Academia - Improving the world two words at a time

I used to be astonished at some of the nonsense that came from the Left-Wing, culture change, climate emergency, Alphabet people morons, but of late, I no longer become astonished, I simply accept that some of humanity is stark, raving, fucking mad. Like this lot.

Unfortunately, the academics that push this errant nonsense are those who are teaching our young people, the future leaders of our country.

We'll finish up with a country full of progressive morons who've let nutters tell them what to write and speak.

Everyone on the planet with half a brain knows that women are the gestational parents, that men are the non-gestational parents. But why the hell do we have to spell it out? Why can't we use "mother" and "father" like we have for most of the time the English language has existed?

How do the tenured, intelligence-challenged academics who dream up this nonsense think changing our language will solve poverty, homelessness, overpopulation in some parts, crime, shortages of food from global cooling, and the many other challenges facing humanity?

Maybe they don't think, which is why they come up with this nonsense.

Robin

Increasing wokeness leads to new jobs

When I saw this advertisement on a social media screen, I wondered what in hell a diversity and inclusion specialist does.

I have a background in human resources management and when I was working, we had the politically correct "equal opportunity", "inclusion" and other progressive woke-words thrust upon us.

Where I worked, for the Australian Government, it meant bending over backwards to find Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, but we usually ended up with Caucasian/Aborigines, many of whom had had a "white" upbringing and weren't by any measures disadvantaged. The truth was, most of the real disadvantaged people had limited education and weren't work ready.

But we had targets and targets have to be met.

The real black people were said to be disadvantaged. Billions of dollars annually were spent trying to "close the gap", but after many decades, differences still exist. To close the gap, the people for whom the term is used need to do something to help themselves, but few did, despite the cornucopia of opportunities available to them.

Most of the "indigenous" taking up the opportunities to this day are "white Aborigines". Want someone to pay for your university course - call on the Australian Government. 

So, when British Aerospace Engineering Systems hires its Diversity and Inclusion specialist, what will they do?

Will they spend their time making sure they have a blend of Alphabet people in as many of their business units as possible? Will the concept of the best person for the job be eroded by, "Oh, we need a Sudanese moslem in that position."

All I can say is thank goodness I've done my 51 years of work and I don't have to put up with this bullshit anymore.

Robin

Australia Day 2021

In January, 1788 the First Fleet arrived from England and as some see it, "invaded" Australia. Most of us see it as a settlement of prisoners and others who would make Australia into the envy of the world as it is today.

Most of us who live here are happy to have been born here or been given the opportunity to immigrate here.

The great landmass of Gondwanaland or Terra Australis as it was later to be known, could have been settled by the Dutch, Portugese, French, Japanese, or several different countries. But the English got here first.

The English did what they did everywhere. They built railway lines, settlements, planted crops, mined the earth, and set up systems of governance that worked well.

Unfortunately, as seemed the case with all advanced civilisations moving into territories inhabited by primitive people, many bad things were done on both sides. While we need to learn from the past mistakes of our forefathers, after 233 years, there are some who still live in the past and can't move on from the horrors that were committed.

Today we are the benefactors of the First Fleet. We have a relatively stable and efficient Westminster System of government. We speak the most sought-after language on the planet - English that has become the language of choice for business, industry and science across the world. Millions of people from other countries want to live here and many immigrate each year.

We feel safe in Australia. We feel confident. We feel happy and content.

I consider myself blessed to have been born a ninth-generation Australian. My first ancestor came from Arbroath in Scotland and was "transported" to Australia for stealing cheese. Others followed from England and my paternal grandmother from the United States of America.

My wife's ancestors came from Germany. So our children are a mix of many nationalities.

Today as with every other day, I'm so thankful to be an Australian.

Robin

PS: My father was born on Australia Day and as a child convinced me that the nation had a holiday for his birthday. By the time I'd turned 24 I knew it was bullshit!

The Truth About Happiness

When my almost 18 years old grandson Tory rang me he said that he was unhappy with his life and wished he could be happy like other people, meaning some of his cohorts. 

As it was one of the few times he seemed to have time to spare, I spent a long time talking to him about goal setting, happiness, how happiness is transient, and how we need to identify what makes us happy and do those things; provided they aren’t illegal, immoral or adversely impact on our neighbours. 

I spoke about internal locus of control, an identified psychological state of mind of people who believe they have control over what happens in their lives. Conversely, we discussed external locus of control, the opposite - everyone and everything else is to blame for what happens in our lives. 

We spoke of pessimists and optimists. I asked him why he didn’t ask his friends if they are happy and if so, why. That way, I said, he could do what they do and hopefully share in the happiness. However, as anyone over 18 should know, neither happiness nor unhappiness is a constant state (unless you’ve been smoking mood-altering substances, but we won’t go there). 

According to US celebrity media personality, Tucker Carlson, “There are a lot of ingredients in being happy: Dignity. Purpose. Self-control. Independence. Above all, deep relationships with other people.” 

I thought that was a good start to understanding happiness however, it’s reasonable to suggest that like me, other people have moments of happiness and unhappiness, and also longer periods between when we neither feel happy nor unhappy, but are content. 

We are simply idling along and at any time during that stasis, our state of mind could change immediately, for numerous reasons. Although he wouldn’t admit it, I sensed that my grandson’s drop in spirits was brought about by his impending year 12 exams. The fear that he hasn’t done enough work to get a good result, and the challenge of transitioning from school into a desired apprenticeship are foremost in his mind at present. I felt no different when I was leaving school over 50 years before him and you who are reading have doubtless shared the same experience. 

When I taught Emirati women in the United Arab Emirates, I used to tell them that every morning when they get out of bed, they can make a choice: choose to be happy or unhappy. The ball was in their court. I told my grandson the same thing. 

The truth is, that to think you can live life in a constant state of euphoria isn’t realistic. Neither does one wish to live in a constant state of depression. The answer is to foster a positive, optimistic outlook and find things to fill in your day that please you. Develop those deep, fulfilling relationships. Barring the medically identified reasons for depression, this should lead to a reasonably decent life.

Postscript: Now 19 years old and an apprentice electrician, grandson Tory is a much happier person than he was when I wrote this article.