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A source of energy so abundant and reliable, it's available around the clock, rain, hail or shine. It's free and the infrastructure to transmit it is already in place.
Forget wind, solar and green hydrogen. Cast nuclear power from your mind. I'm talking about the power of outrage, around which a whole noxious industry has sprung up.
Politicians and shock jocks have long exploited the power of outrage. Many of them rely on it to keep their jobs. Sometimes it works, often it doesn't.
Last week's spectacle of Peter Dutton conflating the ugly October 9 pro-Palestinian rally with the Port Arthur massacre was a cack-handed attempt to generate and harness outrage. It short-circuited so badly that if the Opposition Leader had hair, it would still be standing on end. He ended up looking like a blathering fool covered in egg.
A few days earlier, the Murdoch press tried to whip up outrage when it discovered Woolworths would no longer stock commemorative Anzac Day biscuit tins. Another erasure of proud Aussie traditions, it bellowed. Just like the supermarket giant's nation-shaking decision not to stock plastic Australia Day tat.
Instead of manning the barricades and calling for boycotts, most people simply shrugged, until then unaware that an overpriced biscuit tin cash-strapped shoppers weren't buying had somehow become an Anzac tradition.
When Samantha Mostyn was announced as the next governor-general, I momentarily struggled to remember the name of the current one, as I suspect many others did as well. Who was that bloke with the singing wife who signed off on Scotty's secret ministries?
For the vast majority of us, the G-G has no bearing whatsoever on our day-to-day lives. Yet over at The Australian the sky had fallen. Outrageous, the columnists thundered for days on end and to no one in particular, the woke have stormed the citadel!
The progressive side of society is not immune to the temptations of outrage either. Take the hairdresser I was told about the other day. Overheard talking about once working near the Adelaide Spastic Centre, as it was known decades ago when he lived there, he was chided for using the S word by a young, outraged colleague.
"I'm still offended by it," he was told after explaining that was what the centre was actually called. He quit shortly after.
A couple of years ago, I made the mistake of telling a young journalist I grew up reading Tintin books, dreaming that I'd one day become a globetrotting reporter (I turned out more Captain Haddock than Tintin) while building up a vast vocabulary of useless words. "Racist, sexist, colonialist," he growled, clearly outraged by my boyhood reading choices. I couldn't help thinking he'd be inclined to cancel Shakespeare as well as Herge.
A transgender woman is mistaken for a bloke by a women-only app's AI and is denied membership. Offence is taken, outrage follows, lawyers are hired, energy and money expended as it ends up in the courts. An outraged bloke is denied entry to a ladies lounge conceptual art exhibit in Tasmania and another lawyers' picnic is staged. And I find myself outraged that people have the time, energy and money to pursue such matters.
They should acquaint themselves with Groucho Marx, who said, "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member."
Back in 1956, geologist Marion Hubbert King warned the world would reach peak oil production by the 1970s. He was wrong of course, out by several decades.
When will we reach peak outrage? It can't come soon enough.
Meanwhile, I'm shooting off for a couple of weeks, on the trail of assorted bashi bazouks, pyromaniacs and fancy-dress freebooters in a thundering typhoon. Steve, Jenna and Garry will turn up your inboxes while I'm away.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Are we too quick to be outraged? Is there a better use for the energy we expend on anger? Were you a fan of Tintin books when growing up? Did they harm you in any way? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Origin Energy will buy one of the most advanced wind and energy storage projects in NSW to help plug the gap left by the planned closure of the country's largest coal-fired power station. The electricity and gas company announced on Friday an agreement with Virya Energy to acquire its Yanco Delta Wind Farm, one of the largest in the state.
- Budding entrepreneurs might want to think twice before launching their business in a capital city as regional and major cities may be a better bet. Geelong in Victoria took out the top spot as Australia's best city for starting a business, according to research by accounting software company Reckon.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will walk the Kokoda Track ahead of Anzac Day commemorations during a visit to Papua New Guinea. Mr Albanese will walk the track alongside Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, before taking part in a dawn service.
THEY SAID IT: "There is nothing more foolish, nothing more given to outrage than a useless mob." - Herodotus
YOU SAID IT: It's all very well to decry chequebook journalism but it wouldn't exist without our willing hunger for gossip.
"I don't begrudge anyone a decent payday if they have a story that everyone wants to hear, even if it is potentially salacious and the person telling it is of dubious character," writes Ian. "In fact, that is probably the formula for the most eyeballs. In most such cases they'll dig themselves deeper, which is probably what everyone wants to see, or it'll just be deeply boring. I however, seldom watch those proceedings, because it feels excruciatingly voyeuristic, and with the advertising makes me feel like my brain is being dissolved in acid while having needles poked into my eyes. As such I avoid commercial free-to-air TV and generally only watch the ABC, SBS, and a couple of streaming services."
Laurie writes: "It's called commercial television for a reason. Three of our five free-to-air networks only exist because companies pay to advertise - and the more people who are watching, the more they pay. When lone around the world yachtie Tony Bullimore was rescued from the depths of the Southern Ocean, he became the story of the year. So, yes, as the executive in charge of news and current affairs at Seven, I negotiated an exclusivity deal via his brother in England. We paid nothing like the extraordinary sums being shelled out these days. But had I not bothered to chase down this deal I would have been derelict in my well-paid duties."
"As a representative of the Mr Average Viewer cohort, I plead guilty, as charged, for perpetuating the unprofessional activities of the networks," writes Geoff. "From now on, I have to ask myself, 'Has this person enjoying their five minutes of fame been paid to answer a lot of silly, leading questions by a breathless reporter?' If 'yes' switch channels."
Elaine writes: "I prefer facts to fiction and commercial TV seems rife with sensationalism. If I want fiction I buy a book or go to the library. The ABC has excellent news and so many good Australian programs, why would I waste my time with commercial trash. Thanks for your excellent articles, Echidna, no trash here."
"Bit rich, Garry, trying to label the viewer responsible for your gutter journalism," writes Bruce. "And Germaine Greer was spot on about Irwin's death being 'wildlife's revenge'. Her timing sucked though."
Angela writes: "I may be one of the small percentage, however, who never watches commercial television. I watch ABC and SBS only. Had barely heard of this poor chap Steve Irwin until after he was killed, to be quite honest. I made one exception in this last few months to see the four-part dramatised true story of the British Postal agencies and Britain's appalling 25-year long version of robodebt on 7+. I daresay the ABC would have broadcast it, but its budget is so tight these days it can't afford to acquire some quality programs any more."
Four decades in the media, working in print and television. Formerly editor of the South Coast Register and Milton Ulladulla Times. Based on the South Coast of NSW.
Four decades in the media, working in print and television. Formerly editor of the South Coast Register and Milton Ulladulla Times. Based on the South Coast of NSW.
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