What do you expect from someone who writes for that Murdoch propaganda rag, The Australian?

Leigh. The UN is not run by Third World despots. People like Suharto and Mugabe don't run the UN. It is stuffed up by the veto system that allows the USA, China, Britain, France and Russia to wreck any good that it may bring about. The UN runs some exellent development programmes and at least is a place in which folk like Chavez can tell the truth about folk like George Bush.

What bumper sticker do you have?
Are you clairvoyant that you an speak about the whole set of opinions a particular group of citizens are thing and doing in the rest of their lives?

Henry V111,

I suppose that your alias could mean you know all about despots. If ever there was a despot, old Henry was one.

I stand by what I say. We have had three third worlders "in charge" of the UN in a row; but I'm talking about staffing. The Third World has no hope of solving its problems, without or without our help, so these people (perhaps despots was not the right word) are beavering away moving as many 'refugees' around the world and into nice, safe Western billets. This is their way of 'solving' the problem, and the West has been suckered by it. It won't be too many more decades before the world is well out of kilter and totally unmanageable.

Seeing you mentioned China, I will say: definitely despotic. As for the US, Britain, France and Russia - well I have to say that your political bias might be showing a litle.

On the othere hand, we might have different ideas of despotsim, althuogh we agree on Suharto and Mugabe.

While sharing some of the ideas that this writer propounds, I didn't read the article with any particular feelings of empathy. In fact, I concluded that he was somewhat arrogant in what could only be his generalised assumptions of the motivations of others.

I don't think any means of raising consciousness about any issue is a waste of time. Anyone ever stuck in traffic with kids in the car will know that bumper stickers often lead to their introduction to issues of the day. I'm only too pleased when my own kids or their friends would read a sticker and ask, for example "What's Darfur?".

In fact I myself often learn things too. The issue of the proposed Woolies store in Maleny which caused such a furore some time ago was originally brought to my attention by a bumper sticker. Not to mention the fact that I gained new respect for my rather wimpy next-door neighbour when I learned, via the same medium, that in fact he was able to "do it" underwater!

it's an imperfect world, innit?

bumper stickers aren't quite useless, but a people without the fundamental tools of democracy can't do any more, for they have no power to do more. californians can lead the usa in global warming, because they are citizens with initiative power.

ozzies can't do anthing, as a nation, because they are subjects, not citizens. bumper stickers are the limit of their political power.

so don't laugh at bumper stickers, unless they're meant to be funny.

Good article, James.
Your knockers should read a publication called "Conspicuous Compassion" by Patrick West. It's an excellent account of how people overcome the need to actually do anything to correct the many problems facing the world by telling everyone how committed they are via a bumper sticker or a lapel ribbon, etc. In fact, of course, these people do absolutely Fanny Adams about these problems because that would actually take some effort and time on their part!