Author Archives: Stuart Rees
Cruelty as policy in Australia and elsewhere: a short list of 2020s’ victims
Political cultures also foster sadism, justifying such behaviour by an alleged need to protect national security. And once specific population groups have been dehumanised, they become targets for cruelties.
Conspiracy Theorists, Free Speech and Australian Politicians
No need to be a wowser to insist that respect for truth cements civil society and that personal relationships, conduct in organizations and the implementation of governments’ policies depend on claims based on proven facts.
Trump thuggery exploited political fault lines
Fault lines beneath US politics explain the fragility of democracy and the invasion of the Capitol building. Like a thug armed with high explosives, President Trump exploited each weakness and lit the fuse to guarantee an explosion.
Assange decision welcome but sullied by legal chicanery
The British judge’s ruling that Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the United States is welcome, but it comes after the charade called justice in which British authorities held an unconvicted person in a top security prison and made his … Continue reading
Cancelling Brexit, the only remedy for a disastrous decision
No deal Brexit looms. Britain will be leaving the EU. Nationalist Prime Minister Boris Johnson promises the use of the Royal Navy to protect British fishing boats and to keep foreign vessels out, even though the EU emphasized inclusiveness. There’s … Continue reading
Replacing Cruelty to Refugees with Aspirations from 1948
If politicians re-learn the principles which dignified the rule-based order, launched in 1948 with passing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this should affect the chances that 2021 will not see a repeat of the cruelties of 2020.
Reveille for Timor, apology from Australia: Courage or Cowardice in Public Life
In common with other countries, Australian rejuvenation after the Covid pandemic depends not only on a vaccine, but also on a language for humanity, as in advocating the return of human rights principles and displays of courage in public life.
Morrison’s selective attitude to human rights
Article 1 of the UN Charter declares objectives to promote and encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. But the Morrison government ignores the abuses of its … Continue reading
Apologising to Shaoquett Moselmane – a touch of courage needed
Courage to say sorry to anyone wrongly offended is an invaluable quality in personal relations and in the cement which builds a dignified civil society, but courage and dignity is still absent in the treatment of NSW Labor MP Shaoquett … Continue reading
Slaughter in France, abusive power, the significance of satire
Slaughter in Paris and Nice by Islamist extremists raises the issue whether it is worth risking discussion of actions taken in the name of a religion, let alone re-asserting the value of satire.
Shaoquett Moselmane, Dan Oakes and Julian Assange: what price justice? What about the media?
Under the guise of a phenomenon called security, currently interpreted as ‘suspect any pro-China sentiment’, or ‘don’t reveal murder by US forces’, sinister theatrics play across Australia. These reveal Shaoquett Moselmane MP as one victim, ABC journalist Dan Oakes another, … Continue reading
Downer on Palestine: to the Manor Born
The powerful prey mercilessly on the vulnerable and the mainstream media let them get away with it.
P&I ISSUES in Stuart Rees’ Cruelty or Humanity , Bristol: Policy Press 2020
Regarded by international jurist Richard Falk as ‘A road map for humanity’ and by Noam Chomsky as ‘a wonderful guide to the challenges we face’, Stuart Rees’ ‘Cruelty or Humanity‘ identifies world-wide threats to freedom and democracy and displays the humanitarian … Continue reading
Overcoming Fatalism: Victoria, The Congo and Yemen
Scapegoating Victoria suggests indifference to global issues. A touch of internationalism could replace the hand wringing pity which has been compounded by partisan attacks on Premier Andrews.
Police state governance and the civil liberties of an MP
In disdain for human rights and to display power, governments deploy police forces to harass or arrest citizens, and then justify their actions with claims about the influence of foreign forces.And it’s happening right now in Australia.
Border openings, vaccine illusions and a log jam of proposals
Even before a Covid-19 vaccine arrives Coalition politicians, limited by their assumption there is no alternative to capitalism, are recommending the resurrection of Reagan and Thatcher policies to treat everyone and everything as a commodity.
Words matter – poets can change the World!
Responses to the mayhem caused by the destruction of Beirut will have much in common with the aftermath of Covid 19: long term recovery from devastation coupled to an opportunity to build societies so different from those which preceded the … Continue reading
Make peace not war, the language of military strategists
Politicians, defence strategists and media enthusiasts for the armed forces will use words from the Defence Strategic Update proposal to spend $270 billion on weapons for the military. Via the language of non-violence, it is also valuable to convey other … Continue reading
United States and Australia, so little in common ?
Australia identifies with and supports US democracy, yet values and dominant modes of thought in America have produced a form of governance so dysfunctional that Australians should question their assumptions about the two countries’ similarities.
Drop the xenophobia and Cold War tactics – respect Shaoquett Moselmane’s rights
A healthy civil and democratic society depends on citizens’ ability to weigh up diverse views, to re-frame issues and to consider the dangers when powerful people make claims without any obvious evidence.
A Politics of Deceit: Israel/US Annexation of Palestinian Lands
In response to Israel’s intention to annex up to 30% of the West Bank, respect for truth by all the parties involved, Israeli, Palestinian, US, European and Australian, has been replaced by calculations about the benefits of deceit.
Pathology of a Dictatorship: Lessons from the Philippines
Over six thousand kilometres to the north of Australia, a dangerous pandemic is spreading and needs to be contained. President Duterte of the Philippines is consolidating his dictatorship with an Anti-Terrorism Bill which defines terrorism so broadly that free speech … Continue reading
STUART REES. Authoritarian cultures in Hong Kong, the US and Australia.
Authoritarianism as a way to govern has been embraced in democracies and by dictators. It rests on assumptions that leaders know best, dissent should be suppressed, democracy derided, free speech stifled, control made effective by violence and secrecy.
STUART REES. Cowardice as a principle of foreign policy, what on earth are they thinking?
In relation to Israel’s decades of military occupation of Palestinian lands, a cowardice spreading pandemic has infected Australian politicians and public servants. Recent symptoms are evident in the Australian government’s submission to the International Criminal Court (ICC) that an investigation … Continue reading
STUART REES Character Assassination as Journalism & Politics
The notion common humanity presupposes regard for respect, dignity, tolerance, thoughtfulness, generosity and support for non-violence. Recent attacks against the Assistant President of the NSW Upper House, Moslem Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane, displayed none of those qualities.
STUART REES. Socialism, Language and Values for Post Corona World.
New words and phrases, lockdown, self-isolation, flattening the curve, have been coined to explain ways to cope with Covid-19. Language to promote the traits of a post corona society is also needed.
STUART REES An End To Global Capitalism
The raiding of supermarket shelves shows the influence of capitalism at its worst: competition, selfishness, exploitation by the successful raiders at the expense of those who could not compete or decided not to.
STUART REES.- Learning from a crisis.
Sickness and deaths from the corona virus present challenges to save lives, but could also prompt discussion about different ways to live.
STUART REES Copyright Laws: Corporate Greed, Legal Farce
The operation of Copyright Laws amounts to a giant con, a legal farce and an opportunity for corporate greed.
STUART REES ‘Trump’s ‘Peace Plan’, A Concoction of Humiliation, Cruelty, Illegality’
The world is being asked to believe that cruelties and illegalities amount to a feasible Trump plan for peace between Palestinians and Israelis.