It’s the little things, honestly.
I’m at the cricket. Atmosphere is… Very “controlled”, let’s say.
This is Australia, right, and it’s cricket, so… Masks (but no vaxx mandate, otherwise I wouldn’t be here, obviously!), security fucking everywhere, literal propaganda messaging coming over the big screen every break, and every few “overs” (“Stay safe! Wear your mask! Behave or we will throw you out! Report anti-social behaviour to this text line”, etc)…
I’ve seen people arrested, and beach balls confiscated, amongst so many other “warnings”, and fuckery by security, and I’ve only been here a few hours…
I no longer give a fuck. Especially post-#Djokergate, and so I have stopped complying…
Mask off, and I fuck with these authoritarian tyrants at every last opportunity. Booing, swearing, I give them as much shit as I can, without being arrested, especially when they come for people near me (including a kid, for trying to rescue a beach ball before the security guard popped it). And when the woke ads, or “safety messages” come over, I boo as loud as I can, to drown it out. “Wear your mask or we’ll evict you!” - Yeah, get fucked, cunt!
People fucking LOVE it. Some have taken off their masks, because I have. Others have them down. Whenever I fuck with the authorities, others cheer and join in. Or laugh.
Oh, and my father is so disappointed it is genuinely hilarious. Makes me happy. I live to see him “disappointed” in me. 🥲
It’s the little things, honestly.
Do your best to be an example to others, and let’s fucking end this… 🤷🏻♂️
You sound a bit tipsy there.
Nup. Just amped. 🤷🏻♂️
I think “angry” probably describes how I felt when I wrote that, but… For reasons related to just how oppressive it is, here (one drink per person, after 5PM, and they closed the bar one and a half hours before the end of play, absurdly), I have had one drink the entire day, lol…
That’s just me on anger, adrenaline and caffeine, lol. Not tipsy!
I can’t tell you how charged you feel swearing at renta-cops and knowing they can’t touch you (without inciting the crowd), if you haven’t experienced that yet.
And no, I’m not stupid enough to fuck with (armed) cops in the street. But they can’t actually really touch me here, lol. So I enjoy fucking with them, and making their jobs that little bit “harder”… 🤷🏻♂️
Fuck ‘em.
Unfortunately, that's why these authoritarians do this. It's mob mentality.
True that. When it comes down to it, I think I’m just fucking tired of feeling powerless.
The Aussie attitude is to just “sit down (or even better lay down) and take shit”, be it from the government, or the local council, or big woke corporate.
“Don’t stick your head up. Don’t question it. Don’t raise your voice in opposition. The government, and those in charge, know best!”
This is how authoritarian bullies, with no real power, such as the staff at that cricket match, cow people into silence. This is how you end up with an environment where my father tells me “Shut up, shut up! Don’t draw attention to yourself!”, while I booed and jeered as the fucking cops and security guards dragged a completely harmless, somewhat drunk fan, out by his fucking collar.
This is how you end up with a green-vested staff member, whose official designation was Customer Service- How Can I Help?, bullying me over not wearing my mask, outdoors, even after the event finished…
Because they add “Please” to their demands, even while LITERALLY YELLING, they think it’s acceptable. They think it “must be obeyed”. Because that’s just what Australians do - obey authority, unquestioningly, and shame those who do not…
I’ve seen these people ruin my suburb. I’ve seen them literally destroy my town, and my nearest city. All three are literally unrecognizable from when I was even a teenager, thanks to the worship of money, and blatant corruption, and not enough people caring, or making a fuss, or standing up to it.
I’ve seen what has happened in this country in the last two years, and how appallingly “we” have behaved in the last two weeks, and particularly today. And I’ve had enough. I’m not sure quite what that means, but, to quote Network, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.”
I’m damn well sick of sitting back and letting this shit go down. That’s not good enough for me anymore.
I ain’t no Gandhi, but apparently I just grew a spine, lol. And this is after the caffeine, and most of the adrenaline from all that earlier confrontation, has worn off, lol.
I might be just another powerless citizen, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let these fucking bastards ride roughshod over me, and over the people around me, anymore.
So thanks, Novak, I guess.
/rant, ha.
You know that old song lyric (“Me and Bobby McGee”, I think) - “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
I’m at that point, today, post- the Djokovic saga… 😑
Janis Joplin, the only real version.
Yeah, but that song (as well as the one with the dog named Boo) was talking about homeless hippie bums lucky enough to have a van or something to live in.
Don't get to the point where all you have is a tent, and then when you go look for work, you find some kids threw your tent in the river and all you can do is watch it float away ... then... then you've got nothing left to lose.
True. See, I already had that, in 2015.
I lost nearly absolutely everything. Thanks to the state, and my university, and my family, and some general absolute cuntbaggery I won’t go into.
Almost everything I have, now, I have built up from that point.
So I actually do know how that feels, believe it or not.
I’ve slept rough, multiple times. I’ve been mugged, and robbed at gunpoint. I’ve had my ID, and my bank cards, stolen (though not used, thank fuck). I’ve been defrauded fairly substantial sums of money (relatively speaking, for me at the time). I’ve seen some very dark shit.
So believe me, I get it, lol.
Though I do like your metaphor. It’s much funnier than my anecdote, ha.
Though I guess… It’ll all be a funny story one day.
Ngl, India was pretty funny, being robbed. Because it was all so fucking absurd that you couldn’t help but laugh.
Absolutely insane place, lol.
Wasn't a metaphor. Cost me $10/day for that Rotary Club campsite, a little over 20 years ago. That psychopath I got mixed up with put me through a lot, but I was already at the bottom of the barrel when I ran into him.