Category Archives: ideology

73. Some Uses and Misuses of Reason

When can the use of rea­son lead to bet­ter lives and soci­eties, and when can it under­mine them? Thor May Bris­bane, 2014 Think­ing point: The Aus­tralian Attor­ney Gen­eral, George Bran­dis has just declared that argu­ments for cli­mate change are irra­tional and that … Con­tinue read­ing

Posted in economics, ethics, evidence, ideology, intellectuals, law, management, merit, motivation, philosophy, politics, proportion, reciprocation, regulations, religion, Research & Study, rules, teaching, truth, value, war | Leave a comment

72. Crime without Punishment – the journey from means to ends

Sooner or later every­one – indi­vid­u­als, gov­ern­ments, com­pa­nies – has to make choices about whether to put aside cer­tain val­ues to achieve a desired end. Michael Pas­coe, an Aus­tralian finan­cial jour­nal­ist, has recently dis­cussed this at http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/abandon-principles-and-pay-the-price-20140331-35tz4.html Image credit: Hugh … Con­tinue read­ing

Posted in competence, culture, economics, ethics, evidence, ideology, individualism, law, management, merit, motivation, politics, proportion, regulations, religion, rules, teaching, truth, value, war, wealth, work | Leave a comment

71. Is learning “grit” is the best way to succeed?

How have you man­aged your fail­ures, and has fail­ure made you a bet­ter per­son? Every­one fails at some­thing sooner or later. The impor­tant thing is how they han­dle fail­ure. A recent edu­ca­tional fad in Amer­ica is to teach stu­dents “grit” … Con­tinue read­ing

Posted in competence, culture, ethics, ideology, individualism, Language learning, lifestyle, merit, motivation, philosophy, proportion, teaching, value, work | Leave a comment

68. Are We Too Wealthy?

Do we demand an unsus­tain­able and unre­al­is­tic qual­ity of life? Does our desire to be wealthy place too much pres­sure on the econ­omy and on the envi­ron­ment? Is it pos­si­ble that we may have to think about accept­ing less?  Thor … Con­tinue read­ing

Posted in culture, economics, ethics, ideology, individualism, intellectuals, lifestyle, merit, motivation, philosophy, politics, proportion, refugees, wealth, work | Leave a comment

67. How Can We Treat Refugees Humanely? – An Australian Perspective

Refugees,  or more par­tic­u­larly asy­lum seek­ers arriv­ing by boat in Aus­tralian ter­ri­tory with­out prior autho­riza­tion, are a hot but­ton polit­i­cal issue in Aus­tralia. The pub­lic sen­ti­ment against them has hard­ened in the last sev­eral years, partly as a result of … Con­tinue read­ing

Posted in culture, economics, ethics, evidence, ideology, law, politics, refugees, regulations, rules | Leave a comment

66. What will be the dominant ideologies of the 21st Century?

The 20th Cen­tury revolved polit­i­cally around com­pet­ing inter­pre­ta­tions of Cap­i­tal­ism, Com­mu­nism, Social­ism and Fas­cism. These are all ways to orga­nize the lives of peo­ple on a large scale. Are real alter­na­tives or new inter­pre­ta­tions likely to emerge in the chal­leng­ing years … Con­tinue read­ing

Posted in China, economics, ethics, ideology, law, merit, motivation, politics, regulations, religion, rules, truth, war, wealth | Leave a comment

65. The Precariously Employed – that’s you, today or tomorrow – A Search for a New World Order

This is a work in pro­gress. Revi­sion and exten­sion is likely. The topic is immense, but immensely impor­tant. Ideas and con­tri­bu­tions are wel­come.  –  Thor _________________________________________________________________________   Com­ment   1. From the late 18th Cen­tury in Europe lead­ing thinkers became … Con­tinue read­ing

Posted in culture, economics, ethics, ideology, management, politics, work | Leave a comment