What a surprise to find that stale pale (white) middle-aged males have so much in common with male Indigenous Australians.

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What, you might ask. They both suffer from ridiculously shallow stereotyping. That might not be a bad thing if it was of a positive nature. It isn't. These two seemingly disparate groups are maligned every day.

Middle-aged pale males are portrayed as misogynistic blasts from the past who lie around enjoying the privilege improperly thrust upon them and which they selfishly decline to discard. Indigenous men are portrayed as equally misogynistic but with the added traits of being alcoholic, drug-addicted, violent welfare bludgers.

Imagine reading and hearing almost, if not absolutely, nothing positive about yourself and your peers. A diet of being told what a useless piece of shellgrit you are does no one any good.

Both stereotypes are incantations of some secret, magical kind which, once recited, in the identity politics world mark you out as someone who thinks about big issues. It's a bit like a Nanu Nanu thing. In the broader world where a degree of common sense prevails, it shows you to be something which you would rather not be - namely, ignorant.

Once the commentariat class focus on their own image, when what they say is about point scoring rather than policy, there is potential for serious social disruption. Words and phrases get tossed around glibly to grab headlines rather than to get something done. Teams loosely form and finger pointing becomes the order of the day.

Advocates are the worst enemy of those in need of help. In fact, those in need of help are an indispensable asset to advocates. Without the needy, on whose behalf will advocates trumpet their insight? To put it more bluntly, on who else will they stand in order to raise themselves up? Advocates need the needy. And they hunt for the guilty.

A favourite kicking ball for some advocates is the terrible waste of money that stares at Indigenous Australians from Indigenous corporations over which most have little if any control. It's right to focus on this atrocious mishandling and the consequent deprivation to local Indigenous people. There should however be similar outrage at waste and corruption in non-Indigenous areas. Does the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) ring a bell in anyone's head?........

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