8 April 2005
WHAT ARE WE BECOMING? DO WE CARE?
Is Australia moving towards becoming a fascist state? This alarming question was seriously posed in an article which appeared in a recent edition of On-line Catholics
Whilst modern day Australia is far removed from the horrors of Nazi Germany, it is sobering to remember that the evil of the holocaust did not appear overnight but began with the vilification and denial of rights of a minority group within a country by a government that had been democratically elected. Much of the population, including many Jews who were to become victims, were convinced that that Germany was a civilized country and Nazism a passing aberration, and hence failed to act. When the full horror of what had been unleashed was realized, it was too late.
In recent years respected voices have expressed concern at Australia’s participation in the invasion of Iraq - a war condemned by the Pope and declared illegal by international lawyers; at our government’s consent, or turning of a blind eye, to interrogation by torture; at the jailing of refugees and their children; at the suspension of the normal rule of law in the name of anti-terrorism; at the lies about the possible use of uranium, Weapons of Mass Destruction, children overboard etc. Of concern too is the attempt to stifle free speech by the use implied threats to remove government funding from agencies critical of government policy and the attacks on the character of anyone who has dared to act as a “whistleblower”.
The article also identified a number of characteristics that were common features of totalitarian regimes. Some of these were:-
an emphasis on nationalism, national security and law and order;
identifying enemies/scapegoats; the disregard of Human Rights;
control of the media; the protection of the power of corporations while suppressing the power of organized labour and cronyism and corruption.
It is said 'The price of freedom is eternal vigilance'. Perhaps that message is particularly relevant in Australia today.
Whilst modern day Australia is far removed from the horrors of Nazi Germany, it is sobering to remember that the evil of the holocaust did not appear overnight but began with the vilification and denial of rights of a minority group within a country by a government that had been democratically elected. Much of the population, including many Jews who were to become victims, were convinced that that Germany was a civilized country and Nazism a passing aberration, and hence failed to act. When the full horror of what had been unleashed was realized, it was too late.
In recent years respected voices have expressed concern at Australia’s participation in the invasion of Iraq - a war condemned by the Pope and declared illegal by international lawyers; at our government’s consent, or turning of a blind eye, to interrogation by torture; at the jailing of refugees and their children; at the suspension of the normal rule of law in the name of anti-terrorism; at the lies about the possible use of uranium, Weapons of Mass Destruction, children overboard etc. Of concern too is the attempt to stifle free speech by the use implied threats to remove government funding from agencies critical of government policy and the attacks on the character of anyone who has dared to act as a “whistleblower”.
The article also identified a number of characteristics that were common features of totalitarian regimes. Some of these were:-
an emphasis on nationalism, national security and law and order;
identifying enemies/scapegoats; the disregard of Human Rights;
control of the media; the protection of the power of corporations while suppressing the power of organized labour and cronyism and corruption.
It is said 'The price of freedom is eternal vigilance'. Perhaps that message is particularly relevant in Australia today.
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