Analyst blames teachers and social media for nation of whingers

TEACHERS telling students all views are equally valid have helped turn Australia into a nation of whingers, according to one of the nation’s leading social analysts.

This pic of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull holding his baby granddaughter Alice during the Swans v Bombers match in Sydney on the weekend has copped a lot of criticism. Picture: AFP/Office of the Prime Minister

• Prominent Aussies weigh in on Turnbull footy pic
• ROBERT CRADDOCK: We’ve become a nation of whingers

TEACHERS telling students all views are equally valid have helped turn Australia into a nation of whingers, according to one of the nation’s leading social analysts.

David Chalke said the tendency to declare all views as equal and the broadcast platform provided by social media had contributed to the rise of “the permanently outraged”, and the online furore surrounding Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s now infamous baby and beer photo.

The photo of Mr Turnbull kissing his granddaughter while holding a beer in one hand and watching the footy drew criticism on social media over the weekend.

“It is the natural product of the confluence of two forces coming together, one of which is what we’ve seen pushed through education institutions for years which is the importance of identity, and that everyone’s view is equally valid,” Mr Chalke said.

“Mix that with the explosion in social media – Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or whatever – and you have an outpouring of usually uninformed, uninhibited, unmoderated, unedited rubbish and that’s what you’ve got here.”

Mr Chalke also said traditional media had to take a portion of the blame for amplifying the comments.

It is not just online that whingers are venting their frustration, with Brisbane City Council inundated with complaints.

Noise complaints, including barking dogs, top Brisbane whingers’ lists.

Regular topics include road and footpath safety, animal attacks, horseriding, illegal camping and dodgy parking.

One of the biggest issues for Brisbane residents is noise, with the council receiving 10,745 noise complaints last financial year.

Council’s Lifestyle and Community Services chairman, Matthew Bourke, said animal noise, including barking dogs, crowing roosters and screeching cats, topped the list of annoying sounds.

“This was followed by construction noise occurring out of allowable hours, use of power tools or leaf blowers and noise from entertainment venues,” he said.

Mr Chalke said a sense of feeling entitled to complain had crept into Australian society.

“The Whinger’s Charter is working well and strongly right the way around the country because the squeaky door gets the oil,” he said.

“And of course every one has their own Facebook page. We are living in the world of unmoderated, unedited opinion passing itself off as fact.”

Social media users found other topics to whinge about yesterday, with thousands of people complaining about the controversial NRL Bunker.

Manly Sea Eagles and Cronulla Sharks supporters, bitter after their teams were eliminated from finals football, made the Bunker a trending topic on Facebook, slamming the video referees for their decisions in the respective matches.

Meanwhile, activists blew up the comments sections on a story about Taronga Zoo’s baby gorilla, littering the cute footage with complaints about the zoo being a “prison”, while hundreds of others chose to whinge about McDonald’s rip-offs including staff forgetting to put sauce in the bags and neglecting to mix McFlurry’s.