21 February 2008
Parenting is an extremely important aspect of any society and the lives of future generations rely on effective parenting, unfortunately in a world of extreme liberalism parents have abandoned the traditional roles and value systems needed to raise healthy and functional children. In Western countries children are overindulged and allowed to have free reign which have consequences in our wider society and also for the individuals in their own lives. The concept of discipline and boundaries are seen as outdated and negative, and unnecessary in a child's upbringing. This situation must be reversed and values have to be reintroduced into parenting that include discipline, character-building and instilling appreciation for things in children.
Discipline and teaching children to understand that there are consequences for bad behaviour is another area that parents ignore. Parents are now afraid to say no to a child for fear of being unpopular and thus the child does not understand the concept of not getting what they want even when their behaviour in getting what they want is unacceptable. There are countless examples of children behaving badly we all know them, the boy that hits its mother because she won't give him his toy, the little girl that runs amok in the shops and won't sit still, and the parent that sits on the sideline unable to take control of the little terror that is only four years old. I often ask who's in charge here? Parents are so stupid that they even take this a step further by protecting there precious little darling from being disciplined even at school. An example is where a student gets in trouble for cheating yet the parent will stupidly intervene and say their child is innocent and accuse the teacher of actually picking on their child. Thus children now have the mentality of "I'll do what I want!!" regardless of how this will affect others and themselves. Parents need to actually intervene when the child is behaving badly and inflict some form of punishment. Children need to understand that there are consequences for bad behaviour.
Parents overprotect their children and do not allow them to experience hardship and do everything for them. Parents should make children do tasks that include everyday chores like keeping their rooms clean and helping out in the kitchen and garden. Parents should also encourage kids to get out into the local environment and explore their surroundings, instead parents are comfortable with children staying inside and being passively entertained, thus remaining safe from outside dangers. Parents need to realise the value of character building for their children and that hardships should be part of their life experience. Providing this in today's modern western society is difficult because everything is so safe and comfortable. However, any sort of scout group, brownie group, summer camps, cadetships or boot camp should definitely be something to be considered as something they should participate in whether they like it or not. In past times children of aristocratic families who had the means and free time to immediately satisfy every desire and who were thus in danger of becoming slothful and ignorant about hardship and childishly self centred a la your Hiltons were variously sent to strict boarding schools, military camps, or were at least educated and tested in the ways of character, knowledge and combat by private tutors.
Today parents focus on the feelings and desires of their offspring and overindulge on their every whim. Children are given the latest toys and gadgets including TV's, DVD players and computers. Parents think that by providing the material things that their children desire, they will be content and feel loved, while this is true to an extent they also need to be taught the value of working for things and not to expect everything to be given to them. Parents need to use a reward system based on good behaviour and hard work. An example would be to set tasks and reward children for achieving these tasks while not rewarding laziness, whether this is inside or outside the home.
The task of bringing children into this world and raising them is a significant one and it is important to recognise its profound social consequences. Parents need to establish a value system based on reward and punishment and ignore liberal notions of freedom and wellbeing for children regardless of their behaviour. Parents need to be bound by a set of roles, duties and responsibilities to guide the next generation in life and into adulthood.
By Nicaea
14 February 2008
The saying goes that Universities have become little more than degree factories. The focus certainly isn't on education. Like in the greater society, quality is tolerated if it's more profitable than the alternatives, but it rarely is. While there is a lot to be disappointed about, there are also great possibilities in these institutions.
For the uninitiated, here are some realisations to look forward to: Having a PhD doesn't entail any impressive qualities. Some of the intellectuals you encounter will seem borderline retarded. Some will not speak English. Some will be shining examples of where affirmative action gets us. Meanwhile, now you can listen to their tedious lectures on an ipod (progression). Mostly, you'll just endure a horde of dull liberals. Hence, if you plan to approach your work as a nihilist, dirty truths and all, then be prepared for some difficulties. If you are looking for the elite, prepare to look hard. They are there, but they are few.
Most students don't care. They are there to pass their units, please their family, and eventually get a higher paying job than they otherwise would have. The ideas mean nothing. They are quite capable of giving a presentation on the horrors of consumerism only to go shopping after class. While the majority fall into this category, some do not. So there is room to be effective and have some fun. Here are some suggestions:
- Universities have student newspapers. Write for them. You could have a series of opinion pieces throughout the year, or you could review quality albums or books. While many will detest your nihilist outlook (pseudonyms are helpful), others may be in tune with what you're saying, so include a contact email with your writing.
- Join some clubs/societies and get involved. Universities can seem like
lonely places but chances are that there'll be something appealing, whether this is a cultural, academic, political or spiritual. Better yet:
- Start a club/society. If there is something that interests you, such as metal or philosophy, and is not represented, go ahead. This is a great way of meeting like-minded people, whether the club becomes official or not.
- Host a radio show. Disrupt the stream of pop-rock; play some quality music. Take the opportunity to advertise worthwhile things on campus, such as the soon to be/new club.
- Posterise the place. People do read posters and fliers, particularly if they're eye-catching. While publicising the new club and your radio show, chuck up some aunus/anus/corrupt fliers, again with your contact email. This, coupled with your writing, and who knows, a nihilist society could be an addition to the campus.
- Work well, not constantly. Remember: procrastination is like masturbation - great at the time, but in the end you're just fucking yourself. When you sit down to study, study. You will feel much better if you have time for exercise, hobbies and socialising rather than constant school and work. Get into good habits quickly, and you'll become addicted to the peace of mind that comes with them.
- Evaluate. Let the faculty know when you come across a great teacher or subject, and let them know when you're disappointed. This could make a difference come time for promotions, renewal of contracts and reconsideration of units. (Do this at the end of semesters to avoid vengeful marks). Also be sure to send links to the appropriate sites to the bright academics.
- You will be too busy during semester to follow every appealing thing that arises. It happens to all of us: the busiest time of year and fascinating distractions abound while one becomes channel to a stream of creativity and ideas demanding execution. Write the gist of each disruption down. Come the break you’ll have a nice list to keep you busy, whether busy crossing things off or busy avoiding the whole thing.
Although there is a lot to fault in our
modern Universities, there is much promise. While the student voice is largely self-righteous and idiotic, you are in a position to make the alternatives heard. Combine the advice in this article and you will be on your way to changing the culture of your campus.
By Hut
11 February 2008
Peter Garrett, former frontman of Midnight Oil, a band that presented themselves as hardcore environmentalists throughout their career, continues to reveal his true colours as Environmental Minister of Australia by approving the dredging of Victoria's Port Phillip Bay - despite ongoing concerns over eco system degredation and toxic sediment dumping. Despite his portfolio being the environment and not the economy, he recently 'observed' that the economic benefits outweigh the environmental
costs: http://www.bluewedges.org/index.php?page=fact-sheet-1.
Since becoming environmental minister, he has approved the dredging of Port Phillip Bay, the pulp mill in Tasmania and been reletively quiet about Japan's 'scientific' whaling near Australian waters. Perhaps he feels that the benefits of his pumped up environmental stance when in the music industry, attracting more green conscious fans and ensuring inreased record sales, outweigh the costs his character is now incurring due to this relaxation of his standards.
"In the morning we will wake up and take to the air,
Look back at the planet-I'm glued to my chair;
Southern half is burning as we climb through the sky;
Sea birds softly falling, smoke way up high.
Sediment is flowing from river to sea;
Now where are the mighty nations, no lines to be seen;
An axe upon the broken ground, the sigh of the trees;
And it's floating in the ether, it brings me to my knees."
-Midnight oil, from the song 'Earth and Sun and Moon'
03 February 2008
A concrete forest, towering pillars of iron and steel in constant motion all working towards the ultimate goal of production. A wasteland where no life occurs but for occasional blades of grass or a tiny creature scurrying across the blackened dirt, and even these are lucky to escape certain death from toxic gases and chemicals polluting the landscape. This is the modern industrial landscape, supposedly the ultimate triumph of man over nature, where all human instincts are put aside for the common goal of mass production.
Being a rather strange child, I gazed on this grim sight with awe and reverence, to me it spoke of power, the ability of man to dominate and control, to bring the natural ecology to its knees for his own ends. All this appealed to me, I desired that power for myself, I wanted to see more of the natural landscape destroyed simply for the sake of complete and utter domination, the impulse to destroy came first. This may seem inhuman to some, but it was little more than typical teenage rebellion. The industrial landscape was aesthetically ugly and had an ominous atmosphere, matching my contrarian ideology, which aimed to violate what I perceived as 'acceptable' standards.
This is also the same reason I was drawn to heavy metal music, in which my taste became increasingly more extreme as I searched for the music that would truly tear down all that was considered 'acceptable' by the modern mentality. Eventually this led me to the
Dark Legions Archive, where I began to realise that 'extreme' underground metal was more than simply an anti-society movement, it had another, higher purpose. It didn't only want to destroy, it wanted to create something better. This caused me to rethink my infatuation with the industrial landscape which dominated large parts of my home city. I looked instead to nature, and began to realise that its beauty was infinitely more inspiring, that its harsh extremity was truly opposed to moralistic modernity, while the industrial landscape was simply a manifestation of the ugly truth about humanity; it was dominated by greed and an uncontrollable impulse to manipulate the landscape in a pathetic attempt to satisfy an insatiable hunger. It wasn't a symbol of man's power, but his abdication, his loss of self-discipline, and his ultimate failure.
At this point I became disillusioned with the idea of industrialisation and rejected the landscape as a pointless act of destruction. However, shortly after I started listening to death metal more than the romantic Norwegian black metal bands; I watched Edward Burtynsky's manufactured landscapes. He managed to capture, in an entirely objective fashion, the ugliest and most horrifying images of the industrial landscape around the world. Much like death metal, it forced the perceiver to face a reality they would rather ignore. Most modern people don't want to accept the price that the planet and certain people pay for their comfort, yet both of these art forms presented it in such a way that it became undeniable. I learned to view the industrial landscape in this way, as a symbol of the ugly nature of humanity, and a motivator to work against the modern mentality.
Now as I sit in the Adelaide hills and reflect on my home, looking past the bland and sheltered suburbs to the miles of factories and asphalt, I feel a similar awe at its sheer terror, but now it is accompanied by melancholy, and at times even a creeping dread that may be invoked by the greatest death metal bands. Looking beyond this, beyond the human incursion, I gaze out to the ocean, it seems to stretch on forever, dwarfing the insignificant human settlement, I realise that humanity may have passed the point of no return, but all those who do not accept its current path find hope here, in the endless wonder of the universe beyond ourselves.
By Moses
03 February 2008
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is reported to be planning a formal apology to Aboriginal people for the stolen generation fiasco, distancing himself from the indigenous policies of the Howard era. He possibly plans to use the opening of parliament on February 12 to achieve what he says is a necessary part of the process to achieve full reconciliation.
This sounds nice, initially: The past process of removing aboriginal children from their parents regrettably reflected an overly moralistic and paternal mind frame towards Aboriginals; that aboriginal culture would be better if it were in fact European culture. However it appears that the motive lying behind this simply symbolic apology (Rudd has firmly ruled out payment or any tangible compensation option) have not changed much from the motives previously underlying the removal of children from their own culture. Rudd has stated that he wants indigenous people to be "full participants" in our society, rather than marginalised Australians.
We simply ask whether becoming a full participant in modern globalised Australian society is the same as being an Aboriginal. We need to admit that Aboriginals require their own separate living space to enable them to live in their own communities and according to their OWN values and not ours: as in the end the later would result in the lowest common denominator remnants of both cultues. Does the government, in effect, want to control indigenous people again, but in a new form?
"We should be... proud of Aboriginal culture, which represents the oldest living continuing culture in human history" Mr Rudd said. Well then we hope that in addition to the apology and subsequent gestures, the government will give them the space and autonomy that they would logically require to continue this culture.
We should build a platform that recognises and laments the overly paternal attitudes of the past, but also ensure that the same attitudes are not carried on in a new form. What is a culture if it cannot decide on its own direction? All we ask readers is to bear this point in mind as the events unfold.
hink of it all - of the life that is! Study your friends and foes!
Study the past! And answer this: "Are these times better than those?" The life-long quarrel, the paltry spite, the sting of your poisoned pride! No matter who fell it were better to fight as they did when the world was wide.