A severe case of relevance deprivation syndrome wafts in from the bush ...

 

Relevance deprivation syndrome...

It's what happens when they put you out in the back paddock and attach a warning to you ...

The pond can't vouch for any of the details in this posting ...

The case of the washed up politician
The term Relevance Deprivation Syndrome can be traced back to the Australian Politician Gareth Evans. (S/o to Nick Ellsmore.)
After a long career in politics, Evans felt a giant void from the loss of prominence, status and influence.
Relevance Deprivation Syndrome was then used to label other politicians, who were jockeying to stay in the public eye by writing letters to the editor, attending conferences and pontificating to anyone willing to lend an ear.
Relevance Deprivation Syndrome extends far beyond politicians and rappers.
It’s joining a board to avoid the nagging question “What do you do?” and to preserve the semblance of a high-status title.
It’s going viral on TikTok, decades after a bust of an NFL career.
And it’s the countless thirst-trappy posts on LinkedIn about the secrets of growing a 7-figure business (supposedly from “exited founders)

And so to the tragic irrelevance of rustic John Anderson, promised as a late arvo treat because of the pond's shameless indulgence in its house of Murdoch treat this morning ... (a Pfeffernüsse of undiluted pure ginger and icing pleasure) ...

The pond did wonder whether it was worth it, because let's face it, he's more Gunnedah than Tamworth, which is to say no bloody cigar, not even a cheroot ...

West embraces new era of reason, values over radical ideology, We have allowed identity politics to shape policy, prioritised ideological purity over practical governance, and witnessed the fraying of the civil discourse essential for a functioning democracy. But there is a shift under way.

Sorry, the pond should have put a warning at the start. 

This is really just a shameless piece of promotion, indulged in by the reptiles, The Alliance For Responsible Citizenship Conference in 2023. Picture: Parsons Media

Yep, it's going to be that sort of show ...

For too long public discourse has been driven by outrage rather than logic, emotion rather than evidence. Critical issues – economic stability, social cohesion and the future of our institutions – have been subordinated to ideological battles that do little to secure or improve the lives of Australians.
We have allowed identity politics to shape policy, prioritised ideological purity over practical governance, and witnessed the fraying of the civil discourse essential for a functioning democracy. But there is a shift under way.
Across the West, a new era is beginning to emerge. It signals the decline of radical ideology and hopefully the return of more reasoned debate. Recent decades have been marked by ever deepening divisions, cultural upheaval and an erosion of trust in institutions – even the ideas that were foundational to them – that were once so much the bedrock of our democratic societies.

Oh yes, it's a new era alright ... right across the west, the clarion call of the Swasticar ...

Would you like fascism with that?

Take it away Zoe ... The new world order is exactly what it looks like. Are we too frozen with fear to name it?

JD Vance’s decision, while in Germany, to meet the far-right AfD leader, Alice Weidel, yet decline a meeting with the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, would have caused more alarm, I feel, if it hadn’t come accompanied by so much other signalling. The vice-president of a nation engaged in tearing down its own institutions lectured the whole of Europe on its project to “destroy democracy”, which is absolutely textbook: he’s describing black as white, openly turning observable reality on its head. It’s unsettling, for sure, but that’s because it’s audacious, not because it’s complicated. It’s the simplest move of statecraft ever – show the world who you are, dare them to call you on it.

Meeting Weidel was the second simplest move – show the world who your allies are, dare them to mention it, or see if instead they turn themselves in knots trying to bring the AfD back into the fold, rather than accept that the postwar consensus has folded.

Like many people, I often feel as if I grew up with the Michael Rosen poem that starts: “I sometimes fear that / people think that fascism arrives in fancy dress.” In fact, it was written in 2014, but it was such a neat distillation that it instantly joined the canon of words that had always existed, right up there with clouds being lonely and parents fucking you up. Obviously, fascism arrives as your friend. How else would it arrive?

What I did not anticipate, when thinking that the whole suite of behaviours, from Nazi saluting to upturning reality, belonged well and truly to the past, was the sense of paralysis that would settle when fascism finally put its fancy dress on...

Or try Don Moynihan's DOGE Mismanagement Principles...

It is a fundamental error to believe that DOGE is a government efficiency project. Cutting 1 in 4 federal employees would cut federal government spending by 1%. Cost savings are incidental. DOGE is a political control project. Firing and terrorizing public employees is a means to weakening state regulation of private interests and strengthening a personalist presidency.

Put it another way ...

Sorry, sorry, the pond broke ranks because there's always too much reading done before a late arvo post, and besides, the reptiles had slipped in this as their AV distraction ...

Sky News host Peta Credlin discusses her day at the first ARC conference in Sydney and the “amazing array” of speakers who attended the event. The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship held its first conference in Australia providing a platform for renowned speakers and thinkers to address pressing issues. “ARC – or the Alliance of Responsible Citizens – is a new movement from the centre-right of politics and policy and thought, to start the pushback against defeatism, against wokery and let's be honest, the growth of socialism in our once proud West,” Ms Credlin said. “Its objective is to inspire ordinary citizens, businesses, think-tanks and more, to tackle the left's march through our institutions.”

Sorry, sorry, mention of wokery ...the pond has no alternative, it's contractually obliged ...

There was a still that went with the AV distraction ...

Is it just the pond? Each time it sees that seraphic smirk, the pond is haunted by ancient memories of aged sitcoms ...

Yes, yes, there's a definite resemblance ...

Is it politically incorrect to point it out? Is the pond too woke-free to care?

It has played out in our school curriculum, reaching deep into the halls of some of most prestigious universities. It may well be that we have passed “peak woke” but the question remains: Where do we go from here? Australians are searching for leadership that prioritises substance over spectacle.

Peak woke? Sorry, that incurs another penalty ... the pond is contractually obliged any time the word is mentioned ...

Where do we go from here? Down the rabbit hole with a rustic fuckhead suffering relevancy deprivation ...

There is an appetite for genuine conversation, for the restoration of a public square where those with a difference of opinion are not dragged to account. It is where the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship has an important role to play.
This week more than 4000 people from across 100 nations will come together at ARC’s second global conference in London to reject the notion that Western civilisation is in inevitable decline.
Our nations have faced crises before and emerged stronger because individuals and institutions had the courage to confront challenges rather than capitulate to them. The West can remain a beacon of prosperity and opportunity, but only if we rebuild the foundations of trust and reasoned governance. The good policy we are all looking for will always be the product of rigorous debate; it will not result from shouting, from scorn, from the belittling of others.
In an age of disengagement, where citizens feel increasingly disconnected from decisions that shape their lives, it is imperative to re-establish trust in the political process. This starts with leaders who are equipped and willing to speak truth to power rather than endlessly playing power games.
Through its themes – our story, social fabric, business and governance, energy and environment, and prosperity – ARC is committed to equipping today’s leaders with high-quality information while fostering a network of emerging leaders who will shape the future. ARC’s inaugural gathering in 2023 illustrated our capacity to tackle pressing issues – from the mental health crisis and family breakdown to the economic consequences of poor energy policy.

You don't have to be an expert in relevancy deprivation to realise this snap was coming, John Anderson at ARC 2023. Picture: Parsons Media

Eek, narcissist 'r us, and he's gesturing towards his sky god ...

Okay, it's obvious now that the pond isn't taking this seriously. There's a big gulf in thinking...

The pond just had to slip that one in before erupting into a tornado of guffaws ...

These challenges demand clear thinking, not reactionary policymaking. 

The pond isn't being totally fair. 

The rustic from Gunnedah (how they resent superior Tamworth) was blathering about life down under ...and when the pond uses "blather", it really means a thunderstorm of cascading clichés...

Bad policy has consequences and Australia is living through the results of years of shortsighted decision-making. If we want to rebuild, we must engage people again – not just in politics but in the broader conversation about what kind of society we wish to create.
This engagement must go beyond partisanship. It requires intellectual courage – willingness to debate uncomfortable truths and challenge prevailing orthodoxies.
The international debate about screen time versus playtime for children, which gained momentum following the 2023 ARC conference in London, is a prime example of how raising real issues can lead to necessary conversations. Similarly, the Sydney ARC conference opened a critical discussion about whether universal childcare is the best economic and cultural policy for Australia.
We must resist the temptation to assume that because some of the most extreme ideological battles are waning, the work is done.
We are only beginning to emerge from the fog of cultural confusion. We need to ask: What are the values, and even their driving beliefs, that we abandoned, and how do we restore them?
The so-called “new conservatism” is not necessarily conservative in the traditional sense – it is, in many ways, a reaction to the excesses of progressivism.
The growing disillusionment among many Western voters, particularly women who have turned against radical gender ideology, is not driven by ideology but by a deep concern for fairness, truth, and the wellbeing of their families.

At this point, the reptiles slipped in a snap of a deeply unhappy and traumatised woman, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

It's hard to make fun of the traumatised, might be better to remind this blathering rustic of real world events...

Then came an even lower low, as the pond was reminded that the thoughts emanating from a  drug-addled, snake oil salesman mind could still be sold to suckers lurking in the bush ...

Nowhere is this clearer than in the crisis facing young men. Jordan Peterson has convincingly shown us how a generation of boys and young men are struggling – falling behind in education, disengaging from the workforce, and experiencing record levels of depression and despair. The response from too many institutions has been to ignore or dismiss their struggles or, worse, to frame masculinity itself as a problem. This is not sustainable for any society.

The pond hasn't been convinced by anything Jordan Peterson wrote or thought since before the days that Dame Slap picked him up as her pet of the month, and then dropped him...

Jordan really does bring out the very best in deep thinking ...

As for the Gunnedah rustic, how tiresome is this hillbilly?

If the pond said he began this final gobbet by blathering about "the long march through the institutions", how many would shriek more than enough already?

Enough all bloody ready ...

The long march through the institutions that once shaped Western civilisation – our universities, our media, our cultural establishments – has, in many cases, resulted in the betrayal of the very values they were meant to uphold. These institutions were designed to foster learning and advancement, yet they have too often become training grounds for division, resentment and identity politics.
We must restore the credibility of our institutions, re-establish the principles of open and honest debate, and build a society that values truth, responsibility, and personal agency.
Australia has a vital role to play in this moment of renewal. We can be a nation that leads by example – one that demonstrates how prosperity and social cohesion can coexist, how debate can be robust without being destructive, and how a confident nation embraces its history rather than rewriting it.

The point of course is that it's just rampant narcissism, relevancy deprivation and action man carry-on ...

The time for action is now, and ARC stands ready to be at the forefront of that conversation.

Sure, sure ...

Credit where irrelevancy syndrome credit is due...

John Anderson is a former deputy prime minister, and a board member of ARC.

Meanwhile, it being awards season, the winners are ...