Own it and act on it.
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That is my new life motto.
After a lifetime trying to advocate for social justice issues, and trying to speak up for those who sometimes struggle to do it for themselves, I have come to the realisation that I have been wildly naive and that I need to do something about it. So too do all the other men out there - particularly the white middle aged/ageing men with good jobs and powerful positions.
Even, more particularly, those of us who are comfy in our safe worlds, happy to criticise others and looking forward to our annual summer holiday up the coast.
I say this because we are the single biggest problem facing this country - and probably a lot of others.
We are the ones who beat our partners, we are the ones who kill our partners (at a sickening average of one per week), we are the ones who abuse children, we are the ones who turn our backs when we see things that are not right - things such as the abuse of children, and the abuse of women.
We are the ones who sexually harass young women in the workplace.
We are also the ones who refuse to think about what we are doing to our planet - the only place that we know of that can keep us alive.
We are the ones who heap scorn on unemployed and underemployed people when we know there are just not enough jobs to go around.
We are the ones stepping over homeless people living in parks and on street benches, and often we are the ones who are happy to be ruthless in pursuit of our ambitions.
It's OK though, because if the money keeps flowing all will be good, and if we die richest we win the game.
Even if you don't fit directly into this category of crusty comfortable complacent white bloke, you still do not escape criticism.
If you are white and male and you have a home and a well-paid job, you are in a very privileged position.
Even if you don't fit directly into this category of crusty comfortable complacent white bloke, you still do not escape criticism.
With privilege comes responsibility. Eldridge Cleaver, a leader of the Black Panther civil rights movement in 1960s United States is credited with saying: "There is no more neutrality in the world. You either have to be part of the solution or you're going to be part of the problem."
Here is the challenge for we white middle-aged, middle class, educated and employed men.
In the Newcastle Herald a few weeks ago, I wrote an opinion piece about Cardinal George Pell being acquitted by the High Court.
Part of that article included my belief that we must respect the High Court because it is the institution which guarantees all of the rights and privileges we enjoy in Australia.
Yet, this week, we have had the stunning admission from that same court that a number of young women employed there were sexually harassed by a High Court Judge.
More recently, allegations surfaced that two other highly respected members of that court were aware of the misconduct and seemingly did nothing - other than decline to be involved in the inquiry investigating the claims of six young lawyers.
It took a female Chief Justice, Susan Kiefel, to do what all the distinguished gentlemen of that court - and many other courts - have never done - name the problem, express shame on behalf of the institution of the High Court and apologise for the neglect that allowed some of the brightest young women in this country to be put in the position of being compliant or losing their career.
Back to my naivety. For most of my life I have believed people do the right things for the right reasons.
But most of us don't. Most of us do what is expedient.
If our conscience is ever tweaked, we say "I am only one person - what could I do?" or "someone should do something about that".
I have spent years trying to extract some accountability from the Catholic Church for its concealment of child sex abuse by its clergy - crusty, powerful well-connected white men.
To date I have failed miserably.
When the highest court in the land is found to be part of the problem, we are in trouble.
Men. White men, it is time for us to acknowledge our complicity in the shame of our contemporaries.
To call it out. To own it and to actually do something about it.
Are you with me?
Peter Gogarty is a Hunter advocate for child sex abuse survivors
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