Challenge Everything !
This site brings together a collection of articles outlining my worldview alongside excerpts from other authors, whose insights I respect.
Our greatest triumph was to recognise individual rights, responsibilities and aspirations within a cohesive community and thus to replace the primitive survival instincts we inherited from our forebears with ethics. Our downfall is our self-deceptive failure to recognise our limitations and the inherent environmental contradictions behind empty promises for more freedom, wealth and harmony.
Sadly our civilisation has evolved into an increasingly complex organism, as open power struggles have given way to the pursuit of power through deception. Rapid technological progress combined with soaring aggregate consumption and an unprecedented human population has served not only to placate the masses, but also to empower technocrats.
Nobody holds a monopoly over wisdom, but I hope my unusually detached perspective sheds light on the burning issues that challenge our species.
To comment on anything in this site, please select feedback at the bottom of each article and use the form provided.
Death toll in US/UK War on Iraq: 1,099,372
Crude oil: $81.99 per barrel
Recent Additions
- 10/02/2010: Oil Discovered Off the Falkland Islands? — Power Dynamics > Media, Propaganda and Free Speech
- Are all wars ultimately motivated by Greed? How very convenient, by mere coincidence around 60 billion barrels of oil has been discovered within 150 miles of the Falkland Islands. Before you conclude this will save our economy from the effects of peak oil, that's approximately 2.75 years of global ... (349 words) more »
- 10/01/2010: The Daily Motorist Mindset — Power Dynamics > Media, Propaganda and Free Speech
- The recent cold snap over much Western Europe with temperature lows not seen since infamous winter of 1963 has prompted Daily Mail columnists and their avid readers to deny any human effects on our eco-system. Yep, just because we are gripped by Arctic weather, does not mean 800 ... (214 words) more »
- 19/12/2009: BBC Drama Promotes Schizophrenia Myths — All in the Mind > Sociology
- TV programmes promote agendas behind of smokescreen of wishful thinking. Waterloo Road is no exception. Over the last three years Waterloo Road has sought to raise awareness about certain social issues with varying degrees of success and misinterpretation. Considering the programme's main appeal is to teenagers, it comes as ... (708 words) more »
- 20/07/2008: Reality Denial — Power Dynamics > Media, Propaganda and Free Speech
- When do we let our political judgements be swayed not by a rational analysis of the facts, but by self-interest, wishful thinking, superstition or just plain irrational prejudices? Whether rapid climate change is taking place and is caused by human activity is surely a matter of scientific analysis, ... (3048 words) more »
- 06/07/2008: Breeding Hatred — Power Dynamics > Media, Propaganda and Free Speech
- One of the biggest dilemmas for environmental realists is striking the right balance between the potential infringement of human rights required to power down to a more sustainable society on one hand, and the inevitable threat to human rights if we don't take action now. Let's call this ... (2287 words) more »
- 27/04/2008: Rethinking Autism - Assorted notes — All in the Mind > Sociology
- What is Asperger’s Anyway ?Were this personality type promoted as schizophrenia without psychosis, few parents or affected individuals would ever seek diagnosis, yet the history of the emergence of this social construct clearly demonstrates its origins in psychiatry. In little more than a decade Asperger’s has become so ... (10955 words) more »
- 20/04/2008: Peddling Misery - Letter to the Independent on Sunday — All in the Mind > Sociology
- I refer to your piece (IoS 20/04/08) about Depression Awareness Week. We all know Alastair Campbell sold his soul to the military-industrial complex by playing a key role in preparing public opinion for the Iraqi oil grab and acting as spin-doctor-in-chief for one of this country's most mendacious ... (330 words) more »
- 30/03/2008: Dental Health Scandal: Playing Politics with Genes — All in the Mind > Sociology
- Few empiricists would deny that both environmental and genetic factors determine subtle variations in the physical health, performance and behaviour of human beings. After repeatedly telling us that diet and lifestyle are largely to blame for the obesity epidemic, the popular media now inform that genetics plays a ... (2453 words) more »
- 01/12/2007: Knee Jerk Hysteria — Power Dynamics > Media, Propaganda and Free Speech
- Most Sudanese citizens of all religious affiliations are desperately poor. As in most other African countries early deaths through malnutrition and disease are so rife that many just count themselves lucky to be alive, let alone benefit from the wonders of Western consumerism, fun culture and post-modern enlightenment ... (912 words) more »
- 23/11/2007: Blaming the Messenger — Power Dynamics > Media, Propaganda and Free Speech
- Spiked Online are at it again, jumping at the chance to blame common atrocities on the spectre of green fascists. To the likes of Frank Füredi and Brendan O'Neill a green fascist is anyone who doesn't believe in their technocratic vision of unlimited human and material growth, if ... (3533 words) more »
- 16/11/2007: The Persuasion Industry — Power Dynamics > Media, Propaganda and Free Speech
- In one way or another a growing percentage of workers in the UK are engaged in various sectors of the persuasion industry. Call it new media, education, publishing, marketing, sales, customer relations, call centres, advertising, entertainment, legal services, lobbying, consulting, advice bureaux, research institutes, awareness raising charities, they ... (704 words) more »
- 15/11/2007: Blair concedes Iraq Lies — Power Dynamics > Media, Propaganda and Free Speech
- Information Clearing House recently republished extracts from the late Robin Cook's diaries, in which Blair concedes that Iraq could not strike the West or even nearby Israel with weapons of mass destruction. It also reveals how the initial scepticism of some New Labour Cabinet ministers in the run ... (348 words) more »