Dear Mr Opinion,

The Chinese are human beings. One Chinese is different from another Chinese. To make such a statement as "The Chinese only believe in two things: money and all things Chinese." is to deny their humanity. I don't think such a statement applies to any people, nation or ethnic group. I see no further point in discussing anything with you.

david f,

A society is not a group of individuals all doing their own thing as you seem to think.

I'm not the only one who has come to see the Chinese (by which I have always meant as the nation) as a threat to Australia.

But obviously you don't recognise it......... and neither does Andrew Forrest. Should we take it that you and Andrew Forrest think alike on this matter?

China's biggest export is environmental degradation and the increasing diaspora .....
Mr Opinion,
It's satisfying the insane Western consumer demand for commodities, by Westerners such as yourself !

individual,

It's looking like you and Andrew Forrest might have a lot in common.

Dear David f,

I'm not keen on the idea of ear-marking on the basis of potential impacts of loss or retention of individual or group biota as there is so much which has yet to be studied and therefore uncertainty warrants retention - and in any event I believe it is essential to do whatever it takes to retain all, to live and let live.
Who indeed are we, Homo, to adjudicate and judge?
What is our role in the Universe - surely it should be to preserve, to minimize the impacts of our dominance?

But then, how indeed to minimize destruction - how to convince the global masses to minimize footprints, to restrain individual and group material demands, to contain ambition and embark with determination on nurturing, preserving and appreciating now, for the benefit and admiration of future generations of humanity for millennia to come?

Already the climate deniers cry foul, the expansionists balk and the unconcerned masses breed - despite mass human displacement and despair and ever increasing conflicts over resources, territory or spurious cultural or religious aspirations for supremacy.

There is only one universal parasite on Earth - and it is endemic, epidemic and all-pervading - and an effective treatment, vaccine, amelioration or antidote is the paramount requirement of our age.

Not only must materialism be contained and personal endeavours optimized but human expansionism must be tethered.
How?
Must it take ever-intensifying catastrophic eruptions to awaken due and universal concern?
Must it be left to 'nature', with serial and frequent ever-more-deadly pandemics to reel-in the pestilence?
Or may it take mass shortage of resources and capacity to invoke global horrendous conflict and possibly nuclear holocaust - to finally 'get the message through'?
By which time of course the planet will lie in ruin?

Some reach for the stars and revere technological innovation as the 'saviour' of humanity's backside, but fail to recognise the limitations of such reliance, the inevitable destruction of natural systems which will follow, and the determination of some human elements aspiring to global dominance.

Predictions?

Dear Saltpetre,

Predictions?

I'll repeat part of what I wrote on page 5.

Reason, the supremacy of science, and the universal
brotherhood of humans are the pillars on which we can
built a better future.

However, if world population continues to grow rapidly,
if industrialization spreads around the world, if
resource depletion continues at an increasing rate and
all these things continue to happen - where is human society
headed?

The most optimistic answer to these questions would be - that
one way of another sweeping world changes await us.