Comments on: Living in dystopia: ten tips for reconnecting the personal and the political

By: Caroline Smith

Caroline Smith — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 23:55:07 +0000

A philosophical and ethical tour de force. The refugee crisis is horrific. I really do not know what to do as one person, other than donate to UNHCR and Medicine sans Frontiers and Oxfam, my preferred groups. Ensure that others in our circle are aware /educated is another route I think. My youngest a graduate in Environmental science is not convinced that global warming is any new event – as there have been many warmings and ice ages. So I worry more about loss of species and of natural pristine environments, worries me a lot. I seem lately to donate to so many environmental groups, due to this worry. (esp during Newman and Seeneys (awful environmental destroyer he was) time (QLD) and now challenges to the Australian EPBC laws. Like you Vittorio and most SW, I live a good life. There are also positive things/events in the world. Mum died at 93 two years ago and she always said that she would much rather live now than at any other time. Though she did live in Brisbane so was fortunate in that. She lived on a DVA War widows pension, but said she had too much money, so she wasn’t ‘rich’. On the other side many of our clients have real problems – we as SW also have real problems at times. Though we can say that the problems of many in the rest of the world are far worse, we do not want to discount that there are problems in Australia also and in our lives, which are real and disturbing for us. I am sure you are not saying there aren’t. I work with people with severe mental illness / severe mental health problems. Their trials and problems are very difficult. Some of them have very little – people I have worked with who have chronic schizophrenia.

By: Maurissa Ailion

Maurissa Ailion — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 08:09:52 +0000

Thanks Vittorio,
a good article and reiterating so much that we need to hear. There are many concerned professionals not just Social Workers who so dearly want change and want to be pro-active in that change process. Yes it can feel powerless so often but ”just take one step, then another and so on”
Our best gifts to others are: Our Time, Attention, love and Concern

By: Nita

Nita — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 11:42:47 +0000

Certainly an interesting article which is realistic and nails the current issues of the society. Thanks vittorio

By: Jane Thomson

Jane Thomson — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 21:14:30 +0000

Vittorio, You are a cogent and forceful commentator and your blog is incredibly useful. I have sent it to all my social work students here at University of the Sunshine Coast. Thank you for the thoughtful critique.

I concur wholeheartedly with your perspective. We will look back at this time in Australian history with utter shame- it will be up there with our initial colonising invasion (which so many people still don’t “get” in terms of its radiation half life effects for all these generations later), the White Australia Policy…

Keep going Vittorio. This country needs you.
warm regards
Jane

By: Audrey Morrison-Greet

Audrey Morrison-Greet — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 01:45:39 +0000

Excellent piece Vittorio and thank-you for it – my take on this is called -‘New World Order’ a deliberate breaking down and destruction of what we hold dear and value intrinsically as human beings! So we become overwhelmed complacent and placated by junk TV and the obsceneness of celebrity culture. A ready made compliant human work force ripe for distorted policy makers parading as government.

By: Lorraine Harrison

Lorraine Harrison — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 00:52:49 +0000

A great article and I wholeheartedly agree with you Vittorio.
My wee tip I use when I feel overwhelmed by the enormity of our capitalist system and its over played economic rationalist mantra – I try to say to myself ‘drip feed for change’ as this may only be the process I can engage in some of the time, but at least I and other are engaging. I know we are at a cataclysmic point in our and our planets very survival, but drip feed helps me feel less flattened by the enormity of the tasks at hand.

By: Joanne Petrovic

Joanne Petrovic — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 00:35:15 +0000

1. Choose your future. Focus on what is good in the world. Look for it and appreciate it.
2. Choose your future. Take responsibility to comment on decisions government is making. Point out that they are not representing you if you know these decisions lead to destruction etc.

By: Jacques Boulet

Jacques Boulet — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 23:56:27 +0000

thanks dear Vittorio… such an important message you’ve shared…! and I can only hope that it is heeded by social workers wide and far! Especially also SW academics and students… I included the website for people to register in the ‘local futures’ conference (formerly know as ‘Economics of Happiness’ conferences – see also the DVD) we’re organising in Castlemaine from the 16th till the 18th of October.. and we will be discussing many of the issues you mention in your message… it would be great if this could be distributed as well through the AASW and other networks you’re part of!
Thanks both for your message and for helping out spreading the news!
Jacques