Action Needed

If you've been following my daily diary entries on my hub site, or paying attention to my Tumblr feed, you may already know that I'm more than a little miffed with the Department of Status Quo of late. I'm especially miffed with what's happening in my country. To be perfectly correct, what's not happening in my country.

Australia, in case you've been living in a bunker for the past couple of months and missed out on all the news, is currently on fire. It's been on fire since early December, and shows no sign of not being on fire any time soon.

The administration's plan of action? Plan to make everyone "get used to the new normal."

Yeah. Fan-firkin-tastic plan there, Scotty from Marketing.

Amazing that it took him all of five seconds to adopt "new normal" from climate science news, but continues to ignore "climate change action" from the exact same sources. His plan of action is one of inaction, ignoring any and all movement towards stopping that kind of nonsense.

Nevermind the fact that this new normal is going to cost literal billions in property and business damage. As long as that coal dollar keeps fountaining in, Scotty from Marketing figures that he'll be all right, Jack.

Aussie-isms for Americans and other bloody foreigners: "(I'm/You're) all right, Jack." An expression of sarcastic acknowledgement of someone's complete and unfeeling disregard of anyone else's suffering. The long form of this fits the format, "(I'm/You're) all right, Jack. Shame about (your/my) [GRIEVOUS INJURIES]..."

Thing is, coal is on its way out and it looks like ScoMo is conveniently ignoring that.

Other fantastically annoying ScoMisms include such lovely illogic as volunteer firefighters not needing pay because "they want to be there." Obviously, Scotty from Marketing has never once in his life dropped everything and gone running after a plume of smoke because it's that or watching you or your neighbours burn.

I was a volunteer firefighter from literal childhood. I grew up, more or less, in the boonies. Everywhere around my home was farm, scrub, or a mixture of the two. Out there, every fire was important. Every plume of smoke got instant notice and the neighbourhood ring-around happened as neighbour called neighbour to make certain everyone was okay and if the fire was under control.

I remember when land developer was said with a sneer and spitting hatred because those were the brainless piles of animate cartilage that dropped matches in lieu of clearing land for sale and then raced off to the nearest pub for a brew. I remember being a very small child and stepping on flames through a barb-wire fence. Back in the 1970's the only colour for children's wellie boots [galoshes to the Americans in the audience] was bright yellow. I remember that I wasn't allowed to go through the fence.

My parents and neighbours were busy fighting the bigger flames with wet blankets or whatever they had to hand, but this little fire had got away from them, and I knew it was important to stop it.

I was four.

I didn't want to be there. I had to be there. If we weren't there, then the fire would have got out of control super-quickly and the entire region would be ash and smoke in less than a handful of hours. It was it or us. Scotty from Marketing wants us all to believe that the volunteers are there because it's some kind of lark.

Bullshit.

Can you imagine watching your neighbour's house catching on fire and you thinking, "Nah, I'm not feeling it today," and letting it all burn? Of course not. Only the richest and the most disconnected could possibly believe that anyone could be that heartless.

Needless to say, pretty much the entirety of Australia is ticked off with our allegedly glorious leader. Hawaii was bad, the volunteer comment was worse, and now there's the whole "new normal" cartload of dung. The hits just keep on hitting... him in the face.

The new normal is going to cost Australians and Australia alike a freaking fortune. Several fortunes put together. Every year, in rapid succession. Year after year, as inaction only makes things worse. This should not be allowed to become normal.

This is not normal, nor should it remain so. This is bad shit.

We need action, not mealy-mouthed attempts to look good to the coal industry whilst also placating the people who've lost literally everything.