@Joe
Posted by Loudmouth, Tuesday, 9 December 2014 10:36:22 PM
Yup, Australia really is (still) the lucky country.
I'm reminded of Russell Crowe's comment when accepting an Oscar ( I hope I have it right):
God bless America; God save the Queen; God protect New Zealand; and thank Christ for Australia.

Hl,

Interesting combination of countries there: all doing relatively well (no US, UK NZ or Australian refugees that I've heard of), and so far no obvious ISIS presence in any of them.

Is there any correlation, I wonder, between

* countries and movements demanding total obedience to a particular line and an ideology built on no-change, no-questioning, everything-is-already-written, we-have-all-the-answers, on the one hand, and

* countries with a fair amount of latitude in how people think and what they can do, and ideologies conceding how imperfect, changeable, unpredictable life can be.

Totalitarians of both Right and ..... well, Right, gravitate to the first. Liberals, in the political science sense, are happier with the second. Where do you stand, Hal, or do I need to ask ?

I suppose it's one reason why I can't stand those bloody Hobbit movies, where Ian McKellen can act like an absolute dictator, or sultan, or medieval king, whose word is law. Thank Christ he has been 'killed off' in this latest one.

Joe