I want to talk about the concept of governance. Governance, in my not-so-humble opinion, is based on the idea of the social contract. I give up some of my rights, and the government does things for me like keep me safe from fictional terrorist attacks (cheap shot, I know).
But where does that line get drawn? When does the government become unreasonable in its demands--or, more appropriately, why the fuck do the sheeple let the government become so unreasonable in its demands? It seems to me that society as a whole has forgotten that the government can only govern at the will of the governed. It should not be the case that the governed are at the mercy of the government.
I apologise for the rant that now follows.
What brought this on? Oh, many things, but one thing in particular. A good friend of mine lives with two women and another man in a big old house. Today he tells me that he received a letter from Centrelink asking a lot of personal questions about his relationship with one of the female housemates. My friend doesn't receive any benefits; one of the female housemates does. Because they have been housemates for a while, Centrelink have decided they are clearly in a relationship (what they think of the other two people in the house, who knows).
My good friend is gay. Really, really gay. And yet he has to fill out a ten-page form--including details of his sex life--so that the government can be told that he is not sleeping with his housemate so that she can continue getting her student payments. Thank God they didn't get the search and seizure powers they wanted. I can't blame him for not wanting to write in big letters on the form 'I'M GAY'--which probably would not be enough for them anyway, but still not something I'm sure I'd want the government noting on file--but the government is effectively going all When Harry Met Sally and suggesting that men and women who live together must surely be fucking.
Not even touching on the questions of discrimination (do they send these letters to people in long-term male/male or female/female flatmate arrangements?), the government has no right to demand you fill out a form with such intimate details in order to disprove some crazy idea Centrelink have in their heads. If he doesn't fill it out, she loses her payment. If he doesn't fill it out, he can face legal consequences. The burden of proof is on him and his housemate to prove they're not in a marriage-like relationship, and not on Centrelink where it belongs.
The government has no right to ask who you are fucking unless you are fucking animals, family members or little kids. When are we going to stop letting those who govern at our pleasure invade our private lives--our bedrooms--with this rubbish?
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2 comments:
Spying in people's bedrooms - this is a disgrace - but not surprising.
If you've ever seen them in court you'll know what I mean.
My resolution to post every second day at least kind of took a hit in February thanks to work. Regardless, thanks for commenting. And yes, I have seen Centrelink in action. It's always upsetting that people who abuse their kids get a suspended sentence but anyone who defrauds Centrelink is pretty much guaranteed a custodial sentence, in my experience.
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