" are, as we now apparently no longer have a culture!

George Orwell had it right when he said - Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

We know that while politicians can ignore reality, we can't escape the consequences of them ignoring reality.

So, we watch. we wait. we listen,  While slowly the life blood is drained from the nation and we no longer know who or what to believe........... there was a time once when we had faith in society but no longer. Is this to be our legacy?