Blogotariat

If the US is now our enemy, how do we defend ourselves?

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian  27th February 2025

All the talk now is of how we might defend ourselves without the US. But almost everyone with a voice in public life appears to be avoiding a much bigger and more troubling question: how we might defend ourselves against the US.

Trump’s assaults on governance could trigger systemic collapse. Here’s how it might happen, and how we can prepare.

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian  18th February 2025

Though we might find it hard to imagine, we cannot now rule it out: the possibility of systemic collapse in the United States. The degradation of federal government by Donald Trump and Elon Musk could trigger a series of converging and compounding crises, leading to social, financial and industrial failure.

What could $27 billion fund if Commonwealth-state transfers were adjusted to bring revenue and expenses for each level of government closer to balance?

The relationship between older, younger, and future Australians and our tax and spending priorities is based on an implicit generational bargain. Working age taxpayers support older and younger Australians and can expect the next generation to support them in the same way, and economic and social development will enable each successive generation to enjoy rising living standards. At the very least, we should not leave the next generation worse off.

Labour’s housing strategy makes a dysfunctional system bigger. We need systemic change.

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 26th January 2025

Build baby, build. That’s about the intellectual limit of the government’s housing strategy. Millions are under-housed, so let’s “bulldoze” the planning system and build more homes. But it’s not nearly so simple.

Trump’s presidency is a reversion to autocratic tyranny. Only concerted resistance can stop it from spreading.  

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian  19th January 2025

What if we held an Australian broadband crisis and nobody came? That’s pretty much what happened in Australian broadband policy over the decade to 2025. Governments, forecasters and the media can all learn lessons from this episode.

It is that time of year again: Time to look back at information technology in 2024 and make light of it. As with prior year-in-reviews, this one will be arranged like an award ceremony. There are three criteria for the dozen awards given out this year:• The award must be for something involving digital technology.• The key event must have taken place this year, 2024.• The award cannot take itself seriously. The event receiving attention must lend itself to sass, sarcasm, and ridicule. As a reminder, the awards are worth nothing. The only value is fifteen seconds of fleeting fame on this blog post.

It is that time of year again: Time to look back at information technology in 2024 and make light of it. As with prior year-in-reviews, this one will be arranged like an award ceremony. There are three criteria for the dozen awards given out this year:• The award must be for something involving digital technology.• The key event must have taken place this year, 2024.• The award cannot take itself seriously. The event receiving attention must lend itself to sass, sarcasm, and ridicule. As a reminder, the awards are worth nothing. The only value is fifteen seconds of fleeting fame on this blog post.