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Social Democracy, Philosophy, Rat Update
Jul. 31st, 2011 10:38 pmA few weeks ago I went to the launch of "A Little History of the Australian Labor Party" by by Nick Dyrenfurth and Frank Bongiorno, published by UNSW Press. Spent a some time chatting to some ALP colleagues many of whom I haven't talked to for some time; the former premier, Steve Bracks, the former member for Essendon, Judy Maddigan and for Federal Member for Casey, Race Mathews. It was a fairly sombre occassion give the dire state of the ALP in various opinion polls, although the point was made that the Labor Party has been in dire straits in the past and managed to recover.
Of course, this is hardly sufficient. Recovery of a social organisation does not occur as some sort of natural cycle. Rather it is something that requires conscious evaluation, reflection and consideration. I have attempted to this with a recent article on the Isocracy Network, The Sick Rose: Social Democracy In Crisis, where I outline the seriousness of the situation on an international level, the history of social democracy and the desperate need for a principled re-assertion of the core principles of liberty, democracy and socialism.
Last week wrote a short piece on developments on artificial intelligence to artificial consciousness for Lightbringers. This week I'm presenting at the Melbourne Existentialist Society on "Hannah Arendt's Existentialism" followed by "The Pursuit of Happiness" at the Unitarian Philosophy Forum.
Finally, it's been a few months since the last rat update. This is particularly important because as of last night we acquired two young new girls; a person was moving out of Willsmere and couldn't take them to their new home, so we've taken them in - welcome Tricky and Naughty, along with their rat mansion. This does mean that the possibility now exists to engage in a rat-breeding program, where I shall breed a race of super-rats to take over the world, bwahahaha!
Of course, this is hardly sufficient. Recovery of a social organisation does not occur as some sort of natural cycle. Rather it is something that requires conscious evaluation, reflection and consideration. I have attempted to this with a recent article on the Isocracy Network, The Sick Rose: Social Democracy In Crisis, where I outline the seriousness of the situation on an international level, the history of social democracy and the desperate need for a principled re-assertion of the core principles of liberty, democracy and socialism.
Last week wrote a short piece on developments on artificial intelligence to artificial consciousness for Lightbringers. This week I'm presenting at the Melbourne Existentialist Society on "Hannah Arendt's Existentialism" followed by "The Pursuit of Happiness" at the Unitarian Philosophy Forum.
Finally, it's been a few months since the last rat update. This is particularly important because as of last night we acquired two young new girls; a person was moving out of Willsmere and couldn't take them to their new home, so we've taken them in - welcome Tricky and Naughty, along with their rat mansion. This does mean that the possibility now exists to engage in a rat-breeding program, where I shall breed a race of super-rats to take over the world, bwahahaha!
