Criticising other people

 is something we all do - even if we try not to do it. I don't mean the sort of criticism which we face when we write an essay or a book or create a work of art. That's part of everyday life. We can learn from it - if we have any sense - even if we don't like being criticised.  (Who does like being criticised?)

No, I am talking about something different. There is a culture of criticism. We have taken to criticising people and actions that have nothing to do with us. We can do it at a distance. We can do it in ways which does not allow the person being criticised to defend themselves. Social media makes it easy to do. 

The Downunder Prime Minister has come in for criticism for things like being on holiday during the most serious bush fire situation we have seen. He has also been ridiculed for being a "born again Christian" and much more. Yes, it is part of being a politician. We like to "forget" that he was always being updated on the situation, that his religious beliefs are surely his own affair, and that there are issues in which even a Prime Minister cannot interfere. 

He is now being criticised for not criticising the current President of the United States.  That he cannot do that is beside the point as far as the media is concerned. What they want is a full blown condemnation. The demands are coming even from senior journalists who know full well that it is not something a Prime Minister can do. These same journalists are criticising him for not condemning the way in which China has placed tariffs on so many goods from here. At the same time they have criticised him for suggesting that an investigation be made into the origins of Covid19. Apparently he is now to blame for the tariffs because he suggested an investigation be made. China took offence and saw it as criticism.

Now surely that should tell those demanding he criticise the current US President's actions that what they are asking for is dangerous? The PM was not suggesting that the Chinese leadership was responsible for the Covid19 outbreak. He did actually suggest that they were doing their best to contain it. What he was asking for was an investigation so that we can learn from it and reduce harm in the future. It was not criticism as such but politics has demanded it be taken that way. 

We have criticised previous Prime Ministers for "arrogance", their inability to speak Chinese properly, for divorcing their partners, for living in an unmarried state, for having an affair outside marriage, for volunteering, for being "opposed to same sex marriage", for remaining loyal to friends in trouble, for spending too much and for spending too little. Their actions "go viral" because they are conveniently seen as allegedly misogynist or racist. The list is endless. Taking action will get them criticised. Not taking action will also get them criticised.

But there are things I have no doubt Prime Ministers would very much like to say or do. There must be times when they want to lash out at those criticising them and say, "No, look at the facts. Look at what action I can actually take."

Politics is of course about power, getting it and retaining it and making sure that your enemies fail to wrest it from you. In a democracy it is also about diplomacy. There are things politicians, particularly those at the very top, cannot say or do however much they might want to do it. Outright condemnation of the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world, one with whom we have very close defence and trading ties, is just not possible. It is our criticism which might be doing more harm than good.