It’s fascinating to observe the issues which spark national and global outrage. In Australia recently there have been all-consuming crises over an allegedly racist tabloid cartoon of Serena Williams, needles in strawberries, political interference in the ABC and advertising on the Sydney Opera House, to name a few. Globally, the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as US Supreme Court Justice, despite credible sexual assault allegations and dishonest testimony, has been seized on as confirmation of white male privilege, of the sexist and racist nature of society and the polity.

These are all important issues, no doubt, but the rage is being focused on the wrong targets. We are endlessly fighting each other over race, gender, political tribes and sexuality, and this is preventing us from uniting to solve the systemic issues that have become full blown existential crises. Amid persistent efforts by powerful interests to, as former US President Barack Obama says, ‘keep us angry and keep us cynical, because it helps them maintain the status quo, and keep their power’, there has been a continuous stream of reports about the devastating extreme weather and other effects caused by climate change, which threatens the very future of humanity within this century. Our own and our children’s lives could be cut short by the collapse of human and natural systems unless radical action is taken in the next few years to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees. Humanity has destroyed nearly all wild animals on Earth, as a recent Meanjin essay outlined in harrowing detail, and our addiction to consumption and growth is now threatening our own species. Why are people not rioting in the streets over this?