With the election again of Donald Trump as president of the United States, and our own federal election coming very soon, we need to think about to the sort of future we want for our children and theirs. (more…)
Bob Douglas
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Prospects for our progeny
We live in treacherously dangerous times. The recent attack on the life of Donald Trump, is just one of many pieces of evidence that every human on our planet is living under threat. Thanks to the actions of former PM, John Howard, the threat of gun violence here in Australia is less than that in the United States. But, as both the Club of Rome, and prominent Canberra Science communicator, Julian Cribb, have been saying for some years, we are not dealing adequately, with a series of interacting issues that threaten the very survivability of our human species. (more…)
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The “Invisible Doctrine” destroying our planet and controlling your life
Best-selling British writers, George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison, have very recently published “The Invisible Doctrine”, which is a powerful critique of neoliberalism, and the role they believe it is playing in destroying our human future. (more…)
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To avoid human population collapse, We must transform Society
In the coming year, there will be an election for the Australian Parliament, at a time when the very future of human civilisation is precarious. Three important books have appeared in recent months that should be read by politicians and their constituents, everywhere. (more…)
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Transforming for human survival: a challenge to ACT Legislators
It is not difficult to understand, nor to agree, with the growing numbers of thoughtful people who argue that humanity is on the brink of extinction. And that, without transformational change in the way, we think, and live, our descendants are doomed. (more…)
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A welcome new approach to economics
“The Alternative: How to build a just economy” by American author, Nick Romeo, that has been published by Basic Books UK in recent weeks, is a welcome arrival to a human world in crisis. (more…)
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An ecological manifesto for the end of the world
We are facing the end of the world as we know it, but it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Our task is to bring people together in a spirit of mutual aid, and to cultivate the Living Democracy that is the only alternative now to authoritarianism, says a new book, “Living Democracy” by Tim Hollo. (more…)
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A war for the human future
Our human world is becoming an increasingly dangerous place. Quite apart from what is happening between Gaza and Israel, and in the war between Russia and Ukraine, we are currently living with a series of human-made catastrophic threats that are coming together to threaten the very existence of our own human species. All of these threats are manageable, but we are not yet managing any of them adequately. And the combination is terrifyingly lethal. (more…)
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Earth Systems Treaty: John Hewson calls for action on ‘mega threats’
Former Liberal party leader John Hewson, in a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, enquired why the United Nations was not acting on proposals to deal with a series of well documented and interacting catastrophic threats. (more…)
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Earth System Treaty: Towards a positive human future
It is easy to be pessimistic about prospects for our children, in the face of the climatic events that are now confronting humans everywhere. But there is also some very good news around the idea of developing a Global “Earth System Treaty” (EST) that could radically alter the trajectory we humans are currently on. (more…)
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Australia could be leading the way on human survival: Will Albanese act?
Our human species is drifting rapidly towards extinction, and there is not yet in place, a process to prevent it. (more…)
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Interested in Australia’s future? Help to shape it here
Australia21, the nation’s not-for-profit “Think Tank for the Public Good” is seeking a new home. (more…)
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Preventing civilisation collapse: Australia should lead the way
Can we avoid, what a growing number of researchers and writers, consider, will be the likely collapse of human civilisation in the not-too-distant future, if we do not quickly and radically change direction? (more…)
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Will prospects for long-term human survival improve in 2023?
What can we expect in 2023 about future human prospects? Will current threats to long-term human survival, continue to increase or will they begin to diminish as a consequence of responses to current threats?” (more…)
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The rise of China- the biggest shift in our international environment since Europeans settled on this continent
We cannot simply rely on the US to keep Asia “safe” in future. Is our Prime Minister really aware of this? (more…)
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Where to next for the human world?
Our new government is facing a profoundly difficult and complex world situation, with a string of ten catastrophic threats that are bearing down on humans everywhere. (more…)
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This should be a climate change election
Anthony Albanese and his colleagues could surely storm to victory if they enthusiastically acted on the arguments presented by climate experts.They would certainly attract the support of the millions of Australians who understandably fear the consequences of our current, disastrously inadequate approach to this topic. (more…)
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Repairing our fractured democracy starts with citizens’ assemblies
The notion of government by and for the people is being increasingly eroded in Australia — the widespread use of citizens’ assemblies could be the solution.
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Fixation on climate change has blinded us to a deadly chemical tsunami
Humanity’s chemical emissions are poisoning the earth and killing 25,000 people a day — and pose as much of an existential threat as global warming.
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The case for an Australian heroin trial: strong then, even stronger now
Australia once declined the opportunity to take a fresh, effective tack against heroin addiction. We should not lose a second chance.
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Governments everywhere are ignoring the fact that climate change is just one of 10 human-made threats to our survival
Human extinction in coming decades looks increasingly certain, unless we can somehow, quickly engineer, radical transformative change in the way humans everywhere, live and relate to the planet.
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Some Good News at Last?
The recent announcement that the World Economic Forum will be holding a unique twin summit in January 2021 on what is termed “The Great Reset “is the best news I have read for some time.
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Thriving in a Mega-threatened World
The threats from climate change and pandemics to human well-being and even human survival, have recently become apparent to us all. There is growing recognition, that we must change our expectations and the way we live, in order to ensure that our progeny will both survive and thrive into the future (more…)
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Surviving the mega-threats to our world
We humans are a threatened species, and it is mostly of our own making. To survive the ten mega-threats we must act fast, and we must collaborate. (more…)
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PETER TAIT, BETH SLATYER, SUE INGRAM and BOB DOUGLAS. Awakening Democracy.
How can we elect political representatives who are committed to the interests of the whole community, and are not influenced by vested interests?
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BOB DOUGLAS:. A Prime Ministerial “Summit” on Australia’s Future?
We are at an historic moment of apocalyptic threat to the survival of the human species. (more…)
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BOB DOUGLAS: Is our current economic model fit for the purpose of human survival?
If we humans are to survive the catastrophic threats that now confront us, we must urgently rethink the way we live and care for our planetary home. In turn, that demands that we examine the role that economic theory and practice play in the way modern societies operate. There is a case for moving outside the economics profession for a frank discussion of the way the current economic model affects us all. (more…)
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BOB DOUGLAS. Responding to Greta’s Challenge
“How dare you pretend that this can be solved with just ‘business as usual’ and some technical solutions? …You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.We will not let you get away with this.” These were the words of sixteen-year old Swedish schoolgirl, Greta Thunberg as she addressed the United Nations climate conference on 25th September this year. (more…)
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BOB DOUGLAS. Changing Australian Refugee Policy: What is realistically and politically feasible?
Is there a new spirit of bipartisanship developing between Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese? As well as discussing a bipartisan approach to the legislation of religious freedom and an indigenous “voice”, might they also consider a new bipartisan approach to refugee policy? (more…)
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BOB DOUGLAS, Australia Should be Leading The Extinction Rebellion
Prime Minister Morrison is now in a very strong position to lead the way on radical policy reform. I am arguing here that we should help him to develop and promote a strategy for human survival in the face of the ten interacting, mega-threats that seriously threaten the extinction of humanity in the lifetime of our grandchildren. (more…)