There are a handful of people who have had the luck to be bitten by the radioactive spider of thought.
Truly, a handful.
A minority that can actually dissect an argument, understand the premise, know what one is, even. Weigh up the supporting arguments as logical, factual, relevant and come away with an in depth understanding. A judgement. The ability to understand the difference between an ethical and a moral argument. This is a rare gift. And half of those gifted thus do not care to practice their super power in regards to ‘national discourse’. Because it’s unattractive for the most part. It’s dirty work. It comes with the same look of horror that accompanies the revelation of the super hero’s injuries underneath his dinner suit, and a decent helping of “WTF?!” It’s like dropping your shark repellent spray at the dinner table; people begin to back away slowly.
I wish someone would have told me. I have not had the fortune of happening upon a partner, because of my well, unattractive habits of talking politics at the table, my dog is the most politically informed subordinate I have in life! Damn. And who doesn’t have those dark moments when they wish they could ‘trade up’? Batman did. Those Charmed girls when I was a teenager had super powers and fought demons, but they still wanted a ‘normal life’. Even Buffy ran away at one point.
Eventually though, they all come to realise something very important. If they stopped being what they were, if they did ‘trade up’ for benign beauty and blissful ignorance who would fight the demons and the criminals? No one.
When I was learning about how my nation worked as a young person, I figured that the people in the parliament and the very important Houses I liked to visit must be such people. Superheroes fighting for the health and happiness of the citizens. That was naïve, and perhaps my continued belief that those who enter the fray, for the most part are good people wanting to do just that is still naïve. The truth of the matter is, that there are some who grace the seats of those Noble Houses nation wide, who are not so capable, and who even if they are capable, have no interest in addressing the needs of the citzenry.
Never has this been so evident as in the person of Tony Abbott. Watching his Budget Reply Speech was like watching a H.S.C. Student who did not read the book in question write an essay on the subject. I had to go back. I didn’t recall either Peter Slipper or Craig Thompson mentioned once in the Federal Budget. Clearly, Abbott either didn’t understand the nature of the question, or he has some other plan afoot! Thankfully, I happened upon Senator Milne’s reply, given there was no coverage besides the live stream, very thankfully, because if I was a H.S.C. marker, she would have rode the wave of the bell curve over Abbott’s head on addressing the question alone. Agree or disagree, point form, POW!!.
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