America is falling into a trap. It thinks the future will be decided by military dominance, despite losing one war after another. China, on the other hand, recognises that the future will be decided by economics. (A repost from October 2023).
Source: The future will be decided by economic influence, not military dominance – Pearls and Irritations
That has not happened and will not happen now. Instead, there is every prospect of a bitter war with many thousands more Palestinians killed, tens of thousands of young Palestinians all too ready to fight in the future, and a peaceful resolution of the Israel/Palestine conflict delayed by at least another generation.
My thought for the day
We dislike and resist change in the foolish assumption that we can make permanent that makes us feel secure. Yet change is part of the very fabric of our existence. (John Lord )
Source: The ALP is best prepared to take us into the future – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The British historian Simon Schama recently told The Observer that Israel’s 1948 declaration of independence “promised equal rights to all religious and ethnic groups.” He also stated that Israel faces “disintegration of the political and social compact” over the current government’s decision to alter the judicial system and expand Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories.
Israel’s naked attempt to enforce an unflagging pro-Israel consensus, as it did in stoking backlash against Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s sensible recent comments that the country is a “racist state,” may work in the short-term. But the future belongs to Palestine.
Andrew Bolt clings to the IPA like a leech for their intellectual narratives
For the IPA, the history of settlement and dispossession, however lamentable, forms no part of the referendum proposition on the table. For them, the present disadvantage of Indigenous Australians, again however lamentable, owes more to the way that Indigenous Australians have allowed themselves to become pauperised and impoverished by welfare systems, and encouraged to think of themselves as helpless victims rather than actors in their own personal advancement. They want to persuade people that rights and assistance should be stripped away, arguing, that “woke” policies and government interventions, however well intentioned, have not improved their situation and generally have made it worse. For them, only policies based on personal responsibility, providing individual rather than collective rights and rewards for work, will create the wealth, human, social and economic capital, and incentives to lift people from their misery. The inequality, and material and spiritual poverty of the US is a testament to the truth of their gospel. Depriving the IPA and their sponsors of their special privileges and advantages, and their access to the power they enjoy should be one of the more com
Source: Voice vote may demand blood in the water – Pearls and Irritations
Dr Lee Duffield looks at the media circus surrounding the royal death and succession in England, and asks what it might mean for freedom and good government.
Source: Queen’s death stirs media frenzy, prompts questions for Australia’s future
Morrison and Aesop’s Fable
It’s a case of the tent preacher leading a ragged bunch of camp followers into town banging his drum promising “miracles” having left disaster behind in his wake. It’s the huckster promising the last 3 years didn’t happen and weren’t his fault that it was the opposition that made him do it. Yes, It’s Morrison the grasshopper leaving our cupboard bare and a bill to pay, and the ant wanting, he, and his team to rebuild it. It’s the hare prancing about like the energizer bunny doing little or nothing while the tortoise has been purposefully moving forward knowing what the race really means It’s not about blind faith or optimism or blind trust but focused rational attention to work changing direction and everyone doing it together for their kids kids.
In a pair of opinion pieces commissioned by The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age four weeks out from polling day on May 21, both men have laid out their visions for Australia’s future – while emphasising the risks presented by their opponents.
Voters have had enough of Democrats who sell out the working class in the name of moderation that only serves those with money and power
The future of journalism and democracy lies in news and analysis that reflects the interests of ordinary people, says John Passant.
Source: Rare gems like Mark Colvin and the future of the fourth and fifth estates
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