September 23, 2016 – One Finite Planet

One Finite Planet

Topics and Subtopics.

Tribalism, Racism and Despair: The xenophobia cycle

September 23, 2016 August 12, 2019

It feels like the world is in the grip of a wave of xenophobia, and we just seem so far from a solution. From extremist

Left Vs Right & Populism: Outrage over a clash of Ideologies.

What are these competing ideologies, and why do they clash?

This page is the exploration of the what and the why of the left and the right. I expect to keep revisiting and updating this topic, as it seems too deep to fully analysis in one attempt.

In particular interest to me is the question: why are the things people champion grouped, when they can be so diverse? Why do so many people seem to choose almost all of the left policies, or all of the right policies, rather than varying mixes of each?

Justice Othering & Religion, Left vs Right

Left Vs Right & Populism: Outrage over a clash of Ideologies.

What are these competing ideologies, and why do they clash? This page is the exploration of the what and the why of the left and the right. I expect to keep revisiting and updating this topic, as it seems too deep to fully analysis in one attempt. In particular interest to me is the question: why are the things people champion grouped, when they can be so diverse? Why do so many people seem to choose almost all of the left policies, or all of the right policies, rather than varying mixes of each?

Influence Wealth and Power

Influence: There’s no free lunch and they use your data to make you pay.

It can seem all those tech companies are so dumb giving away services for free. I recently read another comment containing the "I don't want Google getting more of my data to sell" and it reminded me of the question, 'why is your data valuable?' people too rarely ask. The common myth is that Facebook and Google etc want your data so they can sell it, but even with companies that do sell your data, it still requires someone to turn data into money, and enough money to fund the "free" services of the tech companies and allow them enough spare to make profits beyond anything seen in the world previously. So how does the data turn into so much money? There is no such thing as a free lunch. Google and Facebook etc make their money from advertising, not from selling data, and unless they use can the data to persuade you to buy products at prices inflated by advertisers paying part of the sale price to Facebook/Google etc, they would lose money. Your data is used to inflate the cost of living and earn votes for politicians with an agenda that gives them a budget to spend. They (Google/Facebook etc) don't want to sell your data, but the reality, is more sinister: they use it to have to change your thinking, so more of your money will go to make them richer.

Justice & Equality

Trump’s 2025 Geopolitics Earthquake.

Commenced: February 22, 2025

Although, while in the midst of it all, it is easy to miss the real impact, we are experiencing what we may soon see as the greatest political upheaval since at least the collapse of the soviet union.

Why do so many Americans support Trump in 2024: They’re not all crazy or weird, many fear being disenfranchised.

Commenced: November 4, 2024

To many people, both those within the US as well as perhaps most outside the US, a vote for Trump is seen as something hard to understand and even seen as the uneducated or the domain "others": people seen as are very different from "normal people". Yet 50% Americans are not radically different "others", nor uneducated, nor stupid, even though around 50% will vote for trump. With around 80% of Americans believing the country is on the "wrong track", is it any surprise a large number feel if trends continue, they risk being disenfranchised by that "wrong track" and are desperate to believe only a big change can protect their rights?

Left vs Right Perception Bias: Idealists vs The Economy?

Commenced: November 17, 2020

Vote centre left (e.g. Democrats in the US) to increase support for ‘idealist’, issues, such as climate change, or vote centre right (e.g. Republicans in the US) for a better economy. I (and others) suggest this is conventional thinking and there is a perception that the economy will be better under the centre right, but […]

Population Growth Change Lag: The Population Pipeline

Commenced: May 16, 2016 Updated: March 3rd, 2024

2024 March 3 : Update in progress for page format and clarity, but not a new edition.

Even after the "peak child" the population on this planet could continue to grow for decades, as the "population pipeline" creates inertia and a situation analogous to how a super tanker can continue forward even after the engines have stopped, or even switched to reverse. Population growth is the difference between the number of people who are born, and the number of people who die, and as there is a lifetime delay between those two events, at any one time the people being born are from a world separated by many generations from . People enter the population pipeline at birth and remain in the pipeline until they die, which on the current world average current world average of 73, which means deaths today reflect the global population of 73 years ago.

Flawed Australian voice of Indigenous People referendum: The irony of a voice campaign that failed to listen.

Commenced: September 23, 2023 Updated: November 28th, 2023

2023 Nov 28: Update with poll showing "yes, voters would support a better phrased voice proposal".

A tragic lost opportunity. Why didn't those proposing the voice make changes to remove ambiguity and eliminated enough of the negative perception to win over enough support instead of simply declaring" "No, if that is how you see it you are either racist or stupid!" Was it just that there was no willingness to listen? Australians had an opportunity in a constitutional referendum to righteously shout loudly "I am not a racist" by voting for a proposition that, at its core, could be seen as fundamentally flawed, divisive and even potentially racist, in the hope even a risk of moving in the direction of apartheid is still better than nothing. The referendum resulted in a huge setback for action on indigenous disadvantage and while it did seem unlikely to do anything to unify Australians and offer more than some possible affirmative action, the division resulted with even sometimes "yes" voters being encouraged to also be racist. This is a deeper look trying to see each side from the perspective of the other, with the reality that both sides had a point, and a vast majority of people do want equality and unity. Perhaps it little more work could bring things …

Mr Bean cans EVs: what he gets right.

Commenced: June 13, 2023

Yes, he may come across as a mega-rich collector of exotic internal combustion engine vehicles looking to find any way to delay their demise, but while the fascinating recent article by “Mr. Bean” does get so much so very wrong, it also does get somethings right. From the fascinating article by Rowan Atkinson on EVs: […]

Could Trump become responsible for more deaths than Hitler?

Commenced: August 2, 2023

A recent article on how even during the July 2023 heat wave the US republican party was still falling in line with Donald Trump and rallying against climate action because those wanting action were silenced by the support for Trump. The result is the world’s largest economy and one of the most powerful forces in […]

Big oil ramps up anti-EV stance… but how much?

Commenced: July 23, 2023

Big oil has been investing heavily in swaying public option against both climate action and electric vehicles for decades now, but it is reported that now in July 2023 they have taken the new step of creating video advertisements to boost their campaign against EVs. However, reading the reporting of this event quickly revealed the […]

Prigozhin lowers WWIII risks?

Commenced: June 30, 2023

Friday 24th June 2023: Prigozhin Tells Russians the truth about the war and then launches what looks like an attempted coup. The result seems to be a weaken Russian military, and a weakened Putin. But what really happened, and what will happen next? What just happened? It is still not entirely clear. What has been […]

Oliver Zipse, BMW CEO climate denial or failure to read the room?

Commenced: May 24, 2023

It can be very hard being a CEO. In a company the size of BMW, harder than anything I have experienced. But does it explain a failure to “read the room”, or is there a degree of climate denial required? This week there are headlines such as from Top Gear: BMW boss: July 2025 target […]

Australian fuel efficiency standards: A stall tactic?

Commenced: April 26, 2023

At a time when much of the world is preparing for a transition to EVs, Australia is finally doing what other countries did decades ago and adapting a fuel efficiency standard for internal combustion engine vehicles, or ICE vehicles. While many advocates for the environment are heralding this as a good thing, I have to […]

SpaceX: Should we colonise the solar system?

Commenced: April 24, 2023

I heard an on-air debate about the merits of the program in light of the explosion of the SpaceX starship rocket on April 20th. Viewpoints were of course varied. They included the “we have this beautiful planet already and it makes no sense to be spending so much to go elsewhere” and very much focused […]

Lead, Crime and Justice

Commenced: December 21, 2015 Updated: April 21st, 2023

2023 April 21 st: Reformat for current standards and added header image and links.

A quick internet search with the keywords 'lead crime' in the search bar will reveal many articles which all propose that lead pollution in the air caused a dramatic increase in violent crime. Any victim of violent crime in affected locations has a right to feel disturbed by this, but what about perpetrators of violent crime, and should society share the guilt?

Race, Racism and Skin Colour: what do ‘race’ and racism mean?

Commenced: August 17, 2016 Updated: April 19th, 2023

2023 April 19 th: reformat and added crime and superstition and an updated synopsis.

There is no universally agreed definition of either race or racism, with no clear agreement on whether race is real or not, and there is more agreement on the reality of racism, there is less on exactly what constitutes racism. This is a look at both the concept of race, and what it means to be racist.

Crime: A litmus test for inequality?

Commenced: April 25, 2023 Updated: April 5th, 2023

2023 April 5 : Initial version

Around the world, many countries have both a battle with equality for some racial groups and minorities and also a battle with crime-rates within and by those same groups. Should we consider crime rates the real sentinels of problems and a solution require focusing on factors behind crime rates? Or is the correct response to rising crime rates or crime rates within specific groups an adoption of being "tough on crime", thus increasing rates of incarceration and even deaths in custody for oppressed minorities and racial groups? This is an exploration of not adjusting the level of penalties and instead focusing on the core issues and inequalities behind crime-rates. It is clear that it is "damaged people" in general rather than specific racial groups that correlate with elevated crime rates, so why not use crime rates to identify who is facing inequality?

Why Car Makers are Lying about the storm.

Commenced: September 10, 2021

If you follow car industry publications, there both facts and well recognised predictions that combined, signal a storm for the car industry. Reality: Why The Makers Are Lying. In less than 5 years, electric vehicles will become less expensive than ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles, and are already significantly less expensive to maintain. Lower cost […]

COP27: Climate change action sabotage?

Commenced: November 16, 2022

Reports from COP27 seems indicate the key initiative this year to make wealthy nations cover the cost of the damages poor nations will incur as a result of emissions that have main originated from those wealthy nations. The proposal as it stands has a missing an essential piece, and trying to cover for that essential piece, appears most to likely to increase emissions, and move COP away from a focus on solving the climate crisis and instead toward just fighting over the cost. This is a troubled look at the key flaw in what has been put forward and the real solution that should be in place.

Can Peter Dutton repair the democracy ‘loyal opposition’.

Commenced: June 6, 2022

Democracy is under threat, and a significant part of the problem stems for the distortion of the current model of 'opposition'. While the politics of division and polarisation of the USA Trump republicans vs Biden democrats attracts most attention on the world stage right now, what happens in Australia following the recent election which saw democracy strike back (page coming soon), has the potential to provide the world with an alternate blueprint for the role of the opposition party, which could reinvigorate democracy and spread to the US and elsewhere. Is there an alternative to the current Republicans vs Democrats style, where 'opposition' is about each party demonising the other?

The innocent child assumption: even Hitler?

Commenced: April 6, 2021

I recently watched an episode of "Comedians in cars getting coffee",(C6:E4 11:55) where Ricky Gervais has a photo of Hitler as a baby. And relates, "I talk about sci-fi, and I always go back and kill Hitler". And I go, I go, they go "well people tried all the time", and they go "No I'd go back and kill him as a baby". I go, "You'd go back, and kill baby Hitler, who hasn't done anything wrong yet, and just strangle him? Have you seen Hitler as a baby" and I pull out this photo and I go "He was adorable".

News & Updates.

Commenced: May 11, 2022

News and updates for early May 2022. Climate at +1.5 within 5 years confirmed as realistic threat.

News In Brief.

Commenced: April 26, 2022

It is now war until the end for Putin. If Putin is to win in Ukraine, he would simply have to start a new war elsewhere, as relations with Russia could never again return to 'normal' without charges of war crimes being held.

Obama and Xi Jinping announcement: a huge step for climate action? Or a backward step?

Commenced: November 14, 2014

Obama is currently a ‘lame duck’ president with a hostile senate, and approval rating that suggests a likely hood the next US president may well be a republican. In Australia when the less conservative party took a position to take steps to address climate change, it became a call to arms for conseratives opposed to […]

Politics. Left & Right: Merit = Wealth?

Commenced: May 16, 2019

The labels ‘left’ and ‘right’ date back to French Revolution in 1789, but that history hardly conveys what the terms mean today. This post reviews that original concept and history, and looks further into how the concepts have evolved into todays positions of ‘left’ and ‘right’. This post starts discussion on how the concepts apply […]

The G20 outcome, a plan to make the earth a worse place?

Commenced: November 21, 2014

The recent G20 wrapped up with a commitment to target economic growth level for the G20 of 2.1% by 2018. Global population grwoth is over 1.1% so this means the worlds richest countries will be getting richer by just over 1% avove population increase per annum by 2018. Is there any suggestion that this addional […]

Foreign fighters: Is it really a surprise that ISIS/ISIL can recruit from the west?

Commenced: November 26, 2014

I have heard repeated media statements on how ISIS/ISIL managed to recruit young Sunni Muslims from around the world to join their cause. It has been stated that society must reach out to the Muslim community to stop these young men being recruited from their midst. Certainly these recruits from around the world join the […]

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s Australia Day Surprise: Another title for Prince Philip. Foolishness, or other motives?

Commenced: January 26, 2015

The Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, announced a ‘bold’ decision to award an Australian knighthood to the husband to the Queen of England, Prince Philip. I will provide background for the world majority with zero exposure to Australia’s relationship to the British royal family, but Australia ceased awarding knighthoods in 1986 as part of a […]

Australia: Yet another prime minister?

Commenced: September 20, 2015

On Monday September 15th, Malcolm Turnbull replaced Prime Minister Tony Abbott as the leader of the liberal party, ensuring Malcolm Turnbull would become the fifth prime minister (or head of government) of Australia within five years. This post looks at how this seemingly crazy frequency of change actually takes place, the underlying ‘crisis’ and implications […]

What should we fear: The link from fear to hatred.

Commenced: December 19, 2015

The relationship between fear and hate. There are three immediate responses to fear: Fight, Flight and Freeze. In the longer term these correspond to : ‘active hate’, avoidance or ‘passive hate’ with ‘freeze’ being an immediate response with no long term result. To hate is to either to wish to avoid the source of fear, […]

The Housing Price Trap: A global bubble?

Commenced: April 29, 2016

The Australian prime minister (Malcolm Turnbull) was interviewed on the ABC program ‘7:30’ answering questions on government policy regarding tax concessions for real estate investments. The Prime Minister spoke of the need to retain a specific tax concession because reducing the concession would reduce demand, and to reduce demand would result in lower prices. The […]

Australian Budget: Ignorance or Lies?

Commenced: May 4, 2016

Last night, the Australian Government announced a new budget. Many of the stated premises of the budget seemly clearly out of touch with the current reality. Either the government is unaware of the current reality, or the government is not being completely open with the electorate.

Brexit and Trump: Common Theme?

Commenced: June 24, 2016

I suggest there are two key points in common between the nomination of Donald Trump as the republican candidate, and the ‘Brexit’ vote in the United Kingdom: the failure of our economic system to deliver distribute of increased economic wealth a backlash against immigration Economics. The first point is that we have created a disconnect […]

Brexit: Litmus test, Labor vs Liberal

Commenced: July 1, 2016

Red or Blue? What will the litmus indicate in the Australian election just one week in the aftermath of the stunning ‘Brexit’ outcome? It could be argued that the ‘Brexit’ result will play to whichever party best manages to leverage the angle presented to them. The players and positions. Liberals Position: Strong and Steady. This […]

Syria: Why Assad did not use chemical weapons to kill Syrian citizens

Commenced: April 12, 2017

The proposal that Asad used chemical weapons in order to kill Syrians depends on the following steps, from the almost certain through steps with less and less certainty it was chemical weapons that were really to blame for deaths in the recent attack chemical weapons were in fact launched by forces supporting Assad, and not […]

Flatten the curve: Misleading?

Commenced: March 26, 2020

The phrase ‘flatten the curve’ has become popular, and perhaps, overused. The term has come to be associated with any strategy to manage Covid-19 that includes some measures to reduce the rate new infections. This page provides analysis of what different things can be done (at least in theory) to manage an outbreak, and the […]

Long Covid.

Commenced: February 14, 2021

I will collect information on ‘long covid’ and add to this page. These articles are the starting point, but I plan to add more. UK studies reveal long covid may cause brain damage. Long Covid: what we know so far . For many sufferers of long Covid, proving they are sick is a big part […]

Coronavirus: Facts, Myths and Surprises (March 13th)

Commenced: March 14, 2020

(go here for link to latest update) This is a collection of facts on the ‘novel’ coronavirus, together with some discussion on myths and surprises such as: how quickly it could all end we do not know the mortality rate how the world will probably forever changed the debunking and fact exploring on topic of […]

Might vs Right and Persuasion

Commenced: February 21, 2021

I have just started on this page, but will post updates over coming months. Updating my Facebook Dilemma thoughts today was a key driver to start this page.

The New Economics of Population Growth in a Finite world

Commenced: February 20, 2017

Summary: Most of us now live under ‘finite world economics’, where population growth results in a smaller share of wealth for each individual and the majority of the population, but increased revenues for Governments, nationwide businesses and multinationals who gain revenue from the entire population. The rich win, the rest suffer. The now finite World […]

Wuhan Coronavirus: The Real Threat Level

Commenced: January 27, 2020

I use the label ‘Wuhan Coronavirus’, but it is also described as ‘novel coronavirus’, and other names including perhaps confusingly just ‘coronavirus’. This is a disease that has managed to raise alert levels before even getting a unique name. What is a Coronavirus? First, The Good News Getting Infected? Now, The Bad News The Rate […]

Photons: What is electromagnetic radiation?

Commenced: September 1, 2020 Updated: September 1st, 2020

*2023-06-16 Fixed incomplete paragraph.

Radio waves, microwaves, millimetre waves, infra-red, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays… …… can seem so different, yet they are all electromagnetic radiation. All are composed of the same fundamental particle: the ‘photon’. All photons, travel at the ‘speed of light’ (or the ‘speed of photons?’), have the properties of a wave, and interact with […]

“driven too far by issues that he’s suffered”

Commenced: February 25, 2020

Are we really dealing with the root cause of domestic violence? It occurs to me that our society may itself also engage in ‘victim blaming’. The quote above refers to the tragic case of domestic violence that resulted in the death of an entire family. When I first heard that a police spokesman raised the […]

High Voltage DC for Australia.

Commenced: June 20, 2024 Updated: June 20th, 2020

2020 June 20 : First draft (push back date)

draft. The problem: Additional grid connections for renewables. New grid connections are needed for renewables, largely because the right location for wind and solar is often not same as the location of existing power generators. The Australian opposition has just launched a plan for nuclear power generators, mostly at the sites of existing coal powered […]

Solution: A quota system with equity?

Commenced: January 5, 2016

The ‘old boys network’ is real, and that is one key reason and many ethnic groups are unrepresented in positions of power and influence. 1: But why is this so? And 2: how do we change things?

Remdesivir: how does it change things?

Commenced: May 1, 2020

“The data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said at the White House during a meeting with President Donald Trump. CNN: April 29th It this time remdesivir is not yet FDA approved, but it will be ‘fast-tracked’. The announcement came in a letter […]

Covid-19: Vaccines and Cures

Commenced: April 7, 2020

Vaccines Vaccines represent a path to ‘herd immunity’, without all the trauma. People become immune by vaccination, not by catching the disease as part of the outbreak. Some vaccines result in a controlled mild case of the disease to create immunity, while other vaccines boost immunity in other ways, with no exposure to the actual […]

Coronavirus: Facts, Myths and Surprises (Q&A and toilet paper Update)

Commenced: March 18, 2020

(go here for prior update or here for all on covid-19) I have been asked a few questions…here they are with answers: why toilet paper? herd immunity why such different mortality rates more on ‘the end?’ No Real Data: How many infections distorted data collection as a policy we should can could collect real data, […]

Covid-19 Cases

Commenced: March 17, 2020

I plan to record snapshots of points in time where the epi/pandemic is up to at the those times. I will reference this data in updates. See the Q&A for why the data varies so much. January 28th Status March 17th Reports Country Norway Cases 1,322 (but gov states infections will be more) Fatalities 3(0.2%) […]

Covid-19: Tipping point 3?

Commenced: February 17, 2020

The growth of the ‘novel coronavirus’ (there was no official name at the time of my previous post) has been largely as projected in my previous post on the topic. At that time just over two weeks ago the virus had no official name, and while cases have grown from 4,000 to almost 70,000, these […]

Democrats: Self Sabotage?

Commenced: February 12, 2020

Just as it seems Pete Buttigieg may have won Iowa, I read that polls show many Americans believe the country is not ready for a gay president. There are even stories of a voter wishing to change their vote after learning that ‘Mayor Pete’ was gay. However, there has also been suggestions voters are also […]

Tribalism: Good, neutral or bad?

Commenced: October 3, 2017

My definition of tribalism: Part of the nature of humanity that leads us to support those from the group we identify with, over those from other groups. Most people watching an event at the Olympic games will support the contestant from their own country over those from other countries, even when they had not previously […]

Highlander Economics: Does it end with only one?

Commenced: January 31, 2017

Back in 1986, the movie Highlander was released. It was actually sufficiently successful to inspire four sequels, plus spin offs and even a reboot. Something in the original clearly stuck a chord, and the tagline and concept ‘in the end there can only be one’ could be part of this. The plot centres around a small group of […]

The alliance: Conservative politicians and ‘secondary terrorists’

Commenced: December 19, 2015

Two groups who benefit from the exact same outcomes. Whether by design or by accident, both thrive when their actions produce the exact same outcomes. How do we stop these groups working in harmony?

Israel Folau: Religious Persecution in 2019?

Commenced: May 14, 2019

An Australian rugby player, Israel Folau, faces being disqualified from his high profile professional career over his social media posts expressing his religious beliefs. The posts in question clearly qualify as hate speech, but it is unfair to judge Folau, as many have done, without a deeper understanding. Despite the posts, closer scrutiny reveals Israel […]

Tribalism, Racism and Despair: The xenophobia cycle

Commenced: September 23, 2016

It feels like the world is in the grip of a wave of xenophobia, and we just seem so far from a solution. From extremist Muslim terrorists through to the Donald Trump presidential campaign and the British ‘Brexit’ vote, the is a worldwide rise in at least the visibility of intolerance, if not intolerance itself. […]

The ‘perfect’ everyday bag: messenger bag, shoulder bag or backpack?

Commenced: May 7, 2017

I am on the hunt for the perfect bag to carry things with me, but is this a backpack, a messenger bag, or some hybrid of the two. The strongest candidates right now, are the peak design backpack, or the ‘urban disguise’ series from Thinktank. Peak design make a messenger bag the can work as […]

Population: just how did the ‘engine’ switch off

Commenced: May 1, 2016

I have commented several times on how the ‘engine for global population growth’ has been switched off. Most of us will have noticed how family sizes have dramatically reduced in recent generations even if we have not linked this to population growth. Many of us have stories of families just one or two generations ago […]

Is our wealth distribution system really broken?

Commenced: February 5, 2017

A first reaction could be: “ok, the people who voted for Donald Trump clearly feel it is broken, but I am not sure they are that smart”, or “I am doing ok, and I think the system is fair. Yes people like that Elon Musk character have ‘X’ times more than me but he is also […]

Inferno: How could we limit the population?

Commenced: October 18, 2016

There is an argument that we currently have more people on Earth than ideal, but even if you accept that we have an overpopulation problem, the idea that a sudden reduction in the population would solve the problem is both absurd, dangerous and damaging. The premise of the movie ‘Inferno’ is that a virus could […]

The Growth Age is Over

Commenced: May 31, 2016

The reasons the growth age is over are: the unprecedented population growth has come to an end there are no more ‘new worlds’ further improvements to travel time will have little impact on trade Unprecedented Population Growth is Over I have more detailed posts on this topic already, but in summary, the rate of population […]

Population: Why more than the current change is required.

Commenced: May 3, 2016

If you are not aware that the rate of population increase has slowed significantly, then you can refer to some of the pages in this section. The red line on graph here may also help. As you can see, although the rate of growth has dropped significantly, the global population does still continue to grow. […]

Secondary terrorism: the evolution of terrorism

Commenced: November 21, 2015

Terrorism has evolved to thrive in the environment we have created. Understanding that evolution is the first step in combating terrorism, the second is the change the environment we have created in which the terrorism thrives.

Sport and Gender Equality

Commenced: March 18, 2015

I was reading a news article today a comment on how Venus Williams has been a tireless campaigner for women in sport: It made me contemplate how equality in sport may actually be counter productive towards achieving gender equality overall.