a week of links

[tielan]

Australia
Tony Abbot Is Not Voldemort: or when dramatic licence overcomes accuracy.

There is no Voldemort in Australian politics. We are fortunate not to have an evil that absolute.

We Can Revive Our Story: Indigenous Australians rewriting their traditional food songs to incorporate western nutrition so their future generations can learn. An example of cultural adaptation?

Faith, Politics, and Culture
Despotism As A Function Of Absolute Capitalism: with money,
you will be "more free"?

In one respect, Buchanan was right: there is an inherent conflict between what he called “economic freedom” and political liberty. Complete freedom for billionaires means poverty, insecurity, pollution and collapsing public services for everyone else. Because we will not vote for this, it can be delivered only through deception and authoritarian control. The choice we face is between unfettered capitalism and democracy. You cannot have both.

Viome, Greece: Where Capitalism Failed: it's a little bit of an existence on the edge, but it's also a glimpse of what a society without capitalism might look like.

Again in Greece: Arabic Refugees Making The Better World In Defiance Of The Soulless West: Again, illegal, but a far better version of humanity than we frequently see in our 'civilised' societies.

"Women Should Not Teach Men" - 1 Timothy 2 In Context: A letter about a local situation is turned into a church wide blanket statement because of the pride of men. Exegesis goes back to the Koine Greek.

It's Not About Race: white people, culture, and being forced into a discussion that most of them don't even recognise is weighted.

Is Demography Destiny For Democrats? The Short Answer Is 'No'. Jason Kander, whom a political friend told me to keep an eye on, has a few interesting things to say about Demographics and the Democratic Party.

Evangelicals And 'The Left': Is There That Much Difference In Attitude?

Have you noticed how Fundamentalist preachers are always proclaiming that there’s some fuller experience of blessing available to their congregations, one they themselves have achieved but for which the listener has to keep striving (or giving)?

Well, according to Frances Lee, the Left does the same: “In trying to liberate readers from the legitimately oppressive structures, I worry that [certain] sites… are replacing them with equally restrictive orthodoxy on the other end of the political spectrum.”

An interesting perspective on 'purity culture' on the left-wing, where any failure to be absolutely progressive isn't just a place where someone has to learn, but a permanent and unchangeable moral failing that can only be responded to by outcasting.

general
Five Easy To Make Homemade Air-Conditioners... Must do this this summer!

the theory of shitty first drafts: your first draft is not the story, it's you telling yourself how the story could go. I need to finish a first draft.