Understanding Society
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Marriage – Is It For Better or For Worse?
The idea that marriage is purely a formal, public pledge of love, devotion, and commitment misunderstands the historical and genealogical purpose of this ceremonial bond. We should abandon any romantic notions we might have, and, instead, recognise marriage for what it really is – a managerial, controlling practice. In our early existence, male leaders, living…
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Society Takes Care of its Own
There’s an old adage that says you should not throw good money after bad. Does that apply to people as well? If there are people who do not contribute anything to society, who demand an insatiable amount of resources, and who show no prospects or ambitions to improve their lives, should we continue to sustain…
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Justice for Society’s Sake
Could somebody please explain to me how the justice system works? I just don’t get it. It seems that we have become too tolerant of crime and too accepting of it. Crimes go unsolved and unpunished. Unsocial behaviour is frowned upon but largely brushed aside. It seems we have become too fixated on trying to…
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Public Policing – A Lesson in Restraint
If a protester throws a petrol bomb at a line of police officers, why don’t they shoot him? Would that be considered an overreaction? Too harsh perhaps? And yet the protestor knows what he’s doing. His intention is to cause harm and injury, if not to kill. Why should the police be expected to stand…
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Too Much Governance – Over-Managing Society
Whenever I see broadcasts on the news of an inter-governmental conference, images of enormous government buildings, or reports of committee meetings or public enquiries, I cringe and wince. Looking beyond the headline, I see an army of politicians, officials, and bureaucrats busying themselves, and yet, I wonder, what are they all doing? They’re not actually…
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Murder is Mental?
How long will it be before we consider murderers as being ill rather than being criminals? How long will it be before we medically treat murderers rather than seeking to punish them? Society’s slippery slope of progressive liberalism that seeks to foster a more tolerant, charitable, humanitarian understanding will, one day, deem that all murderous…
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Reduced Civil Liberty; Necessary and Inevitable
We guard our freedoms and rights with great commitment, tenacity and pride. We will fight for them; we will die for them. For many people, they are sacrosanct, the bedrock of our individual existence. And yet they are vulnerable and endangered; depleted and diminishing. The reason for this is that we have committed ourselves to…
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The Middle Classes – How Nice are We!
There are a lot of people who won’t admit it; a lot who aren’t comfortable with the idea; a lot who don’t think they truly belong; a lot who even refuse to accept the social distinction. I’m referring to the existence of the middle classes. Class – it can be divisive and emotive. “I still…
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Branded Like a Fool?
The brand’s power over us is immense. We will gladly pay more for it, go out of our way for it, model ourselves on it. Given this loyalty and commitment, we must derive some benefit from being associated with company brands. Why do we have this abiding love of the brand? What does it tell…
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Our Ocean Garbage; Our Responsibility
If you make a mess, you clean it up. You don’t leave it for somebody else to deal with. Obviously, it is better not to make a mess in the first place, but sometimes it happens. It is then a case of taking responsibility and sorting it out. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an…
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Vigilantes Required
If you know the rules of society and you deliberately break those rules, then you release society from all its obligations to you. You can have no complaints when you reap the backlash from your misdemeanours. If somebody commits a crime against me or my family, which causes harm or disadvantage to us, then I…
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Obesity – Tolerating a Weighty Burden
Both as a society and as individuals, it seems we are extremely, and often rather, irrationally tolerant of others. Why, when I observe people, do I not recognise the fact that in some cases their condition or lifestyle will involve a financial cost to me? Take, for example, the overweight. We know the risks. We…
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