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The left wing party of Australian federal politics decided that treating refugees inhumanly was acceptable.
That moment changed how I view politics and how I view people. It made me realise just how irrelevant empathy for others was in most public and political discourse. It made me more cynical about "the system", changed the way I voted, and transformed the face of my own advocacy to put empathy for others at the forefront.
Yeah, I spent a few years raging about this also.
Basically in the 2013 election the Australian voting public decided that they preferred treating refugees inhumanely rather than the alternatives.
It sucks, and yes it changed the way I see the world, but I don't really see that as Labor's fault, or the Greens. There are so many important issues that I want them to advocate for, that clinging to the moral high ground over an issue which is (according to voting populace) closed and resolved would seem like a waste.
Your last paragraph, and realising that that is how most people think is part of why it was such a profound moment for me.
Ignoring human rights abuses does not make them closed and resolved. Nor do I care for any other issues they're advocating for if the price is ongoing erasure of basic human rights.