Bjorn Lomborg (New York, NY: Basic books, 2020) For a long time, there has been no real centre ground politically on climate change: either you are a believer in green activism and its policy platform or a denier, it seems. This is nowhere more demonstrably seen than in the US, where stance on climate change… Continue reading Review: False Alarm: How climate change panic costs us trillions, hurts the poor and fails to fix the planet.
Diversity and the Avoidance of Prejudice
Those who are familiar with the exploits of Zarathustra, postmodern-day prophet of renown will know that it is his wont to drive from time to time to the local village so that the inhabitants might benefit from his sermons on the subject of social justice and the role they, the villagers, played in obstructing it.… Continue reading Diversity and the Avoidance of Prejudice
Do you have the right to be wrong? A defence of free inquiry
“If any opinion is compelled to silence, that opinion may, for aught we can certainly know, be true. To deny this is to assume our own infallibility.” (John Stuart Mill, ‘On Liberty’, 1859) “If you offered to let me off this time on condition I am not any longer to speak my mind… I should… Continue reading Do you have the right to be wrong? A defence of free inquiry
Can Two Wrongs Make a Right?
“So what do you say, Zara?” Ziggy asked his friend. “Can two wrongs make a right?” The answer came back immediately. “To ask the question is to answer it: of course they can’t.” Ziggy was in good spirits having taken a bit of a pounding from his self-appointed mentor and postmodern-day prophet of renown Zara… Continue reading Can Two Wrongs Make a Right?
Diversity Is the Answer: What’s Your Problem?
Is “diversity” the panacea it is claimed to be for improving company performance and avoiding the dangers of group-think?
The Myth of Progress?
It is a common element of the myths we human beings like to spin around our lives that our circumstances are progressing in a favourable direction, or at least are about to. Even when things are going badly we look for a silver lining in the cloud to encourage ourselves for the future. And we… Continue reading The Myth of Progress?
Is “Woke” the New McCarthyism?
In his 1964 essay The Paranoid Style in American Politics, Richard Hofstadter describes the phenomenon of McCarthyism as an example of what he terms the paranoid style and finds it far from being a novel phenomenon but rather a recurrent theme in the history of the United States. He quotes Senator McCarthy from 1951 as… Continue reading Is “Woke” the New McCarthyism?
Winterval Greetings
By Humbuggery I hear that Boris has cancelled Christmas. Well, good. Finally, the oppressors are oppressing themselves, which is the good news. As my contribution to dancing on the grave of Western culture, I would like to offer my personal thoughts on a common dirge often sung at this time of year, God Rest Ye… Continue reading Winterval Greetings
Working from Home: Opportunity or Threat?
One of the long-term consequences foreseen from the Covid-19 pandemic is that the trend for more people to work from home may continue on the basis that this has certain attractions both for employees (less time and money spent on commuting) and for employers (less expensive office space required). But not all the consequences of… Continue reading Working from Home: Opportunity or Threat?
Lexicon for the Lockdown
Advisor – 1. Someone to give you advice from behind a plexiglass screen; 2. also, the type of facial covering that make you look like a bottled head. Antibacterial – a treatment for the complaint known as skin. Bugle smudger (see Mask) – The facial equivalent of the budgie smuggler; a device to render the… Continue reading Lexicon for the Lockdown