Episode 30 – How to avoid consumer politics and be a good citizen

For this episode I’m joined by Sam Rebecchi – a Melbourne-based communications adviser and part-time writer for the Spectator Blog. I saw his recent Spectator article – ‘Shock News: politics and consumer goods are two different things‘ – as a good opportunity to talk about the elevation of consumption politics, the evacuation of values from public life, and the perceived lack of distinction between the two major Australian political parties.  Politics, he concludes, has sadly been reduced to nothing more than the goods on our shelves.  Tune in to hear how we can turn this around, the path to good citizenship and building strong communities.

Show Highlights

  • Are political parties that indistinguishable?
  • Loss of common identity in Australia as a driving factor behind consumption politics
  • Politics being downstream of culture – Australian pragmatism and egalitarianism
  • The resilience of the foundations of the Australian political system
  • How a family functions is different to how a state runs. And why mixing the two is not a good idea.
  • Not waiting for the politics to get better but building social capital – attend church, join a club, volunteer, get involved

Resources/People/Articles Mentioned in the Podcast

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