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| Bozo the Clown and Friends [CC BY 2.0 - Boston City Archives] |
I've decided that Twitter does nothing for my personal or professional development. A colleague once referred to the attitude of early mini-blog social media platforms like Yammer and Twitter as 'snark chic'. I was guilty of this back in 2007 when the platforms were first becoming established because they provided a voice to those who otherwise had none, and the 'powers that be' didn't know what to do with the new trend of citizen journalism.
But Twitter has become a cesspool of anti-Australian sentiment masquerading as the moral high ground of Australian politics. The authoritarian nature of performative rituals is divisive while pretending to represent diversity. But in this space, only trendy opinions are valid, despite their obvious political implications.
The Greens, in particular, have infiltrated Australia's political system and are outwardly challenging the sovereignty of parliament, and therefore the people, while at the same time receiving taxpayer funds for their role in representing the very Australians they appear to despise.
Two recent posts from the Greens' leadership I have found to be appalling, and I decided to respond to Bozo and friends in kind.
Above is a tweet from Greens' leader Adam Bandt on the day we discovered Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had died at age 96. I swore an oath to serve Her Majesty, and her heirs and successors, when I became an Australian soldier in 1990 and then when I received my commission as an officer in 1992. King Charles III by default receives my fealty, even though the idea may seem rather quaint and outdated.
Previously, Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe made a mockery of the oath to serve in Australia's Parliament by referring to Her Majesty as a coloniser. I do not understand how she is allowed to sit in the chamber given that she still has not sworn the oath or affirmation properly.
And while arguing against the National Day of Mourning public holiday in honour of the Queen, Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi raved on about how sessional academic staff would lose their casual wages because of the holiday. This claim is completely out of step with standard practice at universities and smacks of mockery toward our centuries-old Westminster tradition. If it wasn't for the experience I gained through sessional academic work, I could not have put myself through my postgraduate university courses.
Again, I decided to respond.
But the most recent episode uncovers a trend I am noticing in the academy that seems to support green-left ideology: the mockery of our system of government. Representatives who refuse to swear an oath or affirmation have no place in our formal political system, and they represent a minority who think they have superior ideas to those that came before them.
The bottom line for me is that I will leave Twitter to be the green-left echo chamber it has become. Instead, I intend to write for an audience that aligns with my nature. And it sure isn't the green-left.
Goodbye Twitter!