The current epidemic of violence in First Nation Australians is not unique. It is one of a genre of what might be termed ‘liberation violence.’ It can be seen since Americans ‘liberated’ Iraq. It can be seen since the Berlin Wall came down. It can be seen daily when prisoners are released form detention. In short, it is a phenomenon in its own right. Are there any commonalties beyond the manifestations of violence? The domains where one usually searches are firstly in external history and geography, and second in internal history and geography. These domains are not of course unitary. Each subtends a myriad of sub-domains, from the domain of power in the external sphere, to the domain of power in the internal. These domains are united by choice and by culture. They are only trivially determined by biology.

Article by Paul Brown.

Violence in Indigenous Australians, today, like collateral damage, starts with collateral ~ or lateral ~ violence. It is not that violence did not exist in pre-First Contact Australia. But it was more often ritualised than not, and was pregnant with cultural meaning. It never threatened the viability of the cultural group, and its component tribal entities, in the way that Aboriginal violence does today. In the near two centuries just prior to Labour liberalisation in the 1970s, Aboriginal Australians pent up their aggression. It incubated until it was unleashed. Now, it is fuelled by ready cash, and ready drugs and alcohol. It will not stop until the Aboriginal community correctly diagnoses and treats itself. No amount of external help, at this stage, will do any good unless it is an adjunct to Aboriginal activity.

Is there any help at hand from comparable scenarios? Two ‘external’ scenarios immediately come to mind:  the upsurge in global violence since the Berlin Wall came down, and the Cold War ended; and, the upsurge in Violence since Sadaam Hussein was deposed in Iraq. In both cases, cruel regimens were replaced by materialistic anarchy. The consequence of the destruction of the statue of Lenin was the creation, not of a social utopia, but of a narcissistic dystopia. No moral, spiritual or humanistic ideology filled the vacuum. Quasi-biological factors supervened: the survival of the fittest. The fittest proved to be the thieves: multinationals, who evade tax responsibility by operating in the global grey zone. And, what of Iraq? More of the same: every man woman and child for himself or herself plus Jihad. No ‘good’ Muslims emerged to lead the country out of the dark; only self-seekers.

Where is ideology? Paradoxically the answer is more likely to come from the real thieves and murderers: those that actually go to jail. For, amongst their midst, there is a small but significant proportion that see the light. Not so in Russia or Iraq. Those that saw the light were either murdered, or forced to flee. But, when prisoners are liberated from jail, those that have rehabilitated themselves are free to make their mark. Many have. Take Erwin James, for example.

Born in 1957 he is a convicted murderer and a Guardian Newspaper journalist in the UK. He served 20 years of a life sentence.  While incarcerated he clandestinely contributed a newspaper column. Since release, he has done charity work. While in prison his fees were paid to the charity, the Prisoners’ Advice Service, which had supported him. Of his crimes, Erwin wrote in his April 2009 apologia in the Guardian’’​s G2 section that, “my behaviour was unforgivable and I seek no forgiveness now.”

First Australians have transformed from victims into perpetrators. Now they must reverse the process, and restore what they have also destroyed. They are no different from peoples in other locations, most notably New Zealand, North America and Central Asia. These groups would do well to form a coalition to overcome violence and recreate Aboriginal Society in its erstwhile moral, material, and spiritual image.