Loss of Rationality: Kant, Consumerism, and Democracy

06/10/2020

My current read is Net Privacy: How We Can Be Free in an Age of Surveillance, written by Sacha Molitorisz, which is unexpectedly intensely philosophical in its approach. At little over the halfway mark, whilst it seemingly hasn’t answered the question posed by the subtitle, it has still been a fascinating book that I would recommend. Although I do intend on writing a piece on it relating to the commodification of data and privacy, here I want to jump on a bit of a tangent. Molitorisz references Immanuel Kant a number of times, and it is one reference to “rational beings” that I am homing in on.

Because in the modern world, Kant’s rational beings are seemingly dwindling.

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Should Morrison Resign?

05/01/2020

It is question that has been circulating online for a couple of days now, with a video of a firefighter telling him to stand down and the hashtag “#ResignMorrison”. While it is certainly a sentiment I can get behind, that, or a “libspill” (another hashtag that has shown up a fair bit in the last 12 months), might have immediate benefits, to a degree, in the long run it could be extremely problematic.

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We Can’t Afford This Cycle

21/11/2019

We elected the Coalition into government in 2013, and twice since then in both 2016 and 2019. In NSW, the Coalition has also been voted in for three consecutive terms. My interest in politics didn’t start until 2015, and I’ve only voted in two Federal elections, but there is a very clear pattern that has emerged in that time that is incredibly worrying. The media is, as usual, one of the greatest contributors to this mess.

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Israeli Election Offers Little Hope and Much Despair

23/09/2019

You ever just nearly set off an invasion because it looks like you’re going to lose a second election in 5 months and you have corruption charges looming? No? Just the current Prime Minister of Israel? Because that’s what he tried to do, and while a new invasion of Gaza was averted this week, the Israeli election has a lot at stake.

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