Televised Wars and Forgotten Lessons I can remember watching live TV in 1991 as the USA launched Operation Desert Storm—the first Gulf War. Led by the theatrically nicknamed “Stormin’ Schwarzkopf,” the spectacle of war unfolded like a made-for-TV movie. For a month, the bombing campaign transfixed global audiences and ended in a ceasefire. It was ...
By Our Public Goods Correspondent, Still Fighting for Bulk-Billed Dignity The erosion of the welfare state is more than policy drift—it’s a dismantling of a hard-won social contract. The belief that society should care for its most vulnerable is ancient—rooted in faith, morality, and history. But the modern welfare state, as a state-backed promise of ...
By Our Social Safety Net Correspondent (Still Unpaid) Once a cherished post-war promise, the death of the welfare state has arrived—again. Found behind a Centrelink office, it clutched a Centrepay form and muttered something unintelligible about “universal dignity” and “Gough would’ve never allowed this.” Police say foul play is likely. Eyewitnesses described the state as ...
Yuval Noah Harari’s delves into the dangers of AI but uniquely examines this issue through the lens of human societal development and the lessons we may or may not have learned. Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus asks, “Why are we so good at accumulating more information and power, but far less successful at acquiring wisdom?” Beginning ...
Josephine Quinn (Bloomsbury) Challenging the Myth of Western Civilization Origins How the World Made the West is a revolutionary book that challenges the myth of Western Civilization Origins. Josephine Quinn argues that our understanding of history was shaped by modern interpretations, not ancient truths. What we see when we look back into the past is ...
Revisiting Orwell’s Life This is a long book, and D J Taylor, who wrote a George Orwell biography 20 years ago, believes there is significant value in revisiting the subject.. There is new biographical evidence available in terms of letters between Orwell and his friends and lovers. Sadly, Taylor identified only eleven people who knew ...
This article provides a detailed critique of Enlightenment ideals, exploring their long-term impact on modern society. I think that the ‘enlightenment’ will ultimately be the greatest European contribution to the world. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be criticized. It seems that that no reasonable person can be against the ideals of the Enlightenment. The ...
Danny Sriskandarajah is the head of the New Economics Foundation (NEF). This was an organisation set up forty years ago to fight neoliberalism. Since that time neoliberalism has come to dominate the economic policies across the globe. The result has been to concentrate wealth in the hands of the wealthy. The challenge the Foundation faces ...
In John Berger Ways of Seeing, he explores how images shape our perception, influence advertising, and affect our personal and political views. This seminal work provides a deep dive into the power of visual culture and its impact on society. The Power of Images One of the things which we really should spend more time ...
Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party in the UK, and the next Prime Minister, likes to boast on social media that he has changed the Labour Party. This is a change which has seen him take the Labour Party further to the right than even Tony Blair, who won an equally resounding victory ...
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