Is there a Voice We are not Hearing?
“Human consciousness operates pretty much the same, no matter what language it is programmed in.”
Last Saturday saw the comprehensive defeat of The Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum campaign. Over 60% of Australians and all States and Territories, bar one, said No.
That is not even close? So, what can be learned from this amazing result?
First, I declare, up front, that I was a No vote. I had good reasons for my decision, and I assure you it was not taken lightly. I did a lot of reading, listening, and watching. I read the full 26 pages of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and wrote a 4000-word essay that was an exploration of my impressions whilst reading the document. It was not intended to direct my readers toward a conclusion.
When I read the articles in the mainstream press online, it seems there is a lot of blame being levelled at the Federal Opposition for not supporting the referendum. I would argue that if the opposition were not supporting the cause, then the Government failed to inspire them and do what was needed to “get them on board”. Clearly, they had hesitations that were not handled.
A Look at The Problem:
Australia has an Indigenous population that comprised over 300 different tribes, with as many different languages. Numbering somewhere between 300,000 and 700,000 before white settlement, these tribes were spread across Australia and the Torres Strait Islands.
The continent has a landmass of about 7,700,000 square kilometres. Only Russia, China, Brazil, Canada, and the USA are larger. The size of the continent meant that each of the estimated 300 tribes could occupy about 26,000 km sq. A great deal of land for perhaps 1000 people. Even now, Australia is not a crowded country.
Since “white settlement”, many things have happened. It is true that many Aboriginals were murdered, brutalized, subjugated, made ill from introduced diseases, displaced, degraded, and humiliated. Many have carried forward generational trauma.
This situation is not unique to Australia. It has happened to some degree in most locations around the world. It is part of the terrible history of what people have done to each other over millennia.
Still today we hear the cries of Hamas Militants and their supporters around the world to exterminate Jews. This problem is not unique to Australia.
So, what can Aboriginal people do. There is no chance that the whites are going to “up and leave”. That option does not exist. Much has been done in the white community to repair the wrongs of the past including the return of over 30% of Australia’s land mass under Native Title, the Sorry Day hosted by Kevin Rudd and a greater inclusion of Aboriginal Culture into Australian daily life. Plus, nearly $40 Billion dollars in public funding is directed to Aboriginal support organisations every year to address burning issues and support Aboriginal people to re-build their lives.
So, whilst so much good work is being done, there is still anger and rage. Is it justified? Who knows? It is not up to me to decide. Perhaps it is generational trauma.
If it is, we should address that. Does anyone think that the whites who landed at Sydney Cover in January 1788 were not carrying their own generational trauma? This form of trauma exists all over the world and has for hundreds of years. The British were subject to incredible brutality from the Danes and the Romans, plus there were ugly battles within the UK itself. The Irish were subject o incredible cruelty from the English, as were the Scots.
As an Irish Australian, I could put my hand up and claim subconscious wounds based on what the English did to my ancestors. But I won’t.
Anger lies within most of us. It can be there from things carried forward epigenetically, or it can come from our own experiences. But if we are to live a happy and productive life, we do need to grow beyond it. If we can’t then we need support to make that journey. But remaining in this state leads to a deeply unhappy and often destructive life.
Just like any rehabilitation from physical injury or surgery, the journey can be painful, but the result is worth it. Supporting people to move beyond anger and hurt is crucial and for some, it is a beautiful vocation.
The opposite of this crucial rehabilitation is to trap someone in victimhood. Treating people as victims makes them dependent, congeals their anger and hurt, and further descends them into helplessness, deep resentment, and destructive habits. It can lead a person into a depraved, almost animal-like existence.
Right now, so many Aboriginal Australians are living in victimhood, brooding over past wrongs from many generations ago and perceived wrongs in current times. This is where the “real” help is needed.
“Some people are not yet finished luxuriating in their own misery.” Sadhguru (Indian Mystic)
It is interesting to note that we never see Cambodian Refugees in Australia putting on a great show about what happened to them and their families under the terror reign of Pol Pot. They are here, rebuilding their lives. Their experience of brutal trauma is recent.
Does Racism Exist in Australia?
I suggest that it surely does. I guess we may all carry some level of racism within us. If you just said to yourself, in your mind, “I don’t!”, then you probably do.
Here is a test. Let’s say there are two drunken hobos sitting on the footpath. Theya re dirty, smelly, and unkempt. One an Aboriginal man and the other Caucasian. I tell you that we need to care for them, and we should take one home each, allow him to shower and give him some clothes to wear whilst we wash and dry their clothes. I ask you which one you will pick.
Your choice is not a judgement of you as a person, but it does indicate the possibility that you carry some racial bias. I could deliberately choose the Aboriginal man, but would I be doing so to convince you, and myself, that I am not racist? Honestly, I would flip a coin and go from there. But I know I have not always been in that place.
The interesting piece in all of this, when you are aware of how human consciousness functions, we probably are the things that we assert we are not. Perhaps for many who became agitated and abusive on the side of the Yes campaign, their deep need to assert their “nonracist” status over-rode their normal capacity to deal with human interactions.
The Yes vote was strongest in the cities, especially the inner city and inner suburban areas. I would argue that many people who live in inner city Melbourne for example, rarely have any contact at all with Aboriginal people and all they ever witness is what they read in the Newspapers or watch on Television.
Perhaps their motivations were a deep sense of concern for Aboriginals as the challenges of the wretched and impoverished Aborigines in Central Australia, and the terrible community violence around poorer communities, seem to get a lot of air play in the mainstream media and on social media. Good people who feel helpless but want to help.
But it could also be that these people detest the thought of being seen to be racist and will act accordingly. Supporting the Voice Referendum is a great way to demonstrate your acceptable level of diversity and inclusion.
Another fundamental law of human consciousness says, “If you want to know what a person is guilty of, just listen to what they are accusing others of”. This is especially the case when the accusations are loud and aggressive. There were many people on the Yes Campaign who aggressively accused No Campaigners of being racists.
Whilst working for the No Campaign on the weekend at a polling booth I was called a racist. I quietly thanked the man for his confession and smiled.
Where to From Here?
One of the great challenges of every wealthy society is unproductive work. People who are low on inspiration, motivation and self-determinism can get themselves into paid employment and slowly disconnect and produce little or no valuable work.
This occurs most often in large corporations and government departments. Some people in these roles find ways to be busy, but without producing anything of much value. It is easy to succumb to laziness. It doesn’t matter what your race is. I’ve met people who have an amazing skill at looking busy and doing nothing. I’ve done it.
I am curious about the amount of unproductive work carried out in so many of the organisations in Australia funded to support Aboriginal Australians. Many believe we need to audit these organisations to see where the money is going, to learn why the most obvious problems are not being addressed. Some believe we need a Royal Commission? Perhaps the same could be said for many NFP’s.
From the conversations I’ve had over the past couple of months, there are questions I have.
The brilliant aspect of the entire “Voice” event is that it got us talking about significant issues.
Here are my questions.
First: Why do we not have an established curriculum in schools where Primary School aged Children can learn about Aboriginal Culture for at least an hour per week for their 6 years of Primary School? And why do we not have a specialist study stream for Secondary School students who wish to Study Aboriginal Culture and History in greater depth?
Second: Why do we not have a concerted effort by large teams of highly trained Aboriginal People being deployed to those parts of Australia that are in complete turmoil, where alcohol, drugs, and violence rule desperate and devastated communities? We need these people to protect the women and children and get to work on rehabilitating the men, redirecting the youth, and restoring some peace and order. This is a difficult and frightening challenge, but it is one that must be taken. We do not need more people working for the NIAA writing more reports.
Third: Where are the Indigenous Leaders and are they doing what is needed to ensure their communities are respecting Aboriginal Lore. There is a terrible practice called “humbugging”, where young people are forced to hand over hard earned money and assets to tribe members who “need” them. This part of Tribal Lore is about ensuring people’s needs are being met. If I have food and you do not, I must give you some to ensure your needs are met. It doesn’t extend to a 20-year-old having to give his hard-earned car to “Uncle Jimmy” because Uncle Jimmy needs it. The elders need to clamp down on this because young people who are inspired become discouraged and give up.
Four: Why so many “Acknowledgement of Country” or “Welcome to Country” ceremonies. We need to stop the abuse of these ceremonies. They are being profaned by their overuse and people are becoming disengaged and resentful. Let’s do them much less often with much greater purpose and grace.
Five: When can we get an AFL Team and an NRL Team in Alice Springs? I believe we need to make big efforts to raise the levels of inspiration and passion in Central Australia and the greater Northern Territory.
Further, we need to understand the power of Epigenetics. How we experience life, circumstance, events, and situations creates an impression that effects our gene expression. People who have experienced trauma have trauma in their genes. They see life from the perspective of trauma and the fear of further trauma. These people can benefit from the creation of repeated positive experiences where they can safely feel joy, positivity, learning, creative expression, kindness, friendliness, and togetherness. These experiences, when repeated over time can lead to healing and epigenetic change.
Treating them as victims will not heal anything. A woman, for example, who is given the safety to enjoy, care for and nurture her family, can heal, and find happiness.
An Inspiring Goal
When was the last time Australia had an inspiring goal? I would argue that it was after the second world war when our leaders inspired people to work hard, build a home and build the nation. That was done well and probably realised by the mid 1970’s. Since then, there has not been an inspiring Goal to bring us together.
Perhaps it is not too late to create a new goal, one that inspires, one that brings us together as one.
What could it be? We could perhaps aspire to be one of the following.
The Welcoming Country, where you are free to come and begin a new life. This could be a wonderful way to build up our regional cities and towns, develop new local economies and grow our population.
The Education Country, where we develop our Universities, open new campuses in regional cities and encourage all to take on new learning and growth. We could become an education centre for the world.
The Compassionate Country where we develop a “military type” care service that people can join to go and serve in other countries to relieve suffering and support communities to move out of poverty.
There are so many directions we could go.
I get a sense that the high “Yes” vote in the inner cities may be an indication that people are looking for something to be inspired by. I could be wrong. Perhaps it was just a collective wave of virtue signaling, but I’d rather be hopeful than cynical.
But I do know that the Australian Aboriginal people, especially those who have remained closer to their traditional ways, have a deep and profound spirituality that we can learn from and that could become a more significant part of our educational pathways.
Collectively, I feel we need to open our hearts, get out of our heads, roll up our sleeves and get to work. An inspiring goal will make this much easier to do. This yearning for inspiration may well be the voice we are not listening to.