A human being is part of the whole…….a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few […]

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.   The […]

My father, who was both a loyal unionist and a staunch supporter of the Labor Party (and for a time a Labor Alderman in the local council), was quick to point out to me that the “Tories” (as he called the Liberal and the, then, Country Parties) were only interested in lining the pockets of […]

Many social commentators are keen to remind us we live in an uncertain world. They are quick to point to our parlous geopolitical situation with the rising influence of antidemocratic forces in China and Russia; the threat to our health and wellbeing of the Covid epidemic and unpredictable outcomes of climate change. Most would have […]

I have explained in previous essays that humankind (because of our consciousness) has unique needs not shared, as far as we know, by other animals. These unique needs are our spiritual needs which compel us to strive to have a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives. Elsewhere I have written that humans are […]

Forgive me for my self-indulgence. But just a week or two ago I lost my younger brother, Bruce, to cancer. Although I tried to talk to him every day his end was difficult and I felt inadequate dealing with his pain. I feel I owe him a little more in trying to celebrate his life […]

We live in troubling times. First we’ve had to contend with the coronavirus pandemic. Just as we seemed to be emerging from this threat we have been beset with major flooding in Queensland and New South Wales. But now, the final straw, Russia has invaded Ukraine with the real prospect that Vladimir Putin could trigger […]

As you would likely know by now I have been critical of the response to the Covid pandemic by both state and federal governments. My principal concern has been governments’ unprincipled use of fear to coerce us to abdicate our freedoms. It has been somewhat alarming to me that Australians have capitulated so easily to […]

Adolescence is a comparatively recent social construct. Whilst the ancient Greek philosophers had a little to say about the transition between childhood and adulthood, this phase transition really only became accepted in the nineteenth century. The concept of adolescence has played a critical part in the emergence of “identity politics”. Idealistically, Western society saw a […]

There is an old saying that whoever discovered water, it wasn’t fish. Fish are continually immersed in water and it is so common place to them that they don’t notice it. In Australia we have a similar problem with democracy. Because, like the fish with water, we are immersed in it, we take it for […]