Lack of trust

I'm alert but not too alarmed - smh.com.au

I'm alert but not too alarmed

Trust starts at the top, writes Clive Cleland.

In Tuesday's Herald a disturbing article suggested that we Australians have given up trusting one another. I really find that quite offensive. After all, I trust everyone I know - and don't trust the people I don't.

The government has told me that anyone could be a terrorist and that I should be wary of friendly strangers. Not that they've singled out any religious or ethnic group specifically, but on the evening news they're always throwing names like "Mohammed" and words like "jihad" at me, and I know who they mean. I was alarmed well before I had to be alert.

The government has also told me to keep clear of anyone from China, Vietnam or Toronto. I've learned to hold my breath around anyone who looks vaguely Asian, especially if they start coughing.

And what of mad cow disease? First we couldn't trust British beef, now we can't trust Canadian beef. I'm glad I live in Australia and eat Australian beef. Even though the outback is going through the toughest drought in the history of the Commonwealth, I know I can trust the farming corporations to feed their cattle only pure grain and silage.

Obviously we've got a lot of grain to go around, despite the drought, because it's being put into fuel as ethanol. The government assures me this is great for the environment and they've got the experts to know this. We could probably cut our oil imports with all the excess wheat we're no longer selling to Iraq.

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Why the concern over GM crops? I presume these genetic modifications apply to grain as well, so we'll have plenty to do with that extraordinary wheat excess that we can't seem to sell anywhere overseas. Just think how much less oil we will need to import if it's all made into ethanol. The doomsayers tell us how you can't roll back once you've planted a GM crop, and how we won't know if it causes problems for many years. But the government wouldn't let it through if it weren't safe.

We don't need labelling to tell us when we're eating GM foods, either. They've been freely eating and drinking GM in North America for years now, and despite continuing increases in obesity, cancers and asthma, people have never eaten so well.

Trust starts at the top. Without my vote we could've had just about anyone running this country. Instead we've got good, reliable, trustworthy people who put their personal desires aside and dedicate their lives to running the country for the good of all.

There are no petty squabbles over who gets to lead the country. Elected leaders in this country never lie for their own advantage. They never put their careers ahead of the needs of the people most needing their help. Politicians are able to rise above the daily struggle that tires out so many of us and hold true to their publicly stated vision for the future.

No, lack of trust only happens in other countries.