Reality is Conspiracy Without the Flair: QAnon

06/09/2020

Conspiracy theories have pervaded discourse for decades, from the assassination of JFK to the 9/11 terror attacks being an inside job carried out by the Bush administration. Regardless of the facts and implications one can draw from history and events as they happen, new theories and ideas are added to the pile frequently, particularly with the advent of the internet. These ideas – much like the rhetoric of despotic figures like Donald Trump – are alluring because they offer explanations to those blindly searching for answers. While the questions that led to those answers might be genuine, reality often offers less “fantastic” answers that nonetheless have the benefit of truth.

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Defunding the Police and Changing Focus

21/06/2020

There is a post going around at the moment that is supposedly meant to paint the police in a positive light during the recent global protests again police violence towards native peoples and people of colour. Honestly, it really sounds like the author (unknown, at least I’ve not seen a name with it) is telling the population to submit to power because… it’s power.

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Trump Calls Antifa A “Terrorist Organisation”

01/06/2020

Does it surprise anyone that Trump’s rhetoric has labelled anyone involved in the protests and riots in the US as a “terrorist”? That isn’t hyperbole, that is the implication of him trying to designate Antifa as a terrorist organisation, even though he can’t actually do that on a whim despite how he’s acted during his first term (yes, first, there will probably be a second even after this).

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The “Protest” Against the Brisbane Drag Queen Duo

13/01/2019

What I thought would be a rather small, local story in the South East Queensland area, having first seen the associated video on a Facebook group for QUT, has turned into a national story with the Guardian, the ABC, and social media (mainly Twitter) taking hold of it. I’m surprised that I’m surprised about that, and I decided against writing a post about it last night, but with more information coming to light and some interactions I have seen take place, I feel it’s worth discussing a few points.

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What War on Christmas?

28/12/2019

As with a lot of major holidays and events (Australia Day, ANZAC Day, Easter, Christmas, etc.) there is an annual outrage that repeats itself without any resolution whatsoever, whether one exists or not. This month, depending on which part of the internet you dwell in, you probably saw a lot of shouting over the “war on Christmas” that is being waged relentlessly. The most obvious culprits for this festive finality is the ill-defined “left”, or the “inner city”, whatever that refers to. As someone who lives close (-ish) to Brisbane and falls into this so-called “left”, I suppose, I can only blankly say a single word: What?

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Religious Discrimination Bill Is Just Hypocrisy and Contradiction

14/12/2019

Having read the latest draft of the Religious Discrimination Bill, the Amendments made since the first draft, and rights groups/media reports on it, it is safe to say that the intent of this Bill is not to defend religious people against discrimination. Instead, it is a Bill designed to defend religious individuals and bodies in their own discrimination against others, using religion as a shield to do so. I will refer to Christianity/Catholicism in most examples, given they are the majority and are certainly the intended beneficiaries of this Bill.

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Capitalism Hasn’t Changed

09/11/2019

I’ve recently started reading The ABC of Anarchism (originally Now and After and What Is Communist Anarchism) by Alexander Berkman, and while a lot of the references made do show the age of the book, published in 1929, there are still many relevant observations and similarities to the modern age. The main one, with its many facets, is that capitalism hasn’t really changed much over the years, other than finding more efficient methods of concentrating even more wealth into fewer hands.

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The Babylon Bee: Satire Done Wrong

30/10/2019

Satire is a brilliant form of comedy that keeps the world bearable. It’s observational humour smacked with parody, mimicry, and no small amount of hyperbole and absurdity. It can often be quite clever and, at times, even confronting or insensitive, joking about topics in a raw and uncensored manner. The best satire relies on a keen understanding of the topic you are satirising, and this is where I think the Babylon Bee, a Christian satire website, fails miserably.

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Hypocrites and Proud: A Response to Andrew Bolt

21/10/2019

You know your article must be the dregs of the dregs when you write for the Opinion section of the Courier Mail, a Murdoch paper that currently has a poster on the wall right before the Captain Cook Bridge to the Brisbane CBD saying “The Courier Mail is against climate action” (or something to that effect). And so you know it’s going to be a fun read when the author of such a piece is Andrew Bolt and topic is climate activists.

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Why Anarchism?

A year ago, I started this website, almost gave up on it immediately, and was pretty sure I didn’t want anyone except a close friend or two to know about it. Now, it’s been a whole year, I’ve obviously kept going with it, and while I hate doing so out of fear of pushing my own writing, I have no real issues telling people about it if the topic is relevant. Recently I was asked a simple question: why anarchism? The answer seems just as simple: it makes sense.

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