There is nothing more vile or polarising than an online conversation thread about feminism.
When I was a teenager I read something wonderful and it stayed with me, the author’s name however did not. The internet attributes this vacant place in my brain to Rebecca West.
“I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.”
Like many others, my husband and I are increasingly convinced that living like this is the best thing we can do for the planet. However, I recently read an article that spoke of the many who believe the opposite. They argue that developing increasingly sophisticated technologies, such as higher levels of artificial intelligence, is the best solution to most, if not all, of our problems – and they have the money and power to make these technologies reality. The article also posited the question, ‘Would I want a future foisted upon me by [Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc] Andreessen and his fellow founders?’ This prospect frightens me – as it would many others. Can we resist this vision of the future?
The NDIS is one enormous quango (QUasi-Autonomous National Government Organisation). My gut feeling is that three or four fold the amount of money given to people with a disability through their NDIS funding package has gone on the salaries and infrastructure of those setting up the system and those administering it. In my opinion, just one of the many downfalls of the system introduced.
In many professions gender inequality is evident by the lack of female leadership at top levels. This is in part attributed to the divergence during mid career progression when women are likely to begin having families. Would the gender inequality debate be flipped on it’s head if men were the ones who got pregnant?
What with robots, computers, and all the other “help” we’re creating, not to mention jobs going offshore and/or “cheap labor” coming in from offshore, not to mention whole industries (manufacturing, mining) imploding, it looks as if it won’t be long before a goodly portion of the jobs will have disappeared. When three-quarters of working people can’t find a job in countries like Australia, surely we can’t rely on the old solutions of throwing them (us) a little dole money and calling them (us) bludgers (or leaners, if we’re being polite). Is it even possible to restructure the economy so that people can live well without working (or inherited wealth)? What would that look like? How would we get there?