Soapbox
My thoughts about events current and past.
The Truth
Truth is the first casualty of war, so said Ethel Annakin, the wife of a British politician in 1915. And it is a casualty of Trumpism. President Biden’s announcement he will run again in 2024 and his predecessor’s domination of the Republican party makes a 2020 rematch likely. When he announced in 2019, Biden said the battle would be for the
Seeking reform
The Australian government fears reform and leadership. And it’s following the Liberal party to the right. The latest example is the government’s refusal to increase jobseeker. The government’s advisory committee recommended increasing the rate to 90% of the aged pension that would cost $24 billion over four years. The committee found jobseeker is a barrier to entering the workforce as jobseekers don’t
Silencing the Voice
Australians are likely to deny its indigenous people a Voice to Parliament. The Opposition Liberal party’s convoluted position and the National party’s rejection of the proposal make it a lot harder for the proposal to be approved. Australia’s voters have approved only eight changes to the constitution and both major political parties supported all of them. The Liberals say
Our ‘Protectors’
Australia has relied on other nations for its protection since it officially became a nation on 1 January 1901. Britain was our Protector until the fall of Singapore in February 1942. The British strategy to hold the far east was flawed from the outset. Promised defence matériel didn’t arrive because Britain needed all its resources to defend itself in Europe. In 1941,
Indomitable antagonist
Beset by phobias, a self-proclaimed manic depressive and suffering from an inferiority complex. It’s not the description you’d expect for a courageous man who made history. Hans Litten was all these things and a highly intelligent, determined and articulate lawyer who exposed Adolf Hitler for the liar he was. Benjamin Carter Hett reveals Litten to be a brilliant, courageous and
Damage done
Why the insurrection in Washington DC on 6 January surprised people is surprising. The fire of discontent has been around for decades and fuelling it was part of Donald Trump’s strategy of dividing and ruling and undermining the democratic system of government. Reputation damaged Seeing armed people waving Confederate flags and running rampant in the Congress building was sickening. It
A real gem
This multi-layered, tightly written, emotionally laden novel is one of the best I’ve read. It’s the story of Werner Pfennig, a gifted German boy and Marie-Laure, who cannot see. The narrative spans the inter-war years and Occupied France, described in meticulous detail in words that transport you to that time. Marie-Laure is six years old when the novel begins in
Myths debunked
This well-argued book is a warning from history. Anyone who wants to understand how the Nazis came to power and how much democracy depends on commitment to making the system work should read it. Historian Benjamin Carter Hett shows the similarities between the diabolical political situation in Germany in the early 1930s and that of western democracies. He prosecutes a
Rights denied
Australia has a long and proud history of fighting for human rights. Australians fought in both world wars, and many since, against the scourge of tyranny. Australia has a long history of defending human beings’ dignity and worth. Eminent Australian Dr Herbert Vere Evatt helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and was the United Nations General Assembly President from 1948
Beware mythology
The loss of the Great War, the Great Depression and political catastrophe are often cited as the reasons for the Nazi’s ascension to power in Germany. They were factors but there’s another: Paul von Hindenburg. President Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler chancellor on 30 January 1933. But, as Anna von der Goltz says, he had a choice. Hindenburg could’ve declared a