Think Again

Jennifer and Jacques talk about the social malaises and illnesses that capitalism generates, and how corporations then profit from an array of 'remedies' like alcohol, gambling, junk food, pharmaceutical products, and a wide array of consumer products. Often these 'remedies' are addictive,leading to a deepening of ailments and problems. According to Gabor Mate, in his book The Myth of Normal, poli...

Jennifer and Jacques talk about three values that guide thinking and organising by Borderlands Cooperative and conversations on Think Again. These values are: (1) relating and dialogue, (2) diversity and difference, and (3) the practice and nature of inclusion. Firstly, they argue we need to recognise that we are relational beings - in ongoing relating with other people, systems, and the natural w...

Jennifer and Jacques talk about the worldwide trend toward government austerity measures, and cutbacks to the spending necessary for people's wellbeing. They compare Australia with the Nordic countries, with Australia being a much lower taxing country, and needing to invest considerably more on social goods like public housing, Centrelink payments, and high quality education for all. The good news...

Jennifer talks with Andrew Scott from the Australia Institute Nordic Policy Centre about how Finland manages its affairs so well in quite a few domains like wellbeing, education, equality, gender fairness, and corruption. Andrew discusses why we would be better off learning from Finland than going down the US road. Reference:Here is a link to the book Andrew co-edited, The Nordic Edge: Policy Poss...

Jennifer and Jacques revisit the notion of class, which seems to have come back into fashion and is more relevant than ever. Similarly, critiques of capitalism are becoming more common in public discourse, along with escalating crises like growing inequality, environmental devastation, and the undermining of democratic processes by concentrated wealth. References:Wolfgang Streeck (2014) How will c...

The mainstream media presents the war in Ukraine as a simple contest between goodies and baddies, or heroes and villians - with the good guys, led by the US and the west, portrayed as champions of democracy. However, this is far from the truth. Jennifer and Jacques draw on a range of sources to explain how the US actively works against democracy to ensure its own ongoing world dominance. To start...

Today we're talking about health – again;  Jacques has a conversation with Doctor Hung The Nguyen, a general practitioner who has been working in primary health for long years, applying a community development approach to primary health; Hung is also active in medical-cultural educational work and shares his learning based especially on his work in Aboriginal Controlled Health Services in the Nort...

Jennifer and Jacques talk about class - how it has gone out of fashion to talk about it since the 1950s, and especially since the 1980s with neoliberalism and the denial that there is serious wealth and income inequality. Nevertheless, the concept of class seems to be having a revival, with several books on the topic being recently released. It's also worth having a look at the recommended reading...

Jacques interviews David Legge, activist in the community and public health and environmental movements since the seventies. Together they recall the 1970s and 1980s when the  Community Development in Health (CDIH) in Victoria was an attempt at creating  a preventative approach to public and community health, linking Community Development theory and practice to the on-the-ground work in the public...

Jennifer interviews Mark Boulet from BehaviourWorks Australia at Monash University. Mark talks about the magnitude of the food waste problem world wide, and how over half of food waste happens at the household level. Mark talks about his multi-layered, whole system framework for understanding and addressing the problem. While BehaviourWorks  focuses on helping people with behaviour change, it take...

Jennifer and Jacques talk about 'freedom', starting with how the west pinched the notion from indigenous people in present-day Canada during the Enlightenment, some centuries ago. After discussing different concepts of freedom, they apply it to the workplace. Specifically, under hierarchical, command-and-control 'managerialism', are workers really free? - or are they forced to trade their freedom...

Jennifer talks with Mark Zirnsak from the Tax Justice Network Australia about wellbeing budgeting as championed by the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers. They discuss the questions: What is a wellbeing budget?, and To what extent is the latest federal budget a wellbeing budget? Aspects of the budget that come under scrutiny include tax breaks for the wealthy (known as Stage 3 tax cuts), and Centrelink payme...

Jacques and Jennifer continue discussion about the United Nations, and the best approach to building international peace and cooperation. Instead of earlier hopes and promises of the UN as a vehicle for international cooperation on a range of issues like human rights, ecology, peace, and health, the last thirty years have seen a resurgence of nationalism, populism, and violence. With this in mind,...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about the United Nations and its vital role in global matters relating to human rights, climate, economics, peace, and health and well-being. Referenceshttps://johnmenadue.com/b-52s-at-raaf-tindal-commits-australia-to-americas-nuclear-war-plans/https://johnmenadue.com/with-nuke-capable-b-52s-coming-albanese-is-now-the-new-deputy-sheriff/https://johnmenadue.com/extraordina...

Tony Moore talks about the Conviction Politics project which shares information and stories about the resistance and activism of convicts, who were exploited as free labour to build the colony. 3,600 convicts were political prisioners and they brought their movements for political change to Australia. This paved the way for reforms such as the right for working class people to vote, and the right...

Jennifer talks with Noongar author Claire G Coleman about the meaning of the death of the queen for Aboriginal people, reflecting on a range of views reported in the mainstream media.

Jennifer and Jacques discuss what's really going on with the conflicts in Ukraine and the Pacific, beyond the fog of one-sided propaganda. This includes US and NATO military expansionism, as well as some major economic interests in play. Take action: https://disruptlandforces.org/References:G W Engdahl 2022, Europe's energy armageddon: From Berlin and Brussels, not MoscowH Middleton 2022, Beware t...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about the outsourcing of things that are traditionally done by government on the people's behalf. This has escalated over the last few decades with the neoliberal idea that the market does everything best. The consequences are corrosion of our democracy, and the incapacity of our government to respond to urgent issues of the day like pandemics, fires and floods. Meanwhile...

We have heard about the long-term effects of COVID, the mental health effects especially on children and those living on their own and we heard A LOT about how COVID affected businesses and the economy… less, of course, about the humongous profits made by some businesses BECAUSE of the COVID crisis – as we showed in our programs on the billion dollar profits of the vaccine ‘inventors’ and producer...

Jacques and Jennifer compare ways of thinking about democratic participation in decision-making - one from the more radical and more critical 1960s (Arnstein's Ladder), and the other from the neo-liberal present (the IAP2 scale). They discuss how Arnstein's Ladder takes power into account, particularly the lack of it in certain groups. In contrast, the current IAP2 scale presents itself as politic...

Jennifer and Jacques talk about our formal system of government and the Australian Constitution and what it means for democracy - if anything.

Jennifer and Jacques talk about our formal system of government and the Australian Constitution and what it means for democracy - if anything. Ref:Howard Zinn speaking on Alternative Radio

As Australia seems to be readying itself to - again - have a go at becoming a Republic, Jacques interviews Sandy Biar, National Director of the Australian Republic Movement. The conversation winds through some of the purposes of the ARM, some reflections on why the last attempt at becoming a Republic went awry and some beginning discussions about how our democracy could become a more genuine one a...

As counter to the one-eyed, drumming up of war in the mainstream media, Jennifer and Jacques talk about peace. What would peace look like? What would it take? They talk about a common security where people have jobs and wages they can live on, social protections, and a fair sharing of our common wealth. Jacques and Jennifer also also look at 'sovereignty' - moving from territorial notions used to...

Jacques and Jennifer wonder why we're lock-stepping with the US down its war-mongering path - not just relating to policy, but having US military operations on our shores and in our waters, and having interchangeable defence hardware. It seems that we are all hoodwinked by US propaganda with its supposed higher moral ground - and our mainstream media have completely dropped the ball. To provide so...