2018- EXIT: STAGE RIGHT

 

To summarise the passing year in a coherent way is very difficult but, as 2019 appears on the horizon, it’s also impossible to leave it without comment.

An ‘untouchable’ status on anything significant is becoming far more familiar these days as portrayals of our own lives usurp the prime position that atom bombs, genocides and avalanches once held. Moreover, the former are now organised into episodes of online ‘positivity’ coupled with images of the self which bear only marginal relevance. If it’s not extreme close-ups of freshly cemented dental yawns, then jumping up and down on the spot is the way to go. Rome may be burning but at least one’s teeth are white, arthritis hasn’t set in and the half-full mentality of the meek isn’t compromised. ‘News’ today incorporates testimonials to one’s own beauty and utility and it’s realised at the expense of both accuracy and interest. Meanwhile, what really matters keeps chugging away underneath the online surface and we barely notice.

In my opinion, 2018 does possess a few key subterranean forget-me-nots. The ‘Donald Trump’ brand seems to be going from strength to strength as the cogs and levers of Yank government grind to yet another halt over the ‘holidays’ period.  But a hostile Congress is no impediment to this guy even when financing the twentieth wonder of the modern world (i.e. the alien/ gringo wall) is concerned.

The apparent ease of the Brett Kavanaugh nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, despite Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations of sexual assault, only reinforces President Trump’s profile as the ‘Red’ Adair (with Amor All protection) of reactionary politics. It’s also significant that the Supreme Court’s ‘to do’ list immediately following Kavanaugh’s placement included disputes involving abortion, immigration, gay rights and voting rights….the field of dreams for conservatives pining for daylight saving to be abandoned and all clocks turned back to 1950.

Across the Atlantic, Theresa May is riding the Tory nag in the Brexit Endgame Stakes but the actual distance of the championship seems to be ever-changing. In true festive spirit, Frankie Boyle (The Guardian, 22-12-2018) implores “…let’s forget the worries of Brexit for a week or two, and just enjoy our last Christmas with running water. Brexit has many downsides, but I think it will be nice for the Irish to watch a British famine. Personally I look forward to a new age where the London Christmas lights won’t be turned on by vacuous celebrities, but by someone found guilty of ‘talking foreign’ and sentenced to complete the circuit.’’

Domestically, the major stuff that largely evaded punter inspection focussed on education. The release of ‘The state of school funding in Australia’ by Trevor Cobbold in late May barely caused a ripple yet it channelled amplified heat on hypocritical state governments (of both political persuasions) which have siphoned off funds from government schools during the federal Gonski war dances. The ‘smoke and mirrors’ strategies employed have resulted in state public school students being funded at levels that are now less than the pre-Gonski world of disadvantage and inequity.

Add to this Scott Morrison’s unbelievable and opportunistic $800 million gift to catholic schools in late September and you have the crucial ingredients for a farce when it comes to a fair go for all students. Whether it’s Bib from the feds or Bub from the state chambers, the only thing that New South Wales state schools can expect in the foreseeable future is the proverbial economy-sized jar of Vaseline. They’re going to need it.

Overall, 2018 has seen us drifting even further to the right. In Oz, the disparities in income levels, educational attainments and health outcomes have become more pronounced and stark. Neoliberalism is far from dead and it thrives in a climate where our interest is directed to the aspirational ‘slimmer me’ selfies which are about to infest our devices of choice in the opening months of 2019. With apologies to Rolling Stone, I guess it’s really only a matter of ‘all the news that fits’.