Don’t post crap! Troppo readers were up in arms about Rafe Champion’s post on the Monckton and Dennis climate change debate. Rafe wants to know "how the warming lobby and Greens managed to inflate a possible temperature increase of a degree or two over the next century into the greatest moral challenge to humankind." Commenter Mr Denmore has a question of his own: "When did Club Troppo become a home for nut jobs?"
Menzies House: There’s room for (almost) everyone. "When people suggest to you that climate change is not a moral issue, they’re wrong" says coalition front bencher Malcolm Turnbull. "It is an intensely moral issue." Back in May Menzies House blogger Colin McKay posted pictures of sliced testicles and suggested Turnbull’s stance on climate change was motivated by a desire to get "his balls back" after being named in a multi-million dollar law suit. Commenter Sean hit back: "This is a conspiracy-theory nutjob article and I think the editors should read articles before they are published."
You Can’t Say That! Controversial German author Thilo Sarrazin will join other opponents of ‘political correctness’ at the Centre for Independent Studies’ next Big Ideas Forum. According to the Economist: "Mr Sarrazin’s argument is that the right sort of German women are having too few babies and that the wrong sort—Muslims and those with little education—are having too many. The result is not only that Germany’s population is shrinking, it is also getting dumber." But at Spiegel Online last year Reiner Klingholz explained why the debate over Sarrazin’s book is missing the point. If Germany is to avoid the demographic problems afflicting Japan, it needs to look to the immigration policies of countries like Australia and increase its intake of skilled migrants.
Is the pool room full? At the Economist’s Democracy in America blog Matt Steinglass wonders whether consumers are getting sick of buying new stuff. It’s an idea that appeals to Kim at Larvatus Prodeo. Over the past few months she’s been arguing that "having lots of stuff is losing its lustre."
Bogans of ancient Rome. On a recent trip to Rome’s Capitoline museum, Skepticlawyer stumbled across an exhibit of not particularly tasteful ancient Roman knick-knacks: "It’s so nice to know that other civilisations had their equivalent of bogans, chavs, neds… and the attendant tatt."
Abandoning the burbs? According to a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal, Generation Y aren’t interested in outer suburban McMansions. But after looking at data from the last Census Joel Kotkin disagrees. In fact there’s "a marked acceleration of movement not into cities but toward suburban and exurban locations."
Note: Since posting today’s Missing Link Friday I’ve made an edit to the paragraph about Thilo Sarrazin and political correctness. Instead of "Reiner Klingholz explained why Sarrazin is missing the point" I’ve substituted "Reiner Klingholz explained why the debate over Sarrazin’s book is missing the point".
I suppose the obvious response to that last point is that it seems that while Gen Y *want* the better transport/entertainment/job opportunities of inner suburban areas, for many there’s just not enough of that available for the budgets they have, so they have little choice but to settle for something rather less.
The demand is not there (again, house prices would seem to advertise that perfectly well) – it’s the supply that’s the problem, and I still believe the supply problem can largely be addressed with better government policy. OTOH, there’s no shortage of supply of ‘McMansions’ in outer suburbs, so there doesn’t seem to be much point worrying about them.
But again, I will say…that’s America…I want to see the same data for Australia. I think it will be some time before the trend of younger families moving away from cities as they settle down and have kids will stop entirely, but I’d be very surprised not to see a significant decrease in that trend over the coming decades (providing, of course, governments get their act together).
Aarrgh…I saw it just as clicked ‘Submit’ – delete ‘not’ after “The demand”!
You change your mind a lot about what is and is not, wiz ;)
Re the ‘Pool Room’ bit, or Kim’s take on it: pig’s arse, basically. People are overall feeling a bit poorer and so aren’t buying as much, soon (hopefully) they will feel a bit richer again and then, sure as the sun rises, will start spending again. In America, due to the particular way in which most Americans felt richer, this recovery in expectations might not happen or not nearly so fast. That is the exact point Dave Leonhardt (cited in the Democracy in America piece) is making.
Matt Steinglass adds a purely speculative (and bizarrely ignorant) gloss, in that he thinks that people no longer need new stuff because, in short, everything under the sun worth inventing already has been. Specifically, he cites plasma tvs and digital cameras as examples of products which have already been refined to the point where there is no point upgrading.
What he fails to do is ask himself if 20 years ago he even knew what those things were. If he had done that he would have probably deleted the last four or five paragraphs of his post.
Quite simply, contra Matt’s ahistorical blindness and Kim’s wishful thinking, nothing in the last couple of years has changed the fundamentals of human nature and the consumer economy rules the world, now and forever (we hope, since the alternatives are horrible).
Horrible for who I wonder Patrick? Though I do agree with you, I don’t foresee much of an end to the consumer economy anytime soon, just that we will continue to consume more services and less goods.
I suspect any disinterest in upgrading is more to do with a reaction to aggressive marketing techniques than it is to do with the technology itself.
There’s a difference between an economy that is structured to meet the demands of consumers, and a culture of unsustainable or wasteful consumption that has detrimental effects on such an economy, or systemic marketing techniques that foster such a culture.
As far as Im concerned it was Malcolm’s finest hour.
If he were leader it would be the first time I’d have voted lib, provided the policy platform that they’ve self evidently not yet produced, was rational but the zombies will drag him down because the right is determined to shove Tony Abbott, authoritarianism and austerity down our throats, whether we want it or not.
‘determined to shove Tony Abbott,….down our throats, whether we want it or not.’ a miracle – Rex Mossop lives!!
Can we please refer to Menzies House commenters as “Ming Wing Nuts”, MWN or even “MingNuts” … with my heartfelt (hmmm) apologies to generations of Monash Uni students?
OT: Burkas, bogans, burbs and crap
Can I recommend Burkas, Bogans, ‘Burbs and Bulldust?
What a load of rubbish. Like all the other concern trolls, you are pulling for Malcolm as leader because you know, like everyone else knows, that it’s Labor’s last, best hope for victory.
You guys are predictable and boring.
Old Yobbo, I’m not fussed with Gillard or Turnbull.
But I don’t expect Breivik’s hero commended to me as a serious proposition, when this a such a greivous insult to even my intelligence.
Put the cork back in the flagon and get to f—g bed.
Paul, you will never vote Liberal in your life, no matter who the leader is. You are just a concern troll.
More concerned, than concern. If the worst of your thesis were proven, at least I wouldn’t be a Breivikite. Even that’s better than some.
funny thought