[csaa-forum] Howard's Tampa

[Paul Magee]

Re: Noel Pearson¹s comments on Lateline (Œchildren sleeping soundlyŠ¹ etc).
Pearson is a politician. He appeals to the emotions rather than the
intellect to get what he wants. The thing you have to ask yourself is
always, ok, but what is it that he wants? Is it desirable?
 
As for sending the troops in to remote communities, this really is classic
Howardism. ŒWar on the Waterfront¹ in 1998 & ŒOperation Relex¹ (the Naval
blockade of Australia¹s North coast against Asylum Seekers, including those
on the Tampa) in 20001 both involved military deployment against the enemy
within - or just without. Like in this new Œwar¹, so then: the presence of
troops is thoroughly theatrical. In fact, it¹s astounding. We¹re meant to
believe that the situation is so bad that we have to declare war on a
section of our own population?
 
Actually, I don¹t think we need to believe that, for this sort of politics
to have its effect. What¹s more important is that people allow it to happen,
however contrary to reason ­ or rather, precisely because it¹s contrary to
reason. Howard knows that a collective suspension of disbelief is far more
powerful than actual belief. He¹s got a much better intuitive grasp of
ideology than us. That¹s why the  fictions he enacts are so utterly crazy:
are we really meant to believe that the way to protect indigenous minors
from sexual abuse is to subject them to a medical examination involving anal
and vaginal penetration? It¹s not necessary for us to believe that this is
the right way of doing things, not at all. Rather, we need a shadowy
awareness of the fact that something about this whole campaign is completely
and utterly insane. That¹s how Howardism works, as a violation of common
sense. Which includes a massive, indeed blinding, hypocrisy.

In the media, these details ­ the presence of troops, the fact that
examination is physically penetrative, just like the abuse it apparently
wards off ­ recede to the side of the picture, to be replaced by the
everyday business of getting the job done, which is now the chief substance
of reporting. The rapidity with which things become business as usual is
something Walter Benjamin reminded us of. It¹s part of the way this
government ­ this repeated violation of common sense ­ acquires its power.
Not only does it brain us at regular, pre-electoral, intervals. It reminds
us that reality reforges itself on these grounds too, that even here, we¹re
safe in the force of the habitual. Well, at least some of us are.
 
In saying that Howardism  works as a violation of common sense, I don¹t mean
that common sense is our usual lot. Life¹s a lot stranger than that, and
it¹s even a lot stranger than Howardism, which simply avoids the issue.
Common sense is not common. You need a War on the Waterfront, or a Children
Overboard, a War on Indigenous Communities, or a ŒThis election, ladies and
gentlemen, will be about trust¹ ­ you need something as unbelievable as
those interventions, for common sense to make sense. Whatever it is, it¹s
not that. And nor are we. Then people can write soberly that the only reason
Howard is still in power is that he delivers on the economy.


Dr. Paul Magee

President, Cultural Studies Association of Australasia
Lecturer in Creative Reading
School of Creative Communication
University of Canberra
ACT 2601
02 6201 2402

Australian Government Higher Education (CRICOS)
Registered Provider number: #00212K


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