Philosophy
3 Wacky Crazy Ideas Creeping into International Politics
This is Part 3 of my 3-Part series on geopolitics. You really need to read Part 1 and Part 2 before ploughing into this article. 5 Ways To Maximise Peace In The World is Part 1. There, I gave you a menu of options for handling international politics. If you haven’t read it yet, go back and read it now. Then in...
ANSWER: The Carlson-Shapiro Question
I admit it. There I was on 27 February 2023, making a little mischief with my article: VOTE NOW! Tucker Carlson or Ben Shapiro? Well, it was mischief-making in the sense that I like to sharply define the line between liberal and conservative and then, with all the goodwill in the world, provoke people to think and explore these differences. There is a difference, you...
A Chinese Australian’s Voice: NO
As a Chinese Australian who has called this nation home for the past 11 years, I am compelled to vehemently oppose the Voice referendum. The decision, for me, feels instinctive but is rooted in principles and values deeply ingrained in my perspective as a new migrant. In Upholding the Principle of Anti-Racism While society, media, and certainly politicians discuss “racism” all...
Free Will, Libertarians and Easter
Sam Harris does not believe ‘free will’ exists. He believes we are creatures playing out compulsive, repetitious behavioural cycles like any other animal and, like them, we just don’t realise it. Except for him. He knows what none of us can see, apparently. He has elevated himself above the primal, it is suggested we acccept. Forgive my skepticism. On the contrary, I see ‘free will’ exercised daily, at life’s inflection points and...
Bureaucracy and The Australian Ethos
“Perhaps the nature of every bureaucracy is to make functionaries and mere cogs in the administrative machinery out of men, and thus to dehumanise them”. Hannah Arendt. The Royal Commission report into the Robodebt scandal has shone a spotlight on the leviathan that is now the Australian government. Not surprisingly, the Albanese government has distanced itself from the findings, portraying the...
The Tree of Liberty
If you look at the evolution of the political landscape over the last few decades, you’ll notice some things just don’t seem to add up. Not that long ago, populism was at the heartland of left-wing ideology. Occupy Wall Street, fighting ‘big pharma’ and ending the military-industrial complex were the biggest political and social movements of the 2010s – all...
Look What Happens When You Abandon Philosophy!
I’ve said it before a hundred times. I’ll say it again. Political philosophy matters. There’s no point telling me that philosophy is for intellectuals only. No! Philosophy is the bedrock on which policies are created. Everyday, regular Australians instinctively know this even if they’re not philosophy wonks. Here’s the proof. When the Liberal Party of Australia publishes Our Beliefs, it just doesn’t sound right. It feels...
The Cult of Authority
Earlier this year, I described how the modern political left has largely been annexed by authoritarians, with those who would have been considered left wing not that long ago exiled from their political home and outcast as “extremists”. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that authoritarians constantly rely on a logical fallacy known as the appeal to authority. THE APPEAL...
A Different Way to Scratch Your Liberty Itch
Who is John Galt? To those who know, this question is rhetorical. It is a secret ‘handshake’ among fans of Ayn Rand and her seminal work, Atlas Shrugged. Reading Atlas Shrugged profoundly changed the way I viewed life, society and the world. It was like a stranger had tapped me on the shoulder, pointed out that I was sitting on a...
Liberty and National Borders
Libertarianism is all about the freedom of individuals from coercion. Libertarians believe the proper role of government is defined by JS Mill’s harm principle: ‘The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.’ Within a country this is relatively straightforward – reductions in...
