Do you have any collections? Nein.
Community matters
What do you do to be involved in the community? I belong to the local tennis and table tennis clubs and help out with fund raising and clean up days. I play an instrument [not as well as I'd like] in the local community band. I attend many local events, agitate for change where I … Continue reading Community matters
Compulsory voting is a good thing
Do you vote in political elections? In Australia compulsory voting in federal state and local government elections is mandated. I think this is in general a good thing.
The poor – deserving or not?
I actually challenge the ideological underpinnings of jobseeker - it is not fit for purpose, as you point out, because people do get trapped on it. And they are trapped not because they are lazy or because they don't want to work but because a range of circumstances and systemic issues prohibit their participation in the 'job market'. And yes, there probably are a few - a very few - genuine dole bludgers out there BUT THEY ARE A RARITY. I'd prefer an end to welfare payments and the catalogue of obligations foisted on recipients being replaced by a universal basic [or living] wage. We'd all be better off (after a time)… and yes, the wealthy would need to pay a larger share [endless, if you like] of tax.
On reading ‘Strangers in their own land’ by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Trump spoke – falsely, I’ll say – to these people. That is why they voted for him. Why they would vote for him again in 2024, should he run.
Thoughts on reading ‘Strangers in their own land’ by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Neoliberalism and the self-harm faithful People of the earth [Part III] Louisiana is the major ground for Hochschild’s research. There, most of the people she meets – and gets to like –are hunters, fishers, cookers of their catch; lovers, ostensibly, of nature. And yet, tales of environmental woe [NATURE DESPOILED] abound in their world: ‘But … Continue reading Thoughts on reading ‘Strangers in their own land’ by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Thoughts on reading ‘Strangers in their own land’ by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Neoliberalism and the self-harm faithful PART II - The Great Paradox What Arlie Russell Hochschild calls the "Great Paradox" might itself spring from our difficulty in determining exactly what POPULISM is [or of what political wing; right or left, it is]. Populism has been both of or at least partially of the ‘left’ – the … Continue reading Thoughts on reading ‘Strangers in their own land’ by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Well…
What activities do you lose yourself in? Many. Thank the celestial teapot that bushranging isn't one of them.
Commentary on ‘Strangers in Their Own Land’
Neoliberalism and the self-harm faithful An introduction I’ve been exercising what passes for my mind with THE GREAT DIVIDE that currently occupies much of the debate about the state of the [American] nation. Forgive my anything but slick allusion to that address given by the US president, but it’s almost incumbent on anyone with an … Continue reading Commentary on ‘Strangers in Their Own Land’
John
What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance? My understanding is that John is either the first or second most common second name for my first, Stephen. So it has no special meaning other than its commonality. And maybe that's significant?
Inkstained fingers 