An early Egyptian meme depicts Nubian slaves in the Tomb of Horemheb, Necropolis of Saqqara, Memphis. Photo / DeAgostini, Getty Images
An early Egyptian meme depicts Nubian slaves in the Tomb of Horemheb, Necropolis of Saqqara, Memphis. Photo / DeAgostini, Getty Images
Opinion
COMMENT
Samuel Johnson made the famous pronouncement that "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel" in 1775.
While this still certainly resonates for Trump's America, if Mr Johnson was a resident of Aotearoa/New Zealand today, he might update this aphorism to "claiming to be 'just having a laugh' isthe last refuge of a scoundrel".
The recent kerfuffle over Judith Collins' husband David Wong-Tung's re-posting of memes, mocking Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, has brought attention to the production and dissemination of this peculiar form of "attention deficit" content.
Predictably, responses to the "outrage" of depicting the Prime Minister as the "Incredible Sulk" ranged from kneejerk lefties calling it "aggressive misogyny", to Barry Soper at Newstalk ZB telling us all it's just a good old laugh.
As is increasingly the case here and overseas, these polarised responses miss the point.
The left do themselves no favours by defaulting straight to racist/sexist labelling, while the right only mire themselves deeper in the muck of dirty politics.
In an increasingly brutalised political discourse, many of those on both the left and right are intensifying their personal attacks on public figures, often passing it off as "humour".
We are told by the likes of Soper that we should just get a sense of humour about the endless depiction of the Prime Minister and her Government as clowns, idiots, incompetents, communists and sulkers.
An almost equal list of vitriol is aimed at the Opposition on left-wing sites, best exampled by outright racist insults directed at Wong-Tung.
Should you be in possession of strong stomach and spare time, have a look at the National Party Meme Working Group on Facebook; pay particular attention to the comments – keep going, tell me how long it takes for you to realise there is very little funny or constructive about this outpouring of spite.
This is the music of stampede. The sound of stress, powerlessness and anger, fed by the failed promise of 35 years of neo-liberal policies and brought to a rolling simmer by pandemic recession.
Individually, each of these memes and attacks is not the end of the world – collectively, the endless regurgitation of this corrosive bile marks a serious deterioration of public political discourse.
Name-calling begets harsher insults, which beget counter-insults, which beget hurt and anger, which beget hatred. Look to the streets of America to see where this can end if not addressed: citizens screaming at each other and drawing their guns. Debate and argument over political policy, philosophies and values is the lifeblood of a democracy, hurling insults at public figures is a cancer.
Fortunately, in this country, we have a reservoir of great wisdom – rugby lore. I call on all fellow citizens to remember the adage – play the ball, not the person.
David Williamson. Photo / Supplied
Speaking of rugby, one of the stranger utterances in all this was made by Collins regarding her wayward husband - "Collins says if anyone has got the secret for how to control a 64-year-old man who used to play a lot of rugby and was a policeman then they should let her know".
Ignoring the archaic 1970's "ya just can't control the boys when they get a bit of beer in em" tone, I would have thought the "secret" was obvious – a 64-year-old man who has been a police officer should be able to control himself. As should we all.
• Dr David Williamson is a senior lecturer at the School of Hospitality and Tourism, Auckland University of Technology.
