Why I can’t bring myself to care about the Australian election. #auspol
Or: why I’m choosing to be ignorant.
I first showed an interest in politics when I was 13 — around the year 2000. While every other female teenager had stacks of Dolly and Girlfriend next to their beds, I proudly kept archives of The Bulletin.
Visits to the public library yielded gems like The Whitlam Government: 1972 — 1975 and when I wanted something lighter, Left, Right and Centre by Tim Ferguson.
I enjoyed watching shows like Backberner on the ABC and I pretended I understood all of the jokes.
I was devastated I wasn't old enough to vote, because I was sure I had a better idea of what was going on than your average adult.
The years passed. Eventually I was able to vote. I educated my friends (a little), and I made them promise not to waste their voice. I was adamant. Politics was important. Being informed was powerful.
These days, I find myself wishing for ignorance. Not being informed would be… wonderful.
On the days I bother to look at the news (mainstream or otherwise) it’s all the same. A politician made a prepared statement that could be whittled down to a 7 second sound bite, which was then converted into a 140 character tweet. The statement was elaborated a little on Facebook, where a photo of the politician was also published, generally either: with a member of the public, with a child and mum or group of children, or in a high visibility jacket with hard working men.
If the media was lucky, the politician flubbed their lines, or said something unscripted.
The media don’t bother asking real questions about the statement, because they know they won’t get real answers. Instead they ask about irrelevant things (Why do you take so many selfies?) or push whatever agenda they've been working on for a while (insert mostly irrelevant “scandal” here).
Even when you bring politicians together to discuss topics in some kind of intelligent manner (think ABC’s Q&A) it just turns into a snide-fest. Sometimes the entire panel sound like they were caught unaware at a high school debate. “Yeah, well, your mum could come up with a policy better than that.”
And when it comes down to it… why would anyone care about it? When real issues are tossed around for amusement and sound bites. When none of our nations leaders seem to be looking for a way to better our country long term: provide solutions for health, education, technology and more. When it’s all treated like a goddamn game.
On September 7 I will walk into my local polling booth and vote for the party that seem to align with my views of where this country should be headed. I’ll remember not to vote for the same party in the Senate as I do in the House of Reps. I’ll take my I Voted sticker, and join the line for the sausage sizzle.
And I'm going to remain ignorant to everything else, by choice.
