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Dogged by Censorship.... Richard with Fang
Journal of a Futurist - 7 November 2001
Eek - Censorship is back!... Or am I paranoid?
On Monday morning, October 29, irritated by the lack of media debate about the Afghan war, I suddenly got the urge to write a piece entitled 27 reasons for feeling ashamed to be an Australian. After listing 11 points, it had already reached a 1000 words, so I phoned the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald Opinion page. It’s years since I’ve written a piece on spec, loathing the drama of trying to get them published.
Why bother? To offer a counterpoint to the prevailing pap in the press, of course, but it’s more than that. The night before I’d been to the 80th birthday party of an eminent Australian, Donald Horne, who, as onetime editor of The Bulletin, had stretched the boundaries of free speech. This was back in the early sixties, when my own magazine was being hounded for challenging official platitudes. Donald was as impish and witty as ever at his wonderful party, where luminaries of the Left & Right flashed by between trays of oysters. “What about the bombings?” I hectored those unlucky enough to cross my path, “what about the boat people?”
The answers left me unsatisfied - hence the morning-after urge to bore a wider public. At the last minute, I added an upbeat and reflective climax to my 11 point confession, a “surprise”, and whisked it off:
Came the prompt reply from the Herald:
Hi Richard, I like your Op Ed article, especially the surprise. (I doubt if Piers or Alan would make it as far as that, however!). I propose to run it on Wednesday. Peter….
Opinion Editor (Acting) The Sydney Morning Herald.
This rarely happens in real life, even to experienced trouble-makers, and so I enthused:
Thanks Peter - that's a delightful surprise. Boring stuff: 1. Please attach my web address at the end for Piers & Miranda & Paddy & Imre, etc to target their dumb bombs…
Warmest, & thanks for your speeeeed,,,,, R
My ravings weren’t going to affect the course of the war or the election, but I was pleased at the prospect of widening the discussion. The following day brought this curious re-think:
From Peter, Tue, 30 Oct 2001 - Richard, Profuse apologies on this, but I have held it for the moment. After re-reading a few more times, I wondered if it might not be a wasted opportunity not to explore the shame in more detail rather than just list it? Most of these "shameful points" are already known, but what we don't yet understand is why we as a country are doing and/or supporting such shameful acts. Much of it has bi-partisan support and, it seems, electoral support. Why? And for those who regard it as a shameful time, what can we do to change things? What do you think?
Peter, Sydney Morning Herald.
Oh dear, had he been got to? Hard to say. Peter seemed a pleasant and spirited fellow on the phone, so I took him at his word:
Hi Peter, I'm happy to delve into the whys & wherefores of shame & what we can do, so long as you really do want the piece & are not just toying. What I need is 1) a max wordage, 2)deadline close to pub time, for max topicality, 3) 4U to include any other points/worries in next email, so mutual precious time isn't wasted. (Could re-write the piece on Sat/Sun). It should go in ASAP, while the sense of shame is paramount & growing. Remember, my style is sharp & swift, not ponderous & academic, like some, so make sure it's not the TONE that's unsettling, rather than the content. I appreciate your feedback & desire to go deeper, even though I was disappointed, because I know how confused & angry everybody is out there ....Warmest, RN
Peter’s reply was reassuring:
Hi Richard, Sharp and swift is good! The main concern for the Op Ed page is finding fresh, intelligent, fresh, well-backed, fresh arguments. Ideally readers should come away saying "Good point, I hadn't thought of that before (or I hadn't thought of it in that way before)." Length would be up to 800 words. …. {He explained he was soon to go on leave, however:} I will be completing an Op Ed schedule for next week and I will include you in a slot. If you can get it to me by Sunday AM, I can plan to place it on Monday. Sincerely, Peter.
Great. Dig a bit deeper. “Fresh, fresh”. Why not? I was thankful for his effort to improve the piece, and gave it another shot, which I lobbed into the Herald at 10 am Sunday morn, with this email:
Peter, as the first piece was about 1200 wds AND you asked for MORE... 800 wds is a bit unfair, don't you think? Continued slashing has got it down to 1000. Please acknowledge its receipt, warmest R
Nothing more was heard. The piece did not appear on Monday. (Instead, there was a syndicated item from New York).
Wearily, I phoned the replacement editor to check on its revised schedule and was – with great courtesy and charm - advised to place the piece elsewhere. This is Australia. Elsewhere is nowhere. Thanks heavens for cyberspace. And so, folks, here it is!
Shame, lies, death and evolution
Filed November 6
Each day I awake dreading news of the horrors inflicted on the wretched of the earth by well fed men in suits with icy smiles and a fanatical conviction that their cruelties are just and God is their helpmate. All I feel is a sense of shame.
Those publicly opposed to the bi-partisan policies on boat peopled and the bombings are branded bile mongerers, appeasers and traitors. At the heart of this split is something new, which goes beyond politics, religion, race, patriotism and knee-jerk loyalties. Still struggling from the chrysalis, it is to do with a view of the world’s future, our role in it, and a shift in the way we see this moment of evolution. It’s less about protecting our borders, more about expanding our consciousness. A way of looking at what it might mean be to be human in a networked world, raising our sights beyond markets, brand names and cheap labour, beyond our skin encapsulated egos, towards a globalised concept of self.
First, let me be frank about the source of my shame.
Already tough, our treatment of asylum seekers entered the realm of sadism on the good ship Tampa, the Titanic of fair go Australia, and it just keeps getting worse. Why? Fear of the Other. As the pace of change accelerates, it unsettles. This fear is manipulated by racists, politicians and the hacks who cook the stats. While there is an honest debate to be had on the appropriate rate of assimilation, this has not been initiated by the Opposition.
Imagine yourself as The Other, lurching from persecution to capsised craft, from container ship to containment, from fleeing the Taliban to facing Phillip Ruddock – the horror, the horror - now adrift in the land of forgetfulness, without hope, home or livelihood. All the while, our Prime Minister repeating, “we are a generous people, a decent people…”. And unique too, in regarding the enemy of our enemy as our enemy.
On the issue of the war, the Opposition fails to lead and begs to follow. This failure of leadership is so profound, so cowardly and so misguided, that even true believers must question whether a vote for Labour can be cast in a good conscience.
The slamming of planes into skyscrapers is an act of terrorism. As is the bombing of innocents in Afghanistan. Except the US pilots will be showered with medals, instead of sharing the fate of their victims. Those trapped in the world trade centre did not devise U.S. foreign policy, just as those cowering in the Afghan desert - including, even, the Taliban conscripts – did not play a role in the attacks on America. Our relentless cluster bombing – arguably an illegal weapon under the Anti-Personnel Landmine Treaty, unsigned by the United States – is tilling the soil for a harvest our children will reap.
During the rush of sympathy in the aftermath of the attack, the US had an opportunity to build a global coalition of leaders, secular and otherwise, to pursue a transparent, inclusive, mechanism of achieving justice, moving beyond a narrow doctrine of self interest. This was a chance to grapple with the source of terror, a chance for Islam to renovate its governance –to a democratic theocracy? – and to upgrade its notions of human rights. Instead, what we have now is a lynch mob. A mob armed to the teeth with the world’s deadliest weapons. (On sale for the begetting of more terror, and to further enrich the dealers, whose top brass have strong links with the Whitehouse).
How quickly have we sunk. Presidential permission to kill Osama bin Laden and his associates on sight. The condoning of torture. The depiction of us as “good people” our enemies as “evil doers” , which mirrors the mindset of terrorists: holy warriors against the Great Satan. The true aim of this war is a US compliant regime in Kabul, the building of US military and surveillance installations, an oil pipeline from the Caspian, KFC’s, the whole shebang … and our Government sends troops to die for this crap, just as it did in Vietnam.
Beyond this, what’s really at the heart of our intensifying national debate?
The world is in such a state of crisis, both ecological and humanitarian, that future growth and development needs to extend beyond a linear plane, beyond GDP and cement. Up to this point, social evolution has occurred in three stages: conquest, colonisation and consumption. We’re still in it, but it’s already over. Now a new kind of evolution is beginning to unfold, which can also be grasped under three headings: connection, communication and consciousness. This is a journey from separation to wholeness, a recognition of the inter-connectedness of all things, of welcoming the role of the spiritual (as opposed to the religious) in health, business and public life, on realising that the integrity of our borders is of far less import than the integrity of our actions. In short, we will look into the face of the Other, and see our own reflection.
When the Boeings struck the towers, I was in a Hotel in Jindabyne with 40 public servants discussing the future of education. Since then, I have travelled to every state on the mainland several times, meeting with engineers, pharmacists, real estate agents, university students, librarians, auto part franchisees, school principals, sports professionals, small business owners, builders, aged care lobbyists, corporate hot-shots, computer whizzes, politicians, and scores of cab drivers. Not just speechifying, but listening and exchanging ideas, which is how futurists sharpen their spectacles.
My surprising discovery is one of a community troubled by our cruelty to refugees and our quickness to act as Uncle Sam’s bum boy. A feeling that something special we own as a nation is being squandered by a politicians intent on inflating their self importance.
Many Australians will confront the deeper significance of this war, long before the Canberra fat cats. We will realise that we cannot create an honourable, sustainable society made up of competitive, self obsessed workaholics all trying to get richer and thinner than our neighbours, gulping ant-depressants and failing to spread joy to the world.
While the September strike on the US is seen as a “war against civilization”, our actions since then, both in Afghanistan and on the high seas, is also an attack on civilization, with no end in sight.
FINISH.
Not so wild, is it? Worth a wider audience?
Was it the victim of censorship, or did it fail the fresh test?
If you do want to read some amazing background to current events, I recommend the following link, extracted from a recently discovered book, Rogue State by William Blum. The author is a former editor of the sixties underground newspaper, Washington Free Press, and a scathing critic of US foreign policy. Blum includes former US President George Bush and Colin Powel in his list of war criminals.
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