I like this Post-Truth critique by Andy Paine particularly his comment about tertiary education.
The recent government funding cuts to arts degrees in Australia are part of an attack on the idea of the university as a space dedicated to the abstract quest for knowledge. Governments like ours (and indeed, the hierarchies of many universities) see tertiary education as valuable only in as much as it supports economic acquisition. But if we want a society that values the truth, we need to support the pursuit of understanding for its own sake.”
We are living in the “post-truth” age. It’s a line repeated so many times in recent years it’s become a cliché. Hasn’t the truth always been a nebulous, subjective concept? Haven’t humans always told lies? It seems a bit short-sighted, even arrogant, to think there’s something unique about our current era.
Yet there is something particular about our time that deserves mention. A combination of the philosophical ideas of “post-modernism” that value a multiplicity of perspectives over the notion of one objective “truth”; and technological changes that encourage a subjective, individualised way of viewing the world. These have certainly impacted our culture in a way that has changed our relationship to “the truth” as an idea. Commercial and political interests have both used and extended these changes to make them a prominent part of public life.
In a great example of self-fulfilling prophecy, “post-modernism” is a term that seems to…
WBT addresses the following questions:
1. Industrial question: The Master/servant relationship. The struggle for Worker Control.
2. Ownership question: Who owns the land or does the land own us? Rights to the city, right to country. The struggle of indigenous people for land rights and social justice in Australia.
3. Political question: This is the class struggle. Who owns the means of production? Who governs? How are democratic rights won and shared.
Rob Pyne - a far northern life — sharing stories of Rob's struggle inside the ALP and his move to independence. Contains some excellent chapters about his stint in parliament.
This week’s Paradigm Shift 24 Jan 2021 is all about independent filmmaking to document activism and protect the environment. We chat to Sally Ingleton (director of the new film “Wild Things – A Year on the frontline of environmental activism”), Jane Hammond (director of “Cry of the Forests” about Western Australian forests and the fight […]
Welcome to the Paradigm Shift on FM 102.1 4ZZZ Fridays at noon. We challenge the assumptions of our current society, to resist oppression … January 15, 2021 This week we hear from the environmental frontlines around the country. We speak to Miranda Gibson about Olney State Forest in New South Wales, Erik Hayward about protecting […]
Welcome to the Paradigm Shift on FM 102.1 4ZZZ Fridays at noon. We challenge the assumptions of our current society, to resist oppression …more January 8, 2021 – Listen @ http://4zzz.org.au/program/paradigm-shift This week we look back over 2020 and play some of the best Australian protest songs of the year. Fingermae – Scotty’s bad week […]
Major stories from Paradigm Shift in 2020 – Refugees, Aboriginal farming practices, Assange, & cuts at Qld College of Art. Intro by Ian, Andy on Refugees and Aboriginal land use, Ian on the extradition of Julian Assange, Bec Mac on cuts to Qld College of Art. PlaylistDorothy & friends – Down Under (satire)Mo’Ju – Native […]
Why do Australia and New Zealand governments want the power to irradiate all fruit and vegetables? More trade, pure and simple. But what about human and animal health? Previously there was only one food irradiation plant at Narangba on the outskirts of Brisbane, now there are two. The second being at Vic Markets in Melbourne […]
