The Left's Dilemma: Martyrdom, Mimicry or a Third Way

Introduction

Once you start explaining, you’re already losing. That’s my take on contemporaneous politics, where nuance is a liability and truth is collateral damage. In Australia, as elsewhere, the right’s playbook—amplified by disinformation, emotional manipulation, and algorithmic rage-bait—has reshaped the democratic landscape. From Scott Morrison’s ukulele playing suburban dad rebrand to the Coalition’s relentless framing of Labor as weak, the right has mastered the art of narrative warfare.

So, here’s the question I keep asking myself: are we doomed to another decade of Coalition government, watching as they dismantle the country piece by piece? How has the left squandered the goodwill of a significant electoral swing in 2022, only to find itself staring down the barrel of another potential Coalition victory—or worse, a minority government?

Like the unpopular kid picked last for the team, the left keeps showing up to parliamentary debates and media appearances hopelessly unprepared, wondering why the bullies keep winning. While the Coalition treats politics like a blood sport—ruthless, strategic, and unapologetically self-serving—the left clings to the decorum of a debating society, more focused on virtue signalling and lofty rhetoric than on winning the game. The result isn’t just a lopsided scoreboard; it’s a full-blown crisis of legitimacy. So why in the holy-hell does this keep happening?

Asymmetric Warfare: Lies, Loopholes, and Legalised Gaslighting

The right’s success isn’t just about policy—it’s about narrative engineering. Take Peter Dutton’s recent podcast pivot: a meticulously calculated rebrand from “hardline cop” to “your battler next door.” This isn’t authenticity; it’s manufactured relatability, designed to sidestep accountability while weaponising nostalgia for a simpler, mythologised Australia—a place where the sun always shines, the barbies are always sizzling, and the complexities of modern life are neatly swept under the rug. It’s emotional alchemy, turning leaden grievances into golden nostalgia, and it works because it’s simple, sellable and shameless.

But this isn’t just about Dutton. It’s about a playbook that’s been perfected over decades, one that thrives on emotional manipulation, legal loopholes, and a relentless flood of shallow narratives. The right doesn’t just win arguments; it bypasses them entirely, appealing directly to gut feelings and tribal loyalties. They gloss over the logistical nightmares of nuclear energy —decade-long timelines, astronomical costs, and the unresolved question of waste disposal—and instead invoke the comforting buzzword of “common sense.” It’s a sleight of hand that turns ignorance into a virtue and expertise into elitism - something to be shunned and derided.

Meanwhile, cost-of-living crises are framed as “Labor’s failures,” a masterclass in emotional judo that redirects anger away from systemic inequities and onto convenient scapegoats. And with Australia’s lack of federal truth-in-advertising laws, lies thrive unchecked, while reforms like South Australia’s popular truth-in-advertising model are left to gather dust. The right’s gambit? Flood the zone with a sticky, steamy, shallow stream of shit. Narratives that bypass critical thinking and appeal directly to emotion. It’s not just a game—it’s a rigged carnival, and the left is left as aghast as rotating clown head.

The Left’s Dilemma: Swim in the Shit Or Die?

The left faces a Faustian bargain: stick to ethics and lose, or adopt dirty tactics and become what it hates. But this binary is a trap—a false choice that’s as useful as a screen door on am AUKUS submarine.

Polls for the the upcoming federal election are a prime example. Labor’s approval continues to decline, not because of policy failures alone, but because Dutton’s Coalition has masterfully framed Albanese as “weak” while offering zero substantive alternatives. Voters aren’t fact-checking; they’re feeling. It’s a vibe check ad nauseam. And in the attention economy, feelings are the only currency that matters.

The left’s reliance on “better speech” is failing, and it’s not hard to see why. Once misinformation aligns with a voter’s worldview—like the claim that “Labor’s climate policies = higher bills”— facts are deflected like UV rays on Dutton’s dome. Cognitive bias is a fortress, and the left is trying to storm with all the gusto of ScoMo during a national emergency. Meanwhile, nuanced policy debates can’t compete with viral fear-mongering. Remember the Bondi stabbings? Within hours, false claims of terrorism spiralled across social media, drowning out any attempt at rational discourse. Emotion, not truth, drives the narrative.

And then there’s the structural disadvantage. The left leans heavily on public broadcasters like the ABC and SBS, which are routinely branded “left-wing” by critics. Another obfuscation of fact based reporting with political alignment. This alienates right-leaning audiences, while Murdoch’s media empire dominates the airwaves, churning out narratives that reinforce the Coalition’s messaging.

The left’s dilemma isn’t just about tactics; it’s about identity. The question is: has the poorly manufactured ship already sailed? With a litany of failures to act and achieve—The Voice, ICAC, Robodebt, Aged Care, Gambling reform, Election reform, negative gearing, capital gains, climate-change, the list truly is endless—the left risks becoming a relic of good intentions rather than an advocate for meaningful change.

Reclaiming the High Ground—Without the Naiveté

Here’s the uncomfortable truth in this dance with the right-wing devil: ethics without power is performance. The left can preach fairness, justice, and equality until it’s blue in the face, but without the power, and more importantly, action, it’s just another self-interest, self-aggrandising, and worst of all, self-perpetuating group of (mostly) overly jowled white guys choking on their ties.

So what is to be done?

Start by weaponising accountability. The right thrives on misinformation, but the left can turn the tables with prebunking—flooding social media with pre-emptive fact-checks that inoculate voters against lies before they even take root. Think of it as a political vaccine: instead of debunking false claims after they’ve spread like wildfire, you arm people with the tools to spot and dismiss them on sight. Finland’s media literacy programs, which have reduced susceptibility to disinformation to international lows, offer a blueprint for Australia. Imagine a campaign where every Dutton soundbite is instantly countered with a viral fact-check: “Actually, Peter, nuclear energy won’t lower your bills—it’ll take 20 years and cost $387 billion.”

The right’s arguments are so predictable, they’re practically a copy and paste from every contemporaneous populist government. It’s like these losers all got together and decide “No Wokes Allowed”. Climate denial? Check. Fear-mongering about immigration? Check. Scaremongering about Labor’s “reckless spending”? Double check. By preemptively exposing these tropes, the left can strip the right of its most potent weapon: the element of surprise. And why stop at prebunking? Deploy generative AI to satirise right-wing hypocrisy. Picture a deepfake Dutton “explaining” his $300m property portfolio to struggling renters. Don’t wait for them to take the mask-off, tear it down yourself.

Next, reframe solidarity. The left’s obsession with niche culture wars has alienated the very voters it needs to win. Instead, shift the focus to universal pain points. The Teal Independents showed how it’s done in 2022, linking climate action to local floods and cost-of-living relief . Reclaim the “battler” rhetoric the right has co-opted. Contrast Dutton’s “suburban battler” persona with his votes against wage increases and Medicare. Paint him as the guy who’s never missed a mortgage payment while blocking rental reforms.

Then, push for systemic reforms. The right’s lies thrive because Australia lacks federal truth-in-advertising laws. South Australia’s model—fining deceptive ads and requiring corrections—has overwhelming public support, yet it remains politically neutered. Imagine a world where Dutton’s “nuclear energy will lower bills” claims face $25,000 fines and public retractions. And to break Murdoch’s stranglehold, tax tech giants to fund independent journalism. Redirect Big Tech’s ad revenue to outlets that hold power to account, not parrot it.

Here’s the kicker though: none of this matters if the left doesn’t remember who it’s supposed to represent. We have increasingly seen labour blatantly become beholden to special interest groups—or worse, themselves—rather than the people who actually vote for them. It’s beyond appalling to see how corporate and special interest have co-opted the our leaders so that they can maximise profits (looking at you gas exporters) while committing grand-larceny on our nations valuable commons. The left doesn’t need to abandon its principles; it needs to firmly ground them in the realities of the people it serves. Because at the end of the day, politics isn’t about question time zingers, but the lives of Australians and those we support.

Conclusion: Stop Explaining, Start Fighting

Democracy isn’t a TED Talk. It’s not about eloquent speeches, virtue-signalling, or winning the moral high ground while the ship sinks. It’s about power. It’s about action. And right now, the left is losing because it’s too busy explaining itself to actually fight.

The right’s playbook is simple: flood the zone with lies, weaponise nostalgia, and exploit every loophole in the system. Meanwhile, the left is stuck in a loop of hand-wringing and self-sabotage, more concerned with looking good than doing good. Each failure is a reminder that good intentions mean nothing without the power to act on them.

But here’s the kicker: the left doesn’t need to become the right to win. It needs to remember who it’s supposed to represent. It’s about the people: the families drowning in mortgage stress, the workers priced out of housing, the retirees watching their savings evaporate. Frankly, it’s about a country that’s continued to have it’s egalitarian, red dirt principles squandered like the latest mineral seam on a Santos balance sheet.

The left’s path forward isn’t about abandoning ethics—it’s about weaponising them. Truth as a weapon. Empathy as strategy. Power as justice. Stop explaining. Start fighting. Because if the left won’t fight for the people, who will?

And if it doesn’t? Well, enjoy the circus. The clowns are in charge, the tent’s on fire, and the only thing left to do is watch it burn

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