A droplet of hope in a sea of despair


First, I like to acknowledge the country on which we make our home, Terra Australis, whose landmass is over fifty percent under Native Title; whose major oil and gas projects are delayed by judges in thrall of whale song-lines, mythical undersea burial grounds, by mother sea and by rainbow serpents; whose states are busy enacting treaties with people of majority European ancestry; and whose most populous city has been renamed “Naarm” by the ABC, I understand – don’t actually watch or listen to it. The same country whose centre-right political parties (pause to lol) enacted net zero; and an unspeakably vile segment of whose citizens gathered in front of the Opera House contemptibly chanting “gas the Jews.”

The referendum was a lonely battle won. A teasing flicker of hope in a cauldron of despair. Best not to get carried away. The war is being lost.

Just how is the Aboriginalisation of Australia to be stopped let alone turned back? How are resource development projects ever to successfully run the gauntlet of environmental obstacles, spiritual mumbo-jumbo, crafty lefty-lawyers, and woke judges? How are wind and solar eruptions on the landscape to be stopped rather than just slowed down? How are massive levels of immigration to be reined in? How do we get an immigration policy which keeps out those people whose religious-cum-cultural attachments are inconsistent with Australian values?  In any event, how do we unscramble the egg?

The answer to all of these questions is with extreme difficulty. Once the freaky, perverted, globalist, western-civilisation hating, collectivist, mind-bending Left’s infiltration of institutions has been largely completed, as it has, there are few champions left to fight for individual liberty within cohesive societies, for the nation state, for free markets, for common decency and common sense. Most politicians, public servants, academics, corporate bigwigs, union bosses, reporters and commentators, sporting code administrators, well-heeled professional urbanites, have been compromised.  

A good number of think tanks fight the good fight; the likes of CPAC, the new ARC, which met in London, the IPA here, but we should not pin too much hope in them. They largely talk to a limited in-house cohort of the converted.

The common man is the remaining potential hope. The referendum showed that. Only a radical political movement can harness that potential. Don’t see it happening. But perhaps Trump is the last best hope for America and by extension for us. A long shot.


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Bootstrapper
Bootstrapper
November 12, 2023 9:04 am

A bitter, black pill Peter, but a truthful one. The system is compromised and broken. There’s no fixing it. The Left has set up the conditions necessary for the revolution they’ve always claimed they want. Now, they’re going to get it. But I don’t think they’ll like the outcome.

shatterzzz
November 12, 2023 9:13 am

Reality will set in “if & when” one of the big “miners” be it gas, coal. oil or minerals sez “enuf is enuf” and pullz up stakes and shuts down their Oz production ……
Sadly, I thinx, they is all too “woke” to grow a pair .. profit margins must be incredible on top of all the tax & “native heritage” blackmail they, happily, cough up for ……….

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
November 12, 2023 9:14 am

That is a very accurate reflection of what is happening.

wal1957
wal1957
November 12, 2023 9:25 am

The uniparty consisting of Liebor/Liberal/Greens still get over 70% of the vote.
It used to be a choice ofthe lesser of 2 evils…ie. Labour or Liberal.
I cannot understand why people continue to vote for any of these parties and expect that they will sort out the problems that Australia faces.

They are the problem!

Katzenjammer
Katzenjammer
November 12, 2023 9:55 am

It might take a generation to pull in the reins to do a U-turn. Infiltrate the institutions. One high priority should be the Australian Research Council which distributes grants for academic research.

Cassie of Sydney
November 12, 2023 10:23 am

We need to start with local councils

Bar Beach Swimmer
November 12, 2023 10:25 am

To my mind, the overwhelming win for common sense and the common man at the referendum has mortally wounded Luigi.

On the Voice, by contrast, Dutton has been shown to be “on the right side of history” – a phrase previously used to hammer right-of-centre politics but now fallen down the memory hole of “progressives”.

More needs to be done on the right-of-centre of politics but at least political parties of that bent now know that Australians are a conversative people who will support policies that benefit the country rather than sectional interests.

Before the referendum the electorate’s demeanour toward the Voice could only be assumed, which allowed Voice supporters to try to bully, cajole and guilt-out the rest of us. Afterwards, however, the nation has an objective measure of refusal of the left wing agenda for all to see. Now try not listening to the people and see what happens.

MatrixTransform
November 12, 2023 11:20 am

If phase one is capturing elite culture, phase two is mobilising the wretched. It amounts to those wishing to expand their stake promising power to those without any stake, at the expense of those with a genuine stake; it is a marriage of fanatics and desperados, and somewhere between those jaws are you and your modest life.

on Quadrant … The Left and Those They Love to Exploit

billie
November 12, 2023 12:16 pm

Democracy isn’t working for the right any longer

The left are taking over all the institutions because the right don’t want to confront them. It isn’t a momentary thing to confront, it is a war and a very long term one at that. If you want to confront the left, it is your occupation, a lifetime of fighting them because they will destroy you if you don’t.

Most people on the right just want to be left alone, but that’s a formula the left loves as they will not leave anything alone, they will attack it.

What happens to Liberal premiers and PMs who appease the left, they lose everyone’s support. Dutton mught be a good leader, but he is supported by a msm frightened bunch of politicians more worried about themselves than the good of all.

A premier like Bjelke-Peterson understood that and fed the chooks, the lying filth of the msm. He aggresively persued anyone out of step, at the time it was abhored by many but in hindsight it stopped the left’s march.

I’m rethinking people like that, because maybe they had some of it right, some of it wrong, but it forced the institutions to watch their step in his presence.

Is a world war such a bad thing to reset the way things are going?

Sure, there’s a lot wrong with that way of thinking, but for whom?

The USA is left led and hell bent on a forever war, maybe they will get their wish for a really big one.

Where does that leave us, with a strong man taking over for a while and dispensing with democracy, then in time we get it back and start the cycle all over again.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
November 12, 2023 1:06 pm

JC Nov 12, 2023 11:03 AM

Salvatore, Iron PublicanNov 12, 2023 10:32 AM
Dr Faustus; Should the poms have stayed away from the Cenotaph at 11am?
Is that what they should have done?

Did you stay away? Anyone see you at the Melbourne Shrine protecting those sculptural artifacts?

The cenotaph in question is the one in Whitehall.
That’s more than Ten Thousand miles away, Einstein.

Ceres
Ceres
November 12, 2023 1:27 pm

Oh how your words resonated with me Peter.
A great summary of the dire direction which Labor has implemented at breakneck speed. They certainly don’t waste time with talkfests, or arguing a case. Just bulldoze.
Referendum apparently just a minor setback in their minds to be hastily forgotten about, they’ll just implement it by another means. However that Labor debacle has given me hope that despite all that the MSM media and money threw at the yes vote there was still enough voter sense and self interest to see through the BS. So extrapolate that to energy issues with blackouts and islamists violently protesting and there seem to be some glimmers. Even turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.

STJOHNOFGRAFTON
STJOHNOFGRAFTON
November 12, 2023 1:37 pm

I think that a major reason why our own ‘sea of despair’ (mare australis desperatio) continues to flourish is that most of Australia’s populace are content to bask in the knowledge that the government provides them a soothing security blanket in exchange for them giving up their personal freedom. It is a kind of Aussie slough of despond where free thinking, independent, ridgy dige pilgrims are up against our own version of the worldly, wokey characters found in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.

Bruce
Bruce
November 12, 2023 3:00 pm

Can we please ditch this bogus “Left / Right” dichotomy?

The terms are derived from ratbag French revolutionary jargon and relate to the side of the “big table of decision making” on which your basic psychotic revolutionaries sit.

Basically:

First, kill all the undeserving enemies of the state and re-distribute their “wealth”, or:

Redistribute the wealth first, then run show trials and execute the guilty bastards.

Same malignant psychoses, different sequencing and “style”.

Enjoy your Dachas!

Vicki
Vicki
November 12, 2023 3:14 pm

Despite the overall instinct that all is lost for the West, we are surprised by the overwhelming rejection of that travesty, the Voice. So, who knows?

Can’t see anything to get excited about in the children of Boomers. Too obsessed with entertainment & dining “out”.

But the much maligned millennials? Maybe. Just maybe. They can see their “grandees” worked hard for what they have. They hear a lot of complaints from parents. If they can see through the crap of the entertainment world – they just might have the “right stuff” to fight for a better life.

Mak Siccar
Mak Siccar
November 12, 2023 4:32 pm

Dear Peter Smith,
Many thanks for your insightful articles that you choose to share with readers here at The Cat. Your observations and analyses should, I believe, be given a national platform because I reckon that that there are many quiet Australians – particularly those of advancing years – who are getting more and more angry at what the politicians and bureaucrats have inflicted on this once-great country.

Please keep up your good work and buy yourself a megaphone.

Muddy
Muddy
November 12, 2023 5:32 pm

(1). Treat the issues (such as those above) as though we have a significant investment in them, rather than as a random dinner table topic.* Frame the challenge through the lens of business or professional sport. (No-one is going to save your business for you if it’s not performing (without you suffering loss). Similarly, the sporting team you own/manage/coach will not be given a free ride (or a Trump).

(2). Conservatives need to recognise their pride and hubris for what they are: anchors. As a group, we need to acknowledge our responsibility for allowing this damage to occur ‘on our watch.’ Guilt is not productive, but acknowledging failure can be. One side doesn’t beat the other side if there is no ‘other side’ to be beaten. Own the mistakes and confusion of the past and use it to our advantage.

(3). Examine in detail our present and past strategies and tactics, and those of our opponents. What do we do well? What strengths and resources do we possess? How have our opponents tapped into the ‘Like’ generation? Etc. Why was the inVoice No campaign successful, and how can we tap into that?

(While our opponents do possess the influence of various institutions, an advantage we have is that we know how they work. We’ve seen them in action for so long, many of their tactics are predictable. Of course, they also know how we operate, but only if we continue on the same path (defensive/reactive, no desire for control or initiative). If we change how we fight, however …).



(24). Be prepared to be ridiculed by the impotents supposedly on your own side.

* With the exception, as mentioned, of the recent inVoice.

2dogs
2dogs
November 12, 2023 5:46 pm

The uniparty consisting of Liebor/Liberal/Greens still get over 70% of the vote.

I think this is being corrected now. The votes that Albo is losing aren’t going to the Libs.

Enyaw
Enyaw
November 12, 2023 6:30 pm

test only

Katzenjammer
Katzenjammer
November 12, 2023 8:32 pm

One of the problems is there’s nothing astonishing, exotic, extraorinary, exciting about conservatism. It’s ordinary. It’s the normal way of people, society, families. It carries on quietly for generation after generation for millennia. How can anyone fight against concepts like applaud Hamas. or you can swap genders, or weather is poisonous. They’re so ridicu;ous that anyone who has gulled themself into the cult won’t understand ordinary rational concepts. That’s the heart of the problem – conservative attitudes are ordinary, normal. What revolutionary banner can we raise with car bumper stickers and fridge magnets – “Be Ordinary. Be Normal.”

Alamak!
Alamak!
November 12, 2023 8:40 pm

Only a radical political movement can harness that potential. Don’t see it happening. But perhaps Trump is the last best hope for America and by extension for us

I’d say No to both of those propositions.

We don’t need a radical political movement to push back against a takeover of Oz productive capacity by the non-productive elites. Common sense and honest, values-led real people can succeed. The Voice showed that.

Also No to Trump. He is a baal sideshow, a useless distraction from the underlying battle between productive and non-productive sections of society. He represents nothing but himself and his business && legal black holes. You need evidence? Check the vast amounts of cash donated for his election but sent to fund his legal defences(plural), some of which you might argue are politically driven but all of which are enabled by his loose mouth and ego.

Alamak!
Alamak!
November 12, 2023 8:41 pm

^He is a baal sideshow^He is a banal sideshow

JC
JC
November 12, 2023 8:46 pm

Also No to Trump. He is a baal sideshow, a useless distraction from the underlying battle between productive and non-productive sections of society. He represents nothing but himself and his business && legal black holes. You need evidence? Check the vast amounts of cash donated for his election but sent to fund his legal defences(plural), some of which you might argue are politically driven but all of which are enabled by his loose mouth and ego.

Really, he represented nothing but himself? Of the 92 charges against him, which are the ones suggesting he enriched himself?

They couldn’t find a single instance and it’s not because your side didn’t try. Conversely, if you want to see someone enriching himself through the office he held, you can’t go past Hiden.

JC
JC
November 12, 2023 8:51 pm

The cenotaph in question is the one in Whitehall.
That’s more than Ten Thousand miles away, Einstein.

Yeah, I know that Houso, but seeing you wouldn’t be able to afford the fare I was hoping you’d do guard dog duty at a destination that wouldn’t cost as much. Not surprising you didn’t get that.

Still feeling like an Anzac at Lone Pine?

JC
JC
November 12, 2023 8:53 pm

Despite the overall instinct that all is lost for the West,

That’s just typical human thinking of linear extrapolation. It never turns to be linear. Trends change.

JC
JC
November 12, 2023 8:55 pm

Whoops rong fred.

The Bungonia Bee
The Bungonia Bee
November 13, 2023 6:26 am

And – Albo has just put a toe into the “open borders” pond.

Indolent
Indolent
November 13, 2023 7:50 am

Check the vast amounts of cash donated for his election but sent to fund his legal defences(plural), some of which you might argue are politically driven but all of which are enabled by his loose mouth and ego.

His loose mouth and ego have nothing to do with it. His success is why they’re after him. And talking about normal, the last best taste of it we had was when he was president. The only reason Trump needs huge amounts of money is that he’s facing up to the enemy and I’m pretty sure the people donating it are fine with that. And Trump as banal? Really?

Crossie
Crossie
November 13, 2023 9:13 am

Bootstrapper
Nov 12, 2023 9:04 AM
A bitter, black pill Peter, but a truthful one. The system is compromised and broken. There’s no fixing it. The Left has set up the conditions necessary for the revolution they’ve always claimed they want. Now, they’re going to get it. But I don’t think they’ll like the outcome.

It looks like the elites with revolutionary plans have decided that muslims in Western countries are going to be their foot soldiers who will suppress the normal citizenry. The downright promotion of the huge pro-Palestinian demonstration while at the same time monstering all counter-protesters gives them away. I don’t think they will succeed but it will get very ugly.

When the ordeal is over we will need to bring in another Nuremberg tribunal for western elites and the WEF types. They have to pay or our children and grandchildren will go through it all again.

Kneel
Kneel
November 13, 2023 4:40 pm

“Really, he represented nothing but himself? Of the 92 charges against him, which are the ones suggesting he enriched himself? “

The only US president of the last 30 years (at least) to lose personal wealth during and after his presidency.
He could have retired and played golf at any time and the crap would have stopped.
He didn’t and hasn’t.
Regardless of what you think of the man’s policies, speeches and “mean tweets” I think it fair to say you can’t fault his patriotism and passion for “saving” the US. And given the polling, it seems many Americans think the same thing.

  1. Impressive. Thanks Dover for all these art links. Once upon a time, I didn’t care about this stuff. Eastman Johnson,…

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