And at the top of the problem list, is the political process, guided by another tantramonous collective, incapable of confronting tantramonous minorities.

Try working in a uni these days. You can be shouted down by an interest group (check Bob Carr and his well-funded Australia-China Research Centre that's funded by untold Chinese millions). You may also not be able to speak up against the victim groups (there are so many!).
Some good points here.

Wow. " .... only those who feel oppressed" ? Well, don't we all at some point ? Too old, too fat, left-handed, ginger, harassed by banks or debt-collectors, etc. So who isn't in a minority these days ?

But one corollary of not being able to speak if one hasn't been oppressed in a certain way, and "therefore can't understand" is that we can all abdicate from getting involved with that particular 'oppressed group" - we don't have to give a toss about their tribulations if we will never understand them.

But we have to resist constant efforts to create ever more interest groups, seeking to rent out those tribulations, i.e. to be paid somehow, if only in public outpourings of grief and solidarity, for the evils of an uncaring world. When people campaign that Black Lives Matter, we should expand it to "All Lives Matter". We should be concerned about ALL "deaths in custody", since they are in no way disproportionately Indigenous.

Yes, of course, where we find disproportionate incidences of abuse, neglect, oppression, violence, corruption and incompetence, then of course there should be complaints. If, as Philip Adams maintains, there is as much child neglect and domestic violence in Mosman or Toorak as there is in remote Indigenous 'communities', then it should be fearlessly exposed. There should be marches through Mosman and Toorak to denounce the unacceptably high levels of neglect, abuse and violence there NOW !

Joe

yep we need to be able to speak to all the potential children at risk of suicide because they are denied a mother or father. Since about 90% of men in prison are fatherless or at least disconnected from their fathers you would think we might learn something. Oh no its all about the 'suicide card' for those wanting to destroy the natural family. Just ask the promoters of unsafe schools and the abc. They could not be wrong could they.

Only a certain group - self-identified 'victims' "should be permitted" to write about themselves? Well, anybody should, and is, 'permitted' to write about anything and everything. Whether or not anybody else reads what they write or cares about it - well no permission or obligation exists there either. The clown referred to in this article is a flag bearer for Marxist oppression of the majority in aid of a pathetic minority.

Hello Michael Thompson.

I saw the words "Integrity and identity" on the articles main page which hooked my attention. I was going to track down the 'disconnected from reality' responses to my comments yesterday. I thought, well this might have some juice in it so I had a look.

When you say: "History is full of stories where leaders amongst the majority in society have fought for the rights of minority groups and won. It is a fact of life that some have more power than others and this is not necessarily a bad thing when power is used appropriately. Some leaders have used their power and influence for good and brought about real change."

This appears true to me. It was very well put.

I know 'writers' and 'fiction writers' especially are also 'artists'. Artists have doing their 'thing' since adam was a boy. They navel gaze and observe the human condition. Some 'artistic' comments are good and some are crap. It happens.

Never heard of 'Lionel Shriver' nor several walked out on her talk UNTIL I READ YOUR ARTICLE.

Didn't know this 'wow' moment was written up by Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Yen-Rong Wong & others, Brisbane Times, The Guardian, NYTs, SMH, twitter, bloggers, nor by yourself. I searched the news to find WTF are these people.

Now I have a question: WGAF and why? :)

Another: What difference does any of this make, and why on Earth is anyone, anywhere, yourself included, even bothering to talk about it?

I'm reminded of a well-known event in most parents lives. It's after noon their teenage son is still sleeping. They walk into their 'personal space' bedroom, open up the curtains - the comes light in, open the windows - the stink goes out - they say quite loudly - "WAKE UP, GET UP, AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL!"

Considering that truism, I put this to you and your readers Michael:

"In your own life, what would you like to see happen?"
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