THE AGE OF DISCONNECTION

This is my slightly altered Roel’s Round weekly column in the Fremantle Herald this weekend. Please advertise in our Freo Cook! We need our one and only local community newspaper!

Here is my ‘rant’:

The recent terrible events in Sydney should be a wake up call for our entire nation, that our current status quo is no longer working. We have created a society of disconnect. Disconnect that is resulting in violence, hatred and murder.

It is somehow irrelevant if people kill because of terrorism or mental health issues, because all of them are perpetrated by people who are disconnected from society and their communities.

We are proud that Australia is a multicultural society, but at the same time there are still many who insist we are a Christian country. We have people who claim not to be racists, but who don’t like Aborigines, coloured people, Muslims, etc. For them there is something wrong with anyone who is different from the norm they set for themselves. Our lack of tolerance is as disappointing as it is worrying.

Nationalism and tribalism are running riot. We believe in an urban myth and claim to be the best country in the world, where everyone gets a fair go, because we are oh so tolerant. That is ignorant nonsense. There is a lot of religious, racial, political, gender, and social intolerance in our country, and there is an unacceptable and unexplainable high degree of domestic violence.

Tribalism starts early in life, when people join a sports team. That supposedly also means one has to hate every other team in the competition. If you are a Fremantle Dockers fan, you have to hate the West Coast Eagles, and all other clubs and their supporters. How more silly can it get? It is only sport, not war, FFS! It moves on to politics from there, so we hate all those on the other side(s) of politics and accuse them of being biased. Like in religion, my leader, my God, is better than yours, so we argue, fight, stop listening, and close our minds and hearts. That too creates isolation.

After thousands of years we still engage in religious wars. What is happening in Gaza is a war between Christians and Muslims. The initial murders and kidnapping at a music festival by Hamas terrorists, resulted in even more devastating violence by Israel. Those who condemn that and support Palestinians are dismissed as being antisemitic.

We hate, judge, dismiss and ignore. Those whom we consider not to be normal, whatever that means, are treated with contempt. Ask the homeless, vagrants, dark coloured, gays, lesbians and trans people, and those with mental health issues, how people look down on them. We do not connect well, or not at all, with those who are different, hence they feel rejected and very isolated. That creates resentment and anger, that sadly sometimes escalates in violence and murder.

The main media is obsessed with reporting negative stories, and whilst social media gives us a great opportunity to connect, it has created more divisiveness, because there is a mass spreading of disinformation, conspiracy and nastiness, together with live streaming of murder and violence, as did happen during the Bondi Junction stabbings. We are constantly confronted with misery, but rarely do we get positive stories reported in the media. That makes vulnerable people even more apprehensive about life.

The feeling of isolation and disconnect from the community also applies to young people and seniors. There is an huge sense of loneliness in our society, hence we hear of tiny children committing suicide, but many grown up men also no longer see a future.

We can not expect our governments to do it all for us. It is up to all of us, each and everyone of us, to reach out and connect to those who are different, or just bloody lonely. We need to learn to understand and accept our differences better. It should not matter at all in which one of the mythical Gods one wants to believe. What does matter is that we take responsibility for our own actions and attitude, and care about others. Connecting with everyone in our communities will result in a much safer and more coherent society, a society where we show respect and tolerance for others.

Roel Loopers