about myself

 

Many years ago..

 

Even as a young boy I was interested in society and what makes it tick.  I have also been interested in

what I now call civil justice.   I still recall defending Lindy Chamberlain to an elder relative, arguing that a dingo may well have taken Azaria.

 

I had a fortunate and happy childhood, being the middle (and in my eyes, the favourite ☺) child of 7 kids.

 

During most of my primary school years we lived on 20 acres - you know - couple of milking cows, smattering of kangaroos, bunch of chickens, with the odd wedge-tail picking off the chickens.

 

We weren't rich enough to keep up with the Jones, nor poor enough for a boy to care.  Perhaps it was for this reason that I have never thought wealth levelling was beneficial to the happiness of a society

 

It was at primary school that I was first thought about the issue of computers putting people out of work.

 

It was the start of the computer age and I would hear on the TV etc. how computers (or machinery) were taking peoples traditional jobs.

 

Eventually I came to the conclusion (and still hold) that there is no such thing as 100% job security.  Circumstances and the world changes, and humans have an incredible ability to adapt and improve.  This is what we owe the prosperity of our modern age.  If we hadn't adapted since the Middle Ages we would still be on that poverty level.    In hind-sight I think I found a true principle - the world evolves, if we can be flexible the chances are we can also progress.  Computers made people change jobs, sure; but they took those freed-up workers to make society richer.

 

 

Younger Days

 

After finishing Year 12, I was accepted into Art College studying Gold and Silversmith.  I admit that aside from the craft, 2 of the things I loved most about art college was meeting new people and hearing new ideas.

 

The benefit to mixing with people outside your normal sphere is that you are often hit with a new perspective - something totally out of the box of what had even entered your head.  This "collective wisdom" has always been an asset to democracy. 

 

New ideas, like I encountered in art theory classes, I have always had an open mind to.  This is not to say that after due consideration I don't reject views, yet I still like to think that I am liberally minded.

 

It was also during my college days that I further developed my love of design - not just design in the craft sense, but design in anything - vege gardening (ie permaculture), industrial design and ergonomics, and design in political systems (with check and balances).

 

It is the same with Australian governance.  The best government doesn't try to micro-manage every area of society - rather it sets up the over-all framework and let's each sphere function as it naturally does best.