I'll Have a Sausage in Bread and Some Democracy, Please

The best thing about Australian elections is the sausage sizzle and cake stall held by the local school which is where we line up to vote. Also meeting all your friends and neighbours and people you haven't seen for years. The worst thing is the abysmal space that both the major political parties are occupying, known as 'The Place Where The Privileged Prop Up the Affluent at The Expense of Everyone Else'.

For excellent political commentary see here (US, Brexit vote) and here (state of the British Labour party). Not relevant to Australian politics? Think again.

From the first link: Once the dominant minority loses the loyalty of the masses by failing to deal with the needs of those outside the circles of affluence and privilege, sullen outward conformity and secret revolt replace the mutual trust that’s needed to make a society function. John Michael Greer

Sometimes I wonder exactly why we need a government. I mean, without a government the wealthy and powerful would be free to go along their merry way exploiting the mass of humanity and plundering the environment without compunction, and with a government... Well, yes, see what I mean? 

If you are feeling very depressed by the politics of your particular neighbourhood this week, don't despair. We are nearing the end of Business as Usual, in politics, economics and the weather. We have strained the resources of our planet and credulity of the general populace enough already, and it won't be long before we all get the governments and the climate we deserve. Again, no despair. Give the planet and politics five hundred years or so, and it will all shake down nicely, as we either learn to live sensibly or obliterate ourselves out of existence. Either way, we must just live as well as we can, be kind and courageous as we can manage.

Our lives are uniquely and intrinsically our own. It is a responsibility that few seem willing to bear.
Penny Rimbaud, quoted in How to be Free by Tom Hodgkinson.

This is an excellent book and antidote to just about any ill. The first time I read it I thought the author was charming but slightly mad. I have read it at least once a year since, and he becomes more sane every time I read. Because we are all marching to the beat of the wrong drum. A little bit of us all slowing down and rethinking our priorities won't hurt us, or our politicians either. We are citizens, not consumers. We can be creative producers, not consumers. We can direct our own lives..

And also, sausages in bread and fairy cakes make election day almost bearable.

Updated to add: A very thoughtful piece about Pauline Hanson's surprise election success. Is she our very own Donald Trump, capturing the vote of those who are disenfranchised by our current political elites?