Gawd help us if people really believe this sort of stuff.

Sport, the opiate of the masses! And we are addicted to this opiate to the point where Government and the robber barons can get away with almost anything!

Including lack of action on climate change!

What would action look like? Well, the moth-balling of most thermal coal mine and the withdrawal of export licences for all coal, including metallurgical.

And the lifting of a manifestly moribund prohibition on, for peaceful purpose, CARBON FREE nuclear power! No not current conventional nuclear power, but rather MSR and thorium.

And with that not privatised or sold off, we could get energy prices below 3 cents PKWH!

Or even less if we use, walk away safe, MSR Technology to burn other folk's nuclear waste and Given MSR is deployed, in complete safety!

All the rollout costs and remained R+D, paid for with the billions we'd earn from supplying this burial service, just not before we've reprocessed in a couple of dozen time to remove the vast remaining energy quotient remaining! And with that SAFE, CLEAN, carbon-free power, POWER the nation for virtually free for well over a thousand years.

Use hat incredibly cheap energy to power massive deionisation dialysis desalination plants and put affordable water into our farms and arid heartland.

And with that power provision change have the world's high tech energy dependant industries queuing to relocate here!

Highly-paid quality jobs and full, employment, A far better social anchor and happiness index than sport!

Ditto real and relocatable action on climate change other nations would be absolutely obliged to follow! Absolutely!
Alan B.

Wow! At last, someone outside of Pierre Bourdieu has discovered social capital.

Buying votes with generous grants to selected sporting clubs, is not conducive to gender equality I have noticed.
Also, over-emphasis on surf clubs, misses some vital points.
Surfing is pretty much a high end yuppie leasure persuit, which again segregates the "every-man" from the crowd.
Ask; what percentage of Western Suburban youth belong to a surf club?

Maybe football clubs could pay their players less, and spread their own money around more generously.

Having been actively involved in a local boxing club, I know well the stigma attached to lesser sports.
Having been religated the swarms of mosquitoes, in the shadow of a multi million dollar sports complex our members could not afford, I know exactly how unequal are these suggestions by the three authors from the ivory tower.

Dan

I guarantee the three authors that a National Service would prove to be a social anchor with way more holding power !
We can not continue to expect improvement in the mentality of people if we continue to let indoctrination run wild !
Things are not so good because of the people in the say now !