Can our national "solidarity" be restored?

One way to understand WW2 (and much of the 20th and 21st centuries) is an existential conflict between authoritarian regimes and countries and cultures which prioritised individual freedom (along with representative, limited, and accountable government). 

Germany, Russia, Japan, Italy were authoritarian. The Allies were all heirs of the Englightenment in the prioritisation of individual freedom and autonomy. 

In Australia today we are seeing the re-emergence of the drift towards authoritarianism. 

“How so?”, I hear you ask.

Follow this line of thinking:

Every country needs internal solidarity (or ‘social cohesion’, or a sense of ‘we-ness’) in order to be strong enough to survive as a nation state.

There are two ways of creating this solidarity:

1. Organically:  it emerges organically as a result of the vast majority of the population sharing a common ‘mythos’ - a story about themselves that emerges from a mix of shared origins, ideas, ethnicity, culture, religion, values and institutions. Solidarity grows from a loyalty to the past and a compelling vision of a common future. 
2. Coercively: an increasingly authoritarian central government imposes solidarity upon the population through the use of power (military, legal, institutional). 

The past 2.5 years have shown that our solidarity in Australia is fragile. Antisemitism is a massive warning sign that we are increasingly divided. 

To address antisemitism, and rebuild our solidarity, we have to choose. 

We can pursue the path of organic solidarity, by means of developing an Australian ‘mythos’, a shared sense of togetherness built on a common heritage, common values, and a common vision for our future together. 

Or we can go down the path of increasingly coercive measures that will limit our freedoms and lead, over time, to an increasingly authoritarian government (being elected doesn’t mean that governments cannot become increasingly powerful and coercive and overreaching). 

(If you are interested in reading more about this I recommend the book, “Democracy and Solidarity” by James Davison Hunter.)

This is why it is critical that we seize the opportunity presented to us by the Royal Commission Into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. 

For Jewish and non-Jewish Australians, it is vital that we speak up. We have to eradicate antisemitism via the path of organic solidarity. 

Only in this way can we make antisemitism unthinkable, not just illegal. And that, surely, is the goal!

Please get the word out and invite all your non-Jewish friends to register for an online briefing on the Why and How of making a submission to the Royal Commission:

Tuesday, 28th April, 7:30 till 8:30pm

Register here in order to the get the Zoom link

Please register and share this information and link with as many of your non-Jewish contacts as you possibly can! We need their voices to be heard by our government!