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
Another kind word for ‘Les Mis’
Returning home after a rare night out I opened QOL to read Steve Kates’s review of the movie I had just seen: Les Miserables. To my surprise I discovered that his assessment is more than somewhat at odds with mine.
A few points of retail agreement before I get to my wholesale disagreement with Steve’s unfavourable review. Yes, if taken as a glorification of the type of Parisian revolutionaries we got to know all too well during the 20th Century, I can see how skewed the heroism of the student rebels would strike him. Yes, if taken as social commentary on the exploitation of the proletariate by the bourgeoise, I can see how the distortion of economic history would grate. And yes, if taken as naturalism, I can see how the sequence of events would strain credulity. But inferences such as these are to my mind besides the point of Les Miserables.
I could argue that the Parisian students of 1832 were rebelling in the name of liberty against the tyranny of an absolute monarchy, while…
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
