Politics (77)
The re-emergence of Mark Latham has been one of the most interesting developments in recent Australian politics. Latham's common sense centrism and his push-back against the ruling elites has struck a chord with voters of all stripes. Populism, perhaps, but also, maybe, a much needed reality check in these troubled and inauthentic times.
The modern culture wars have their genesis in a most unfortunate marriage of convenience between two intellectual and political movements. The proponents of economic liberty and the cultural marxists who emerged in the 1960s found common cause in radical individualism, in the 1980s. And we have all suffered since.
There is a theory of politics called the "Overton Window". It explains a lot about modern politics in the age of madness and badness. It does not explain everything, but it offers fresh insights into the way our modern, diminished politcs function.
Australia's battle of ideas - the culture war - seems lost, to the forces of progressive liberalism. Those who would fight this battle seem preoccupied with getting the Liberal party into office, and keeping it there. While the bigger battles go by, without a fight. Understanding where we are going wrong is the first task in understanding the war we are in.
Chesterton once said that the non believer in God doesn't believe in nothing - he is prone to believe in anything. Observing the current political madness in the world only confirms Chesterton's wisdom. Whether it is the mad wokeness of the new revolutionaries, or the crazy hysteria over Covid 19, it seems to be everywhere. There is a madness to crowds. Not just in Victoria.
The Covid lockdown has infringed the rights and liberties of ordinary Australians in ridiculous ways while leftists have been able to turn up at protest rallies for this, that and the other. Spot the tilt to the left, facilitated by the State? The double standards are palpable.
The Unedifying Fruits of a Utilitarian Higher Education Policy
Written by Paul Collits
The Government's decision to double the cost of a universities arts degree is short-sighted, philistine and utilitarian.
First they came for the explorers. Statues' live matter. The culture war has ramped up in these Covid times, perhaps unexpectedly. It behooves those of us with an affection for tradition and freedom to, first, understand the war we are in, and then to comprehend what needs to be done to fight back.
China is in the news. With Covid and with trade wars, the world has begun to question its embrace of China over these past decades. With good reason. A repulsive regime has been granted the keys to the world economy. On our watch.
The Covid Crisis has thrown up its own set of "tribes", interest groups with different stakes in the way the thing is playing out. Understanding the ideologies and the interests of the various players helps us all to make sense of the crazy times in which we live
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Two important things happened on the weekend of 6-7 June. A court upheld the right to protest in large numbers in public, even in times of real or manufactured health scares. This has implications for lockdown policies. The second important thing to happen was that we can go to Church again. For this, we should, all of us, bend the knee.
The Covid scare has taken even further the tendency for politicians, ideologues and interest groups of all stripes to politicise death. Already seen during tragedies and natural disasters, political actors rush to embrace crises, and they now even sometimes make them up. Death counts are now a part of daily political life, and the new currency of political debate. This is an unseemly development.
Yes Virginia, There is Still a Ruling Class - Or How the New Elites and the Modern Masses Deserve One Another in COVID World
Written by Paul Collits
The ruling class is real, and it dominates our culture. It is also embedded in the modern, intrusive, all-powerful state. The current COVID scare provides a perfect case study of the sources and consequences of our democratic dilemma. The people have seemingly handed over their sovereignty to the State, without noticing what this surrender means.
The current time is a crazy time of postmodern politics, where previous certainties and categories are no longer relevant. Trying to make sense of it all is an extreme challenge. But there are ways of understanding the new politics, and of explaining how it all came about. What hope there might be for a better future is less certain.
