You are made to hate each other because upon that hatred is rested the keystone of the arch of financial despotism which enslaves you both.
2 CommentsCategory: opinions and journalism
Three recent essays (one, delivered as a speech to The National Press Club) – each, very different – are provocative, but nuanced.
Richard Flanagan’s, Stan Grant’s and Don Watson’s words are worth reading, in full.
Comments closedIn light of the first comment in response to it, you may like to explore the following – all apropos, in various ways, whether directly so, or indirectly.
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Most commonly-held notions about this southern African language are simply wrong.
Ironically, those notions are the fruit of prejudice.
Many who sneer at the language do so because they believe Afrikaans is somehow “tainted” – a “white” tongue, still stubbornly clung to by a “racist” minority.
In fact, in South Africa today, the majority of “first language” speakers of Afrikaans are not white people, not Afrikaners.
One Comment
Something very harmful and maybe irreversible is happening to human attention in our digital age. Not just distraction or addiction; social media companies are inducing people to give up their autonomy. The power to shape people’s attention is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few companies. It takes a real effort to assert and defend what John Stuart Mill called “the freedom of mind.” There is a possibility that once lost, people who grow up in the digital age will have difficulty in regaining it. This may have far-reaching political consequences.
Comments closedOctober 28 post (click here) will lead you to the full text of a remarkable piece of investigative journalism in The New Yorker.
Last night its author Patrick Radden Keefe spoke at length to Australia’s national broadcaster.
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(almost certainly, you will be surprised to discover where I took this post’s photos)
Unstructured, unsupervised time for play is one of the most important things we have to give back to kids if we want them to be strong and happy and resilient.
2 Comments(a): One of America’s great philanthropic dynasties.
(b) The initial author and a prime beneficiary of the epidemic. (the epidemic of opioid addiction. Purdue Pharma – the Sacklers’ family company – developed and agressively marketed OxyContin, which they misrepresented as a “safe” painkiller)
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