Stateless Nations

A review of new books by Bill Gammage and Bruce Pascoe

We never studied Australian history at school. Maybe we never actually “studied” at all, but we were schooled if not educated. Either way, there was no such subject as Australian history, just British history and later a sort of general world narrative focussed on heroic leaders and imperial wars. The template for this grand narrative was a map on the wall showing the whole British Empire upon which the sun never set.

Let's Make Money!

The financialisation of everything - enclosing what's left of the commons

Greed Kills

It’s so simple it sounds ridiculous. They take everything they can lay their hands on and commodify anything left. The commonwealth is replaced by private assets and the earth is left bare. . .

A Respect For Life — In Any Form

The Playboy Interview - Frank Sinatra and Joe Hyams, 1963

Frank Marilyn

His last hit song, My Way has been said to epitomize Sinatra - chauvinistic, narcissistic, unapologetc and grandiose. An interesting fact is that it was written by Paul Anka as a rip-off of the French classic Comme d'Habitude. From all that's been written, Sinatra emerges as a conflicted, self-centred weakling with powerful friends, who called the shots. We have to "dig" to get at the man's real beliefs. But as the edited interview shows, we can always learn from anyone - when we listen.

And the weak suffer what they must

No economic treatise and certainly no dry text book... Greece & the Eurocrisis explained

I was in a Carlton bookshop, browsing but not buying. I opened “And the weak suffer what they must” at a random page and read compulsively. Written by Yanis Varoufakis after resigning as Greece’s Finance Minister, this was no economic treatise and certainly no dry text book. It turned out to be...

Australia: Advancing or Waltzing?

Reflections on Australia Day and the notion of "Australia" itself

The Nation, Flag, People and the Continent Itself: It’s hot in Australia at the moment, 41 degrees yesterday in the temperate South East where most of us live. It’ll be Australia Day soon - January 26, the middle …

This Most Beautiful World

Peace and beauty in the garden, chaos and greed in the world

It's beautiful in our little side garden, but outside that rustic fence corruption fills the big society we call Australia. As always, all things remain, the natural world is always there with the winds and the sun rising each day...

Inequality: Let Them Eat Potato Cake!

The elite cannot learn the lessons of the past

cake

Brexit has put the cat amongst the pigeons. Stock markets in chaos and currency overboard left right and centre. The comment is mainly along thelines of "how could they be so stupid?" but the real dangers lie with enormous inequality.