A poem many of my generation tacked on our bedroom wall included the line: “And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.” Depending on your point of view, that was either comforting or disconcerting. I wonder which one the author, American poet and writer Max Ehrmann, would have felt if he’d penned it today, rather than in 1927.… Read the rest
As any journalist who has covered one can tell you, war encapsulates the best and worst of humanity. Protagonists excel at cruelty, barbarism, hatred and dissembling. Innocent victims display unfathomable degrees of courage, kindness and resilience. Gaza has brought forth a another element; passionate partisanship driven by ill-informed prejudice and intellectual cowardice.… Read the rest
That the Gaza war will be prolonged, merciless and shape global politics for years to come is self-evident. Unless the “never go to war without a plan for the aftermath” lesson of Iraq and Afghanistan is heeded, however, the shape will be moulded by a line from George Bernard Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra: “And so, to the end of history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name of right and honour and peace, until the gods are tired of blood and create a race that can understand.”… Read the rest
Seizing the high ground is universally considered a crucial element for military victory. The moral high ground is equally essential in the aftermath. Claiming and then trying to hold it with snap judgements, over-blown rhetoric and no-matter-what backing of obviously evil actions is a sure way to lose it.… Read the rest
Responding to a war crime by committing one doesn’t bring justice, it creates equals. Aiding, abetting or condoning one side merely adds another guilty party. All but the most ardently naïve know that Israel’s vengeance on Gaza will be ferocious. Unless those with the power to make changes start thinking about the aftermath now, it will also be pointless.… Read the rest
This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving, six weeks before our American neighbours have theirs. We also beat them to the idea by 43 years. The Pilgrims feast dates to 1621. Sir Martin Frobisher’s expedition to find the northwest passage held one in present day Nunavut in 1578, to give thanks for the safety of its fleet.… Read the rest
Nuance in discourse is as imperilled as chalk cliffs and sandy beaches beset by climate change storm surges. Such is the state of spoken English that all you need to know are the buzzwords. As long as you can use them in a way that sounds like it fits the “zeitgeist”, you can safely avoid inconveniences like informed debate.… Read the rest
Nothing can be done about youth being “wasted on the young”, but squandering the power of moral outrage on the ridiculous is waste to the nth degree. Beset as we are by screeching to ban books for “woke” agendas, universities more focused on ensuring students don’t feel “uncomfortable” than in sparking critical thinking and a Press willing to quote lies in the name of “balance”, it’s time to rehabilitate the Luddites, if only in spirit.… Read the rest
“Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.” The chances of enjoying that 16th century insight from philosopher Francis Bacon are slim to nil in today’s world. But a little more peace and quiet would go some way to starving the ignorance with which society is progressively bloating.
Not only is there too much noise of every kind, many people seem to find it not just tolerable, but necessary.… Read the rest
The Moody Blues’ 1970 hit “Question” opened, appropriately, with the lines: “Why do we never get an answer/When we’re knocking at the door/With a thousand million questions/About hate and death and war?”…”
In a world where those three ills are at pandemic level, the answer may well be because the question “why” isn’t asked often enough.… Read the rest