I have the heater on in mid-summer Australia, so it makes sense that ‘they’ changed ‘global warming’ to ‘climate change’ (whoever ‘they’ are). Like Alexander Downer, I don’t consider myself a climate sceptic, but I am sceptical about how the Left is using climate change as an imminent threat of apocalyptic proportions to challenge Australia’s liberal democracy and our way of life. The threat to individual liberty that began in universities in the United States gathered momentum during the pandemic. That threat is evident in our legal system and is now materialising in the energy sector. Unfettered government control over our individual lives is the logical endgame of current climate change policy if we allow it to happen. And let’s not kid ourselves – we’re on a slippery slope to socialism.

When reading an SBS News article about the ACT government’s pending inquiry into the Lehrmann trial, I noticed the trigger warning. This habit from American universities is quickly infiltrating Australian society and it is contributing to the fragility of our people. To be sure, one might take a break from the likes of Twitter or reading the news for our mental health’s sake, but that is a choice we make. As Jordan Peterson argues, the Left is all about ‘the moral posturing of sensitivity over truth’ that is removing individual responsibility for dealing with living.

In his interview with Peterson, American comedian Bill Maher refers to ‘emotional haemophiliacs’ who, instead of avoiding ‘a room full of sharps … make all of us wear bubble wrap’. In our current geopolitical situation, we find ourselves in a situation that is the antithesis of the Anzac spirit. Our great sporting culture, inherited from the British, played a significant role in securing the freedoms inherent in classical British liberalism and the Westminster tradition that remain central to Australia’s political system. But that system is under challenge from within.

Rather than develop resilience, we are becoming ‘harmless’ and not virtuous, while at the same time performatively reacting to ‘virtue signalling’ that results in collective weakness. We are becoming ashamed of our own history and culture as if that is virtuous. It isn’t – it’s divisive and it challenges our ability to think for ourselves. The Stoic philosophers regarded external events as facts, rather than good or bad. Only our reactions to external events are good or bad, and these are individual choices. The good life is one lived in accordance with one’s nature and where an individual acts in accordance with what is within one’s control.

The current virtue signalling trend is the very opposite of the Stoic good life, where everybody else must kowtow to certain individuals and their particular issues and identity politics. If this were simply a case of manners then there would be no issue, but the collective hate that is piled upon unsuspecting individuals who do not comply with the Left’s agenda has nothing to do with etiquette and everything to do with control. This is creating a generational problem that has major consequences for our collective security and our individual freedoms, not to mention individuals’ abilities to develop resilience to the stresses of living in contemporary society.

Amid the social control objectives established through virtue-signalling and the emergent shame culture, the excesses of government control during the pandemic gave rise to further ways to signal one’s virtues. Mask-wearing is a case in point. While I do wear a mask nowadays if I am sick, it is a choice I make as part of my spirit of social responsibility. But if I do not feel like wearing a mask and there is no reason to do so, then that is a choice I make. Yet mask-wearing became a way for the Left to signal their so-called superior virtues to others. This not only played out in politics, but was played out on Twitter and elsewhere with academics from the Left arguing that my choice not to wear a mask was political, whereas their requirement to wear a mask was somehow responsible and virtuous. I call it hypocritical.

I’ve seen the same arguments play out in relation to electric vehicles. The same people who refer to our time as ‘late capitalism’ suggest that subsidising rich people for electric vehicles is fine because it will inspire poor people to one day own an electric vehicle, which, they say, is good for the environment. But the hypocrisy of the Left is so obvious it verges on the insane. There is no way these same people would advocate trickle-down economics but when it comes down to ideological issues, as Mao might have said, nothing is a contradiction. And herein is the challenge: in our weakened state of resilience, with the rule of law under threat, and at the risk of being labelled a heretic, we are moving towards an energy sector that will take over parts of our daily lives. Let me explain.

The recent intervention by the federal government in our energy sector is creating sovereign risk for our major exporters and will ultimately impact upon our standard of living. Demonising the mining and energy sectors that provide the majority of wealth in this country is worse than cutting off our nose to spite our face. Government doesn’t produce its own revenue; it is raised through profitable businesses. Politicians sneering at profitable businesses and intervening in markets and increasing taxes when profits are good do little to inspire confidence in our economy, as has already been seen with Korean and Japanese companies (two of our key security partners) already thinking twice about investing in our ‘command economy’.

The phrase ‘command economy’ is something we will become familiar with as Australia pursues Net Zero through technologies mandated by the federal government. But the reliance on intermittent renewables has been called into question by several of Australia’s top scientists, amid Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen’s claims that nuclear is a pipe dream. One problem for the Left is that with nuclear, we could use our electricity as we do now. With intermittent renewables, we have been left living dispatchable lifestyles dictated by government, rather than enjoying our individual liberties supported by dispatchable energy.

The Greens are already wanting to ‘electrify everything’. This would mean your car and all the appliances in your house would be electric only. Imagine, no wood fires on a cold winter’s night, no more cooking with gas, no infinity gas heating for endless hot water. And a battery as part of your house that is part of the grid and controlled by someone else. Imagine your air-conditioner being shut off in the middle of a hot summer’s day for the greater good of the grid? Or not being able to drive anywhere because you are not allowed to charge your EV? This is no joke, it has already happened in California.

The Greens’ vision is for everyone to live in high-density apartments in the inner city, catching trams to work or cycling, being vegan, eating lab-grown meat substitutes, and all sorts of other changes to our way of life that go hand in hand with their ideology. I used to think that I would be long gone before I had to endure any of this, but this is a position we can no longer adopt if we are to ensure the Green-Left do not control how we live. Driven by unelected Woke international bodies, the Albanese Labor government is allowing it to happen amid a democratic deficit that is increasing exponentially.

The slippery slope to socialism is a pincer movement from above and below. As the government attempts to nationalise our mining and energy sectors, Green-Left pundits are infiltrating and attacking the foundations of our liberal democracy. There are five ways we can address these issues. First, write – call out corporate and government Wokeness. Write reviews and send a clear message to the likes of Qantas that you are not Woke and you do not appreciate their virtue signalling. Write to your local member or even email your Prime Minister. There is a huge Woke echo chamber that is getting all the attention and this needs to change.

Second, freedom of speech must be actualised – use it or lose it. It has become increasingly obvious that free speech and academic freedom are being curtailed. If you are Woke, you can say whatever you like no matter how wrong, and this leads to accolades and celebrations. If you speak up about the stupidity that is leading us down the garden path to economic ruin and social fracturing, or refuse to participate in the growing number of Woke rituals, then you run the risk of being ostracised or labelled with a number of Woke insults that stick like mud to the proverbial blanket. But staying silent is not an option – it only supports the Woke Brigade’s agenda.

Third, be conscious of the agenda your preferred media sources or professional or community associations are pursuing. Do not support those sources or associations that are beyond saving. I have decided not to renew one of my professional memberships that is pursuing Woke agendas and is unwelcoming to a diversity of opinion. I will no longer pay for the privilege of being ostracised. But be aware of the sources of information you rely upon and test them all. Thinking for yourself is hard work, so do the work.

Fourth, join a political party. If you don’t like how politics is functioning in this country, then do something about it. There is a need for a huge grassroots revival in conservative politics in Australia. The Greens want to reduce the voting age to 16 to capture the vote of those who do not understand the importance of individual liberty. So, get out there and set the example that is missing in our communities before it is too late. Young people don’t know what they want because everyone around them is wearing bubble wrap. Don’t let the Greens decide the politics of our young Australians – debate, and don’t be afraid to stand up to the Woke Brigade.

Fifth, don’t give up the struggle. The little Aussie battler is still the dominant force in Australia. Celebrate Australia Day, attend your local dawn service on Anzac Day, and write to your council if they interfere with local flag poles.

Do anything but nothing.

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