Australia Day
On 26 January 1788, a fleet of eleven ships, commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip, entered Port Jackson to establish New South Wales as a penal colony.
In the past, 26 January has been referred to as First Landing Day, as well as Foundation Day, and celebrated with dinners and drinking. Each colony celebrated their own holidays rather than the holiday of New South Wales.
First Landing Day is now used by statists to promote national pride. As the federal government promotes Australia Day it unnecessarily antagonises aboriginal people and creates a need for reconciliation. How can the liberal-minded person remember these important historical events without the statist themes?
The Party for Libertarians
Should a libertarian join the Liberal Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, or not join any political party at all? Tim Andrews has been asking this question over at Thoughts on Freedom.
While there are both costs and benefits for any option, there is no right or wrong role. There are different roles for different people. Some may work best promoting libertarianism within the Liberal Party, while others may prefer the somewhat greater ideological purity of an explicitly libertarian party. Others may be more effective in a think tank or teaching at a university. These are all legitimate options. The important thing is that every libertarian must engage in the role that best suits his talents.
Kevin Rudd's Painful Recovery
Kevin Rudd is no economist. In his recent article, The road to recovery (Sydney Morning Herald, 25 July 2009), Rudd has demonstrated he does not understand the current economic depression.
Kevin Rudd is setting up a free market straw man to destroy in order to sell further intervention to the Australian people. This intervention is bound to fail. While the people struggle along with his policies on their back, Kevin Rudd will no doubt take credit for their progress.
Government Stimulus Impossible
In the present economic depression (known as the Global Financial Crisis) politicians around the world are enacting massive programs aimed at ‘stimulating the economy’. They are bound to fail and can only make matters worse.
Government stimulus is nothing less that taking money from the many to give to the few. It is like taking water out of the deep end of the pool, and pouring it in the shallow end, in an effort to raise the water level.
Recovery Disks
Traditionally computers have come with recovery disks (or system disks) containing the operating system, and all the software that allows the computer user to reinstall the operating system and the software that came with the computer. Recently, rather than selling a computer with recovery disks, some computer vendors are expecting users to make their own recovery disks from a recovery partition on the hard drive. This saves money because there is no need to ship a disk with the computer, but it is in no way good for the computer buyer.
Kevin Rudd's Twisted Mind
Kevin Rudd is a desperately confused man, a man who has lost his grip on reality. Rudd demonstrated his confusion in a recent article, The Global Financial Crisis (The Monthly, Feb 2009).
Leaders of the Free World
Some claim that the President of the United States of America is the ‘leader of the free world’ (Google News) . How can this be? How can an entire society of free people have only one leader? Surely free people can follow other leaders!
Faith and Works
What is a Christian to think about Faith and Works? If we are saved by Grace, do we need works? In this article1 I will make three main points.
- We are saved by grace through faith for works;
- real faith leads to action; and
- we should be doers of the Word.
Privatise the ABC
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is the national, non-commercial broadcaster of the Australian Government. I enjoy the ABC. I listen to NewsRadio, and enjoy watching television programs such as Lateline, Yes Minister and Grassroots on ABC television. However I would like to see the ABC privatised (turned into an organisation based on voluntary association) or the assets given to private citizens1. This is primarily because the ABC is funded by taxation, a compulsory payment to the government, rather than by voluntary payments from advertisers or viewers.
Rain in the Catchment
With all this lovely rain falling in the Sydney area in the recent past, in many conversations I hear the common sentence, “I hope it’s falling in the catchment area.” This hope in some way reflects the helplessness we feel. City and suburb dwellers see blanket rain coverage for days and yet there seems to be no end to ‘our water crisis’. Doesn’t something seem wrong here?
