Fruit Loops v Blunters

Courtesy of the Qantas I read this thing called the Saturday Paper, which appears to be a weekly that comes out only on Saturdays.

So I had a glance. My summary – the only people that would look forward to reading this tabloid are the vaguely concerned and pre-preached folk that occupy the top tiers of the tax brackets.

Oddly enough I would rather read the Daily Telegraph – at least there I will be challenged by the blunter drivel that the editor imagines his boss would like to see.

The Saturday Paper could well be described as a weekly version of The Monthly without so much arty content, and it is possibly aimed at those that claim the Sydney Morning Herald used to have better content (for a couple of weeks in the early 1980s).

The main problems with the one edition of the Saturday Paper that I have just read are (1) The issues are chestnut-central – global warming, asylum seekers, ICAC, etc, and (2) Problems are identified but not a single solution is provided. You could happily have named this paper “The Someone should do Something Times”

Here’s what I would like to see in a paper. Novelty with regards to subject matter. Solutions as well as problems. Debate and not propaganda. Challenging ideas rather than the thin green line. Context other than that of first world risk-free complacency. And finally, the universe and not just the inner burbs of Sydney and Melbourne.

Ever heard of the culture wars? Well it’s this Lilliputian battle for ascendency in Australia between the blunters and the fruit loops. Members of both warring parties are stuck in mindsets that were developed whilst at university, dreaming of pitched battles in 1970. What they want is control of the the vibe that drives policy decisions around the edges of what people really care about.

The Saturday Paper is an instrument of the fruit loops. You know who they are – very concerned people but with plenty of affluence. A quick look at the ads in the Saturday Paper gives it away – Rolex, Mercedes Benz and the Essential Bergman film festival.

This paper will not convert a soul. But it is a missive to the blunters, stating that they, the fruit loops, haven’t thrown in the towel. The blunters may have swayed the masses by aiming for the hip pocket but the fruit loops will keep the home flame burning whilst they develop their strategies to pounce the next time the budget is in surplus in a decade or two.