Lately we can’t get through a week without Waleed Aly saying something so desperately contrarian, so immediately wrong, so ‘look how smart I am’, so condescending, and so instantly infuriating that it takes the internet by storm.
The poisonous assertion of conservatives like Aly is that life/the world is just fine as it is - and, for them, it may be … but only if they blind themselves to the suffering of the vast majority of people and the planet itself. As soon as a hint of compassion sneaks into their worldview it falls apart. So they harden themselves, and reject movements for change. As Aly says in the video, all change is ‘heresy’. The status quo is sacred.
Excellent. I ceased watching The Project some months ago and Waleed’s reactionary nonsense was just one of the reasons. My take on conservatism is different to his and some politician who was a part of Churchill’s government. Conservatism is ALL about conservatives ensuring they “conserve” their money, power and control, and keep it to their own class. The rich upper classes believe that change offers no advantage to them, as it generally reduces their access to money, power and control and allows those things to be removed from them and allow more of it to flow to the “lower” echelons of society. Just as it should be in a secular, egalitarian democracy.
Thanks for writing so beautifully, his attitude has been bothering me for awhile.How you explain it though really helps put some clarity on things.The slow steady progress does suit the wealthy.While many poor people are suffering, instead of thriving your busy surviving trying to keep your head above water and it is so exhausting. We really need progress at a much faster rate than what is happening. 😊
The poisonous assertion of conservatives like Aly is that life/the world is just fine as it is - and, for them, it may be … but only if they blind themselves to the suffering of the vast majority of people and the planet itself. As soon as a hint of compassion sneaks into their worldview it falls apart. So they harden themselves, and reject movements for change. As Aly says in the video, all change is ‘heresy’. The status quo is sacred.
Interesting article. May I suggest one little tweak? Eliminate the reference to alcohol on the balcony ... Waleed Aly is Muslim and therefore does not partake in alcohol. An error like that makes it easier for those sympathetic to him to dismiss your criticism.
If a PM appoints himself to an additional ministry without informing parliament or electors, to whom he is a fiduciary, he would not be in breach of the Constitution as expressly written. However, he would be in breach of a Convention, which is an implied and unwritten rule. An employer can never expressly prohibit every possible damaging action by their fiduciary, and must rely on their reasonable prudence. A PM has no written permission to keep the secret, nor has he any written obligation to inform, but it would strike at the very fabric of the Westminster System if a PM were permitted to do such a thing. It would be a breach of his fiduciary duty to exercise reasonable prudence in safeguarding the interests of the parliament and people.
I’ve caught a good deal of Aly’s “word salad” diatribe on the ABC RN program ‘The Minefield’ and wry much support your critique. Intellectual ‘mud’ displaying both arrogance and more than a little narcissism don’t disguise the politically conservative lens through which Aly views our society. I remain puzzled as to his apparent appeal to the public, and suspect it is a weird twist of affluent Teal with a surface smattering of Green for effect.
I wonder if you give too much credit. i.e. his behaviours are bore from some sort of albeit twisted pragmatism. If what you say were true, wouldn't he want Morrison's multi minister craziness fully unpacked? To make sure such unconventional things were never to happen again? I think he suffers from what most of us suffer from, feeling something first and trying to justify it second. And there's no sense to be made
Aly disgusted me with his diatribes about 'cancel culture' including a piece published in The Monthly in 2020. He says he is "worried about cancel culture" but he never explains why. As an academic, he cannot be forgiven for failing to define what cancel culture actually is, or how it differs from legitimate criticism.
Since then, he has repeatedly railed against cancel culture, especially when it comes to excusing the behaviour of his terrible friends. But like so many other critics of cancel culture, he launches cancellations against other people almost daily, using his considerable media profile to sick his attack dogs on anyone he disagrees with.
And surely in his railing against cancel culture he is doing exactly what he is railing against? I don't understand the whole cancel culture, woke thing, if it is a thing. It seems more like a conservative thinker's way of conserving his or her privileged lifestyle without any challenges from the proles!
It is only in recent time that I have become fully aware of the stupid arrogance of Waleed Aly. Like you, when you assemble the many individual pieces of absolute dribble by him, only then does the toxic nature of the mosaic that defines him become starkly clear. Frankly, he is a disgrace and should never be given a platform where his dangerous opinions, not facts at all, can be distributed. My only interaction with him will be to express my utter contempt for the words he uses. Suck it up Ali, many Australians abhor you.
Why so hard to hear views you disagree with? I find it useful to test why I think the way I do. Eg in this context my belief in letting people express their views, as clearly as Waleed Aly did in that interview.
And why I try to spell names the way they are used. As many people mispell mine.
Whilst free speech can be a means by which people can share different ideas and come to appreciate other world views, there is a responsibility to have a discourse based on fact and rationality, not biases or prejudices. Does one have to cite Donald Trump as being the classic example of a person, a narcissist, whose views are contrary to what free speech should realise. Fortunately, Waleed in displaying none of the elements of empathy and critical thinking in his opinions, is a lightweight. So why would I ever want to engage constructively with him when his views are so destructive.
A conservative indeed. Not sure why so many find that so hard to take. In the mythical world of co structive engagemw t with others’ ideas we need some from the conservative angle.
His approach to I digenous issues usefully reminds that all who have no I digenous ancestry are ‘white’ in that debate. The alignment of ‘people of colour’ is a false one.
Is part of the annoyance with Waleed that he is notionally ‘of colour’ and sounds ‘white’. A joe Hockey for our times?
The poisonous assertion of conservatives like Aly is that life/the world is just fine as it is - and, for them, it may be … but only if they blind themselves to the suffering of the vast majority of people and the planet itself. As soon as a hint of compassion sneaks into their worldview it falls apart. So they harden themselves, and reject movements for change. As Aly says in the video, all change is ‘heresy’. The status quo is sacred.
Excellent. I ceased watching The Project some months ago and Waleed’s reactionary nonsense was just one of the reasons. My take on conservatism is different to his and some politician who was a part of Churchill’s government. Conservatism is ALL about conservatives ensuring they “conserve” their money, power and control, and keep it to their own class. The rich upper classes believe that change offers no advantage to them, as it generally reduces their access to money, power and control and allows those things to be removed from them and allow more of it to flow to the “lower” echelons of society. Just as it should be in a secular, egalitarian democracy.
He is also a narcissist who never apologises because he is never wrong.
Thanks for writing so beautifully, his attitude has been bothering me for awhile.How you explain it though really helps put some clarity on things.The slow steady progress does suit the wealthy.While many poor people are suffering, instead of thriving your busy surviving trying to keep your head above water and it is so exhausting. We really need progress at a much faster rate than what is happening. 😊
The poisonous assertion of conservatives like Aly is that life/the world is just fine as it is - and, for them, it may be … but only if they blind themselves to the suffering of the vast majority of people and the planet itself. As soon as a hint of compassion sneaks into their worldview it falls apart. So they harden themselves, and reject movements for change. As Aly says in the video, all change is ‘heresy’. The status quo is sacred.
it's ironic that the Andrew Bolts of the world will hold Waleed up as some sort of poster boy for the left but he is far from it.
Interesting article. May I suggest one little tweak? Eliminate the reference to alcohol on the balcony ... Waleed Aly is Muslim and therefore does not partake in alcohol. An error like that makes it easier for those sympathetic to him to dismiss your criticism.
If a PM appoints himself to an additional ministry without informing parliament or electors, to whom he is a fiduciary, he would not be in breach of the Constitution as expressly written. However, he would be in breach of a Convention, which is an implied and unwritten rule. An employer can never expressly prohibit every possible damaging action by their fiduciary, and must rely on their reasonable prudence. A PM has no written permission to keep the secret, nor has he any written obligation to inform, but it would strike at the very fabric of the Westminster System if a PM were permitted to do such a thing. It would be a breach of his fiduciary duty to exercise reasonable prudence in safeguarding the interests of the parliament and people.
Very thought provoking. Thankyou.
how do they square the rapid intervention of mRNA vaccines?
How do they view the incentives to rapdily transition away from ICE to EV?
Seems a convenient philosophy to me
Basically rules out ingenious human intervention in bad times
Outstanding article. He had a bit of a cult following at Monash as I remember.
I’ve caught a good deal of Aly’s “word salad” diatribe on the ABC RN program ‘The Minefield’ and wry much support your critique. Intellectual ‘mud’ displaying both arrogance and more than a little narcissism don’t disguise the politically conservative lens through which Aly views our society. I remain puzzled as to his apparent appeal to the public, and suspect it is a weird twist of affluent Teal with a surface smattering of Green for effect.
I wonder if you give too much credit. i.e. his behaviours are bore from some sort of albeit twisted pragmatism. If what you say were true, wouldn't he want Morrison's multi minister craziness fully unpacked? To make sure such unconventional things were never to happen again? I think he suffers from what most of us suffer from, feeling something first and trying to justify it second. And there's no sense to be made
Aly disgusted me with his diatribes about 'cancel culture' including a piece published in The Monthly in 2020. He says he is "worried about cancel culture" but he never explains why. As an academic, he cannot be forgiven for failing to define what cancel culture actually is, or how it differs from legitimate criticism.
Since then, he has repeatedly railed against cancel culture, especially when it comes to excusing the behaviour of his terrible friends. But like so many other critics of cancel culture, he launches cancellations against other people almost daily, using his considerable media profile to sick his attack dogs on anyone he disagrees with.
And surely in his railing against cancel culture he is doing exactly what he is railing against? I don't understand the whole cancel culture, woke thing, if it is a thing. It seems more like a conservative thinker's way of conserving his or her privileged lifestyle without any challenges from the proles!
It is only in recent time that I have become fully aware of the stupid arrogance of Waleed Aly. Like you, when you assemble the many individual pieces of absolute dribble by him, only then does the toxic nature of the mosaic that defines him become starkly clear. Frankly, he is a disgrace and should never be given a platform where his dangerous opinions, not facts at all, can be distributed. My only interaction with him will be to express my utter contempt for the words he uses. Suck it up Ali, many Australians abhor you.
Why so hard to hear views you disagree with? I find it useful to test why I think the way I do. Eg in this context my belief in letting people express their views, as clearly as Waleed Aly did in that interview.
And why I try to spell names the way they are used. As many people mispell mine.
Whilst free speech can be a means by which people can share different ideas and come to appreciate other world views, there is a responsibility to have a discourse based on fact and rationality, not biases or prejudices. Does one have to cite Donald Trump as being the classic example of a person, a narcissist, whose views are contrary to what free speech should realise. Fortunately, Waleed in displaying none of the elements of empathy and critical thinking in his opinions, is a lightweight. So why would I ever want to engage constructively with him when his views are so destructive.
A conservative indeed. Not sure why so many find that so hard to take. In the mythical world of co structive engagemw t with others’ ideas we need some from the conservative angle.
His approach to I digenous issues usefully reminds that all who have no I digenous ancestry are ‘white’ in that debate. The alignment of ‘people of colour’ is a false one.
Is part of the annoyance with Waleed that he is notionally ‘of colour’ and sounds ‘white’. A joe Hockey for our times?
No, he's just a professional smart arse.