Sticky
Figurative Abstraction

By:
On:
In: featured, identity, latest post, media, mind, politics, truth

Humanity Is regularly celebrated for its technology, which has lifted us above all other animals. Curing diseases, motorised vehicles, supermarkets, splitting the atom, computers, mobile phones, and even space rockets. These are but a few of the amazing inventions created by humans. How come then masses of us think and act so stupidly? Why so dumb if some so smart? Has it always been the case that the majority of us are low intel creatures and only a minority are much smarter? The experts tell us that it is our ability to share information which has set us apart on the intelligence scale from the other species of animals on the planet.Continue Reading

Sticky
man wearing a black hoodie

By:
On:
In: ageing, featured, identity, latest post, media, morality, politics

Australians like to pick on the powerless. Older Australians in particular exemplify this trait in the demonising of youth crime. Let’s get one thing straight, the political and societal campaigns against this apparent scourge are not about changing things but about punishment and revenge. The vast majority of us have never been personally affected by youth crime but take up the cudgel anyway out of spite or some such motivation. Those who vote for tougher penalties are not interested in solving what lies at the core of criminality but rather in gaining satisfaction from punishing perpetrators. Youth crime is a trope. Children, as a group, are generally powerless to combat such societal moves, as they aren’t organised and have no social voice.Continue Reading

Socrates and Xantippe

By:
On:
In: democracy, featured, history, latest post, morality, politics, religion

Socrates was an old soldier, who fought for Athens well into his 40’s. Alcibiades was instrumental in his downfall, in many ways, as it was the impetuosity of this young man that ultimately poisoned the well of public opinion against Socrates. Much of what we think we know about Socrates comes from the writings of others – Plato and Xenophon in particular.  Interestingly, Xenophon was an Athenian who spent much of his life living in Sparta. Alcibiades, of course, fled to Sparta in an act of treasonous betrayal before returning when Athens was defeated by the Spartans. Democracy fell and the 30 Tyrants were installed to run Athens – Socrates is associated with these tyrants, as he served in an official capacity as a public servant during this oligarchic period. It was a time of great political upheaval, obviously, and Athenian citizens of standing would be hard pressed to avoid taking sides, I imagine.Continue Reading

The Albanese Prime Ministership So Far

By:
On:
In: democracy, economics, featured, Government, latest post, politics

Australia is one of the most secretive democracies in the Western world, according to those in the know. International experts have deemed our governments more secretive than the United States in the way we go about the business of government. In my estimation it is career politicians killing democracy, which is at the heart of this problem.  Careerism invariably puts the interests of the exponent over that of the community when it comes to cutting the mustard. Politicians in Australia like to stay in their comfort zone when it comes to governing the country or the state. Avoiding the glare of the media and the voting public, whenever possible, is always high on their agenda.Continue Reading

ethnic businessman shaking hand of applicant in office

By:
On:
In: democracy, economics, featured, Government, latest post, media, politics

Western democracies spruik their hopefully meritocratic qualities. The belief that through hard work and talent you can reach the upper echelons of your profession or work place. Careerism: Self-interest’s acceptable public face exists on this basis. Striving for success in any field is encouraged and culturally rewarded. Many bemoan the ever present dangers of nepotism and cronyism within our societies and nations. The elite private schools and old boy’s networks which operate in counter to any ideas of equal opportunity and fairness. Those of us with any pragmatic awareness of how the job market actually works know that it is largely driven by who you know and not what you know. This makes a mockery of any meritocratic ideals believed to be operating within Western democracies.Continue Reading

Self-Portrait (1910-1911) modern art painting

By:
On:
In: democracy, economics, featured, Government, history, identity

We all do it and it is happening more often most of the time. The ‘Me’ filter: Perceiving life self-obsessively. Some religious folk point to the popular demise of the Christian ethos – a cultivated concern with the welfare of others. Now, not every Christian was genuinely any good at this lifestyle orientation but it was widely proselytised at the time. These days, more of us are openly much more devoted to self-interest in all walks of life. What’s in it for me? Is asked at the ballot box and elsewhere in our negotiations and dealings with work, life and play.Continue Reading

eagle on a beach

By:
On:
In: featured, history, identity, latest post, morality, politics, religion

Freedom is a word with a lot of baggage in America. Think about free speech! The land of the free. The free market. Kris Kristofferson, who died this week, famously sang – “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Americans are inundated with this term and have been since the inception of their country. What is freedom? According to the Oxford Dictionary:

1. The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. “we do have some freedom of choice” Similar: right to entitlement to privilege prerogative due

2. the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. “the shark thrashed its way to freedom”Continue Reading

close up of british shorthair cat relaxing indoors

By:
On:
In: democracy, economics, featured, Government, history, identity, latest post, politics

There is no left or right, not really, not in political terms. There are many shades of thought and philosophies existing and interacting around the place at any one time in history. Grouping everything into a binary is just another lazy thinking way of operating. It is similar to focusing on one individual at the expense of acknowledging teams and organisations being responsible for actions, achievements and perceived failures. This all comes down to how we like to tell stories and the kind of stories we most like consuming. We, as human beings, shift the emphasis within episodic events to make them more coherent and linked to a central theme or character. We strip out the stuff we judge as tangential and beef up what we want to shine through.Continue Reading

Jeff Bezos

By:
On:
In: latest post

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) grew out of the wage suppressing impacts of neoliberalism and its response to the lack of domestic economic demand and growth this engendered within Western economies in the late Eighties and Nineties. Manufacturing jobs were moved offshore to cheaper labour markets in the developing world.Continue Reading

focused african american researcher conducting biochemical experiment in clinic

By:
On:
In: featured, health, history, latest post, literature, religion

I have been reading some interesting stuff about how the Black Death shaped humanity. Plague has been with humankind at least 5, 000 years and has been one of our most efficient killers.

“Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, a zoonotic bacteria, usually found in small mammals and their fleas. It is transmitted between animals through fleas.”

(https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague#:~:text=Plague%20is%20an%20infectious%20disease,transmitted%20between%20animals%20through%20fleas.)

Yersinia pestis is the official name of this malevolent bacteria, which has a predilection for human victims. It manifests in bubonic and pneumonic ways to spread death and disease. It has been found in ancient DNA by scientists and looks to have originated on the steppes of Eurasia.Continue Reading