ideas: on policy
Hail socialism in sick US system
It’s hard to imagine any of the ‘teabaggers’ have been in a United States emergency room of late. I spent the best part of a day and night in one last week. They are miserable places filled with people who can’t afford to be in them. Here, at least, reform is not even a question.
NJ wise guys turn purple shade
Republicans are beating up the victory of Chris Christie in yesterday’s New Jersey gubernatorial race, the first time conservatives have won any election in this state since 1997. But the people I talked too said the Democrat was simply on the nose. And the issues around shifting demographic and economic sands in this state are much more interesting and instructive for Australia.
K-Dudd: The heartless wonder
Kevin Rudd gets far too much credit. Those who say he is being dragged to the Right – that he takes a more cautious, more conservative approach to appeal to John Howard’s battlers – discount the increasingly obvious reality that Rudd is already there. Certainly, as we’ve seen over the last few days, on refugee policy. Is there hope for this Prime Minister?
How faith, and America, can heal
The Trial of the Catonsville Nine is many things Australians dislike about Americans: political, patriotic and preachy. But unlike the worst of the United States, the play is also deeply questioning of its place in the world. It prosecutes American exceptionalism and the greyness of, and uneasiness between, faith and justice.
A social cost to our choking cities
There is a significant economic and social cost in traffic congestion. A lack of planning, and more importantly, a lack of long-term vision, is condemning our rapidly-growing population centres to the same choking fate as many in Asia. What do we want our cities to look like in a decade?
Forget marriage, it’s in the vows
Like many political debates, the outcome is less important than the debate itself. And like debates on all the other progressive issues in society, the ones that so rile and consume conservatives, the issue of gay marriage once again got hijacked. The words used in the debate – and the words that weren’t used – were much more hurtful.
How Bartlet made me an idealist
The juxtaposition between the fictional White House of The West Wing and the real-life geopolitical events played out on the news stoked a burning cynicism of the political process. More than that, it planted the seed of romantic idealism of how the world should work that continues to nag me every day.
The Right does love you. Mostly
The Australian’s Janet Albrechtsen writes of the myth – “based on lazy and crude logic” – that conservatives lack compassion. But her brand of tough love isn’t love at all. At least not the inclusive style of love the Christian Right likes to preach. Conservative compassion comes with many conditions.
Gutless politics of protecting coal
There is a great, immovable dichotomy of the climate change debate: governments in this country support emissions reduction AND the coal industry. The two are clearly opposed. Governments continue to prop up dirty, redundant industries for fear of having job losses and economic ruin on their watch. It is bad economics, and a politically gutless act.
After the fires, logistics matters
Logisticians did their best to coordinate containment of uncontainable blazes across the State. They were among the first on the scene to manage rescue and relief efforts. They will be called upon in a variety of ways to coordinate a recovery task that will take many years. They are invaluable and in-demand.
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