Election awakens the stereotyping
‘‘I find it interesting that people are quick to make assumptions about which political box I must fit into and they therefore assume my automatic support for this or that party.’’
I voted early this election.
I just didn’t want to see or listen to any more of the campaigning.
I found the verbal violence and abuse too disturbing.
We have so many issues with violence in our country I wonder why we have to be subjected to that verbal carry-on, not just from the people who seek to be our leaders but also in the comments of their supporters.
Clear accounts of policy, what they hope to achieve and how they expect to do that, is helpful when trying to decide who seems to have the best handle on what our issues are.
My political leanings are my business and I do not belong to any political party.
I find it interesting that people are quick to make assumptions about which political box I must fit into and they therefore assume my automatic support for this or that party.
Posts began appearing on my Facebook page from friends.
It created a dilemma for me because they are friends and I am interested in what they do and think.
However, I did not want others thinking because those views were on my page, I necessarily shared them.
After wrestling with the thought of removing them, I opted to leave the posts but to not comment or endorse them in any way regardless of whether or not I agreed.
Next time I will remove some.
Especially those that perpetuate discriminatory stereotypes.
One post that appeared more than once noted that working people shouldn’t be taxed to pay people who did not work, the inference being that all people not working should be working and were drains on other people’s personal wealth.
I have spent the last four years or so working in charitable organisations which work with those experiencing hardship, are vulnerable, or abused in some way.
In these organisations there are highly motivated and often poorly paid staff working to make a positive difference.
In a recent case there was a man who came by.
He was destitute and quite literally living under a bridge.
A series of events, starting with him being made redundant, had conspired to bring him to his present circumstances.
When the staff followed up they found he had been receiving a benefit but it had stopped.
He had been sent a request for information from the government department.
When they didn’t get a response his benefit was cut off.
They had been sending the mail to an old address.
The client had been unable to pay the rent, got kicked out and was now living under a bridge and did not get mail delivered.
No one at the old address thought to let the department know he wasn’t there.
Eventually it got sorted and the man fed and housed, albeit in a boarding house.
That would not have been possible without the commitment of the charity and some government funding.
I assume those making the comments which triggered my reaction would not have been happy for the man to have starved to death under the bridge.
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