this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023
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[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (9 children)

Old NBN-ruiner Turnbull still out there pretending to be a Good Guy despite being categorically a Bad Guy when he actually had the power to do anything about... anything. Just sit down m8, you had your 5 minutes in the PM's chair you so desperately wanted. You want to make a difference, go donate your millions to environmental charities.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Pretty sure Turnbull got put in charge of a known bad policy entirely to discredit him and stop his future (now past) run for PM.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Yeah I don't buy in to that "omg their hands were tied! They LITERALLY couldn't do ANYTHING about it!" when it comes to people in positions of power. When there's people out there with no power still willing to risk everything to stand up for what's right it's pretty lightweight to forgive people backing down on major issues when they're risking nothing more than the potential for a few extra dollars in their pocket.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But if they stand up for what's right then they won't get reelected so they can actually make things better Our they could maybe actually do the right thing regardless, is not like Mal needed the pension to pay his mortgage.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

But if they stand up for what’s right then they won’t get reelected so they can actually make things better

The dudes was literally the PM. If you're still making excuses from the top position in the country, you clearly weren't ever actually going to do anything.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And he stopped being the PM the second he took a microstep on climate change. So that's really proof that he didn't have any real power.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And it was the second time it's happened to him because he lost the shadow leadership on similar grounds.

A lot of people shit on Turnbull because they think you can just do whatever you want with no repercussions when you're PM. But that is such a narrow minded way of thinking.

We've got one of the most left leaning PMs in recent history right now who still needs to appease both sides of politics. You don't just get a blank cheque in a democracy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

A similar thing is happening with the stage 3 tax cuts and people thinking Albo can be an authoritarian dictator and just delete that policy since he's the PM, ignoring that it's a piece of policy that won the Coalition the unwinnable election of 2019.

I'm no fan of the tax cuts myself, but he also can't just do what he likes as PM without consulting his colleagues and convincing the electorate. PMs are not dictators here and nor would we want them to be.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

To show you an extreme example, even literal dictators can't do whatever they please. Those in positions of power must either appease those who put them in that position, or be ousted for someone who will. They are bound by the system as much as anyone else. That's not to say that they can't have any influence of course, but the point is it's not that easy.

Watch season 3 and 4 of The Wire if you're interested in watching an idealistic, "I'm gonna not be as bad as my predecessors" man become the mayor and then become a complete slave to the system. It's inevitable.

You can also read this, it might help you realise that things are the way they are for reasons beyond malice sometimes, and we need to understand that if we want to have a chance at reforming anything: https://www.slatestarcodexabridged.com/Meditations-On-Moloch

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