Before I start this rant, I want you to know that I am an Australian and I love my country. Which is why I get so incensed when I see “The Government” doing stuff in my name as an – expat – citizen that is, firstly just plain fucking stupid, and secondly going further down a road of removing freedom and liberty, the end of which is essentially a fascist regime.
“Holy shit, Andy! That’s a lot of big sounding words. Just what the fuck are you on about”? I hear some of you ask in the peanut gallery. Which I will say is a very good question. I’m really fucking on about two things in particular.
The Australian Internet ISP Filter
and
The Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 1995 (aka The Patriot Act)
Now for those of you who don’t just read news, but actually think about what you are reading – something I find is getting harder and harder for the cattle class in our society despite the access to information we now have due to the internet – these two things together should terrify you. One of these government initiatives gives them the ability to control the information Australians will have access to, and the other gives them the right to remove from the public anyone that disagrees with it. You know who else does this, don’t you? China, Indonesia, North Korea, Pakistan. In fact any fascist dictatorship regime who controls its citizens from the top down by restricting the flow of information, and making it illegal to disagree and publicly protest against the regime.
Okay, so I can hear a few dissenting voices up the back, saying I’m wrong, and that I’m being an overreactionary. Australia isn’t China, our Government isn’t going to take away our lifestyle, or the good stuff on the internet, like Youtube, and Facebook.
And I would say to you that, you’re right, they won’t take it away, today. But what about in thirty years? Fascist regimes aren’t made overnight. Those people in China didn’t wake up one day and all of a sudden they were communist. Communist China started with the small civil revolt called Autumn Harvest Uprising on September 7, 1927! From this point, to a time where the whole country had transitioned to a new mode of governmental rule based on absolutism was over two to three decades. And by then all information was controlled and dissent was made illegal.
Very interesting word that, “dissent”. Someone who vocalises a dissenting opinion is labelled a dissenter. Dissenters who are very vocal all the time and challenge institution, doctrine or policy are regarded as dissidents! And that is a label with particularly extreme negative connotations in any society. These two Australian government initiatives are at the very foundation of removing dissident opinion in Australia.
Hardly any Australian has read the Patriot Act – here is a link to it – which in my mind is criminal on the governments part. Something as heinous as this should have been made mandatory reading in school, and offices, and broadcast on the radio. If more Australians new what was contained in that, maybe it wouldn’t have become law. The highlights of this can be summarised as follows – any individual can be declared a criminal, without supporting evidence, and held indefinitely by authorities without access to legal aid, or financial aid. Any personal belongs and assets can be confiscated by the government, including all financial, communication, and travel historical records. This can be done at any time, to anyone!
So here’s a scenario; today the government manages to remove child porn from Australia’s internet. People are happy, the filtering is seen as a good thing, support increases, and the vocal dissenters are told to shut up. Next they remove all porn, and while a good portion of society would protest, the majority would support it, and so it would happen. Dissenting opinions would marginalised, and sidelined. Then in the name of National Security, access to internet television broadcasts of Al Jezeera would be added to the list of blocked content. But this is a good thing most people would say, because it’s an Arabic network, and that’s where the terrorist come from, or so your average Bruce Beergut in the pub would be told by his government approved broadcasts. Then a few years later, a slew of independent and foreign news sources, both internet and traditional print would be shut down or blocked, on the pretence of being dissenting opinions targetting The Government, and deemed harmful to the public. School ciriculum is changed, so that the Government party opinion is taught as being the only valid opinion. Where really, valid means legal. Ten years on, some freedoms are taken away, but everyone agrees that life isn’t so bad, so there isn’t any need to change things. The Government is already monitoring email, phone calls, and web browsing of individuals, so they can act on it, and start shutting down blogs from individuals that cry foul, and demand to be heard. These citizens have their ability to communicate, and disseminate information removed forcibly, and noone hears from them again. Time passes, and soon the only news that is heard is from the Government friendly (and policed) internet, and print media. Everyone accepts that they are monitored all the time, and that it is a crime to speak out against their “regime”. Terrorism doesn’t exist as an act, but as a concept that has been burned into our brains through decades of Government sponsored propoganda. The word itself becomes a control mechanism that itself terrifies citizens, and provides the justification for all and any actions The Government takes. But by then, nobody can say a word, because if you do, you won’t be heard from again!
If you’ve made it this far, and you think it won’t happen, and this is just some paranoid rant, I dare you to go and read the Patriot Act for yourself, and see for yourself what they can do in the name of The Government of Australia. And then go and find out what The Government actually means by, bad content, for this ISP filtering exercise. You won’t find one, because they haven’t defined it yet. And they won’t tell you because they will want to keep it very very quiet. The less known, the better for them.
Where does it all end?
Makes you wonder doesn’t it!
Andy.
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