(Open) Letter to the Editors of the Herald-Sun

Re. "Still selfish, still a rabble" 2/5/15, I'm writing to clarify what the paper's actual position is here, because obviously this is a considered editorial stance on the important question of public protest rather than reactionary race-baiting.

So, have I got this right, anyone that constitutes a "rabble" does not have a democratic right to public protest? Fair enough (actually not really, but let's take this moronic assertion to be true for the sake of fun). What elements define a group of people as a 'rabble', and how can we legislate to deny these people rights if we can't clearly identify them?

Is a "rabble" defined as "a gathering of people which includes an above average proportion of indigenous Australians"? Seems to me that's the very direct implication here. So, we should legislate to outlaw any gathering of people of which more than say 20% are indigenous? This should end REALLY, REALLY well don't you think?

If not that, then what else about the protest group of 10,000 pretty average seeming Melburnians constituted a rabble? How do these people differ from say the 10,000 people marching up Sydney Rd to decry Jill Meagher's murder? Oh, I think I get it ... they were clearly majority anglo-Australians, and they were protesting the victimisation of a WHITE WOMAN WHO WORKED IN THE MEDIA.

So basically, people who are similar to the Editorial team at the Herald-Sun are entitled to public protest and are called "saints" in news articles at the time. Anyone who has concerns for the forced closure of indigenous communities (aka ethnic cleansing) is just being "selfish" because they are not doing anything to reinforce the welfare of a bunch of people who earn well above the average wage, and who have a significantly over-enfranchised voice within the media already, namely the people who publish your daily picture book.

And the measure of this "selfishness" is that it takes a bunch of people maybe an extra half hour getting home from work on one Friday night?

Myself, I define selfishness as "anyone who transits to work in the CBD by car when perfectly viable public transport options are available."

I define a rabble as "a gathering of people whose mendicant self-interest is dressed up as opinion and shoved down the throats of a large portion of the population via uncritical media."

You, dear editors are the most selfish, pernicious goddamn rabble that has ever held sway over anything in this city.

I politely suggest the next protest on this topic should probably take place around the entrances to the Herald and Weekly Times carpark, starting at around 3pm on a Friday afternoon, and maybe ending sometime after midnight Saturday morning. Because I'm willing to bet none of you even know what a Myki card looks like ...

Have a lovely Friday.

Yours,
Adam Ford.