Why is it so bad for Howard to be stubborn?
Some people choose to call this strength of will.
He was/is stubborn on Iraq and we are finally seeing results because of the determination of the coalition to finish what they started.
He was/is stubborn on climate change. He refused to give in to gesture poltics and mother-earth mysticism that surrounded the issue. He refused to ratify Kyoto so as not to offend the USA, whilst at the same time achieving our Kyoto targets. Now he has come round to believing in the issue, but he is the only person saying 'y'know what? this is gonna cost money'. I loved his pensioner power-bill fund. When he announced it the whole country went 'oh shit. he's right. this is gonna cost money. Maybe we will just wait for that modelling to come in before we commit to this stuff'.
He was/is stubborn on Indigenous issues, and has been proven to be right. The left's policies have taken away jobs from the first australians and pushed them to the fringes. We all saw the result. It's too aweful to even talk about, not that that deterred Kevin Rudd during the debate. Howard was much more sensitive that Rudd about mentioning what happenned, he just mentioned his intervention.
Howard was/is stubborn on immigration and integration. As a result we have a much lower crime rate and more cohesive communities than any country in Europe, but we haven't slowed the rate of immigration rather increased it.
It's not stubbornness if you are right.
And Howard is practically always right. The electorate has backed him 4 times so far. If anything is the Australian polulation that are stubborn. And good on 'em. In the face of a never ending media/cultural barrage of lefty propaganda (eg The John Butler Trio) they have refused to back down. They have refused to feel guilty, wring their hands and apologise for daring to have an opinion.
This growing confidence has unleashed entrepeneurial forces, talent, innovation. If you dont have confidence in your own judement, your ideas never take flight. Rejecting criticism, and selecting only the helpful bits is fundamental to creativity.
Nietzsche writes in Beyond Good And Evil (BGE to the cool kids) that to close your mind to even the strongest counter- argument once the decision is made is the sign of a strong character. 'Thus the occaissional will to stupidity.'
It's not stubbornness if you are right. Howard can't help it if his instincts for these issues are far superior to anyone else's in the country, if not the world. He's just right and he knows it. No-one can prove him wrong. The best they can do is label him stubborn.
One cannot lead without a strong will. One cannot lead without being stubborn. One cannot lead without occaissionally getting it wrong, but refusing to back down anyway.
Howard is a leader. Rudd's slogan is New Leadership. He should take a lesson in intransigence from Howard, rather than follow him.
