3 ms·

The Australians I know tend to have this weird cognitive dissonance where they bemoan the nanny state they live in, and then complain about the lack of rules in

• Benjamin_Dobell 4y ago
  Is it really cognitive dissonance that we're assessing laws individually based on merit, rather than prescribing to simple-minded political ideologies focused on vague concepts like more/less laws?
  • askvictor 4y ago
    No, but bemoaning the 'nanny state' sounds like a simple minded ideology.
    • monkeycantype 4y ago
      'nanny state' is almost a shibboleth to communicate a particular flavour of centre-right political view in Australia. Using 'Nanny state' usually communicates someone supports a tough on crime agenda, cuts to social and environmental spending, cuts to regulation. It's a pro business, low tax, tough on property crime view point. Often it actually involves considerable government spending increases on more police and business subsidies, that is often parodied as "socialism for me but not for thee"
• monkeycantype 4y ago
  I'm an Australian, and don't think that quite nails the dissonance. We're comfortable with being a relatively authoritarian relatively liberal country, because we believe that the government is competent and under our control, and that the sanctions that the government enforces are just a sacrifice we must make to common democratic project, but then ask an Australian - what do think of the current government and the answer is always / at all times, that they are are rabble of incompetent petty thieves rorting the nation. (Except, actually, I'm kind of happy with Penny Wong as foreign minister)