Latest Articles
We are encouraged to rely more and more on government officials to do for us what we could equally well do for ourselves—and, maybe more importantly, not to do what might help us solve our own problems.
Sep 08 2024
10 mins
If we imagine a metric called the Pinocchio Scale, which measures the number of lies told by a politician as a percentage of his or her overall public statements, our current prime minister (for want of a better description), Airbus Albo, has moved well into uncharted territory.
Sep 06 2024
5 mins
The Kindness Imperative
Each morning the encounter is the same. The fridge magnet regards me with equal measures of emollience and accusation:
Everyone is fighting a battle
you know nothing about.
Be kind.
Always.
To be kind means to be gentle, benevolent and friendly. What could be wrong with being kind? If I can support you, then surely I should. Kindness is seemingly needed by everyone; and should be provided by … everyone.
There is a softness—a yielding—to this kindness that might struggle to fit with the reality of a world of hard edges bumping together. How far ought this kindness extend? Beyond the home and the friendship group, corporate training courses abound that urge the creation of a kind work environment that will be friendly, supportive, understanding, inspiring and happy.
The modern embrace by Western youth of seemingly never-quite-dead socialism may be sheeted home to concepts of kindness. Surely in abundance it is better to share (irrespective of how that abundance was accrued):…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins
