David Glanz
Why do politicians lie? For many people the answer would be “because they breathe”. If I had a dollar for everyone who told me as I go doorknocking that politicians are two-faced I’d be spending the last two weeks of the campaign with my feet up at Hayman Island.
Given the level of distrust, it’s particularly laughable that PM John Howard has made “trust” the keynote of his election strategy.
He’s lied about children overboard, about weapons of mass destruction, about making us “relaxed and comfortable” and too much more besides.
The explanation for this can’t be left to sheer cynicism. The lying that is so much a feature of mainstream politics reflects much more than the self-interest of politicians or their contempt for the rest of us.
At a much more fundamental level it reflects the huge inequalities of power that are built into our society — a society deeply divided by class.
Howard and Labor leader Mark Latham face a quandary. On the one hand, they are loyal to the interests of Australian capital (which they badge as the national interest). On the other, they need to win 50% plus one of the vote.
In a country like Australia, where the working class makes up 70% of the population, that can’t be done without winning at least a significant proportion of workers’ votes.
So how does Howard sell his real strategy of running down Medicare and boosting private medicine? He can’t say “vote for me and your family will be sicker, longer”. So he invents the “safety net”.
How does he sell his strategy of breaking down union organisation to allow employers to lift the rate of exploitation and remain competitive in a global capitalist market? He can’t say, “give up secure, full-time jobs and hard-won pay and conditions so your boss can make a bigger profit”. So he talks up “flexibility” and “family-friendly working arrangements”.
How can he get away with cuts to welfare or the introduction of the GST? He invents a new “yellow peril” of refugees arriving in armadas of small boats, supposedly throwing their kids overboard, in order to blindside us.
How can he build a relationship with US imperialism that guards his back as he throws Australian military and economic weight around in the region? The “national interest” demands that Howard commits this country to war in Afghanistan and Iraq to maintain that “special relationship”.
Only after making that strategic decision does he then have to find a way of selling that aggression and sacrifice to Australian voters. So suddenly we’re told that it’s our duty to liberate women in Afghanistan, or to overthrow Saddam in Iraq.
The lying, in other words, is systemic. It is not a matter of character, it is a matter of class interest. A minority ruling class must, by necessity, lie to the mass of the population as its class interests are diametrically opposed to ours.
Socialists, on the other hand, cannot lie if we are to achieve our aims. For we are not seeking to lord over the working class for our own ends, but to participate in workers’ economic and political struggles, seeking to give them the most fruitful direction.
We are not part of the minority, but of the majority. For socialists to gain trust and credibility with our fellow workers we have no choice but to be honest.
I’m not talking about the little white lies that make daily life bearable (of the “does my bum look big in this” variety). I’m talking about what needs to be done to take workers’ interests forward in unity and struggle.
So we do not agree with a sexist worker to win his vote. We challenge his views, because sexism divides our class and allows our rulers to conquer.
We do not concede the racist case on refugees to appease potential supporters. We do not resile from arguing the case for militant unionism and direct action.
We are lousy normal politicians. For we are systemically hardwired to tell the truth.
[David Glanz is a national co-convenor of the Socialist Alliance and the candidate for Wills.]
From Green Left Weekly, September 29, 2004.
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