Category: Kindness

Has neo-liberalism reached use-by date? Ayn Rand and the failure of philosophy

April 18, 2020

A good deal of what I’ve been seeing of late on social media – but also in mainstream journalism – revolves around the notion that the Covid-19 pandemic will be the trigger for a shift away from the neo-liberalism that has characterised leading western economic policies since the early 1980s. That might be right. Back … More Has neo-liberalism reached use-by date? Ayn Rand and the failure of philosophy

Will the pandemic show us the way to the future?

April 12, 2020

Social media, of late, has been abuzz with the expectation that one golden lining to the Covid-19 crisis will be a change of world paradigm. A shift away from the neo-liberalism that has fuelled the growth and wealth of corporates at the expense of those who actually produce the wealth, the labourers at the bottom … More Will the pandemic show us the way to the future?

Social media shaming is bullying – and must stop

December 14, 2015

One of the disturbing uses of social media these days appears to be ‘shaming’ – picking on strangers over some superficial issue the ‘shamers’ demonise, in ignorance of context and circumstance. The fact that ‘shaming’ is so judgemental underscores what it actually is – bullying. History, alas, tells us that this sort of behaviour is part of the human … More Social media shaming is bullying – and must stop

It doesn’t take much to be kind – if we pay attention

November 27, 2015

An elderly woman boarded the train I was riding the other day. The carriage was crowded, but someone immediately gave up his seat for her. Random acts of kindness like this are what should happen in the world. They don’t – not nearly often enough. A lot of the problem, I think, flows from the … More It doesn’t take much to be kind – if we pay attention

Lessons of Paris: how to use kindness to defeat humanity’s dark side

November 20, 2015

The news from Paris has horrified me on so many levels. Part of the horror flows from the way the dark side of human nature has been – once again – starkly revealed by last week’s terror attacks. If we look across the world today – and back through history – that darkness is also evident in many … More Lessons of Paris: how to use kindness to defeat humanity’s dark side

Helping some guy who was having a heart attack – and thoughts on our duty of care

May 18, 2014

Last Sunday my wife and I were out for a walk along the Hutt river, which flows into Wellington harbour. It was a pleasant autumn morning. And then we found someone lying at the bottom of the stop-bank. He looked derelict. He might have been sleeping, or maybe drunk or something. But he didn’t look right, so I ran … More Helping some guy who was having a heart attack – and thoughts on our duty of care

Of moral compass and our human duty of care

May 6, 2014

Even after nearly twenty years, I have not quite forgiven the producers of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, for a sequence filmed in the Savage Memorial above Auckland harbour: ‘The Wedding of Alcemene’, involving a cheesy 1990s-era CGI monster named Perfidia. Michael Joseph Savage was arguably New Zealand’s greatest Prime Minister. His government came to power … More Of moral compass and our human duty of care