I identify as an Australian, born and bred,
Paul1405,
So do millions of other hypocrites !

People are slowly coming to realise that our politicians and unelected puppeteers are wrecking our civilisation.

For instance, the demonstrations for freedom against Andrews are the biggest since 1967, when there were demonstrations against the hanging of Ronald Ryan.

People are demonstrating all over the world against the new totalitarianism and loss of freedoms.

Not so ttbn, utter rubbish, the Anti Vietnam War Moratorium of 1970 held in Melbourne is the largest protest rally ever in Australia.

Dear Graham,

I just need a clarification:
How come this "google" can flag a page on your web-site which is not theirs? What does this flag mean? What can they do to us?

Here, I stick my tongue at them, I am not afraid - what can they do to me?

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Dear Ttbn,

«"Technocratic elites are establishing themselves as our rulers ..." might have set Google alarm bells off. Google is one of the technocratic elites.»

So true, but isn't this "google" thing a product of Western culture?
Aren't advertisements the product of Western culture, this greed-driven attempt to tempt weak people to waste their hard-earned money on things they never intended to?

Being so, why would you be so much in love with Western culture?

It seems that with evil conglomerates like that, what's there to lose - we could even be better off at the mercy of governments... (themselves also, a Western-culture invention!). Wouldn't we be relatively better off with some government-run ad-free search engine and E-mail service, etc.?

I don't think western civilisation is in crisis.

But I do agree the easy days for the West are over.

It may well be that dissent over many issues today may lead to better debate to address some key issues.

Chris,

If there is no crisis, what is the reason for the loss of "easy days"?

What is your definition of easy? Isn't life in the West "easy" only because of Western mores? And, therefore, what we have and what we have earned is under threat because of a breakdown (crisis) in those mores? The alternative to the "ease" of democracy is the "hard" of totalitarianism. We haven't had the good life in the West though luck.