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Community Events: Labor and Southbank
Aug. 29th, 2022 11:55 amCommunity is that place ("commune") where people, as authentic and equal individuals, develop shared symbolic values and meaning between each other ("culture"). This can be contrasted with those activities which are dominated by the system of politics and money where efficiency, effectiveness, solutions, and hierarchy are the order of the day. A rather impressive comparison between the two has been put together by a children's disability group and most of the content is hard to fault. I will mention that systems get things done, whereas communities tend to provide a means to understanding. As a result, community must come first; solutions without understanding are robotic - and dangerous. Although I will mention that there are toxic communities (and, as a result, toxic systems), those that set themselves up in opposition to other communities, the famous in-group versus out-group division. Neurology suggests there is an innate tendency for the brain to divide people into "us and them" with all the inevitable consequences, and divisive opportunities for weaponisation and ultimate dehumanisation of "the other" - sometimes to the point of war and genocide. Removing toxicity and division in communities, and thus also the systems that depend on them, should be a priority for those who want a better world.
A few nights ago I went to the campaign launch of the new Labor candidate for Albert Park, Nina Taylor, at the Middle Park Bowls club. The beautiful old club building has a long history, including the small fact that one of the early presidents was also the first Labor Premier of Victoria, George Elmslie. There were several state and federal MPs, past and current present among some 250 people who attended the evening, enthusiastic and passionate about the continuing commitment to getting things done in health, education, and infrastructure (to "to make and unmake social conditions", as George Ryan once evocatively said). Now it must be said that political elections are competitive and therefore inevitably include a degree of toxicity, and goodness knows I've seen plenty of that in my time. It is with this in mind that I find myself an advocate for proportional representation, not just in voting (I prefer the Jefferson-D'Hondt method) but also in governance itself (such as the Swiss "Konkordanzsystem") where power is shared proportionally to the share of votes with a principle of collegiality ("Kollegialitätsprinzip").
The second community event I attended was a Southbank 3006 meeting at the Horizon Club, which I learned had come from members of the local resident's association that were more interested in events rather than advocacy. Both are valuable and necessary of course. Southbank does have its own interesting demographics; more than 20% younger than the national average, 40% less married, more than double the percentage with tertiary degrees, five times the number of people with Chinese ancestry, seven times the number of Mandarin speakers, less than half of the national average born in Australia, 50% more with explicitly no religion, 50% greater in personal income, more professionals, and so forth. It is good to see a genuine attempt to build community in this largely vertical suburb (98% of residences are apartments) and will be sure to attend many more events organised by this group. One particular and unexpected joy, however, was meeting a dear old friend Liz J., whom I had lost contact with over 20 years ago! I don't think one could ask for a more serendipitous encounter at a community meeting. But that's how it works.
A few nights ago I went to the campaign launch of the new Labor candidate for Albert Park, Nina Taylor, at the Middle Park Bowls club. The beautiful old club building has a long history, including the small fact that one of the early presidents was also the first Labor Premier of Victoria, George Elmslie. There were several state and federal MPs, past and current present among some 250 people who attended the evening, enthusiastic and passionate about the continuing commitment to getting things done in health, education, and infrastructure (to "to make and unmake social conditions", as George Ryan once evocatively said). Now it must be said that political elections are competitive and therefore inevitably include a degree of toxicity, and goodness knows I've seen plenty of that in my time. It is with this in mind that I find myself an advocate for proportional representation, not just in voting (I prefer the Jefferson-D'Hondt method) but also in governance itself (such as the Swiss "Konkordanzsystem") where power is shared proportionally to the share of votes with a principle of collegiality ("Kollegialitätsprinzip").
The second community event I attended was a Southbank 3006 meeting at the Horizon Club, which I learned had come from members of the local resident's association that were more interested in events rather than advocacy. Both are valuable and necessary of course. Southbank does have its own interesting demographics; more than 20% younger than the national average, 40% less married, more than double the percentage with tertiary degrees, five times the number of people with Chinese ancestry, seven times the number of Mandarin speakers, less than half of the national average born in Australia, 50% more with explicitly no religion, 50% greater in personal income, more professionals, and so forth. It is good to see a genuine attempt to build community in this largely vertical suburb (98% of residences are apartments) and will be sure to attend many more events organised by this group. One particular and unexpected joy, however, was meeting a dear old friend Liz J., whom I had lost contact with over 20 years ago! I don't think one could ask for a more serendipitous encounter at a community meeting. But that's how it works.
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