Some of you would be aware that I have written extensively on Buddhism and have authored books and a series of parables revolving around one of my fictitious characters, the young master, Augustus. Let me share one of those parables with you. Augustus was the guest of the Lord Tchun-si. Tchun-si was a wealthy Governor […]
My favourite definition of religion is “a misinterpretation of mythology”. And the misinterpretation consists precisely in attributing historical references to symbols which properly are spiritual in their reference. Joseph Campbell The populace at large have little understanding of, and perhaps even less interest in, the Easter Myth. As a concession to our Christian heritage, we […]
My last two blog essays have been about unions and the Labor party. This week I want to enlarge on the theme that the anti-business stance of the both the unions and the Labor party are in the end self-defeating. In the debate about the reduction in company taxes Bill Shorten has railed about reduced […]
I come from a working class family. And it would be appropriate to emphasise the “class” part of that description. My father, who was a good man, had a social conscience and was always on the side of those he felt were unjustly wronged or oppressed. He was a staunch unionist and participated in local […]
Newly appointed ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus, made headlines this week by declaring that unions had the right to break “unjust” laws. Now “unjust” is quite a subjective term and one might wonder what criteria she would use to determine which laws are unjust. It takes little investigation to ascertain that her definition of unjust covers […]
Understanding the Human Condition has probably been the prime focus of my life. The good Dr Phil has sometimes flattered me by saying that I know more about psychology than most of the psychologists he knows. (On reflection I am not sure this is a compliment to me or an insult to psychologists!) The more […]
Well, unfortunately, the parliamentary review into section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act has delivered its findings, but instead of showing leadership has fizzled into a hotchpotch of uncontroversial recommendations leading us to believe that our nation’s politicians are again reluctant to show leadership if there is any likelihood that they might offend minority interests. […]
Some would claim that the slow trajectory towards modern liberal democracy began with a very limited, faltering step which was Magna Carta, the charter agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. Although it gave little solace to the average citizen, it began the slow erosion of the […]
As I write this essay, the annual Closing the Gap report is being presented to parliament by the Prime Minister. The report attempts to quantify progress on a number of health, education and welfare measures where indigenous Australians perform poorly compared to other Australians. As I understand it, improvements were made in only one of […]
A failure in democratic processes seems to be affecting Western countries, causing some concern about the integrity of democracy and its ongoing capacity to produce outcomes to the satisfaction of a majority of citizens. I have written in previous essays that I had a concern that our elected representatives have lost touch with ordinary voters. […]