A Morning In Phage-World

IT IS A bumper day for received wisdom at the Sunday Phage. Name a luvvie nostrum and somewhere in today’s edition you are sure to find it.

Violence against women, who are by definition forever blameless? Reporterette Nicole Brady has that covered with the latest instalments of a magnum opus based on interviews with social workers running group therapy sessions for men who are for the most part ordered to attend by the courts, or so one gathers. Now women can be very annoying, let us be clear about that, but there is never an excuse for thumping them -- even if, in the middle of a crowded restaurant, they throw crockery, cutlery, salt shakers and then storm out, pausing only to abuse another, entirely innocent diner at an adjoining table. But that sort of behaviour is of no account, according to Brady, a point she expands by quoting one the encounter groups’ chastened participants. 

 “The comeback from the facilitators always is: 'We're not interested in what your partner did or said, we're interested in how you could have managed that situation in a more responsible manner'.'' 

Ducking has always been the Professor’s responsible response, but that now seems entirely inadequate, given one of the other strategems which Brady gives readers to understand is part and parcel of the XY set’s arsenal of oppression. “Some [women] are held captive by threats that if she reveals her torment he will post footage online of them engaging in sex acts,” she explains. That is a new one, to be sure, at least at the Billabong, but it would certainly make YouTube an even more interesting corner of the web.

Having explained violence against women-- whose definition, by the way, has been expanded to include harsh words, disagreements about domestic finances, brooding silences and kicked walls – the Sunday Age re-directs its crusading heart toward the cause of another much put-upon minority, members of the Criminal-Australian community. According to state politics expert Farrah Tomazin, muggers, thump artists and other miscreants are being victimised by the Baillieu government’s intention to lock them up in greater numbers. The policy was announced a year ago, yet Tomazin notes the incidence of several varieties of crime has continued to increase. She makes no mention of the Labor hacks, bleeding hearts and social engineers elevated in plague numbers to  the bench by the Bracks/Brumby government, nor of those appointments’ apparent reluctance to impose sentences which might keep miscreants off the streets for longer.

None of that, not in the enlightened Age, where the obvious is never nuanced enough to be apparent. But let Tomazin expound on the correct approach, which appears sourced to no better authority than her caring, forgiving, empathetic heart. If you happen to be kicked by a thug, punched by a Collingwood supporter or merely intimidated by the boisterous antics of young drunks misbehaving on public transport, please try to remember Tomazin’s words of wisdom: You are not the victim, they are:

Instead of spending millions to expand the prison system or deliver populist policies that might not work, the government should redirect more money into measures that might actually prevent crime, such as a better education system, more public housing, and improved services for drugs, alcohol and gaming. After all, if the latest statistics are anything to go by, promising to crack down on crime is easy. Reducing crime rates by tackling the underlying causes is another thing altogether.

One should not wish ill on others, even Fairfax luvvies, but it is amusing to picture Tomazin returning home one evening to find a thief tossing her cash and valuables into a pillow case. “Go right ahead,” one can almost hear her saying as she dials 000, not to report the intruder but to file a complaint about the Housing Commission’s criminal neglect.

A FURTHER THOUGHT: The editrix of the Sunday Age is Gay Alcorn, who is also Margo Kingston's sibling. Could the habit of making excuses for criminals be genetic?