Post-Election Feels

I've been in a really deep dark hole the last couple of days since the election result predictions that we'd long dreaded were revealed to be accurate. I guess they call this grief. I don't know how I didn't see it coming, but I'm really upset - to the extent that all the tools I'd usually use to lift my mood have lost their effect. Not only does no amount of crunchy, sweet, salty or deepfried food make me feel better, in fact I've completely lost my appetite - this has never happened to me before!!! The miraculous Melbourne sunshine is no longer as incredible as it was last week and the week before. And contrary to Tony's Magic Consumer Confidence Fairy theory I don't want to buy stuff - although I think his theory was based more on positive feelings than mass depression.

But being a habitual over-thinker, I truly believe I can pull myself out of this by working my way through all my feelings in a rational, logical way. So here goes:

Why I'm upset:

  • I'm delighted that Adam Bandt has retained his seat of Melbourne and that he's my elected representative. I'm really proud of Melbourne for displaying the requisite level of compassion and long term thinking expected of human beings. But the fact that Adam is the only Greens Member nationally has reminded me that I live in a bubble of social consciousness, and the people I work with, trade ideas and stories with, and generally have ongoing contact with are the exception, not the rule in this country. You only need look at the craziness that's happening in Queensland and New South Wales to see that Melbourne is a progressive island paradise in a sea of selfishness and greed. The fact that we voted the Coalition into power fills me with such a sense of despair at what Australians think is important. Then again, perhaps I'm not giving everyone enough credit - perhaps it is actually a reaction to Rudd's PNG Policy.

  • The Coalition's 3 big policies are complete bullshit in my opinion. Here's why:
  1. The economy is already great. We're in an incredibly fortunate position, we're affluent and comfortable - especially when you compare where many other developed countries are. The Coalition are petrified of debt, even though now is a super cheap time to get your hands on some, and spend it on much needed long term infrastructure upgrades for things like public transport NOT roads. If the debt is really as big a deal as they've made it out to be all election campaign, brace yourself for some serious austerity measures.
  2. The boats are not scary and neither are asylum seekers - but Abbott has reduced the complexity of the global political climate, and all of our border security and international policy issues to a three word slogan, turning Australia into a hateful, racist, elitist place to be. I'm worried about where policy on migration and refugees is going to go. I feel pretty confident that it won't be to a place of more compassion and opportunity for the persecuted and marginalised.
  3. Continuing to ignore our over-reliance on mining is the surest way to kill our economic future. In my opinion, the good fortune that we're well endowed with natural resources other countries want to burn, should benefit all of us collectively, not line the pockets of a few. Scrapping the Carbon Tax and removing the Mining Tax - the only other mechanism for this money to be reinvested (in, like, I don't know, renewable energy, education and research, for example) seems incredibly short sighted. We're resting on our laurels and ignore the realities of our changing climate and the changed global economy. China won't want our coal forever, they've got their own pollution apocalypse to deal with.
  • With some of the senate results coming through it is absolutely undeniable to me that the political system in Australia is fundamentally broken. Collectively, we're frustrated and disenchanted with the major parties, but the minor parties have only a small amount of influence, and. And while I we're extremely affluent, we're convinced we're all hard done by, and consequentially we're not making any kind of progress toward lasting prosperity for our country. And while we're talking about a working democracy, it seems we've forgotten an unbiased media is an essential ingredient. As long as Australian media ownership looks like it does currently, we'll never have true democratic process.

  • The Coalition have become great at being in opposition - assisted by Rudd and his ego. But I'm not convinced they'll actually be any good at governing. Beyond their slogans and their dot point plans, it all just feels so shortsighted.

  • With the glaring exception of the extremely biased Murdoch press, it seems almost everyone else thinks it is a bad idea for the Coalition to be leading this country. The party were petrified Abbott would screw their chances, avoiding any opportunity for him to put his foot in his mouth throughout the entire campaign. When the success of their campaign is contingent on how well he kept his mouth shut, we know we're in a bit of bother. He didn't reveal costings for any of his policies until mere days prior to the election, and evidently no-one was bothered and voted for him anyway.

  • I don't know what I can do to fix it - I feel powerless. I know that the stuff we're doing at the Centre for Sustainability Leadership is really important. But at times like these I'm reminded that we're just scratching the surface. I wrote previously about finding the most powerful levers to access - and I had thought that politics/policy change was one of them. I think now is the time to be focusing on others.

  • I'm kicking myself that I didn't post all this before the election. What good is it for me to be whinging now that it's all over? But I guess I naively thought that things would come out in the wash, that results would not be as bad as they were predicted to be, and common sense would prevail. That didn't quite work out.

Cheer Up Buttercup:

  • Maybe this result will be for the better. The wonderful Andrew P Street wrote a series of great content in the lead up to the fateful day over on The Vine. And in his post on Thursday he wrote about the positive side of Australia electing it's own George W Bush. "...if you like things like education, healthcare, environmental protection, workers rights, refugee rights, gender equality or any of that kind of thing, you’re going be getting angrier and angrier. And that’s what’s good. That’s what we need."According to Mr Street, this result could be just the thing we need for the political Left to get its shit together and actually build a credible alternative to the dominant Right. Plus, it wasn't such a whitewash that the Coalition can get away with blatantly raping the country, we hope. The cynical side of me thinks that it could also be just the extra taste of power the Coalition need to start killing each other off, as we've witnessed with the Labor Party for the last 6 years.

  • In the eloquent words of Craig Eloranta, "Elections are just there to give the illusion of choice and change. The 'machine' will just keep chugging along as normal." Maybe he's right. Maybe nothing will really change. With this resounding defeat, I've realised that we can't rely on the political system to change things for us - we need to be responsible for the change we want. Maybe the traditional political system isn't the best way for change anyway. There is plenty that can be done while our tired, broken old political system tries to figure out how to fix itself.

  • At least I live in Melbourne, where people actually have some humanity and a little bit of foresight. Plus, there's a whole world out there that does not care at all about Australia - we're a blip on the radar for the rest of the world. The rest of the world is dealing with much bigger issues. And that's where I'll be turning my attention when it comes to making a difference.

  • At this point, it looks like Tony's daughters are all virgins so we don't have any more of his descendants on the way. (That was a low blow, I don't like bringing them into it - so why the hell did he?)

Turn that frown upside down:

If you're down in the doldrums like me, I've crowd sourced (ie, asked facebook) a few ways for you to lift your spirits. As always, listening to music makes me feel better. So I made myself a playlist. Paramore's Still Into You is my favourite right now - it must be all the dancing around with a parasol. Hayley Williams almost has me convinced I should give myself a neon two-tone dye job, but for now I'm just settling for bright pink lippy. It helps, believe me!

Watching videos of baby goats also helps. So do cat photos. And Amy Poehler. Also, yoga and meditation. I haven't mastered it yet, but I'm working on it.

Also, another gem and shift in perspective from Craig Eloranta,

"I think all you can do is choose to take it for what it is and go about your days doing the things you love. Just got to take in all the amazing stuff this planet has to offer. Look at life on a micro level once in a while. Influence and effect what is directly around you. That’s where you can actually make change (and with a bit of luck that change will filter out and reach a wider audience). If you come out of it with a smile on your face then you win. If you let all the political nonsense get to you… it will eat you up."

So with that in mind, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. Do it better, and remember to take plenty of time to stop and smell the roses. Because while all this mess is happening in Canberra, there are a whole heap of people out there doing great things and creating change, without waiting for it to come from the top. And as Craig says, maybe this stuff will filter out and influence those folks up there.

Thanks my friends who responded to my despondent facebook post this morning. You've restored my will to live.

Talk to me. Tell me how you feel.