Stop saying 'this is not who we are' when the evidence proves it is

The independent MP Monique Ryan was very dismissive recently of One Nation and the Liberals' tough stance on immigration.

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"I'm deeply uncomfortable with Pauline Hanson and Angus Taylor's clumsy attempts to turn migrants into political punching bags," she opined.

"This is not who we are as a country."

The snag is that this may actually be who we are as a country, at least among a swathe of the people. It's not the whole truth but it is part of the truth.

I am very mistrustful of the phrase. It sounds to me like an attempt to minimise the truth. If it's not who we are, why worry about whatever appalling transgression has been revealed?

If a man defends his bad behaviour - infidelity, for example - by saying , "It's not who I really am," his wife might snort and scoff.

And as with the personal, so with the bigger picture, particularly in sport.

In 2023, the South Sydney rugby league player Latrell Mitchell was racially abused by a spectator. There was an uproar, of course.

But the broadcaster Stan Grant was having none of the accompanying this-is-not-who-we-are-ism: "This is not who we are. Yes, easy to say. But look closer. It is who you are. How can it not be?"

"I am writing because it has happened to my children playing sport. It happens to my parents. It has happened to me."

Anthony Albanese used the phrase after The Guardian published details of atrocities perpetrated by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. "I know Australians will be distressed by this report. I am too. This is not who we are," he said.

In the United States, the country's top officer, General Peter Pace, reacted to atrocities committed by his soldiers in Iraq, including the alleged rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and her family. "It's not who we are as a nation; it's not who we are as an armed force," he said.

But it was. Not the whole force, of course, but a section of it. There was a problem with the culture which needed to be addressed.

Barack Obama later echoed the line.

After Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington to try to prevent Mr Trump's electoral defeat being ratified, the actual winner, Joe Biden, said: "This is not who we are."

Except, it was. Not all Americans, of course, but a sizable chunk (remember, more than a third of American voters still approve of Mr Trump's performance in the White House).

So, the phrase is deceptive. It often reveals exactly who we are deep down.

The philosopher John Martin Fischer distinguishes between our "actual self" and our "ideal self" - whom we imagine we are: "The person who has engaged in betrayal is actually (at least partly) a betrayer. That's part of their actual self. It need not, however, be (part of) their ideal self - the self they aspire to, based on values they have adopted."

He wrote about the lack of condemnation of police brutality: "Observing the beatings by police of innocent blacks and the relatively mild reaction to the largely white rioters, and reflecting more broadly on the increasingly visible racism in the United States, it is natural to think the same thing: 'This is not who we are.' These acts and activities, we feel, do not represent us - do not reflect who we really are as a nation.

"There is an obvious response. White nationalism, racism, bigotry of all kinds, hate-inspired violence, intolerance of other perspectives, totalitarian tendencies and neo-Nazi rallies-this is really who we are. All of these disgraceful things have been present in our nation from the very beginning."

And the same with us as people when we behave badly. This is who we are, not wholly but partly.

Good people can do bad deeds.

If it is not who we are, why do we have to keep saying it? Picture by Keegan Carroll.

- Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery that confirmed he has lung cancer. Doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung. The tests confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin after the operation. "The surgery was successful, and there were no complications," the statement said.

- Tickets for Powderfinger's reunion tour go on sale on Wednesday. The band's first tour in 17 years, with concerts around Australia from September 2027, has generated a big demand, with some fans registering for tickets on multiple phones.

THEY SAID IT: "The love of money as a possession - as distinguished from the love of money as a means to the enjoyments and realities of life - will be recognized for what it is, a somewhat disgusting morbidity." - John Maynard Keynes.

YOU SAID IT: I mused on the desire of some Silicon Valley billionaires to find eternal life (on this planet, and not in some sort of heavenly state). I was surprised at how many of you were ready to leave.

Alan at 84 said he had had "a wonderful life. Seen it all but time is running out, will be happy to go, who wants to live forever?"

Helen at 80 said: "The thought of living forever here on Earth gives me the horrors. I have seen good governments, bad ones and indifferent ones. I was born just after WWII, and there seems to have been very few years during my life where there have not been wars somewhere in the world, usually several at the same time. Why live forever with all this?"

Graeme said: "I can't wait to get out of here, leading reason, the tech bros, the wreckers of life."

Warren suggested we watch the sci-fi film Zardoz, starring starring Sean Connery, which is "about people who live forever but yearn for mortality".

Maggie wasn't impressed by the prospect of eternal earthly life, either: "What, and see everyone that I love and who makes up my world die and leave me with no one to discuss old times with?"

Anita said: "The tech $billionaires are not contemplating 'forever' forever, just an extension .... which wouldn't be so bad. I suspect a limited concept of eternity fuels notions embedded in religions and daydreams. Half a day's thought would dispel such fantasies as a form of torture."

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