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How to Be a Megalomaniac
- GenresPolitics
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First published January 1, 2002
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About the author
Mungo MacCallum
32 books4 followersMungo Wentworth MacCallum (21 December 1941 – 9 December 2020) was an Australian political journalist and commentator.
From the 1970s to the 1990s he covered Australian federal politics from the Canberra Press Gallery for The Australian, The National Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, Nation Review and radio stations 2JJ / Triple J and 2SER. He wrote political commentary for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) current affairs and news analysis program The Drum, frequently wrote for the magazine The Monthly, and contributed political commentary to Australia's national Community Radio Network, columns for the Byron Shire Echo and The Northern Star, and a weekly cryptic crossword for The Saturday Paper.
He also authored several books, including Run, Johnny, Run, written after the 2004 Australian federal election. His autobiographical narrative of the Australian political scene, Mungo: the man who laughs – has been reprinted four times. How To Be A Megalomaniac or, Advice to a Young Politician was published in 2002, and Political Anecdotes was published in 2003. In December 2004, Duffy & Snellgrove published War and Pieces: John Howard's last election.
From the 1970s to the 1990s he covered Australian federal politics from the Canberra Press Gallery for The Australian, The National Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, Nation Review and radio stations 2JJ / Triple J and 2SER. He wrote political commentary for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) current affairs and news analysis program The Drum, frequently wrote for the magazine The Monthly, and contributed political commentary to Australia's national Community Radio Network, columns for the Byron Shire Echo and The Northern Star, and a weekly cryptic crossword for The Saturday Paper.
He also authored several books, including Run, Johnny, Run, written after the 2004 Australian federal election. His autobiographical narrative of the Australian political scene, Mungo: the man who laughs – has been reprinted four times. How To Be A Megalomaniac or, Advice to a Young Politician was published in 2002, and Political Anecdotes was published in 2003. In December 2004, Duffy & Snellgrove published War and Pieces: John Howard's last election.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 25, 2015
A guide to political survival
15 December 2012
I guess the one thing that I liked about this book was how McCullum opened it: while politics is an honourable profession, there are not many honourable politicians out there. However, while it is written as a farcial account from an older politician to a younger politician, there are many things in this book that probably hold true to politics today. Of course, as they say, a year is a long time in politics and a lot of things have happened between the time this book was written and now, however the basic principles about surviving in politics still hold true today as they did back when the book was written.
The problem with being an honourable politician is that if you are one then you are not going to get all that far, and the problem with modern politics is that it is not focused on the long term. In many cases politics always works in three year cycles, and of those three years, only two of them have any production in them (I am speaking of Australian federal politics here, where the electoral cycle lasts three years). However, when I look at some other countries where the cycle lasts six years I feel that it can create an entrenched system, meaning that once a president is elected you are stuck with that president for six years.
I remember back in 1999 when John Howard won his second election by the skin of his teeth, but then went jaunting around claiming that he had a mandate because the Australian people had given it to him. Basically, his attitude was that once he was elected he could pretty much do what he liked, whether the people actually wanted him to do it or not. In that instance it was the GST, and he had been open with that throughout the election, but then another five years down the track (and one more election victories) he introduced Workchoices, which to many people came out of left field.
Obviously here in Australia we do have the power to pressure our politicians to shift their position, but then again there are a lot of other factors involved as well. If a small group of people are put out by a decision, then it can be seen that the government does not care because they are only interested in keeping the majority happy, and of course as long as the majority are happy then they will continue to get elected. This was proven in the 1994 election because, despite joining in with an illegal war against Iraq, Howard still managed to win comfortably, but in a way that had a lot to do with his opponent. Even the worst prime minister can still win an election if his opponent is even more on the nose (take Paul Keating and John Hewson for example).
Mind you, this book is not about politics in general, but rather how to survive the cut throat world of parliament as a politician. In truth the best chance of getting elected is to be endorsed by one of the major political parties. This is not always the case though as there are a few independents that have been elected to the lower house, but they tend to be the exception as opposed to the rule. It will be interesting to see how much pull Bob Katter has next election, since when somebody does come up as a threat, such as Pauline Hanson, both parties can effectively unite to keep the loose cannon out (though it is clear that Bob Katter is much smarter, and more level headed, than Pauline Hanson, though on the other hand she does reflect the views of a lot of Australians).
The interesting thing about politics is that you don't actually need any qualifications to be one: all you need is to know the right people, and to have the support of the majority of the electorate. In fact there have been instances where the government has been so on the nose that even the most unlikely candidates have been elected simply because he (or she) must be better than the other guy. Then again that is the fickle nature of democratic elections. However, in developed democracies democratic elections are little more than institutionalised revolutions, though despite that neither party (and they are usually two) never brings about any change. In fact most of the time people vote for the status quo, and it is only when governments move to change too much (such as Workchoices) that the government will get thrown out. As such, in seeing that governments in our developed country actually do little to really change things, I wonder whether governments in the developing world actually do anything to lift the people of their countries out of the mire in which that they find themselves stuck.
15 December 2012
I guess the one thing that I liked about this book was how McCullum opened it: while politics is an honourable profession, there are not many honourable politicians out there. However, while it is written as a farcial account from an older politician to a younger politician, there are many things in this book that probably hold true to politics today. Of course, as they say, a year is a long time in politics and a lot of things have happened between the time this book was written and now, however the basic principles about surviving in politics still hold true today as they did back when the book was written.
The problem with being an honourable politician is that if you are one then you are not going to get all that far, and the problem with modern politics is that it is not focused on the long term. In many cases politics always works in three year cycles, and of those three years, only two of them have any production in them (I am speaking of Australian federal politics here, where the electoral cycle lasts three years). However, when I look at some other countries where the cycle lasts six years I feel that it can create an entrenched system, meaning that once a president is elected you are stuck with that president for six years.
I remember back in 1999 when John Howard won his second election by the skin of his teeth, but then went jaunting around claiming that he had a mandate because the Australian people had given it to him. Basically, his attitude was that once he was elected he could pretty much do what he liked, whether the people actually wanted him to do it or not. In that instance it was the GST, and he had been open with that throughout the election, but then another five years down the track (and one more election victories) he introduced Workchoices, which to many people came out of left field.
Obviously here in Australia we do have the power to pressure our politicians to shift their position, but then again there are a lot of other factors involved as well. If a small group of people are put out by a decision, then it can be seen that the government does not care because they are only interested in keeping the majority happy, and of course as long as the majority are happy then they will continue to get elected. This was proven in the 1994 election because, despite joining in with an illegal war against Iraq, Howard still managed to win comfortably, but in a way that had a lot to do with his opponent. Even the worst prime minister can still win an election if his opponent is even more on the nose (take Paul Keating and John Hewson for example).
Mind you, this book is not about politics in general, but rather how to survive the cut throat world of parliament as a politician. In truth the best chance of getting elected is to be endorsed by one of the major political parties. This is not always the case though as there are a few independents that have been elected to the lower house, but they tend to be the exception as opposed to the rule. It will be interesting to see how much pull Bob Katter has next election, since when somebody does come up as a threat, such as Pauline Hanson, both parties can effectively unite to keep the loose cannon out (though it is clear that Bob Katter is much smarter, and more level headed, than Pauline Hanson, though on the other hand she does reflect the views of a lot of Australians).
The interesting thing about politics is that you don't actually need any qualifications to be one: all you need is to know the right people, and to have the support of the majority of the electorate. In fact there have been instances where the government has been so on the nose that even the most unlikely candidates have been elected simply because he (or she) must be better than the other guy. Then again that is the fickle nature of democratic elections. However, in developed democracies democratic elections are little more than institutionalised revolutions, though despite that neither party (and they are usually two) never brings about any change. In fact most of the time people vote for the status quo, and it is only when governments move to change too much (such as Workchoices) that the government will get thrown out. As such, in seeing that governments in our developed country actually do little to really change things, I wonder whether governments in the developing world actually do anything to lift the people of their countries out of the mire in which that they find themselves stuck.
November 4, 2020
Excellent insight and knowledge. "Half the problem with politics is the electorate" still extends to this day.
November 12, 2010
Mungo MacCallum is a fairly well known Australian political journalist. His book, How to be a Megalomaniac or Advice to a Young Politician, consists of a series of letters to a fictional politician: Terry Dobbin. By following Mungo's advice Terry eventually becomes Prime Minister. Hidden within the narrative is a humorous but accurate account of what Australian political life is actually like. How to win an election, how to join the front bench, and how to treat the media are just some of the topics covered. It is also clear by the book's end that Mungo leans towards Labor. While he has almost nothing good to say about Howard (except that he is a successful politician), Mungo speaks of Whitlam, Hawke and Keating like they're old mates.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the read.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the read.
May 15, 2013
The first Mungo book I ever read. Friggin hilarious.
June 24, 2018
Very funny. Faces change but pollies don’t
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews