joe.toscano's blog

The Murdoch empire: a degenerative neurological disorder that destroys the mind, body and soul of anybody who comes into prolonged contact with it.

This week we will look at the domination of the Murdoch empire and how it sets the political, social and cultural agenda in Australian society. How does it do it? Why is the legacy media still important? Why is print media still important?

Australia is based on a number of assumptions which have nothing to do with facts and figures. You can think of these assumptions as a form of ‘nation think’ and they stop us from moving forward and developing a different culture, political system and social network which deal with the basic necessities of Australian life.

The first assumption is that indigenous Australians did not resist colonisation of their land. Accompanying this assumption is that they had no form of land ownership, they lived a nomadic lifestyle and they had nothing to offer Australian society.

This week we’re discussing the concept of N.O.W – no other way.

One thing Australians believe about their country is that it is a classless society. Contrary to this belief, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp relief the contemporary class lines which run right through the nation. These class lines are delineated by people’s access to disposable income, for in a capitalist society like Australia disposable income determines what options you are able to pursue. It is the modern determinant of class.

This week, amidst the COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria, we are looking forward. Up until now, we have been in the throes of a reactive response to the pandemic. What is needed is some forward thinking and in this presentation we will put forward a ‘forward defence pandemic strategy’. We propose this because pandemics are likely to increase in a world of ever-increasing population growth, urbanisation, environmental destruction and industrial farming practises. These issues make us more susceptible to viruses crossing the animal-human barrier.

Around 50% of Australia’s workforce (appx. 6 million people) are currently without full-time employment. When changes to Jobkeeper and Jobseeker are adjusted in September, around 40% of Australians will find themselves in exceptionally difficult economic and personal circumstances. We are currently in what could be described as a COVID holiday, due to government economic supports. Once this ends, the situation will deteriorate. How is the state going to manage this?

Why is Melbourne’s second COVID-19 lockdown important? Why have we closed down the city? Why do we practise social distancing? How is COVID-19 different to influenza?

COVID-19 is a new virus. It is something we have never been exposed to. We have no immunity. There is no vaccine. There is no cure. 20% of Australia’s population are at great risk from dying the virus.

There is at present an external threat to Australia and Australians. It goes by the name of ‘China’. The Morrison-led Coalition is gearing up for the 2022 federal election with a campaign reminiscent of the successful Menzies-led campaigns of the 1960s, the ‘Yellow Peril’ and ‘Reds Under the Bed’, which won him elections many times over, despite the economic conditions in the country at the time.

As a British colonial outpost, in a land violently taken from its people, Australia is insecure about its place in Asia. Are we worried we will have stolen what we have stolen ourselves?

Some surprising statistics were released late in 2019, before COVID-19 took hold. They revealed that Australians are the second highest medicated people for anxiety in the world. Australia has a lot going for it as a society, compared to other countries, so you have to wonder why this is the case. Is it down to the individual Australian psyche? Or does it have to do with the institutional structures we find ourselves in?

About 2,000 people every year receive Queen’s Birthday and Invasion Day honours, awarded by a private organisation. They comprise a hierarchy of gongs! At the top you have the Companion of the Order of Australia medal. Tony Abbott, no less, received this honour last week. This is the man who tried to privatise Medicare. You also have philanthropists in the mix, those tax-evading individuals granting charity to the 'deserving poor', along with has-been's and media celebrities.