Asked by:Has loneliness in the 21st century Western World reached epidemic levels?
Loneliness is something that I have been grappling with lately, and I have noticed an up-tick in think-pieces about technologies effect on social relationships between people and a loss of community. The connections people have with others has been a perennial interest of humankind.
Asked by:Is spoken word, performance poetry and poetry slam on the margins of literary culture in Australia? If so, how does it overcome that?
I think spoken word, performance poetry and poetry slam has underrated potential that I want to see thrive in Australia’s literary landscape.
Asked by:Why do we find it so difficult to keep opposing ideas alive in the same mind?
To quote the late great Christopher Hitchens in introducing his autobiography, Hitch-22, “The most intense wars are civil wars, just as the most vivid and rending personal conflicts are internal ones, and what I hope to do now is give some idea of what it is like to fight on two fronts at once, to try and keep opposing ideas alive in the same mind, even occasionally to show two faces at the same time.” From the personal to the political, and the intersection of the two, why do we find it so difficult to keep opposing ideas alive in the same mind?
There is FB campaign that ‘no child belongs in detention’ Are the advocates saying children should be taken from their parents?
What happens if we don’t wake George up before we go go?
Asked by:Who’s keeping track?
When I “bags” the last Tim Tam who/what is keeping track? When I “pinch and punch for the first of the month” and then declare “full locks, no return” who/what is watching on? When I go to the toilet during the third quarter who/what is making sure Richmond gets a goal? When I pray for world peace is anyone listening?
Asked by:Why does the law, endlessly, fail to bring justice?
The flaws in our Australian law system, reflect the inequity on a world basis. If Australia, a relatively new country, that has a fresh start, is already in a conundrum with it’s inefficient and biased laws, then what hope is there for transparency and justice on a world level? To illustrate, I lent a friend $45,000 for a mutual project. They refused to pay it back, admitting they just spent it. We made a signed legal contract and I have a bank paper trail. Also, a witness who verified his actions signed an affidavit. Yet, this is not enough for me to retrieve my money or for them to go to jail. This person, continuously cons others with small amounts of money, so that legal fees make it unviable to retrieve the lost money. It is clear that I was conned and that they are thief, yet the justice system has no effective recompense for these serious situations. This person should be in jail and working to pay for my loan. I tried going to the local court and followed the procedure of a small claim. After the sheriff failed to find him, nothing could be done. This is a ludicrous system that fails to protect the vulnerable in our society.
I believe there is a long overdue overhaul of our justice system, which protects the unjust, provides extreme wealth to the judiciary and fails to facilitate justice.
I tried Legal Aid, etc and they were unable to assist me.
What do the great thinkers think?
Would we be better off having a standard four day work week?
How many times have you heard, ‘I wish it was a long weekend EVERY weekend…’ after a public holiday?? Australia has one of the highest rates of unpaid overtime in the western world. In a globally competitive, free-market (rat) race to make a living, are we forgetting to make a life for ourselves? Could a four day week be the ticket to improve our relationships, our mental health and our ability to find meaning and purpose in our lives? How would our economy react if we all collectively agreed to work less?
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