FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW
“The urgency of now” was the call for change by Dr Martin Luther King, the change that made history. “The urgency of now” was repeated by President Obama (Milwaukee 2008) during his debate for changing the health system in the USA.
Australia needs to recognise that it is faced with a fierce urgency of now, as this is the time when the electorate has called for change. It wants a change away from the two party system, it wants a voice in the government’s decision making, a process that involves individuals representing their disparate opinions, fears and desires.
The opportunity is here and now for the leader of the government to invoke the voice of the people, a voice that clamours to be heard.
The new government needs to show unity. That unity is not merely a united front within a party claiming to lead, but a unity with the people who voted for change.
This change is obviously not what either of the major parties had put forward as its election platform; it is a mix of many ideas that could bring the electorate along towards a better Australia. It represents ideas form the extreme left through the centre to the extreme right. All of them want to be heard, and all of them want a government to embrace such change with leadership and innovative action.
If it were possible to have a government that unites all sides into the decision making processes, such as was achieved by Winston Churchill’s War Cabinet (10 May 1940) when the fierce urgency of now was forced upon Great Britain in September 1939, then the electorate would smile. It needs courage, as the introduction of change always needs strength and a steely spine.
Before and after the winning party is given the privilege to govern, it can start this process of discussions among themselves and with all elected members of parliament and senators to establish the many aspects that all sides have in common. These discussions would then open the door for selecting suitable members for Cabinet, whether from its own or other parties, in order to enable negotiations for the preparations of new laws that should incorporate as much as possible of the opinions of the public represented by the independents and opposition.
Such negotiations, conducted without pressure but based on clear thinking, cooperation and common sense, would at first result in consensus (Jürgen Habermas, the Theory of Communicative Action). This would then become the basis for well-considered Action (Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition) by the government, legislation that satisfies the electorate’s call.
This is innovation at the core of governing; a new way of embracing the politics of all, yet reducing it to the feasibility in law. The Law can and should not embrace all contingencies (Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, The Philosophy of Right), but must set the principles that mirror the culture of the people.