At some point in recent (less than 50 years), our Western democracy has been captured by spin doctors and media minders, where the idea of "staying on message" has trumped the idea of just having ideas. The fear of being "wrong" or just even admitting that you were wrong about something . The absolute inability to say that you were wrong, is the equivalent of saying that you can't learn from your mistakes, because you don't make mistakes.

I understand the fear that political media managers have, where an out of context quote will turn viral and be used with devastating effect against their political charges.

Before I go further, let me say, this is a failing that I see across all party lines. I don't really see anyone as a straight talker, without some forming of image and message in mind. Personally, I'm not bound to the Right or the Left side of politics. Intellectually, I find that a balance of the two are needed, with ideas from either side being best for different situations. I do not buy into these "us vs them" straw men empty arguments that passes for political debate in our popular culture.

The Trigger

This was a recent example of this complete failure to just say "we screwed it, sorry". It happens to be from an interview from the Centre-Right party of Australia (which is currently in government).

As a bit of a background, there is currently a Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry which is turning up some horrific practices in the banking and financial sectors in Australia. I would hazard a guess that this corporate naughtiness is not confined to these particular sectors, but that is a post for a different day!

Anyway, after dithering around for a year or so, the current Turnbull Government finally established this Royal Commission after opposing it for an incredibly long time against public opinion and a sizable part of it's own parliamentary members. It appears that the principal reason that it was opposed was that the other side (the Centre-Left party) had supported the idea. Welcome to the stunning idiocy of a two-party system!

Which led to this stunning interview last week. The Financial Services Minister, after all these malpractice revelations in the banks and finance sectors, refusing to say that they had screwed up by opposing the Royal Commission for such a long time. The idea that she should just stick to her talking points and refuse to admit the obvious. Why was it so difficult to admit fault and then move on to the tackling the problems that had been uncovered?

Again, let me point out that this is a fault of all political parties. It just happened that this was the one that triggered me to write this post!

The Mea Culpa

In fact, the sheer ludicriousness of the entire interview was further highlighed when a couple of days later, she was "allowed" by the spin masters to just say what she wanted to say all along. That the timing of the Commission was wrong and that in hindsight, it should have been started earlier.

WHY?????

Why is it so difficult for politicians to move away from the student politics game?

Why is it more important to be 'right', instead of being wrong and learning?

Is the fault that of the media, always looking for a sensational out of context stuff up? That is much more interesting than hours of policy deliberation and consultation?

Is it more important to "win" a public debate than to have a vision and carry through with it?

Is it our fault? As the general population, are we getting the news that we crave? Are we more interested in entertainment than substance?