Police State

There has been much discussion about the emerging police state in Australia. I think this discussion exposes the class and race of the commentators. For, if you were black, immigrant, gay, lesbian, refugee, trade unionist, member of a small political party (both right and left), or homeless, you will have been experiencing varying degrees of police state powers for many years. (The aborigines have been experiencing it for 217 years and counting!).

Now that a middle-class, white person has been arrested for being a threat to national security, some people are beginning to think they may be getting too close to the action. They have the echoes of Pastor Martin Niemöller must be sounding too close for comfort:

In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

It would appear that many people do not mind the police exceeding their powers as long as the victims are those who are different. From what I have been reading, there are those who advocate wider and wider police powers against their preceived enemies.

But I say that the biggest problem is not the police or the powers they wield but the ordinary, decent people who partipate in the Police State. It is these people who inform on their neighbours, their workmates, and even their family. Without these people, a Police State would just flounder. And these people do it for personal advantage, not for any noble ideal. Someone beats them for a promotion. Now they can get their own back by putting their competitor into the national security machinery.

This was brought home to me recently. I work for a devout Muslim. He had reason to discipline a colleague of mine. Now, the latter is going around saying publicly that Muslims will be arrested just for being Muslims. I would imagine my boss's nerves are going to become very frayed at this. In spite of the PM's protestations, any Muslim is going to think there is at least some substance to this.

For me, I worry too much. I keep imaging that, one day, some idiot going to shoot my boss just because he is a Muslim. There is so much hatred being stirred up.

In reality, I am nos. 1, 3, and 4 on the good pastor's list. The only safety I have got at this stage is the irrelevance of Communism in Australian political life. We are noticeable, but not really effective (yet!).

Good night to you and your secret policeman.