For no good reason, I think that I’m a keen follower of political news and trends. Although it is often maligned, I quite enjoy twitter, because I like to read about people’s opinions and ‘hot takes’ even if I disagree with them. I am, to be honest, more than an interested onlooker – I’ve been involed with political parties, trade unions and social movements of different colours for as long as I’ve been working. I mention this solely as background to a notion that I am advancing: the politics of disgust. I have seen a growing rise in what might once have been called the conservative side of politics (although I think this name is probably not appropriate anymore, despite some claims towards it – perhaps reactionary might be a better fit) where there is an increasing ambivalence towards values and behaviours that might once have meant the end of a political career. This may be occurign on the more progressive side of politics, too – I don’t know and openly acknowledge that I might be biased or blind in that regard.
For example, and I’m not going to mention any names here, in Australia and overseas, leading politicians have engaged in behaviour that, by any imagining, would be considered at the very least unethical. People have taken on roles with private industry days after leaving parliament. They have flouted parliamentary conventions for personal and political gain. They have engaged in all-too-public affairs with members of their staff, and then appointed those staff to highly paid positions. They have hidden behind whiteboards. Staff have refused to answer questions about raids they possibly had a hand in. And then there are allegations of corruption, of sexual harrasment and abuse and nepotism.
This might be said with rose-tinted glasses, but I remember when any one of these thigns might mean the end of a person’s career. Or the actions of a staffer would mean the resignation of a minister. Perhaps I am being naive, but it seems that, much less than damaging a person’s career, such actions serve only to enhance their promotion prospects – often at the expense of the country they are supposedly governing. I guess an important question is, ‘what role does shame play in democracies?’
I say shame because – and this might sound a little bit like a conspiracy theory – it seems that such approaches are actually not enhancing the chances of progressive governments being elected. Quite rightly, I think, progressive voices are outraged and horrified by these revelations and say so – but the problem is that these discussions actually become the talked about topics and dominate the media cycle through endless banalities and opinion pieces and reheated hot takes, rather than any substantive discussion of policy. It’s part of the reason that the liberal government were able to slide back into power in Australia without any meaningful analysis of their platform – despite their claims to a mandate.
I guess it’s like a super dead cat strategy. Yes, you are right – we are liars, and cheaters and philanderers – but in the absence of policy discussion, you can trust in that old narrative that ‘we’re good with the economy’ and you’ll probably vote that way despite our moral failings. The politics of disgust.