Australia: Still Tilting at Windmills

People of the West tend to focus on developing exterior spaces whereas in the East interior spaces are of primary concern. When, in fact, equal attention to both would seem ideal. The difference in emphasis could be attributed to the arithmetic of population density. Overriding all this is the fact that human beings are essentially an amalgam of political, economic and spiritual sensibility. We’ve seen an erosion in all three. Corruption in the West has centered primarily around economic issues.

Every part of ourselves has become vulnerable to the virus of corruption. Currently the race is on to see which political region is most at risk. Will the West’s economic power collapse. Will the Middle East succumb to religious extremism? Or, will the Far East implode politically?

Current odds favor the West’s early demise. We draw the line after that because, after it’s happened, we will no longer be in the game. The world, however, will continue even after America and its allies have fallen. This will leave political and spiritual corruption (which are now working in tandem against the West) to fight it out. It is tempting to believe that, after one or the other has been defeated, the world will be one and the struggle will cease. This overlooks the fact that corruption will still haunt what remains.

If Islam remains, it will fracture under its own weight. Ditto, (Chinese) authoritarianism. Nature abhors singularity.

Australia, as the West is in general, stands divided. This is usually a good thing. It is not good, however, when corruption is on the move. It is difficult for the eye to see itself; to know the speck (or beam) within own center. Similarly, it is difficult for a nation to recognize the usurper within itself. I must assume that climate change was a big factor in the Australian elections. As the whole notion of climate change (and what to do about it) has been largely discredited in the most of the West, it must be regarded as the biblical beam in the eye of Australia’s overall political process.

Australia seems to lag behind in its recognition of what the fight is ultimately all about. Whereas in the West the debate now turns on brass tacks: socialism vs. freedom; Australia still appears to be tilting at the illusory windmill project within which the real issue lies buried.