Public ideas
Pope Francis on Europe
On a visit to Budapest Pope Francis gave a passionate plea for European unity and recovery of the spirit that saw the European Union arise from the rubble of the 1939-45 war. To quote from his speech to members of the government and the diplomatic corps:
In the world in which we presently live, however, that passionate quest of a politics of community and the strengthening of multilateral relations seems a wistful memory from a distant past. We seem to be witnessing the sorry sunset of that choral dream of peace, as the soloists of war now take over. More and more, enthusiasm for building a peaceful and stable community of nations seems to be cooling, as zones of influence are marked out, differences accentuated, nationalism is on the rise and ever harsher judgments and language are used in confronting others. On the international level, it even seems that politics serves more to stir up emotions rather than to resolve problems, as the maturity attained after the horrors of the war gives way to regression towards a kind of adolescent belligerence. Peace will never come as the result of the pursuit of individual strategic interests, but only from policies capable of looking to the bigger picture, to the development of everyone: policies that are attentive to individuals, to the poor and to the future, and not merely to power, profit and present prospects.
It is notable that this speech was delivered in Hungary, a country with a poor record on the rule of law, media freedom and other human rights that are supposed to bind the European Union. In what can be read as a message to Hungary’s strongman Viktor Orbán he refers to the danger of “self-referential forms of populism”.
It’s also a message to those who seek to destroy the EU – from Vladimir Putin to Boris Johnson.
Another aspect of the Pope’s visit is covered in a Reuters account, which includes a clip of him turning up to the official reception in the passenger seat of a tiny Fiat 500.
No – climate change will not end civilization, but it’s serious
If you start to read Martyn Goddard’s Policy Post contribution Could climate change really end civilisation you may get the impression that he has finally become convinced by the wisdom of Ian Plimer and David Flint, and realizes that talk of climate change is a woke left conspiracy theory.
His article is actually a rebut to those who, using false historical analogies, make the extravagant claim that climate change presents an existential threat to civilization.
But that doesn’t mean it won’t have terrible consequences, he points out, drawing on the work of the IPCC.
What we can learn from history is how to cope with the shock of bad news. He draws on the seven stages of grief described by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, which might apply when we learn of our own or a close friend’s coming death. In relation to climate change we are past the first couple of stages – shock and denial – but we still have some way before we come to the final stage of acceptance and work on a way forward.
A history of patriarchy
We may be conditioned to believe that before women started to assert their rights in the Suffragette movements, patriarchal societies were the norm.
On Late Night Live Phillip Adams interviews Angela Saini about the long history of gender relations in many different human societies – and in some of our simian close relatives – in a 25-minute session: How the patriarchy was invented (and how it can be dismantled).
Saini dispels many myths about women’s place in those societies. Matriarchies have thrived, in various forms, in places and in eras that we are prone to think of as male-dominated. In this regard she mentions societies such as the Iroquois in America, whose egalitarian norms influenced the foundation institutions of the USA. But in that country the patriarchy has dominated and to this day, often through so-called “Christian” movements, it is fighting against women’s progress. Early Christian societies were actually quite egalitarian for their time, until men took over control of the institutionalized church.
She warns that in societies where women have made progress there are countervailing forces. She mentions the early Soviet Union where for a few years there was genuine gender equality, before the traditional Russian patriarchal culture re-asserted itself in the Communist Party.
Adams and Saini are so engaged in discussions of ancient and distant societies that they don’t get around to mentioning Australia. It is worth reminding ourselves that we still have many gender-segregated religious schools, men’s clubs, and less formal but still gender-segregated arrangements, ranging from women’s gyms through to men’s sheds.
Saini is author of The patriarchs: how men came to rule.