Author Archives: thormay

59. Super-Culture And The Ghost In The Machine

Posted on June 5, 2013 by thormay

Pref­ace: This lit­tle essay is a bit mis­chie­vous, and appar­ently polit­i­cally incor­rect enough to have sparked out­rage in the minds of some sen­si­tive souls from the polite din­ner party set. Although it has no claims to aca­d­e­mic decency, I have … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in culture, economics, innovation, intellectuals, management, merit, motivation, philosophy, rules, teaching, truth | Leave a comment

58. Déjà Vu and Wicked Stories

Posted on April 12, 2012 by thormay

So why do you read the news every day? Alright, maybe you don’t. I plead guilty. Not all of it of course, just the nar­ra­tives I’ve cho­sen to fol­low. Funny how we pick our com­pany. For me the deletes run … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in culture, merit, proportion, rules, truth, war | Leave a comment

57. Anchluss or ANZAC? – A Solution for Taiwan

Posted on January 17, 2012 by thormay

In the minds of China’s rulers, past and present, there has only ever been one pos­si­ble view about the future of Tai­wan. For a mul­ti­tude of rea­sons – strate­gic, eco­nomic, eth­nic, lin­guis­tic, his­tor­i­cal and sen­ti­men­tal – they have believed that … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in China, competence, law, war | Leave a comment

56. Choose When to Live and When to Die – Some Notes on Exercise and Diet

Posted on November 9, 2011 by thormay

The more your spirit lives in a cul­ture, the more you  get what you pay for. After all, the cul­ture has evolved, or per­haps been man­u­fac­tured, to sat­isfy peo­ple just like you. Blessed are the aver­age amongst us. Maybe your … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in culture, lifestyle, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

55. If A Market Is Not A Market …

Posted on October 26, 2011 by thormay

Long ago when the world was young I went to a high school to learn about the won­der­ful power of Mar­kets and The Invis­i­ble Hand. A mar­ket itself didn’t have to be a shabby patch of ground with fruit stalls … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in economics, management, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

53. The South Pacific and Someone’s Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Posted on August 27, 2011 by thormay

This piece was writ­ten while I was a lec­turer in lin­guis­tics at the Uni­ver­sity of the South Paci­fic, Suva, Fiji  from 1987 to 1990. Now it is 2011, but not so much has really changed in the Paci­fic for its … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in culture, economics, Pacific Islands | Leave a comment

52. Performance-Linked Micro-Tariffs

Posted on August 24, 2011 by thormay

The let­ter fol­low­ing was addressed to Prime Min­is­ter Keat­ing, 8 July 1995, and later posted on my web­site (http://thormay.net/politics/politic5.html). The reply to me from a min­der was what you might expect: vapid. Nev­er­the­less the points out­lined remain ger­mane to any Aus­tralian … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in competence, culture, economics, law, regulations | Leave a comment