Life is Normal Down Under

Australia has been likened to Nazi Germany! Is it true? As an Australian, you’d have to question the rationale of such a comparison. Yet this is the power of media to sway opinion and spread propaganda and fear across the world.

Decide for yourself: Here’s a snapshot of my life in Australia Nazi Germany:

• This morning I walked my dog.
• Yesterday I attended a craft group, went to the shops and library, had coffee with and visited with a friend, used the internet and had a tradesmen call.
• Last week I went on holiday – 3 hours drive away from home, stayed in a cottage enjoying wine tastings, a degustation meal and visiting local spots and tourist attractions. The townspeople spoke about how many tourists had visited and how business in the town had never been better!
• Two weeks ago, I was in the city to conduct some business – I saw no protests nor any old ladies being beaten by police.
• Masks are not mandated at the moment, as the state currently has no Covid cases.
• I am double-jabbed.

Sounding pretty normal to you?

It is.

Suburban Aussie normality.

Yet according to media reports overseas, my life here in Australia is anything but normal and police are arresting people in the streets!

One WordPress blogger wrote that “things were so crap down under.”

As she lived outside Australia, I was surprised at her comment. So I asked her in what way was it crap, as life in Australia seemed pretty normal to me? This is her response:

“Life is NOT normal at all down under. Australia has one of the toughest lockdown policies in the world. People are being arrested for going outside and walking their dogs. They are forcing people into “camps” if they are unvaccinated. People are being beaten and pepper sprayed from the cops if they are not wearing their masks. it is like NAZI Germany, and Australia is supposed to be a free country. It’s just sickening what’s going on down there.”

WordPress Blogger

Left: Life in Australia Right: Auschwitz

If this was true of my country, I must be deluded, and the Nazi henchmen poised to arrest me when walking my dog are clearly using a cloaking device.

I’m blissfully unaware of any Nazi-like practices by the Government, (although I would agree with the blogger that my Government is a bit crazy – but that is more in regard to their retrograde climate denial policies than anything else).

International borders to Australia are open in some parts, with more to come when vaccination rates rise further in coming weeks. Australians have dragged their tails in getting immunised, due to fewer Covid cases and a Government that was sluggish in ordering stocks of appropriate vaccines.

Social and monopoly media do tend to replay sensationalist news-worthy segments across many media channels to attract revenue. The videos were seen multiple times on different sources and from various angles with the resulting tendency of the viewer and our brains to generalise and think it’s happening everywhere, every day, in the whole country. Everywhere across Australia, a country so vast it takes a week to cross it by train. As with floods and fires, it is also with protests. They usually only affect a small part and a small minority.

More worrisome is the media reports and videos that may sway opinion so much that readers think they’ve a better handle on life in my world, than me living in it. The power of video!

Having said that, I don’t totally blame the blogger for reacting with fear, because this is what she believes to be true. This is the influence of the media, and it’s more like propaganda than reality.

I responded to the blogger thus:

The power of the media to influence perceptions overseas is amazing as it is nothing as you describe, as I am Australian and I live here. Although in one state there have been a few ugly protests mainly involving right wing activists, which have been highlighted in the media, it is nowhere near the Nazi Germany that you describe. The videos you have seen have unfortunately led to people thinking the worst. And this is an example of the power of propaganda! That is where the media is acting like Nazi Germany, and you and lots of others can only go by what you see. I don’t blame you for thinking this way, but it is incorrect.

Forestwood StPA

As Australia moves forward, the unvaccinated population may not be totally free to attend public venues, but they won’t be forced into any Nazi-like camp!

It is a person’s right to not be vaccinated, but is it not also the Government’s right to protect as many people as it can, in the public space? Isn’t that why we have a police force? To protect public spaces from danger, or nefarious individuals?

Shouldn’t it also then be my right as a HIGH-RISK person not to be unknowingly placed in a dangerous situation, if I choose to attend a public space, especially given the lengthy contagious incubation phase of a virus before obvious symptoms manifest? [The emphasis on being aware and knowing who may be unvaccinated and a potential carrier is important to me].

It is not rocket science.

We all comply with certain codes of behaviour to keep our society safe. Is this so vastly different?

What are your thoughts?

Have you seen some dire reports of our life down under?

What is your take on them?

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