Sarah: The only person who has mentioned the word combat is you. Everyone else must be given the benefit of the doubt that they are seeking the truth.

You saw men behaving badly and they all came from the same background so you argued that it is the background that caused them to behave that way. At the same time you say that only some men who come from that background behave that way and that people who come from other backgrounds also behave badly. So it cannot be the background which is at fault. This kind of argument does not only require some tweaking it needs to be owned for what it is – bad logic and a wrong conclusion.

“Tony Abbott may have learnt some things if he had taken the Human Rights Commission’s report seriously rather than simply dismissing it.” Why do you need to add this opinion? The discussion had moved to your argument and not to Tony Abbott’s problems. It is like you are trying to water down your failings by pointing out that others have them as well. Others do have failings but we have affection mostly for those prepared to admit them.

It may also be a final snipe at Tony Abbott. Sniping is churlish. If we do not like what he does in power then we should do everything we can to get rid of him and we do have that power.

Phanto

If you scroll back through the past 10 days of comments on my article, you may see why I used the word "combat". I have been attacked, called a lefty (among other things) and I have had malicious motives attributed to me. It is interesting that most of those who initially attacked me have not engaged with my subsequent responses.

I have engaged respectfully with those, like you, who have made valid points. I am not trying to win an argument, but instead have a discussion and share our different views.

In terms of basic logic:
All men who did X came from Y background
Although not all men from Y background do X, it is worth considering whether Y background contributed to behaviour.

Tony Abbott's behaviour was core to the argument in my opinion piece. That is why I mentioned him. And I sincerely wish he had read the report and acted on its recommendations.

I will be back in my office on Tuesday, if you would like to continue this discussion.

Sarah
Well it takes two to engage in combat. If you are attacked then you are free to ignore those people. Perhaps they do not deserve the benefit of the doubt – only you can decide that.

“All men who did X came from Y background
Although not all men from Y background do X, it is worth considering whether Y background contributed to behaviour.”

You would not have to consider it for very long to realise that the number of people who come from Y background is rather small whist the number of people who do X is rather large. What reason do all those non-Y backgrounders have and could it be the same reason for Y backgrounders doing it?

Since it is a fairly common behaviour amongst all human beings regardless of background you would have to conclude that factors other than a privileged background are to blame. Why would Y- backgrounders have different reasons for bullying than those from non-privileged backgrounds since underneath both groups are still human beings? It just so happens that more Y-backgrounders make it in to politics or other positions of power. There are many people who have come from under-privileged backgrounds who have attained positions of power and become absolute tyrants.

You have not just considered your view as some kind of whim but have published it and invited discussion so presumably you think it is a good argument. Others and I have tried to show it is not a good argument nor a logical conclusion.

“Tony Abbott's behaviour was core to the argument in my opinion piece. That is why I mentioned him. And I sincerely wish he had read the report and acted on its recommendations.”

We all know that but as I said we were not discussing what Tony Abbott did any longer. We were discussing the logic of your argument which is equally flawed no matter which politician you are talking about. It was totally irrelevant to that discussion to tell us what you hoped Tony Abbott would have done.