Picture: Mick Tsikas/AAP
If the dreadful attacks on Christchurch taught us anything, it is that there is a global pandemic of destructive narcissism, anti-social personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder.
The first normal human response to events such as Friday’s attacks on Muslims going peacefully about their business, many shot dead while kneeling in prayer, is empathy and a deep sense of grief and sorrow.
This was callously interrupted by a wave of YouTube ersatz celebrities, self-serving internet warriors and egomaniacs dripping with conceit and intellectual vanity.
In the wake of the attacks on the Masjid Al-Noor and the Linwood Masjid in Christchurch, there has been a lot of blame apportionment that doesn’t pass muster by any sense of logic.
Presently, the attacker’s motives are not fully understood. While he prepared a 78-page manifesto and posted it online, it is an unreliable guide to his conduct without further forensic investigation of his life.
What we can conclude at this stage is the gunman was a terrorist, an ultra-nationalist, right-wing extremist. But even this obvious and self-evident truth is subject to bizarre scrutiny.
I have been writing about the risk right wing extremism poses to the community for some time. Australia has a long and unhappy history with right wing extremism from the paramilitary New Guard in the 1930s, the vicious anti-Semitism and exclusionism of the Australian League of Rights post-war, through to its bastard children fanning off into various extreme and ultra-nationalist groups like the United Patriots’ Front.
It never pays to take your eye off these people. To regard them as amusing clods who dwell on the fringes of society as well as on the extreme right of the political spectrum may hold some truth, but we should not underestimate the menace they pose to our communities.
It is not so much what they say and do in their eternal struggle for the spotlight and a whiff of legitimacy, but who is quietly listening and fervently clinging to very appalling word they utter in the background.
Rather than acknowledge and attempt to quantify the risk, we wasted our time and energy on dismal polemics about whether Nazism is from the right or the left.
We largely ignored the hate speech in our federal parliament after the 2016 double dissolution election foisted some of the worst people on the country into red chairs and gave them a platform.
It’s not just Anning’s disgraceful clawing for publicity. There have been many others. Back in March 2016, the ineligible One Nation senator, Malcolm Roberts, got to his feet and railed:
“If your Muslim Sudanese neighbour is engaging in female genital mutilation or your Syrian Muslim cafe owner is a terrorist building a bomb or maybe just the Afghan Muslims in the public housing flat next to you are molesting small children, chances are that you are afraid to speak out.”
The fact this garbage was largely allowed to go through to the keeper shows our political institutions are sick and our media too cynical to condemn. Rather, it was situation normal.
The hate speech doesn’t exist in a vacuum. If we really want to understand how events such as terrorist massacres occur but how they trigger our communities to resort to vitriol and ugliness in their wake, we need only look at the narcissists with their YouTube accounts who sit about drooling over bloody events so they can tell a world that seems to have lost its capacity for reason, what we should think.
Social media becomes a cesspit at times like this. It was the same after the Islamic State inspired Paris attacks in November 2015, the Islamist outrages in Brussels in March 2016 and the Manchester bombing in May of 2017.
Ambulances were still ferrying the wounded across Hagley Park to Christchurch Hospital when Melbourne-based YouTuber, Sydney Watson decided to pipe up on Twitter. She has 160,000 subscribers on YouTube.
“What is happening in Christchurch is SO wrong,” she tweeted. “But before I see anyone else say this is the result of “anti-immigration” sentiments – I’ll counter that this is the result of politicians making people feel unheard & marginalized. You push some people far enough, they snap.”
The massacre was less than two hours old when Watson decided she had the answer. In her twisted world, feeling “unheard and marginalised” is a precursor to shooting dead a three-year-old child and 49 others.
As night fell in Christchurch, up popped Gemma O’Doherty, an Irish ‘journalist’ and 9-11 ‘truther’, who decided she could sniff another one world order conspiracy from 19,000 kilometres away.
“Has all the hallmarks of a classic false flag operation,” she tweeted. “To incite fresh #IS attacks, create chaos and fear, allow the globalists take more control over people and remove freedoms a la 9/11. A professional job. The public are no longer fooled.”
O’Doherty went on to babble and continues to do so that calls for people not to view the shooter’s helmet cam footage of his attacks on the mosques were not due to the appalling nature of the mayhem and death he wrought, but because some fictitious One World government had descended from the grassy knoll to clean up the crime scene.
By then, the finger pointing on social media had well and truly started. Canadian ultra nationalist, Lauren Southern, was beset with angry tweets calling her complicit in the Christchurch massacre. She fired off a response early Saturday morning.
“I am utterly disgusted by those sending tweets along the lines of “Are you happy?” to right wingers. Would you send this to a Muslim that has never advocated violence on the day of an Islamic terror attack?”
I’d be happy to agree with her except for one thing. A quick flip through her twitter account showed she had done exactly the same thing albeit in another scenario.
On 24 March 2016, and in the wake of the Islamist terror attacks in Brussels, she tweeted, “I confronted a Muslim woman yesterday (in Canada). Asked her to explain Brussels. She said, ‘Nothing to do with me.’ A mealy-mouthed reply.”
These are just examples but all three have large social media followings. They are not peddling ideas or opinions, they are self-promoting for some grim lunge at fame. If shunned, they and others like them would wither into anonymity where frankly, they belong.
While most of us struggled to comprehend what had happened and why, we were being trolled by narcissists and look-at-me wannabes, pushing opinions that were driven by a desperate grab for publicity.
They can have their forums and their free speech. The rest of us need to develop the capacity to turn our backs on them.
This article was first published on 21 March 2019.
I see there is a stellar cast, including JtI, rocking up for an abc Insiders special for the Sydney Writers Festival in early May. But no Gerard Henderson! A shame as he always brings out the best in David Marr.
Looking forward to it. To those of you who are in Sydney, try and get along and we can have a beer afterwards. I think it’s 40 sovs for adults.
Jack,
I’m very sorry to miss the farewell bash following Insiders, but I’m in Ottawa right now, until the end of April.
It’s been a great blog to vent on……just about everything!
Cheers
The Outsider
“I’ve always said I’d never go to writers’ festivals and true to my word, I never have. The mere thought of sitting in a room filled with writers fills me with a deep sense of anguish.”
Nov 4 2018
The event is organised by the SWF but it is a recorded live show of ABC’s The Insiders. Barrie Cassidy specifically requested I attend, they’re paying me to attend and putting me up for the night in Sydney. Nothing wrong with a free lunch, mate. Or free dinner, drinks and a comfortable bed.
Once the Fine Cotton book comes out in August I will be attending plenty of them. Publishers don’t much like book launches, and as the media opportunities quickly expire, they prefer authors attend book stores, writers’ festivals, even rocking up to libraries to talk to the punters. It will go on for months. Even if I wanted to say no, I can’t. I am contractually obliged to be involved in a program created by the publicist. Principle is one thing, I’m afraid I’m just too big a name to shun the spotlight. 🙂
I’d imagine there’d be a few punters keen to have a book on Fine Cotton in their library. Of course I’ve been told that puns are the lowest form of humour, but i’ve done worse! Anywho, that solved the mystery of what the book is about. I’ve even got a vague idea how it pans out, but any book set in my neck of the woods is a goer. If you are doing any gigs in this part of the world please throw it up on twitter, or here (especially the free ones!!).
You’ll have to buy a copy, Milton.
Mate, Not bagging yer for it, I kinda chuckled to myself when you wrote the first piece,
I’ve generally thought there were only three respectable reasons to go to a WF, a desire to shag middle aged progressives, Free Food and Booze, and to sell a shed load of books.
And as a bloke with an excellent nose for freebies I will not be throwing stones.
It was a good line but it did not stand the test of time, not even six months. We both have a good nose for a free lunch and I’d say we are both reasonably good at locating them but we would quietly acknowledge a few we know are genuine masters.
Snort, where’s a Gif when you need one😀
“The Coalition is seeing a rebound in popularity on a two-party preferred basis, a quarterly Newspoll analysis shows, but it isn’t enough to overtake Labor.”
I firmly believe the Coalition will win the Federal Election.
Right down to the last the Coalition will ram home the dreadful possibility of Shorten becoming PM and that should do it.
I cannot detect a drift to Labor of any magnitude in the Community.
Australia needs a “safe pair of hands” in these tough times and that rules Shorten out.
http://tinyurl.com/yy4zjhk2
A shame the blog finishes at election time and that it will not be here
for you to publicly wipe the egg off your face after Morrison loses Bald.
Aha the sweet taste of schadenfreude, Bassman. Who knows, Jack may put up a one off live and interactive blog at the next election when Abbott faces off against Shorten. If not, I certainly don’t want to witness the euphoria on here if Abbott loses in this election.
comments of faux green hypocrite bandt are noted. also noted what the big australia pro immigration wanker didnt say.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/kitchen-in-garage-prompts-claims-rental-property-market-is-broken-20190328-p518nv.html
and that debt aint the credit card…its the goddam house
https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-28/australian-household-wealth-down-260-billion-in-december-quarter/10950242
Sir Humphrey explains Brexit, Mr. Insider he was way ahead of his time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFBgQpz_E80
Trivalve, Re my 22 March 5.13pm comment concerning Waleed Aly’s 2013 assessment of terrorism, viz; “… in its place is a far more sober, pragmatic recognition that terrorism is a perpetual irritant” and … “it kills relatively few people and is not any kind of existential threat.”
And your response TV, on March 24, 2019 at 12:43 PM : “Well, that needs to be seen in context I would suggest. Is there anything wrong with that quote?”
Well. I reckon there is and I suggest you do a spot of homework TV, and put your question to the “sober” Yazidi folk as to whether they are “irritated” and whether “relatively few ” of them have been subjected to “any kind of existential threat”. Context is meaningless when your oppressors have vowed to wipe you out.
But “reality” television entertainment show hosts whose MO is largely designed around achieving cheap laughs and whose ongoing success is dependent on viewer ratings, apparently have no real interest in fully exposing such atrocities.
Please excuse the length Jack:
Carl, the Aly quote: ” Gone is the triumphalist rhetoric of the ”War on Terror”, with its ridiculous promises of a terrorism-free world and the ultimate victory of freedom over tyranny. ”
I agree with that. What’s wrong with it? Terrorism of one sort or another has been around for millennia.
“In its place is a far more sober, pragmatic recognition that terrorism is a perpetual irritant, and that while it is tragic and emotionally lacerating, it kills relatively few people and is not any kind of existential threat. Perhaps we’re learning to avoid being sucked into terrorism’s radicalising vortex, where attack brings overreaction, and the violence rapidly escalates.”
I agree with that too. But I still don’t know the context in which he said/wrote it. Any sort of analysis you’d like to do will tell you that terrorism kills and maims far less people worldwide than all sorts of ‘normal’ events: road accidents, workplace accidents, domestic violence, non-terrorist gun violence. Etc. Doesn’t mean it’s not a problem, but have some perspective.
Maybe your view depends on the definition of terrorism, because there are all sorts of arguments about that. If you want to cherry-pick the treatment of the Yazidis under ISIS, an army of occupation, I would think that it’s trending more towards genocide. Way beyond terrorism.
Re doing my homework, I have time on the ground in around a dozen primarily Muslim countries including Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Saudi and Indonesia. I have learned a lot, seen some nasty shit and been lucky enough to just miss even more. I don’t need your sanctimonious finger-wagging over the poor Yazidis to comprehend the threat, thanks very much.
TV, if my memory serves, the Aly comments referred to were made in the aftermath of the Boston marathon bombings.
I remember them because I used too take note of these sorts of statements in those circumstances, and think that they were important, but after Je suis Charlie i decided to ignore it all as it seemed to me to be a whole lot of bollocks.
nothing I have seen in New Zealand has changed my mind one bit about that. All Bollocks, the dressing up, etc.
Oh I know I am in a small minority to think that, but I can live with that.
wraith says:
MARCH 23, 2019 AT 8:32 AM….Geez Waleed hates Aussies? As much as Dutts and Morrison ‘hates’ Muslims? Don’t think so. Anyone who can play the guitar solo Comfortably Numb as good as David Gilmour is ACE in my book. The guy has a HUGE brain. Have a listen to The Minefield sometimes. Also, a Walkeley Award winning journalist. You are up yourself Bald.
Football tips
Done and away last night with a Pies win. They look very good things. May Premiers again, no doubt but sadly for Collingwood they don’t hand out the cup then.
I’m happier than I’ve been at this time of the year since…2011?
Nostalgia doesn’t come any better (or worse) than this Mr. Insider as we see a pic of ex-late PM Malcolm Fraser of “Nareen” Victoria lying in bed feasting on the news of his Election Victory in 1977.
Goodness me how we were all “touched’ by the Big Fella who later went on to some quite interesting feats in Las Vegas I think it was?
The story goes he arrived down in the Lobby of his Hotel Trouserless and who it was who took his Trousers we are still to find out?
Bless you, Malcolm Fraser what a wag you were Sir may you now RIP as we enjoy the “highlights” of your PMship.
http://tinyurl.com/y6oshgyl
” How can voters be happy with donnybrooks in the parliament, sycophantic attempts at currying favour with the gun lobby, a revolving door of parliamentary representatives, the party that gave us Fraser Anning and too many other no hopers to count?”
I’m guessing it has been a while since you visited a pub in Qld, Jack?
And it has been a while since comments have been posted. I’m wondering if it is all over and hanging around to the election isn’t worth the hassle? Cheers, Milton.
I’ll go with the hassle until election day then we’ll shut it down. Been working long hours and late nights on the book. Almost done. Almost.
I think it has been a looooooong distinguished innings putting up with the likes of BASSMAN. It gas been a great ride and i have been here for all of it. It is a shame people on the blog think U have SF All to do but answer their meanderings as well as trying to find time to earn a quid. Maybe Uncle Chris Kenny could take it over-GULP!
Chris doesn’t need the anguish, mate. But yes, you have been along all that time, almost 12 years along with a handful of others and that is some ride. You can always look me up on Twitter.