“I want to be there when everyone suddenly understands what it has all been for” [Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov 1881)

The following is an outline of the chapter and headings of his book.

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Preface

Explains his first book Sleepers, Wake! Technology and the future of work which was published in 1982 where explained what we had to be mindful of the impact of technology to our society.

At the time though (too early), the book was discounted by Australian politicians as politicians of the time main concern was appeasing Australian manufacturing.

Four horseman of the apocalypse (and they’re all linked):

• Population Growth
• Climate Change
• Pandemics
• Racism & State violence

Chapter Two: Democracy’s Existential Crisis in a Post-Truth Era

• History of democracy
• The essence of populism
• Challenges to liberal democracy [Islamic fundamentalism; welfare state to market state; end of communism; triumph of capitalism and globalisation; war on terror; Iraq invasion; equal value of votes; news as entertainment; advertising and marketing; hate media; the triumph of populism; nativism, immigration and punishing refugees…when lying becomes normative; social change in work, language and culture; revival of religion as a political force; collapse of trust

Chapter 3: Overturning the Englightenment

• The enlightened despots
• Critics of the enlightenment
• The agricultural revolution
• The industrial revolution
• The fundamentalist revival
• Enlightenment now (against Steve Pinker’s view that intellectuals in the “humanities are deeply opposed to science and to scientific method and instead they see it as cultural narrative shaped by gender studies and sociology” (85)
• What can we learn from the enlightenment

Chapter 4: How the Digital World Changed Everything

• The Internet
• The world wide web
• The smartphone
• Social media
• Facebook; privacy, hacking, stalking and trolling
• The big 5 tech giants and Wikipedia
• The pioneers
• Living in the digital world

Chapter 5: The Trump Phenomenon

Needs no further explanation.

Chapter 6: Climate Change: The Science

• The diabolical problem
• drivers of climate change
• How our understanding of climate change science evolved

Chapter 7: Climate Change the Politics

• The role of fossil fuel lobbyists
• How good is Australia?
• Australia’s bushfire season
• Why Australia ranks number 1 in per capita CO2 emissions – the seven C worlds
• Climate change and the revolving door prime ministers
• Leadership
• Risk management – the 1% doctrine

Chapter 8: Retail Politics: targeted, toxic, trivial and disengaged

• Nixon’s silent majority
• John Howard’s legacy
• Morrison’s ‘quiet Australians’
• Religion, class, education and changes in voting intention
• Disengagement
• Leadership and ‘authenticity’
• Plebiscitary democracy
• Brexit and triumph of Boris Johnson
• The Conservatives and Labour
• Toxicity
• Racism and spin
• Decline in trust

Chapter 9: The Death of Debate: Loss of Language and Memory

• Sitting days (australia is low at 67 days a year)
• Winner takes all principle that governments operate on
• Framing the debate (lack or inability of)
• Language – Trump’s vocab is that of an 8th grader vs Morrison limited vocabulary and his lack of curiosity
• Lack of collective or historical memory

Chapter 10: Australian Exceptionalism

• Need for courage
• Mythic status of Gallipoli
• Politics and law
• Refugees by sea: cruelty as a political asset
• Social cohesion and class

Chapter 11: Being Honest with Ourselves

• Race
• Class
• Widening gap between rich and poor
• Tolerance and pluralism; Cohesive and convergent?
• Reforming the constitution – and becoming a republic
• Reforming the parliament
• Excessive deferrence to our allies

Chapter 12: The Corona Revolution

• The spread of COVID
• Coping with previous health and economic crisis
• Social distancing and accepting of rapid change
• The US and Donald Trump

Chapter 13: Saving the Planet

World population growth and per capital resource use

Climate change, displacement of people and the refugee crisis

Chapter 14: What Is to be Done: Political Engagement and Climate Change

• Political engagement and the 0.2% problem
• remake the economy
• Recognise that governments can play a useful role
• Reject racism and rethink Australia’s response to the refugee crisis
• Resist fundamentalism
• Reinforce the moral basis of progressive taxation
• Take the long view

My Key Lessons:

Tweeting displeasure of our government is not really “political engagement” so what does this actually mean? Does this mean a paid up member of a political party? Do I need to do this or can I show it in other ways and means?

I have no qualms in expressing my views openly however understand that this will not be comfortable for others who may be following – that’s okay – I don’t seek to argue with anyone to ‘win’ an argument instead, I seek to understand.

The importance I place on understanding that going forward, we need more long term thinking, more openness to listening and welcoming diverse views and perspectives and to approach complex problems from one of co-operation because we all live in this world so it’s high time we learn to understand each other.