The Prince of Point Piper’s (Malcolm Turnbull's) woes

[Mugwump]

^ I acknowledge that “xenophobia” is a far better term than “racism”, and credit to you for not using that hateful smear. The dishonest use of the R-word is a keynote of the lack of principle and bad faith which has come to characterise one side in this debate. It’s rarely worth engaging anyone who uses it, as they’re usually latent totalitarians who’d carry a knife in a boxing ring.

In this case, the right term is border protection, if the focus is on governmental effectiveness (“they get to play the border protection card”). If the focus is on cultural conservatism, of the kind Wokko mentions (and I strongly support) why not just call it that ? Since conservatives do not call socialist attitudes “meritophobia” or some such, let’s try to acknowledge other opinions for what they actually signify, rather than pathologise them.

People who consider mass migration problematic interact warmly with people from other cultures within Australia, visit and enjoy other countries, and respect and value the true diversity of human civilisations. There are some genuine xenophobes, no doubt, as there are genuine racists, but they are few in number and pitiable, and their votes are negligible in number.

[HAL]

Are there any other cases? What makes it right?

[Mugwump]

I realized later that right counter-word to xenophobia is of course “homophobia”: the fear of commonality, similarity. But of course that lamppost has already been marked by the psychiatrists of dissent. Perhaps we’ll have to make do with endophobia, the fear of what’s within.