Godfrey Bigot gets back to basics

Godfrey Bigot gets back to basics

The major parties are lining up for a law and order policy auction,
each seeking to make the highest bid. They will trade in pseudo-solutions
that prey on the public's fears and shape public debate so it focuses on
scapegoating the weak and powerless, rather than on the real issues.

 If there was any fairness to our legal system, then much of our
political establishment would be behind bars. As would the mega-rich, who
don't pay tax, along with the multinationals destroying the planet, not
to mention our corrupt major parties which accept huge financial bribes
called “campaign donations”.

And let's face it, the Wood royal commission proved that the real centre
of criminal activity in this state is the police service itself.

It is the structure of society that is corrupt.

The political establishment, the ALP and the Coalition, are completely
dysfunctional. They are a hindrance to freedom of thought, parasites on
the carcass of our “democracy”. Their policies on issues like law and order
are often more suited to selling margarine than any philosophical vision
for society.

The entire political process has been debased. Politics is increasingly
operating through constructed images of deception aimed solely at manipulation.
We are fed heavily filtered simplicities; complex issues are reduced to
mindless, misleading slogans.

An insane political system needs an “insane” response. One strategy
to draw attention to the insanity and inanity of the political process
is satire.

That's where my creation of Godfrey Bigot comes in.

Satire is a legitimate extension of existing democratic politics. The
more the public is reminded of the illusions of politics, the better.

With satire, the political establishment's absurd manipulation of image
and symbols can be countered with its equally absurd mirror image. It is
exposed by being exposed to itself.

Using humour, people can be shown very serious political problems that
are not being adequately addressed, and thereby be encouraged to think
more critically about the world we live in, the world that we are all responsible
for.

From GLW issue 346