Philosophers & Exemplars
We Ignore The Erosion of Democracy At Our Peril
Niccolo Machiavelli wrote that if a republic is to live long, it is necessary to draw it back often toward its beginning. “For all the beginning of sects, republics, and kingdoms must have some goodness in them, by means of which they may regain their first reputation and their first increase. Because in the process of time, that goodness is...
5 Quotes From Lord Jonathan Sumption
These five quotes are from a speech delivered on 13 October 2022 in Australia by The Right Honourable Lord Jonathan Sumption, former senior judge of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. They go to explaining how our citizens invite authoritarianism, the cost of this, and what has held back despotism to date … “In modern conditions, risk-aversion and the fear...
What John Stuart Mill Says We Should Do Next
On Saturday, before the polls closed, I correctly predicted the Victorian election result. My forecast wasn’t genius. I’ve just been around politics a long, long time and see the perennial rules of the game. Knowing the result is the easy part. Discerning ‘why’, well, that’s another level of understanding again. TV, newspaper and social media pundits are already misconstruing the ‘why’. Even the Victorian...
