F**k the top

Left vs Right, an age-old battle between the two political spectrums that has created a divide between the working class. Though I believe it’s time we start to look up…instead of across. 

Today, the economic disparities between the working class and the global elite are directly linked to the emergence of Neoliberalism. An economic model that was introduced by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher to resolve stagflation and reshape state-market relations.

 However, neoliberalism's call for tax cuts, decreased social spending, increased military spending, and the deregulation of domestic markets has led to high economic disparities. 

Authors George Monbiot and Peter Hutchinson wrote in their book ‘The Invisible Doctrine’ “Neoliberalism is an ideology whose central belief is that competition is the defining feature of humankind’ (Monbiot, Hutchinson, 2024). This competitive ideology threatens the essence of humanity, reducing our existence to mere producers and consumers whose value is determined by our engagement in the market. 

Therefore, states that are controlled by corporate greed implemented neoliberalist economics into society because food, housing, education, and healthcare produced through the government do not align with the interests of the economic elites, whose accumulation of wealth was often at odds with state-led redistribution.

Therefore, I find it exceptionally absurd when politicians such as One Nation's leader, Pauline Hanson states on her website that they aim to cut immigration down to 130,000 per year to ease pressure on housing, wages, and infrastructure. Yet, according to theyvoteforyou.org, they have consistently voted against federal action on public housing and increasing housing affordability. At the end of the day, a vast majority of political parties and politicians have, with open arms, welcomed the emergence of neoliberalism and its policies. Blaming immigrants distracts the people away from their corporate greed and property investors hording houses across Australia. Additonally, we all know the immigrant family who has worked hard to get to Australia deserves that house just as much as anyone else and to blame the housing crisis on them is simply preposterous.

Our generation will not be able to comfortably buy a house because, to our leaders, we are nothing more than producers of products that fill their coffers and aid in their greed and corruption. Yet, some are quick to blame those who might look a little bit different from them for the housing crisis or the economic state our country has found itself in. However,  I ask this: Where is our compassion? Where is our humanity?

People are fleeing war-torn countries and saying goodbye to families left beneath the rubble of their homes, coming to Australia in hopes of a new start. Yet some people would gladly shout, “Go back to where you came from,” with a smile spread across their face. Last time I checked, we all bleed red, but some people are so driven by hate, blinded by their own selfishness, to have a sliver of compassion and empathy for other human beings. 

A vast majority would rather live on their knees than die on their feet because it's far easier to be ignorant than be burdened by the uncomfortable truths of our world. Just like the phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal, “panem et circenses - give them bread and circuses, and they will never revolt.” The elite provide “bread and circuses” to keep the masses happy enough that it disguises the greater issues at play, like growing economic disparities, human rights violations, and environmental destruction.

These burdens are ignored by the elite to protect their profit margins because we've allowed money to hold higher significance than that of the human experience. 

That's why it is so easy to blame the immigrant from across the sea rather than the billionaire who traffics little girls and visits them on an island, because that billionaire and their buddies gave you quick entertainment and maybe a bit of money and power. But what does that matter in the grand scheme of life? What does that matter when we have lost basic kindness for others?

Corporations with their political allies continue to wage war against the working class; the argument of left vs right in politics is entirely irrelevant when both sides are run by the same corrupt entities and their insatiable desire for wealth and power. 

Authors note: 

A text I strongly recommend would be The Allegory of the Cave by the Greek philosopher Plato. The allegory presents a moral lesson on uncovering the truth and not accepting what we see directly in front of us, as those messages can be misconstrued to reinforce a narrative. It’s a wake-up call for critical thinking and demonstrating the importance of questioning the things around you. Uncover truths and transform your personal reality to one that’s not written for you but one you've built by unpacking the world around you.