When You Call Me Privileged, It’s Just The Politics of Envy!
Privilege is a funny thing, because the privileged often fail to see their privilege and just think that it’s their right. Take the recent discussion around religious freedoms. I’m sure that many of those arguing that their religious freedom should be enshrined in law would have a problem with Russell Kruckman.
When a lot of people talk about religious freedom being a right, they usually mean their own and, in Australia, they usually mean the Christian religion and, in particular, their own special version of it.
Now, I’m not suggesting that all Christians believe that they’re entitled to do whatever they want, but some certainly do. I’m thinking of one in particular but I don’t want to say anything that could get me into trouble or lead to defamation proceedings.
Whatever I’ve never been sure about the phrase “politics of envy”.
I mean, the very fact that someone is envious does suggest that there’s a discrepancy in the respective fortunes of the two people. I suspect that it’s only used when there’s no reasonable argument to make.
“Why was Morrison given one of the first injections?”
”Look, I’m sick of the politics of envy here!”
OR
”Some people are going hungry while others are buying handbags that cost enough to feed a family for a year.”
”Politics of envy. Why don’t they force themselves to eat?”
I guess the thing about privilege is that if you have it, it’s hard to see it. Personally, I wouldn’t describe myself as rich, but I don’t ever consider going hungry for reasons of poverty, I’m confident of making next week’s mortgage payment and I probably won’t go into debt to pay my energy bills unless I’ve used more electricity searching for a way to expose the Morrison government than I thought. (Actually, I can probably stop searching; they’ve been exposed so many times that I think the only thing that’ll bring them down is when the economy slips back a gear and they try to tell us that it’s all fine!)
When I was younger and in severe financial stress, I observed first hand how people didn’t notice their privilege. When expressing my dissatisfaction with my lack of money, a friend advised me to just forget about it and go out. I reminded her that I just explained that I had no money. “You mean you have NO money?” No, I replied, nothing till I next get paid.
Ok, at least I was going to get paid and that would enable me to keep my head above water for long enough to take a breath, so I guess even I had a privilege that I didn’t see.
All of which brings me to the recent changes to JobSeeker.
A cynical person would suspect that they made the changes to create controversy about something other than all the other topics that aren’t going well, but whatever their reasoning, there’s some wonderful examples of people not seeing their privilege.
First of all, let’s take a moment to note that all those saying that the increase is barely enough for a loaf of bread. Yes, the person on benefits is still way below the poverty line, but when you talk about how insignificant another $3.50 a day is, you’re actually showing something about your privilege. For some people, it means that they’ll be able to afford that loaf of bread. Just like Jolly Joe Hockey, who complained that taking his son for an x-ray only cost him $32. When you have the money, it doesn’t seem like much. If you don’t, however…
Of course, the Coalition government didn’t see it as a meagre amount because they resent any money going to people who don’t buy tickets to their fundraising dinners. They think they’ve been generous. Why those on the dole get a fortnightly handout which is more than they get for a daily meal allowance… Ok, not much more, but the pol-bludgers in Canberra think that they deserve any taxpayer money they get, while anyone on JobSeeker is obviously not “having a go” so they shouldn’t “get a go”.
To ensure that they aren’t too work-shy, employers will be encouraged to “dob in a bludger”. In order to facilitate this, a hotline will be established which brings me back to the whole idea of privilege.
Why can’t the employer just ring Centrelink? After all, I seem to remember Alan Tudge saying that the wait time was only eight minutes.
Well, anybody who’s ever tried to ring Centrelink will be rolling on the floor with sarcastic laughter. Nobody would ring Centrelink if they didn’t have to, and no employer should be expected to waste their time sitting on a phone for hours. See, the idea of employer privilege is embedded in the whole concept even before you start to ask why there isn’t a hotline for job applicants to dob in employers who offer less than the award, or indulge in other unsavoury practices?
But I guess if anyone complains about the employers getting a special hotline, it’s just the politics of envy.
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Gangey1959 -
Geoff Andrews -
wam -
Cedric -
Zathras
Return to home page“Envy” To wish that you had something that another person has. Cambridge english dictionary.
“Jobmaker” (aka dividendpayer). A scheme set up to ensure that any employer who had employees still working and therefore generating profits could utilise taxpayer funds to pay corporate dividends. These may or may not be paid back depending on the aforementioned employer’s willingness to bear public scorn and derision. (aka gerry harvey).
This scheme has since been modified to enable older, permanent employees to be made redundant and young, keen and totally inexperienced kids to be hired as casuals in their place to make up the shortfall in hours, with the difference in wages being paid for by, you guessed it, the taxpayer.
“Jobkeeper” (aka work for bread and water) A scheme set up by the already way too overpaid and underbraincelled by which anyone with the misfortune to require centerlink assistance will be forced into any labour position that becomes available, regardless of the said position’s suitability and any personal health, safety, “decorum” concerns that the unfortunate posessor of a CRN might have. The scheme is paid for by the taxpayer, many of us who now find ourselves in the posession of a CRN for various reasons, and it comes with a specisl clause by which scotty et al can deny any financial assistance for X amount of time merely because employer A has reported jobseeker B for declining the advertised position via a secret handshake and nod phone-number. The sceme has an inbuilt clawback wherein 60c out of every dollar of taxpayer payment is withheld once a “worker” earns more than $150. That is 6-8 hours work. Without travel, food, workboots and safety shirt, incidentals.
I mean, we can’t have those jobseekers having any spare cash for a rainy day. They might just go and buy a new plastic cardboard box or something, and then visy and amcor would go broke and all of those 457’s who turn used cardboard into new old cardboard would be back on the streets too. That just woldn’t be right.
I think your idea of employers being able to dob in a dole bludger whom he suspects of applying for the job just to satisfy the terms of his dole is an excellent idea. Now we have to solve the problem of keeping a very important person hanging on Centrelink’s phone too long. Why not create a special Facebook page with only two fields to fill in: full name, Centrelink reference. Run it through the computer which automatically stops payment and sends out a proforma letter. To get back on the dole, the bludger has to prove he DIDN’T apply for the job. We could save millions.
hahaha thanks for the lift, rossleigh. All christians are safe in the forgiveness of god, except if you are gay or drunk or a blasphemer, even murderers are in front of them. As for envy a black with a twiggy card cannot just buy bread anywhere only in shops selected by twiggy’s mob.
Altuism is sung loudly but is already dead.
ps I will give gerry harvey an apology for all the nasty things I have said over the 10 years since his: mrabbott is a good bloke gillard is not a good bloke but now that he is in $400+m profit and is not returning the $22m job keeper. Can we expect, instead of dividends and executive bonuses, the trickle down to the workers, at last??
A better idea would be to set up a hot line for job applicants who didn’t get the job they wanted, to complain that the interviewer was too harsh.
To some people the notion of extending privilege or equality to others somehow mysteriously places their own in jeopardy and it’s important to them to maintain a sense of distance and separation between their group and others.
Given their endless fetish for persecution and martyrdom it’s no surprise that a recent poll in the USA found the group who claim to feel most under threat were white Christian males. Some of them insist the back community should express gratitude to the whites because it was the white race who freed their ancestors from slavery, another example of their perverse logic.
“DobSeeker” is just the latest way to scapegoat and blame victims for their circumstance while the government washes it’s hands of responsibility and turns people against each other.