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On 16th December 2009 Senator Stephen Conroy announced that the Government will push forward with legislation for mandatory internet filtering, including a secret list of banned and blocked websites.Senator Stephen Conroy
PO Box 1067
Epping MDC
VIC 3076
Dear Senator Conroy,
I am a Labor voter who will be voting against you in the next election, and I thought you should know why.
When you dumped Telstra's arrogant attempt to bully the government on Broadband rollout I cheered. Senator Stud-Muffin, I called you, on this very blog. A strong-willed politician who can see that the principle is the thing. That big bullies shouldn’t get to decide for everyone what we have access to. It was a victory for principle, and for the smaller players against an arrogant monopoly.
Now you are the arrogant monopoly, deciding what we can or can't access. The rest of us Australians are the small players who want a fair-go, a free choice, access to the world on our own terms. No doubt you won’t see it but you’re no different than the Chinese government deciding for their citizens whose voices they hear, whose opinions they listen to. Censorship is censorship. There is no real difference. Just a matter of degree. And there are some important things you’ve lost sight of here.
1: The internet isn’t a one way thing.
We don’t just slurp down content like watching TV. We can have a go ourselves. We can say stuff, write stuff, email stuff. We can Blog and Facebook and Tweet. We can rave, rage, conspire, confabulate and clown-around on the thing. WE GET TO BE HEARD! We may not ever get much of a following. We may know that most of the time we’re pissing into the wind. But we also know that someone out there may be listening to us. That someone on the other side of the world can hear what we think, WITHOUT GOVERNMENTS COMING BETWEEN US.
We all know that censorship, ANY government censorship, eats away at our chance to have a say on things. We’re not dummies. We can see a principle being undermined here. And we don’t bloody like it.
2: The internet isn’t for children.
It’s for adults. It’s a grown-up thing. If people allow their children to play in the road they have to take responsibility for them. The alternative, as you propose it, is to treat us all like children. WHICH IS WRONG! This is just plain stupid with a capital STOO.. You don’t turn off the TV at 9.30 and all go to bed if you have a three year-old in the house. The adults get to stay up later and decide for themselves what they want to do. And it’s up to us (parents, we’re called) to set the rules for our children. NOT YOU. NOT OUR NEIGHBOURS. NOT, ESPECIALLY NOT, THE BLOODY GOVERNMENT.
3: We can’t trust the government to do what’s right because governments change.
Doesn't matter who we vote for, we don't want the government deciding what we can see, think, read or do. Your promises about fairness and good intentions are worthless. Not because you aren't genuine, but because you won't hold the job for more than a few years. After that who knows? Barnaby Joyce? Tony Abbott? How fair and unbiased will they be?
On abortion, or sex education or birth-control. On left-leaning political websites. On any of the religious right's agenda.
There is nothing to stop some lunatic demagogue blarneying his way into power and then screwing due process, democracy, and civil and political rights over, time and again. YOU KNOW THAT. IT GOES ON ALL THE TIME. And get this: WE AREN’T IMMUNE FROM IT.
That’s the great thing about democracy as a form of government. It demands that people get involved and stay involved to stop the loonies from taking over the asylum. Otherwise you end up like the Americans, with George W Bush, ‘Mr 49% of the vote’ plunging the world into needless wars and sending the global economy down the shitter. And we’re stuck with that because of John Bloody Howard, the Deputy Dawg of the southern hemisphere. And didn’t that just work out fabulously well? To coin a phrase -
We didn't elect you because you're better at deciding what we see than we are. Admit it, you're no genius on IT issues. It isn’t possible to control the technology. You don’t have that power. The technology evolves faster than any policy you can develop. Except one policy, that is:
Allowing individuals to decide for themselves.
Go after the pedophiles another way. Attack problem gambling another way. Sort out whatever social problem you think needs sorting, but do it another way. This way won't work. It can’t work. And it smothers free speech.
I will be voting Green in the senate next election. Not because they are a viable alternative government, God knows. But there is no alternative. I can’t vote for the Lib-Nat troglodytes and now I can’t vote for you. If you don’t listen to the deafening roar of disapproval from all sides on this and back down. If you cling to the old “let ‘em register their dissent at the ballot box” line of bullshit, we will. Do you hear that? WE WILL.
Ask Kevin how he feels about that. About not getting a Senate majority from a double-dissolution. Ask him. I think he’ll be less than pleased. Considerably so. Air-turning-blue from expletives undeleted, less than pleased. Pissed-off, browned-off, shat-off, fucked-off, less than pleased. Doing nasty things to people who fucked it up for him, less than pleased. You know what he’s like when he doesn’t get his own way.
Currently he’s looking at Tony Abbott leading the Liberals into complete oblivion as his Christmas present. Do you want to be the one who fucks that up? Because this issue will do it. The Emissions Trading Scheme is a dog and we all know it. But we’ll still vote for you and hope it can be sorted later. There’s a lot of things you’re doing in that category. But this isn’t one of them. This is REALLY gonna fuck it up for you. Because we all of us, no matter what colour, creed or party, don’t want the government censoring us.
Have a Merry Christmas.
Lee Kear, aka Angry of Mayfair.
.
When you dumped Telstra's arrogant attempt to bully the government on Broadband rollout I cheered. Senator Stud-Muffin, I called you, on this very blog. A strong-willed politician who can see that the principle is the thing. That big bullies shouldn’t get to decide for everyone what we have access to. It was a victory for principle, and for the smaller players against an arrogant monopoly.
Now you are the arrogant monopoly, deciding what we can or can't access. The rest of us Australians are the small players who want a fair-go, a free choice, access to the world on our own terms. No doubt you won’t see it but you’re no different than the Chinese government deciding for their citizens whose voices they hear, whose opinions they listen to. Censorship is censorship. There is no real difference. Just a matter of degree. And there are some important things you’ve lost sight of here.
1: The internet isn’t a one way thing.
We don’t just slurp down content like watching TV. We can have a go ourselves. We can say stuff, write stuff, email stuff. We can Blog and Facebook and Tweet. We can rave, rage, conspire, confabulate and clown-around on the thing. WE GET TO BE HEARD! We may not ever get much of a following. We may know that most of the time we’re pissing into the wind. But we also know that someone out there may be listening to us. That someone on the other side of the world can hear what we think, WITHOUT GOVERNMENTS COMING BETWEEN US.
We all know that censorship, ANY government censorship, eats away at our chance to have a say on things. We’re not dummies. We can see a principle being undermined here. And we don’t bloody like it.
2: The internet isn’t for children.
It’s for adults. It’s a grown-up thing. If people allow their children to play in the road they have to take responsibility for them. The alternative, as you propose it, is to treat us all like children. WHICH IS WRONG! This is just plain stupid with a capital STOO.. You don’t turn off the TV at 9.30 and all go to bed if you have a three year-old in the house. The adults get to stay up later and decide for themselves what they want to do. And it’s up to us (parents, we’re called) to set the rules for our children. NOT YOU. NOT OUR NEIGHBOURS. NOT, ESPECIALLY NOT, THE BLOODY GOVERNMENT.
3: We can’t trust the government to do what’s right because governments change.
Doesn't matter who we vote for, we don't want the government deciding what we can see, think, read or do. Your promises about fairness and good intentions are worthless. Not because you aren't genuine, but because you won't hold the job for more than a few years. After that who knows? Barnaby Joyce? Tony Abbott? How fair and unbiased will they be?
On abortion, or sex education or birth-control. On left-leaning political websites. On any of the religious right's agenda.
There is nothing to stop some lunatic demagogue blarneying his way into power and then screwing due process, democracy, and civil and political rights over, time and again. YOU KNOW THAT. IT GOES ON ALL THE TIME. And get this: WE AREN’T IMMUNE FROM IT.
That’s the great thing about democracy as a form of government. It demands that people get involved and stay involved to stop the loonies from taking over the asylum. Otherwise you end up like the Americans, with George W Bush, ‘Mr 49% of the vote’ plunging the world into needless wars and sending the global economy down the shitter. And we’re stuck with that because of John Bloody Howard, the Deputy Dawg of the southern hemisphere. And didn’t that just work out fabulously well? To coin a phrase -
Eternal vigilance is the price of peace of mind.
Wake-up to yourself. We don't want censorship.
We don't trust big government of either political colour.
None of us. So, back off. Think again.
We don't trust big government of either political colour.
None of us. So, back off. Think again.
You will lose on this.
You will lose votes, credibility
and your political future.
and your political future.
We didn't elect you because you're better at deciding what we see than we are. Admit it, you're no genius on IT issues. It isn’t possible to control the technology. You don’t have that power. The technology evolves faster than any policy you can develop. Except one policy, that is:
Allowing individuals to decide for themselves.
Go after the pedophiles another way. Attack problem gambling another way. Sort out whatever social problem you think needs sorting, but do it another way. This way won't work. It can’t work. And it smothers free speech.
I will be voting Green in the senate next election. Not because they are a viable alternative government, God knows. But there is no alternative. I can’t vote for the Lib-Nat troglodytes and now I can’t vote for you. If you don’t listen to the deafening roar of disapproval from all sides on this and back down. If you cling to the old “let ‘em register their dissent at the ballot box” line of bullshit, we will. Do you hear that? WE WILL.
Ask Kevin how he feels about that. About not getting a Senate majority from a double-dissolution. Ask him. I think he’ll be less than pleased. Considerably so. Air-turning-blue from expletives undeleted, less than pleased. Pissed-off, browned-off, shat-off, fucked-off, less than pleased. Doing nasty things to people who fucked it up for him, less than pleased. You know what he’s like when he doesn’t get his own way.
Currently he’s looking at Tony Abbott leading the Liberals into complete oblivion as his Christmas present. Do you want to be the one who fucks that up? Because this issue will do it. The Emissions Trading Scheme is a dog and we all know it. But we’ll still vote for you and hope it can be sorted later. There’s a lot of things you’re doing in that category. But this isn’t one of them. This is REALLY gonna fuck it up for you. Because we all of us, no matter what colour, creed or party, don’t want the government censoring us.
Have a Merry Christmas.
Lee Kear, aka Angry of Mayfair.
.
2 comments:
RIGHT ON !! BROTHER !!! The fuckers have lost my vote too.....
You said it Lee!
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