Grievance politics on both sides of the political divide reduces complex challenges to simplistic slogans, fuelling division and undermining effective government and democracy. Dr Victoria Fielding writes.
THERE IS MUCH discussion about the toxic influence of far-right grievance politics on society, where parties such as One Nation weaponise structural economic and social problems through simplistic and often false diagnoses, scapegoating and division.
Yet, grievance politics from the Left can be just as toxic and divisive, and just as problematic for democracy.
When left- or right-wing “populists” claim there are simple slogan-like solutions to complex problems, they create a political climate which makes the real work of governing in a complex reality infinitely more challenging.
This simplistic grievance politics was on display last week when new Greens Leader, David Shoebridge, called for Australia to stop sending military aid to Ukraine. Shoebridge made this argument based on a simplistic, and frankly nonsensical, principle that suggests Australia should never contribute to human rights abuses, and thus should not provide weapons to allies like Ukraine, in case those weapons are used to undermine human rights.
Lost in this slogan-like stance is the reality of the situation in Ukraine, a complex reality, but it also comes down to a very simple equation: Ukraine is being attacked by Russia, an authoritarian country with nuclear weapons. Australia is Ukraine’s ally. Just as Australia would expect our allies to come to our aid if we were attacked by an aggressor, so too should Australia help Ukraine defend itself.
Indeed, calling the Ukraine-Russia conflict a “war” downplays the fact that it is not Ukraine’s choice to be involved in this conflict, it is not a two-sided problem and it is not something Ukraine can just end if it wants to. Ukrainians are the victims and Russia is the aggressor. As long as Russia continues to attack Ukraine, Australia has a moral responsibility to help the nation.
In Shoebridge’s simplistic assertions, however, Australia is presented through a grievance politics frame as partly responsible for the ongoing Russian attack. The assumption, as shaky as it is, appears to be that if Australia and other countries stopped helping Ukraine, the war would end. Wouldn’t it be nice if governing were that easy?
This case aptly shows just how unhelpful left-wing grievance politics is, in the same way that polarising right-wing grievance politics undermines democracy. Left-wing grievance politics, often from the Greens but also from some left-leaning Independents, paints a picture of politics that makes it seem like the Government can solve complex problems with simple statements and magical thinking.
This grievance politics breeds a culture of political activism amongst the supporters of these parties and candidates which is equally simplistic and unhelpful. This culture places impossible expectations on the Government by suggesting it can just make simple symbolic statements, snap its fingers and make incredibly complex problems disappear as if by magic.
You see this culture play out in attacks on the Labor Government from left-wing activists on many issues, all of which paint Labor’s position as far more simple, binary and lacking nuance than the reality is for a party of government.
One of these issues is Australia’s diplomatic and military relationship with the U.S. To call this relationship complex is an understatement. In dealing with Donald Trump as U.S. President, the Australian Government is trying to negotiate with a psychotic, unreliable, dangerously powerful tantrum-thrower.
Yet, as difficult as it is, Australia must maintain a relationship with this madman because we rely on U.S. military assistance should we ever need it and the U.S. is a major trading partner.
I regularly see people on the Left criticising the Labor Government for working to maintain a strong allyship with the U.S., even with Trump himself, as if Labor is doing something wrong in defending Australia’s national and economic security through this relationship.
These activists seem to want Australia to symbolically tear up and stamp on Australia’s U.S. alliance because they do not like Trump. When the Australian Government does not do this – out of Australia’s economic and national security interests – these people throw ridiculous grievance politics at Labor, accusing them of being pro-Trump and even MAGA.
The truth is, Labor has the complex job of managing the U.S. relationship despite Trump. This is not easy, and the more people on the Left make it sound like it should be easy, the more they undermine the public’s understanding and respect for this complexity.
Grievance politics – whether from the Left or the Right – perpetuates the misleading notion that running a country can be done through sloganeering and easy black-and-white binary decision-making. It ignores that the work of government is done in the heart of complexity, requiring compromise, pragmatism, delicate judgement, nuance, negotiation, and often a bit of tight-rope walking.
Democracy is not served by divisive click-bait grievance politics. The backlash at Shoebridge over his undermining of Ukraine will hopefully show some Greens supporters just how dangerous left-wing grievance politics is.
The work of government is complex enough without it being undermined by people scoring political points by painting reality as if it were simple. Indeed, the times we live in have never been so complex and they are not likely to get any less complex any time soon.
Dr Victoria Fielding is an Independent Australia columnist. You can follow her on Threads @drvicfielding or Bluesky @drvicfielding.bsky.social.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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