Real Change Requires People Not Policy

Why is it that we measure all the big issues in society but we never seem to fix them?

Naplan was introduced to measure literacy and we keep measuring it as we watch it get worse. We also spend enormous resources and manpower to do that.

We’ve been measuring the gap meticulously but not closing it, again with great cost.

We have had Royal Commissions and we change policies and procedures but we don’t change child sexual abuse, corruption, violence, suicide, youth justice. We did employ investigators and pay for reports and for public servants to work endlessly on policy and procedure updates. That paid their wages but it didn’t change what mattered.

Inquiries have become synonymous with delaying action.

We’ve had Yes Minister, The Office and Utopia but Douglas Adams first summed it up when the Golgafrinchan middle management crash landed on prehistoric earth and when asked why they hadn’t even invented fire, the single simplest invention in human history they claimed to have engaged a fire development committee and given them a pair of sticks which the hairdressers had fashioned into a pair of scissors.

In my work and play there are so many issues where the evidence should speak for itself but it somehow doesn’t and nothing changes.

If I were to raise those issues here there would be a storm of opinion that would create what Werner Erhard once called pea soup. Opinions and counter opinions that create a fog so thick you can’t see anything.

I have come to realise that we won’t get anything done until we strengthen democracy.

But we live in a democracy I hear you say, ….. well kind of, but it isn’t a very strong one and therein lies the problem.

As we watch The United states democracy being systematically dismantled the vulnerable minority groups are the first casualties. Health, housing and education are next. Then free and fair elections, currently under deconstruction.

In Tasmania one glaring problem is the lack of free press. The main local papers are Murdoch owned and paywalled.

They tell you what they want you to hear which manipulates you to vote for who they want installed in government.

I know people who submit articles only to have them edited and their meaning changed. The ABC played a worryingly safe game during the election and we all know they are not now what we once relied on.

Naive trust demands betrayal.

People aware of that issue look elsewhere for news and do not watch corporate media news but Tasmania is not of interest to National free press and even Crikey has got some basic facts badly wrong.

The Tasmanian Times is showing promise and I am a fan of supporting any initiative that will strengthen democracy.

One of the biggest things that helps democracy stay strong is for people to be engaged in the issues that require their government to act. What has happened instead is that while we have all been busy with our lives our government was largely working for big corporations who lobby and donate to them. The vast majority of working Tasmanians are loyal to those corporations that employ them but they don’t get to know anything about how their tax dollars are used and who is getting the most benefit from the deal.

Blind trust erodes democracy.

Democracy isn’t just about free and fair elections, it is strongest when the people participate and debate the issues that their government must legislate on. It is when people realise that the government is meant to work for them and insist on transparency, honesty and integrity. The people can then realise that they own the economy too and they can keep it working fairly for all instead of measuring the ever increasing gap between rich and poor without acting.

Authentic trust strengthens democracy.

There are two guiding principles that will allow change to happen. One is that 550,000 Tasmanians can achieve a lot if they are all pulling in the same direction. If everyone does one small thing then we can fix what we have measured.

If you do one small thing and tell someone about it you can use the Bacon theory to start a snowball down a mountain. On Facebook there are even less than 6 degrees of separation, as few as two if you are friends with Mark Zuckerberg.

So what can you do?

Well you can read to a child. You can share the joy of beautiful children’s books like my current favourites. ‘A Daydreamy Child Takes a Walk’, or ‘Enormous Smallness’ a picture book about the life of E.E. Cummings that stirs the reader to fall in love with evocative language. Or ‘The Boy With the Stars in His Head’ that lets a young child meet the boy who became the man who invented the Hubble telescope.

You can listen to a child and hear what is important to them and help them to hold that part of their soul so it can grow into a meaningful life. Unheard, not nurtured and confused it otherwise grows into an angry young person who learns to feel good by destroying the system that marginalised it.

You can donate to a charity that actually improves Tasmanian literacy and tax deduct your donation so your money works instead of just funding Naplan.

You can call out creepy behaviour, listen when a child feels unsafe and make it right for them. You can stand against violence and discrimination.

You can grow your small business ethically and honestly.

You can give children a lived experience of democracy which Tasmanian schools do not do but you can.

Listen to them, help them to be engaged in their lives including the rules we all live by, help them achieve their hopes and dreams within the context of a fair and free society where other people’s hopes and dreams matter too.

You can find an honest, skilled candidate with integrity who is interested in improving the quality of life for everyday Tasmanians and support them to get elected.

You can do one small thing that ripples out until all of our actions create real change.

You can.

Dr Gabrielle Peacock is a Hobart General Practitioner whose career has evolved from primary health to family health then community health, environmental health, One Health and she is now exploring Cultural Health.

Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse view of Tasmanian issues. TT creates and supports independent media content utilising the best of modern technologies and tried-and-true practices of public-interest journalism.

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