Peter Lalor on "democracy"
Part of Australia's proud history which (when it comes to the public discourse and relevant action) is largely buried.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Rebellion#Peter_Lalor Following the battle [of the Eureka Stockade], rebel leader, Irish Australian Peter Lalor, wrote in a statement to the colonists of Victoria, "There are two things connected with the late outbreak (Eureka) which I deeply regret. The first is, that we shouldn't have been forced to take up arms at all; and the second is, that when we were compelled to take the field in our own defence, we were unable (through want of arms, ammunition and a little organisation) to inflict on the real authors of the outbreak the punishment they so richly deserved." Lalor stood for Ballaarat in the 1855 elections and was elected unopposed. During a speech in the Legislative Council in 1856 he said, "I would ask these gentlemen what they mean by the term 'democracy'. Do they mean Chartism or Republicanism? If so, I never was, I am not now, nor do I ever intend to be a democrat. But if a democrat means opposition to a tyrannical press, a tyrannical people, or a tyrannical government, then I have been, I am still, and will ever remain a democrat." The Eureka stockade and the proud stand that Peter Lalor and others sacrificed their lives for, is a classic and effective example of the result when the tyranny of so-called "democracy" That is, an armed civil uprising. As Lalor wrote above, in our Eureka Stockade, the men who rose in defiance of a tyranny failed to properly arm themselves in the first instance. I say we have a duty to speak, and to act in "peaceful political protest", in the first instance - this is a duty of care to the other members of our community. Where "the system" repeatedly fails to hear our voice and our protests, instead continuing to inflict its tyranny upon us and abrogating one or more of our fundamental human rights over an extended period of time, and when enough members of our community experience this tyranny first hand and agree on the importance of change, then an armed civil uprising becomes almost inevitable.
participants (1)
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Zenaan Harkness