More Addictions

Five, or is it six posts in one day. Must be a record.

Maybe writing is addictive.

An addiction is something that starts off as useful but if overused can become destructive both to the addict and those around him.

I'd forgotten chocolate, sugar, salt, work, sleeping pills and anxiety.

Yes, I think anxiety and work are coping mechanisms which can be very addictive.

Emotional Intelligence

The emotionally intelligent person is the new name for the oldest personality type in the history of humanity-the 'survivor' - the person who survives by systematic brown-nosing and manipulation.

the 'F' word -he is 'Flexible'

I am definitely emotional and possibly intelligent - but not emotionally intelligent.

No wonder people find English difficult to learn.

Africa, Addiction and Happiness

The average human is a collection of addictions

In spite of facing the most extreme hardships in life Africans remain addicted to happiness. Just look at them and observe them.

We are all addicted to something: nicotine, alcohol, routines, food, comfort, drugs, danger, sex, excitement, pain, even despair.

Africa was the cradle of civilisation.

The world might be a happier place if humans had not moved out of it.

Vive la difference

Truth is like the childrens' game:

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours!"

There is no absolute truth

Vive la difference!

Truth and children

Truth..?

For children what is important is that 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours'

We should be like children.

For children, the absolute truth is not important.

Karl Marx and the bureacratisation of life

Karl Marx has the last laugh.

The Post-Modern  21st century 'Bourgeois' suburban dweller  has harnessed the electronic power of modern technology to consolidate his own social power and status.

He uses e-mail, mobile phone, text messages etc to insulate himself from those he neglects and ignores and thus anaesthetises himself from any pangs of guilt he might feel about his abuse.

Like the Mobster or Drug Lord who just gives the orders, but never has to pull the trigger himself, he never has to see face to face the results of his neglect, exploitation or abuse.

The social relations of the 21st century Bourgeois, like other aspects of his life, have become almost entirely bureaucratized.

The only people he has to interact with face-to-face nowadays  are those in his inner "Bubble" who are absolutely necessary to his psychological survival.

This leaves him free to exploit and parasitise others with relative ease and casual cruelty.

Marx would  be chuckling in his grave

The User and the Loser

I know two people: one is a user and the other is a loser

The user is calculating and measured in everything she does. She has to control everyone and everything around her. In another context she would be a slaver. She weaves webs around people to ensnare them or manipulate them into furthering her agenda. She follows the rules when it suits her but crosses the line when necessary. Manipulation and deceit are the tools of her trade. You can hear it in her whining voice and inappropriate falling intonation when she gives you a command disguised as a question; and in the clattering of the crockery as she weaves her web in the kitchen sink. She thinks she is clever. She is an Atheist because she believes she is clever and doesn’t need the help of a supernatural entity. She loves herself. She loves food and plants but she is a hard-nosed bitch who eats like a ravenous horse when on her own.

She is afraid of the future.

The loser is more open but more cautious and obsessed with his past mistakes. He is an idealist who has never quite learned to live up to, nor give up, his ideals. He is an atheist at present because he does not believe that a ‘Good’ entity could create such a cruel thing as a human being. He loves and despises humanity. He loves birds and trees  but hates himself, sticks his finger in his ear and grunts like a pig when his throat itches no matter who is in the room.

He is afraid of the past and the future.

Both of them live in fear and neither of them live in the present for more than a few minutes.

Friendship and War

All is fair in friendship and war.

Fundamentalism

The Bourgeois of the social democracy is flawed in two ways: he is cautious, conservative and inward-looking; and he is totally without curiousity about-and feels no responsibility for-anyone outside the small collection of relatives and friends who inhabit his tiny biospheric 'Bubble'.

The former characteristic is a flaw which he shares with the religious fundamentalist. But the fundamentalist is superior in that he feels some responsibilty for his neighbours and for people in the wider world.

Ironically, the burgeoning of the electronic media has seen the strengthening of the Bourgeois in society by sealing him more tightly within his bubble. He is increasingly closed and complacent: he never has to physically come out of his bubble.

The contemporary Bourgeois is as emotionally disconnected from a friend in the same city as he is from a friend living on the other side of the planet.

There is no longer any need to interact face -to- face.

This is the atomised 'Anomie' (Durkheim first discussed) championed by the Bourgoisie who now live as role models in the suburbs of western social democracies all over the world.

The Bourgeois of the social democracy is flawed in two ways: he is cautious, very conservative and inward-looking; and he is totally without curiosity about, and hence feels no responsibility for anyone outside the tiny collection of relatives and friends who inhabit his little biospheric 'Bubble'.

The former characteristic is a flaw which he shares with the religious fundamentalist. Setting aside the truism that the fundamentalists are rapacious psychopaths and paedophiles, to give credit where it is due, the fundamentalist is superior in that he feels some responsibilty for his neighbours and for people in the wider world even if it is only to exploit and enslave them.

Ironically, the burgeoning of the electronic media has has seen the strengthening of the Bourgeois in society by allowing him to seal himself more tightly within his bubble. He uses the e-mail. phone and text message as an excuse NOT to communicate face to face with his neighbour. He is increasingly closed and complacent and never has to come out of his bubble.

The contemporary burgeois is as distant from a friend in the same city as he is from a friend living on the other side of the planet.

The Growth of the Counselling 'Industry'

Counseling has become another ‘Industry’ in the ‘Developed’ world. As the traditional role of the cleric has declined the role of the counselor has increased in status and the planet is now awash with a spawn of parasites that are out to make money at the expense of the most vulnerable in the population.

I am not just talking about private counselors here. The private counselor is an ugly form of parasite who preys on clients who can afford to pay. Each is as morally bankrupt as the other and each deserves the other..

No, I am talking about the small number of counselors who have remained with the Medicare system in Australia ( at their own expense)  They have the same opinion as I do of private counselors


I actually see counselors as much better than clerics as long as they are qualified to counsel.

But sadly, that is often not the case as there are so many “specializations’ in counseling that the unqualified counselor is sometimes not able to resist the chance to counsel someone who can’t tell his arse from his elbow anyway, even though, with respect to the particular problem the ‘client’ is presenting with, the counselor doesn’t know his arse from his elbow either!  This can often makes a bad situation worse.

But the main reason counselors fail is because they ‘cop out’ on their ‘clients’.

They provide a diagnosis of the problem. But in many cases the diagnosis is already known to the clients themselves. In many others the diagnosis is not understood by the client. In the former case why should clients waste time getting counselors to tell the client what they already know- in some reformulated format? In the latter case what is the point of telling the client anything?

Worse still, because of the threat of litigation, counselors are afraid to grab the bull by the horns and be proactive in their interventions.

They tell the client that it is entirely up to the client to choose a course of action, when in fact the client often requires precisely the encouragement offered by an active intervention (with the consent of the client of course) by the counselor to facilitate progress towards a solution.

This is all made more complicated by the legal confidentiality procedures which circumscribe the counselor’s options and which hamstring the counselor so he can achieve little without compromising the confidentiality of some party involved in the problem.

No! No! says the counselor it’s up to you or x or y, the two of you or three of you to decide…

Rubbish counselor-get your finger out! - We all already know what the problem is here- stop counting your money, roll up your sleeves, and assist us by mediating between the parties!

What is the counselor for if not to get involved, roll their sleeves up and engage with the parties involved?

To seek reasons to stay aloof is a cop-out. As the situation now stands the counselor gets paid whether he engages or not.

The result has been the spawning of a gigantic army of ‘Counselors’ who seem to know little more (often less) than their clients about life, and who literally feed off the trials and tribulations of the latter.

Finally, counsellors should be obliged to be counselled themselves before counselling their clients. So often, the counselor brings his own 'baggage' to the sessions and confuses it with the client's baggage.

At each session the counselor should be obliged by his professional association to show the certificate showing that he himself is being counselled by another counsellor.

It should be mandatory practice that a copy of the certificate should be provided to the client so that he/she can check up that the certification is valid.

Relationships

In most relationships people are incapable of meeting each other's needs even when they try to do so with energy and good intention.

And when people do manage to meet each others needs it is always at the expense of a third party.

Sharing the Bottle,China and Africa

This is a wonderful quote from a UK newspaper article on the life of African migrants in China.

"It's easier than with Europeans," adds Rufito. "In China we live like in Africa. You have your bottle – you share it with others. In Europe? They do not share the bottle."

I'd like to think Rufito is talking about a metaphorical bottle.

Perhaps not-maybe he meant it both literally and metaphorically.

He's right, anyway.

If you want my pennyworth, South and Central America are in the African camp and Australia and North America are like Europe.

2010 Phantom of the Opera

Life is like playing 'Blind Man's Buff' where the subject is spun round with a mask over his eyes and he has to catch everyone in the room.

We are all like the masked subject in that we can't see the weaknesses in our character which are making us unhappy

There are several ways the mask can be removed and our weaknesses revealed:

Through meditation and reflection. This is rare   and almost impossible for most of us I think. Perhaps some religious people can do it-Prophets, Saints and and such like.

Through organised religion-the devout may find a limited form of happiness in this way

Through falling in love with someone-the beloved may remove the mask gently without threatening the subject.

Friends may remove the mask as long as they are not too frank or direct with the subject. The unmasking has to be carried out with subtlety and care or the friendship will founder.

Removing the the mask directly ends the game and is dangerous as the subject feels threatened. This is the equivalent of telling someone directly their faults. It ends in argument and the subject regards the unmasker as an enemy. Very few people can or will accept direct unmasking either verbally or in written form.I certainly can't!

Have you seen Phantom of the Opera? It illustrates this process perfectly and beautifully!

Good writing, literature or drama is a subtle and gentle way of removing the mask. The subject may reflect and attempt to address his weaknesses.

Bad writing or poor drama removes our mask too directly, or not at all, and is threatening.The subject feels uncomfortable and hostile to the unmasker(s).

A lot of my writing is too direct and therefore threatening- the message needs to be clear but softened with humour or beauty.

Update on a disturbing new phenomenon

This is an update on "A disturbing phenomenon"

I know a lady in Australia who almost has it all.

She is a sound and competent professional. She is a very good person -more than fulfilling her family responsibilities.

She 'donates' to disasters around the world.

But what is most interesting is that she ignores people close to her who are in trouble and are in just as much need as disaster victims.

She is not the only one I know who does this. I know several people like her. They are almost a post - modern 'type'.

It is a disturbing phenomenon:


She enjoys good health; a big house; a big garden; financial security; a job she likes doing; job security; time with her children; even time with her grandchildren; She has a vibrant social life.

What more could she want?



The only thing she doesn't have is a partner-someone to share it all with.

This drives her to distraction. It haunts her . She pursues and stalks potential partners and tries to enslave them. The more she pursues them-the further they run from her.


Nothing original about what I’m going to say –it is biblical in its simplicity: she wants it all. She doesn't realise that everything you get in life has to be paid for with something else. You can't have everything. If she were prepared to trade off even one of the things on the above list of blessings -she might get the partner and be happy.



But no, she won't trade off anything.


So she's lonely and unhappy.


And her loneliness makes her angry and very manipulative.


And her potential suitors keep running like hell from her.


The media constantly tell us that we can have it all if we only we have this or that, or do this or that.

Not only can we have it all-we deserve it all!

Such arrogance and greed.

It is a major difference between people in the the 'Developed' world and people in 'Developing' countries.

In developing countries people don't expect to have it all.

That is why they are not so angry.

They don't want everything.

She is unhappy and I know the reason -she doesn''t.

But of course I can't tell her-she would take it very badly indeed.

Some people who know me also probably know why I am unhappy -but they won't tell me either -because they think I might take it badly.

That is what Writing and Art is for-to tell us what is wrong with us in a way which is acceptable to us.


Some people tell me I'm judgemental.

But that is what writers do -you can't write without being judgemental - it is what we do.

Job Applications and Interviews

Job Applications and Interviews - Change in the Rules for the New Millennium.

The job application and interview process has been reviewed.

The following is a list of infringements and the consequences they will attract for

Interviewers (Not applicants)

Before the Interview

For the following infringements:

Not acknowledging application received.

Asking for the age of the applicant on the application form

Not providing refreshment before the interview.

Not thanking the interviewee personally for taking the time to attend the interview.

Not being shown around the workplace before the interview

Using generic “Dear Candidate” type terms in the application correspondence.
(And not using the personal name of the candidate)

Asking the applicant to waste his time transcribing information to an application form instead of requesting a Curriculum Vitae.

These infringements will attract the penalty of ninety-nine lashes of the whip by the first ninety-nine applicants drawn at random from the applications list who did not receive an acknowledgement of their application from the Employer.

But for the following infringements before the interview there are more serious consequences:

Not offering to pay travel expenses to the applicant.

Not being given the E-mail contact addresses of other members of staff so that Interviewees can get a clear picture of what it is like to work in the organization.

Not sending to the applicant the profile of the interviewer with the following details of the INTERVIEWER: age, gender, format of interview, qualifications and experience to all interviewees by E-mail before an interview (This information must be received by the applicant within a reasonable period of time so that the applicant can decide if the interviewer is qualified to interview him).

Not sending to the applicant the exact questions which will be asked at interview..(These should constitute at least 75 percent of the total number of questions asked -the other 25% of questions can be unknown to the applicant at interview).




The Consequences will be:


Burial up to the chest in a hole in the ground followed by stoning to death by overqualified and/or candidates too poor to pay the expenses





During the interview:

Here are the new regulations governing the interview process itself:
The following infringements:

Not providing water or something to drink in the interview

The use of an officious self-important tone by the interviewer.

Inappropriate and/or provocative dress by the interviewer (such as low cut dress)


Will attract the consequence of:

99 lashes of the whip -one by each rejected applicant who didn’t make it to interview.
also for

Clearly not having read the curriculum Vitae of the interviewee

Having more than one interviewer at an interview. (Others can watch tapes afterwards)

Not video-taping the interview

Not allowing experienced job interviewees to talk at length about their job experiences


Not allowing the applicant to ask two personal questions to the interviewer. (So that the interviewee can make an assessment of the interviewer as a person)

these are all infringements deemed to be serious enough to attract the maximum penalty:

Burial up to the chest in a hole in the ground followed by stoning to death.






After the Interview


After the interview, the interviewer will be given a deadline by which time he must have informed the applicant of the result of the interview.
Failure to comply will result in an electric drill being applied to the employer’s knee-cap.

Interviewees who are unsuccessful at interview will be given free access to legal services at the expense of the employer. The appeals tribunal will consist of 99 persons who have been unemployed for six months or more, and one interviewer.

Fools and Abattoirs

Fools and Abattoirs

Teaching English language in Australia in the new millennium

Preamble:

A brief glance at history shows us that the default Modus Operandi of human beings is to use, exploit and enslave each other as rapidly and as efficiently as possible. I acknowledge that in the developed countries we have eliminated some of the more overtly grotesque forms of exploitation such as slavery and stoning people to death.

But after teaching at Universities and language colleges in Australia I am beginning to wonder if there has really been any progress at all.

I should warn the reader that this piece is not for the person of a conservative political outlook. I make no apology for this. Politics is war and if you are from the conservative side of politics you are my enemy.  You will find nothing in this piece that interests you and quite a lot which will infuriate you.

The Conservative in my eyes is either ignorant or selfish and quite often both. He is a parasite who uses his advantage to suck the blood of his disadvantaged neighbor. Why should he expect civility form his political opponents? Life has no meaning without its ethical dimension. The Conservative lives in an ethical  vacuum.  With the possible exception of the very young adult who is not experienced enough to know any better I see no point in discussing issues with self-confessed Conservatives-because they are extremist who are unlikely  to change their outlook. I have never met a conservative who has changed  his outlook to become a humanitarian. 
  

One of the great weaknesses of democracy is that we have to be civil to conservatives. This civility is a Trojan horse invented by the Conservative movement to undermine the left and centre left outlook which is based on common sense and compassion. I see no point in being civil to them as it only increases their sense of legitimacy. I certainly don’t want to do that. The Conservative is illegitimate and should be an outlaw in society. So.. if you are of conservative outlook in political or social matters, this is the time for you to stop reading.…

Ass far as I am concerned the only place the conservative and I will we will ever meet is when circumstances oblige me to do it on the battlefields of life. For me, it will not be pleasant  and never by choice. I try  to avoid them.

From my observations over the past twenty years in English Language teaching I have become convinced that the Adlerian basic urge to power and enslavement of others is vigorously  manifest  in more insidious  forms  in our so-called  ‘Advanced societies’.

I know a landlady who would rather have her tenant unlock six locks in six doors every time he leaves his abode rather than give him the key to the one external door from his office which would allow him to leave the premises through a side door.

What can be the reason for such humbug? The reason for this is to keep track of him: she can hear his comings and goings-and hence control his movements!

Why does she do it? Because she can–she enjoys the power. Adler would be chuckling.

We can see parallels everywhere and anywhere: the control of women in ‘Shari a’ law derived from the Koran is an extreme example of the abuse of power. 

Both are about control. It is just a matter of degree. The point I am making  is that it is not just men who want to control- the women are at it too. In fact, we're all at it-the whole human race. By the way, my poor tenant often ends up staying in the house all day because he is afraid his landlady will have a go at him for leaving one of the six doors unlocked. It is too much trouble to leave the house!

Nomenclature

The following  article is based on an analysis of  an English Language workplace (University) I have worked at in Adelaide in 2010 although I draw on observations from other workplaces as well

All the English Language College workplaces in Australia stinkl. They reek from aroma of fish, meat, onions and pickles and curry. Mixed in with this is bad breath and human sweat. The pungent mix is seasoned with the sauces derived from the power games played in the staffroom. This is a heady cocktail and somewhere in it there is also the unmistakable stench of stale blood derived from the needs and deeds of senior managers and their stooges who like the Aztec Emperors, need a daily supply of blood from human sacrifice. Even the constant washing of the floors does not seem to remove this stench.

Senior managers? For brevity let us subsume them under one or two titles. My suggestions for the female would be ‘The Black Widow’ (The female Spider which eats her lover after sex) This nickname seems more appropriate because in Australia I have noticed that most females with power seem to wear black these days.

For the males –‘Aztec Emperor’ might do. They too demand human blood sacrifice on a daily basis to display how powerful they are. Because most of the senior managers in English Language schools seem to be women in my experience, for convenience I will subsume all references to senior managers henceforth under the name of ‘The Black Widow’. This is not to be sexist –as the male ‘Emperor’ behaves in exactly the same way. Nor should it imply that the black widow can’t be Caucasian or blond–I have known at least one who is - and it is my fervent hope some day that she reads this piece and recognizes herself in it. Pigs may fly!

The blood and power which the Black widow needs is obtained directly by bullying and sacking teachers or more indirectly through her blood-sucking vampires in middle-management - if the widow happens to be bloated with blood and too tired to be bothered. Blood for the widow is often obtained with the collusion of ordinary teachers (see below) and even students in some Colleges..

Blood seems to get everyone’s adrenalin flowing in the Language College-including even the ordinary teacher or soldier.

As the ordinary teacher has no power he may have to enjoy it vicariously through involving himself in the bloodletting of his Masters and Mistresses

I have observed all of the actors closely in this tragic-comedy over the past twenty years

In the rest of this piece, which I dedicate to posterity (because I suspect few will ever read it until after I am dead) I will explore the psyche of the ordinary teacher and the devious and blood-thirsty tactics he uses in the expression of his vicarious lust for power.

Oh...but you are exaggerating!

 I do hear the reader protesting.

No.... indeed I am not!

On the surface Australian teachers appear very friendly. (‘Over-friendly’ I have heard some foreign commentators describe it).  I tend to agree with them; there is a certain false ‘chumminess and over familiarity’ about meeting your colleagues as a newcomer on the first day in the staffroom.

I prefer the word ‘Abattoir’ than staffroom because these places appear to me to be indeed full of or almost dead animals hanging on a line of meat hooks, shouting at each other, as they move slowly and inexorably toward their slaughter.

I was going to say packed together like sardines in a tin because of the smell but this metaphor is not dynamic enough as it doesn’t give a sense of the panic and bedlam of the modern ‘Open Plan’ staffroom in a language college. ‘Open Plan’ offices are cheaper for the company. People seem to shout at each other in open plan workplaces as if they were in offices anyway.

It reminds me more of a slaughterhouse than an educational establishment. An image comes to mind of Enniskillen in Ireland where I used to visit my grandmother as a child. Although she lived about a mile from the pig abattoir you could hear the pigs screeching and squealing in their death throws before they were killed. As a child I never made the connection between the screeching and the bacon I was putting into my mouth for breakfast. Nor was I to know that for much of my adult career I would be working in such an environment as a teacher.

It is not just the open plan of staffroom, the squeals and screeches of your colleagues -some of them final words of colleagues before they ‘exit’ this world forever,  it is the unforgettable stench of stale blood in the place. It just will not go away.

Types of Colleagues

When you arrive bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on your first day as a teacher at an abattoir your colleagues are so friendly at the beginning. Everybody is helpful! For the first few days it just seems like it is too good to be true!

It is only after you’ve have been there for a few months and you’re in the process of being (or you’ve just been) shafted that you realize what they are really like...

There are different types of colleague: most fit into my classification–not perfectly perhaps but close enough. There are exceptions of course–no classification of this nature can be comprehensive. I will look at the types presently but first I have to mention thetwo characteristics generic to all colleagues:

Compliance and ruthlessness. (Note the similarity with the ‘Shari a’ context  here)

Every lowly teacher is compliant and ruthless because he is covering his ass. This is because the money -i.e. the students rule.  Most of the students will be a delight to teach and have quite reasonable expectations. That is the reason most of us are in Language teaching after all.  But not all students are like this. If the teacher has to meet the student expectations of spoiled, stupid or lazy students then he/she has no choice but to do it. If he doesn’t one of the spoiled, stupid or lazy students will dob him in to the widow.

With regard to colleagues the same applies. Put very simply -if you don’t ‘obey’ (or do what is expected of you) a colleague who considers himself  to be more powerful than you  will mistreat you and may throw you to the attack dogs of the widow...

I’m not talking about Kandahar here- I’m talking about Australian males and females from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. In other words I’m talking about “nice, educated people with degrees' –not drug addicts or mob bosses from the “underbelly” of the city.

This may surprise you. It has certainly surprised me.

But then I’m a ‘Fool’ (See below for more details):

Let’s look at the types of teachers and their Modus Operandi  for gaining power over each other starting with the more common types:

The Peacocks and Peahens: (‘The Noisy Dobbers’)

These are very common. Their method of asserting power over the colleague–particularly the newcomer is as follows:

They avoid the newcomer and other colleagues whom they regard as insignificant (Most of them, anyway) and deliberately don’t make eye contact, greet them or return greetings.

They expect colleagues, especially newcomers, to pay public homage to them by expecting the newcomer to adopt submissive behaviors such as laughing at their jokes-and laughing with the Peacocks and Peahens at other insignificants - especially other newcomers.

Peacocks expect to be fawned over by newcomers - if the latter are female. Peahens expect to be entertained and flirted with by male newcomers.

They chatter noisily with their friends in the abattoir  studiously and deliberately excluding the newcomer from their conversation in order to disempower and isolate him.

From now on I am going to use the pronoun ‘him’ generically for ‘him and her’ - for brevity-not because I am sexist. (You probably cannot guess my own gender. If you think you can, then you are a better man than I am).

P's make themselves unapproachable by pretending to be busy when they are around the newcomer or insignificant colleague.

They make an ostentatious show of being buddies with the boss when the newcomer or insignificant colleagues can see them

Through their propensity to dob in their colleagues they gain privileges such as getting the classes they want and the classrooms they want at the expense of newcomers and other insignificant colleagues.

If the newcomer asks a question they pretend not to hear, or show their status by replying in an embarrassingly brusque loud voice-anything which will put down and humiliate the newcomer. This display reinforces their superior status to everyone as Peacock or Peahen.

They talk about the newcomer to each other behind the newcomer’s back.

Last, but not least , they enthusiastically ‘dob’ the newcomer in to the boss by making comments which put the newcomer in a negative light such as “She is late to class” or “she finishes class early” or “a student complained to me that her class isn’t interesting” etc.

Peacocks and Peahens are very common and are relatively easy to spot because of the size of their ego; the loudness of their voice, the rudeness of their tone, their insincerity and their general arrogance.

An alert newcomer will probably figure out pretty quickly which colleagues are the peacocks and peahens.

If he doesn’t he won’t last more than a couple of weeks.

The Snakes (The Quiet Dobbers)

This person also avoids the newcomer but may smile at him/her when passing in order to lull him into a false sense of security-the newcomer may  think that he is being welcomed.

They keep to themselves but have a select group of other snakes with whom they confide and consort, plot and conspire...

They will engage in conversation with the newcomer but only about the weather. They will do the bare minimum to assist newcomers and are not helpful when asked a question.

They will relay any negative information or opinions they have about the newcomer to the vampires or the widow as quickly as possible in order to gain ‘Brownie Points’.

They withhold important information from the newcomer in order to make adaptation and survival  more difficult for them.

They do the same to any ‘target’ (someone who is currently in the sights of the Black widow and marked for sacrifice)

Their eyes and demeanor are shifty and their smile is insincere.

They appear to be busy but are often lazy: they get away with it through inveigling themselves into the good books of the widow by supplying a steady flow of information by dobbing in other colleagues regularly but discreetly.

The snake is the second most common type of teacher in the abattoir. They vicariously enjoy the ritual bloodletting in the abattoir while quietly congratulating themselves on being ‘survivors’.

There is a variety of snake who is quiet and appears to be friendly. He/she appears helpful but is really only curious about the newcomer and wants to gather information about him in order to dob him in. If push comes to shove the friendly snake will be just as ruthless as the Peacocks and the other snakes.

The snake is passive/aggressive and sadistic.

All varieties of snake may see the widow socially.

Snakes are totally compliant. They will push their grandmother off the bus with enthusiasm if instructed to do so by the widow or a vampire.

They are ambitious and want to become vampires and ultimately widows themselves...

The Chickens (The Non-entities)

This is the third largest group;

These colleagues have nothing to do with the newcomer or most colleagues. Period.

They have been at the Abattoir for ages and have formed their own little faction.

They are usually married and their spouse is earning a lot of money so that they don’t really need the teaching job. They are thus protected from the attentions of the widow and the vampires because they don’t really fear their power.

They are mostly female and talk for most of the time about mortgages, carpets, wallpaper, house extensions and erections.

They have been teaching the same course for years and are bored to tears with it...

The newcomer is invisible to the chicken and so they are relatively harmless to the newcomer as long as the latter doesn’t offer to teach the chicken's course or ask for her classroom.

Chickens are more plentiful in some colleges than others and  they will all run a mile from the sight of blood. If you are a target or sacked you will never be spoken to again by a chicken–even outside the college. It is a life sentence.

Most chickens will not know your name when you are sacked–even after several years at the college.

Chickens are relatively harmless if you just leave them alone.

Most colleagues fall into one of these three categories but there are two other types much less frequently encountered but nonetheless worth mentioning as they are fascinating in their own right.

The Ostriches (The Brilliant Pragmatists)

Ostriches are workaholics:

1. This type is the genuinely dedicated teacher focused on the job and the students. The ostrich is talented, industrious, resourceful and above all-tactful with everyone from the widow to the students- to a fault. The ostrich can be of either sex. He is the pillar of the college and totally dependable to do the right thing most of the time and the wrong thing at the right time-when required to by the widow-even going against his conscience. He is the pillar of the establishment-the proverbial twentieth first century “company man” whose qualities of devotion and loyalty to the company are ruthlessly exploited by the widow and the vampires.

2. The ostrich has a convivial personality and is also often genuinely helpful-not just to the newcomer but to everyone else. The ostrich doesn’t really discriminate - as long he is helping someone and feeling useful - the ostrich is happy.

3. He may develop friendships with colleagues (even the newcomer) outside the college. The friendships may not be profound because there are many taboo topics such as talking negatively about the widow and the vampires, money, oral sex or using expletives, but the friendships are genuine and sincere as far as they go-even if limited by such taboos.

4. The ostrich gets on well with everybody in the college but paradoxically doesn’t socialize much in the abattoir as he is too busy working. He is a busy-bee as well as being an ostrich.

5. Although the ostrich will generally not dob you in to the widow, when push comes to shove and a target comes under pressure from the widow or the vampires the ostrich has a habit of disappearing from the abattoir and finding a place to bury his head in the sand until the bloodletting is over.

6. The ostrich believes he is indispensable and he thinks himself more important to the organization than any target could ever be. The ostrich may not be conscious of this weakness- as it is often a subconscious delusion-but woe-be-tied anyone who tries to expose the delusion because the ostrich will not take kindly to it: in fact the ostrich can be just as ruthless as any Aztec Emperor! The Ostrich believes he must survive not just because he needs the job–but because he believes the job (company) needs him!

The newcomer must be very wary of ostriches because should his self-delusion ever be revealed to himself by anyone, the ostrich can just as be vicious and dangerous to the newcomer as than any other animal in the abattoir.

7. The newcomer should sense danger when he notices the ostrich has gone walkabout. This may mean the newcomer has become an active target. (Ostriches react in this way out of fear of being judged guilty by association with the newcomer.).

8. They are usually comfortably off financially and don’t really rely on the teaching job to fill their stomachs, although they may delude themselves that they do.

9. Ostriches may befriend a victim only to turn round and blame the victim for becoming a target. The Ostrich has the perfect solution for this: to work harder and bury his head even deeper in the sand and in his work. In this way he avoidsbeing a witness to any bloodletting and  feeling any guilt for going walkabout when a colleague has become a target.. The Ostrich is often a very popular figure with colleagues and is always in favor with the widow and the vampires as he is psychologically incapable of insubordination.

10. When Ostriches are obliged to nail their colors to the mast he will ultimately desert the target, whether the target deserves it or not.

11. Although helpful and kind the ostriches are closed in the sense that they are incurious about their colleagues and things outside of their own little ‘world’ (which consists of their family and their job defined very narrowly). The broader happenings of the world do not engage their interest: they believe-probably quite correctly-that they need no-one else to survive in their little world. Their propensity to overwork is the secret of their power –and gives them a sense of control over most colleagues –including their superiors. They use this power ruthlessly, if necessary, to secure what they need to survive.

12. Ostriches are brilliant at what they do and pragmatic. Their incapacity to be insubordinate unfortunately means they will prostitute themselves for dubious causes. For the Ostrich, the end always justifies the means. They do not do anything adventurous in life because they are afraid to take major risks and do anything unconventional. They live to perpetuate themselves and their genes.

And finally:

‘The Fools’ (My own Modus Operandi)

Whereas peacocks, peahens, snakes, chickens and ostriches have usually only ever worked in English language teaching colleges both the ostrich and the fool are usually refugees from the primary or secondary teaching system.  After years of abuse by students, parents and invertebrate managers they have sought the sanctuary of teaching foreigners because the latter are more polite and better behaved than Australians.

The fool, like the ostrich, is dedicated to his work and if handled with sensitivity by his managers can be a very productive, industrious and creative employee. However, if he believes that he is not being treated well he can be a pain in the ass.

He has generally limited financial resources because he has led a nomadic lifestyle wandering from job to job hoping in vain to find a job where he is treated as a professional by his students, colleagues, managers parents and other stakeholders in the education racket.

I have encountered two types of fool, both of which have a pretty short half-life: in fact the fool doesn’t have even a half of a life - he doesn’t have much of a life at all.

There is the rare ‘permanent’ fool who has been in the college for a year or two (but for obvious reasons if you think about it – never any longer than that). The permanent fool is dedicated but cynical about the bloodletting and power games of his colleagues in the abattoir. His life is nomadic and he is weary.

Then there is the temporary fool. All newcomers are temporary fools until such time as they turn into a permanent fool if they haven’t  turned into some other animal.

Both are idealists who take their jobs too seriously – although the fool, to be fair to him, does not take it as seriously as the ostrich. The fool takes himself too seriously-and much more seriously than the other animals -even- the ostrich. However, no-one takes the fool seriously.

The permanent fool is first and foremost a subversive–he generally starts off believing in the system where he works but realizes after about six months that the system and company are either corrupt or inept or both and that the College is not run for the benefit of the students but for the widow, the vampires, all the other animals in the Abattoir, the more wealthy students and Rupert Murdoch-in approximately that order. At this point the fool decides whether to adapt or die.

The fool is similar in some ways to the ostrich but whereas the latter is more conventional the former is more radical and a danger to the system. Above all he is a danger to himself.

The permanent fool is wary of the newcomer as experience tells him that most newcomers end up as peacocks, peahens, snakes, chickens, ostriches, vampires or widows.

He will therefore be generally polite, but guarded, at first to the newcomer: However, after he makes a fairly quick judgment, and if he thinks the newcomer is another potential fool he will be open and helpful to the newcomer as indeed he is to most other colleagues. This openness will lead to the downfall of the fool. If he shows his hand too soon, he leaves himself exposed to everyone. The fool is pitiful really- as he has he never learned to stop trusting people..

The permanent fool will eagerly expose himself to similar or potential fools in the abattoir (and the occasional ostrich). His tendency to overexpose is often misinterpreted as a sign of weakness by others and his colleagues–even the ostriches despise him for this weakness

Because he is too open with everyone and gives himself away for the subversive that he is, when he eventually lets himself or someone else down, he becomes a target. The end is inevitable.  

Because he has limited financial resources, the fool becomes manically depressed. He will often desperately try to save himself by manipulating the few friends he has or try to morally blackmail them. In the end, he loses his job and his friends.

In contrast to the ostrich the fool is open but at the same time secretive. He is never really popular in the abattoir with his colleagues. His independence makes him unpopular with the vampires and the black widow.

The fool is doomed from the moment the black widow with her vampires move in for the kill

When the deed has been done and his blood has been spilt everyone scatters in all directions– the ostriches head for the sand. The blood from the execution is cleared up by the vampires.

Like the ostrich and all the other animals in the abattoir, the fool never seems to learn from his mistakes. He keeps coming back for more.

Time and again he tries to appeal in vain to the ‘conscience’ of his colleagues –especially in matters which relate to issues of equity: such as the bullying or sacking of a colleague. But he doesn’t realize that most of his colleagues are P's and chickens and have consciences which have atrophied –or don’t have them at all. He never learns the lesson that if push comes to shove all of his colleagues –even the ostriches- will save themselves at the expense of the fool.

In the unlikely circumstance that he encounters another fool like himself for obvious reasons neither  will stay very long in any  particular abattoir.

The fool therefore leads a lonely, nomadic life searching for his "Nirvana" - a good job-that is to say a job with other fools like him running it.

I 'm still looking for one.

Epilogue:

After resigning or being fired the fool becomes more and more depressed as none of his colleagues ever make contact with him again. It is death by a hundred silences.

The fool spends the rest of his life in exile and much of it in solitary confinement- like Napoleon but without the entourage.

In exile, the fool has enough time to write his memoirs which he knows very few will ever read.

The fool dies slowly, despising all, despised by all and despising himself.

He is ignored to death.  Former colleagues, friends and relatives all blame him for being the cause of his own demise. It is death by a hundred silences silences–not stones. (Back to Shari a Law again!)

I think it would be more humane to bury him up to his neck in a hole and stone him to death with a hundred stones

There are of course odds and sods who don’t really fit into any of the categories above but most colleagues I have met fit into one or other category pretty well..

Can you recognize yourself  in the abattoir?

Thank you Ha-Joon chang

At last something I can read in the media which is common sensical and gives me pleasure.

Everybody knows it now!

Thank you, Ha-Joon Chang!


"Acceptance of inequality rests on assumptions that 'free markets' make us all richer in the end. Growth figures tell it differently"

Ha-Joon Chang has asaid it on Tuesday August 31 2010 in ' The Guardian' at last.

"...Virtually no politician challenges a basic, erroneous premise that inequality is a price worth paying for a more efficient market system that enriches us all. The simplistic, free-market view of the Thatcher-Major era said equality of opportunity is all we need for a fair society. If no one had their market participation blocked, the result, however unfair it may look to some, should be accepted as fair. Today many people, both on the left and the right, recognise that this is not enough. We can accept the outcome of a competitive process as fair only when the participants have equality in basic capabilities; the fact that no one is allowed to have a head start does not make the race fair if some contestants have only one leg...."


Thank you Ha-Joon for the first bit of common sense I have read in the a newspaper for fifty years.

The Fiefdom of the Don

The Fiefdom of the Don
The Bourgeois 'Conservative' waits and waits: emotionally numb, he sleepwalks through life in a  trance leaving a trail of debris from destructive relationships:shunning, shaming and snuffing out all possibility of intimate human transactions he has to clutch in desperation for relief from’ his own anomie.

‘Righteous Indignation’ is the refuge of the guilty –the hypocrite who is afraid his selfishness will be will be exposed to others, but especially to himself”.The righteously indignant person always requires victims. He is a serial victimizer. I am just a little indignant myself about the media.

In short:

Citizens should keep their guard up and be wary of being patronized  by condescending self-important opinion peddlers such as chat-show hosts, radio reporters newspaper journalists, reporters and other vampires.

On the Media and Elections in a Democracy:

In Australia, the media “manage” every election so that it is horse race with a close finish. They do this by suggestion, insinuation, innuendo, manipulation and fear. They don’t care who wins really (although they usually try and make the conservative party if forced to choose).

They do this without scruple because it serves their own selfish interests. By appealing to the basest instincts of their readers they write anything which will make people ultimately purchase their newspapers or boost their program ratings whether it be Radio, TV, Newspaper or internet article. Sensationalizing trivial events and trivializing important issues, intimidating people with questions and exploiting people’s fears are the most common methods used to make customers/listeners /readers purchase their ‘product’.

In the past three decades the media have facilitated the aim of corporations to turn life into a “business’ in which people see each other only terms of their usefulness to each other. If I am no use to you then why should I bother talking to you and vice versa.

The media strategy is firstly to mentally paralyze the gullible citizen so that he is dependent on them for information and entertainment. Then they parasitize him by taking his money. This process is similar to how a tarantula or a vampire kills it’s victims.

How do the media manipulate the elections?

In many ways, but mostly by “suggestion” to vote for the winner! They specialize in leading the bleating sheep (‘the so-called swinging voter’) like a lamb to the slaughter (The swinging voter is a person who is unable to make his mind up how to vote).

Once enticed into their mental abattoir the swinging voter is ‘told’ the likely result of the election as predicted by polls or other vampires in the media (reporters, talkback radio hosts or TV chat show hosts) - all of whom willingly prostitute themselves to media magnates such as Rupert Murdoch and  other unscrupulous, arrogant, power-hungry, corporate bullies who all, coincidentally seem to wear black these days-just like tarantulas and vampires.

In his desperate need to be connected to escape his anomie and be a member of a group, the gullible and naïve ‘swinger’ then tries to vote for the winner according to the results of the latest opinion poll.

The media amplify people’s insecurities through the exacerbation of fear, clash, conflict, sexual titillation, racism, lust for power, jealousy, envy and material status. Above all they try to appease the lust of the customer to be entertained and divert him from his mundane existence working like a slave at some mundane  job 

In other contexts this process of brainwashing by suggestion of the population is rightfully called manipulation and even corruption. George Orwell did it  in ‘1984’. But in the west it is all politically correct and justified in the name of 'Freedom of the Press', 'Choice' or even 'Democracy! (Don’t laugh!)

The Media

The media give the citizen permission, encourage them  even, to be selfish, vote for themselves  and forget everyone else

This is the situation as it stands but things are going to change:

As a consequence with respect to the media and elections the following measures will be taken when I assume power:

All newspapers , radio programs TV programs will carry a health warning : which says “Listening , Reading or Watching this will damage your health and that of every other human being on the planet” and/or “Commercial media is self-serving and kills people”

Only investigative reporting and in-depth documentaries will be published thenceforth. News and pseudo-news (That is news or information in the disguised as entertainment will cease immediately. 95 percent of all newspapers, radio programs and chat shows will therefore cease to be published or be aired forthwith. All retrenched mangers form media outlets employees will have to sign on the dole. These managers, chat show hosts, reporters  will all have to appear on the internet and publically confess to being on the dole wearing 'Dunce' hats so people can sneer and whisper to each other about them.

Thenceforth, all entertainment such as drama and movies will be on DVD or 'Sting-ray disk' or whatever it is called in the future.

There will no longer be daily news programs or newspapers. This is because, as we all know, there is not enough real news to be published on a daily basis. All media organs outlets will publish weekly thenceforth. People can get relief from mundane jobs and by washing the dishes by watching cricket.

24 hour news channels will be abolished for ever

International news will only be published if it presents other people and places in a positive light.

Media employees-presenters, anchors and political lackeys and hacks who repeat themselves, or repeat what their program anchor says while on air – hence  boring their audiences into a state of numbness- will have their tongue cut out.

Reporters or chat show interviewers who try to put words into interviewees mouths with loaded questions will have a thesaurus stuffed into their mouth to shut them up...

Reporters and interviewers who attempt to answer their own questions by suggestion or putting words in the mouth of the interviewee will be drilled through the right knee cap.

Reporters who attempt to make an interview about themselves rather than the interviewee will also be drilled in the knee-cap-the other one if necessary.

Reporters, anchors and media producers who mention a homicide, disaster, kidnapping, fire, earthquake, hurricane, mudslide or any disaster human or natural, which doesn’t occur within a ten mile radius of the listener will be wrenched from their office or home by a citizen and whipped mercilessly until they confess.

Reporters who start with irritating questions such as “How much do you think…. or “To what extent do you think…?

will be sprayed with insect repellent until they have to be hospitalized.

Newsreaders and TV and Radio ‘anchors’ who speak in a self –important tone of voice will have their larynx cut out.

Reporters who ask facile and provocative questions to defenseless people ( such as the BBC World Service bint on the radio who has just asked a defenceless and poverty-stricken Malawian tobacco farmer how he feels about growing a crop which “harms people’s health”)

will be gathered together weekly and collectively wiped out with a nerve agent..

The whole process will be recorded on the internet as an incentive to reporters to lift their game...

Elections

In elections Media proprietors such as Rupert Murdoch will have minus one hundred thousand votes each.

People who are seen speaking to media owners will be arrested and lose their tongues slowly and painfully. 

The media will be banned from publishing opinion polls one month before an election

One week before any election the media will be closed down entirely and the populace given a holiday at the expense of Rupert Murdoch and the other owners of media outlets. People will watch cricket continuously for a week at Murdoch’s expense on large Television screens installed all over the world.

People who have completed a secondary education and vote for a conservative candidate will have their hair removed. They will also be disenfranchised temporarily for one election and sent for a course of  re-education to my home.

People who have completed a tertiary education and vote conservative will be tortured, forced to make a confession and their hands cut-off so that they can never vote again.

Families who earn less than 50,000 a year as a couple will have fifty votes each in election. This is affirmative action to compensate these people from the negligence they have experienced at the hands of the smug and complacent conservative capitalist, property-owning , share-holders, bond buyers and other conservative prostitutes who inhabit the leafy groves of the suburbs of the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and Adelaide

Newspapers editors who publish opinion polls will be drilled through both knee-caps.

Reporters who interview Islamofascists will be stoned to death

Whether they are interviewed or not islamofascists will be stoned to death and their executions recorded on the internet.

Other Matters

People who have abandoned their idealism to become little capitalists and conservative small business owners will be drilled through both kneecaps.

People who speak to me with “I need you to.." will be drilled through the kneecap.

Final comments

The only problem with communism was that it didn’t work It was a noble idea which was betrayed by the selfishness of human beings.


There should be more choice in life: all children will be warned in the womb about the perils of being born and given the option to abort themselves before birth. (By the time I assume power, technology will  probably have made this possible). This is merely a logical extension of the neo-conservative, corporate, politically correct post modern, post Thatcherite, Post ‘Tea Party’ new millennium concept of “Choice” and self-empowerment as espoused by the space-based, faith based, corporately sponsored religious right in the West.

Choice is for the wealthy -the rest of us do what we have to do.

Space-based, faith-based morons such as Glen 'Feck' Beck and Rush 'Wimpo' Limpaugh will be tortured, forced to confess to being narcassitic megalomaniacs and never allowed to work again. They will be denied health insurance and welfare cheques until they starve to death.

Spineless Teachers and Bullies in the workplace Flinders University

It is my experience that those dedicated ESL teachers who care about their professional ethics and their own performance in their job are often seen as a threat by bullying operational managers and their faceless bureaucratic masters and mistresses in the hierarchy who inhabit the offices at the back of the workplace.

Such teachers eventually become a target of the bullies.

When this happens, to make matters worse, in order to survive, quite often the colleagues of such conscientious teachers are then obliged to participate in the bullying or, at the very least , turn a blind eye to it.

You see , the bully is not content to victimise the victim -he/she must have the cooperation of other colleagues in order to legitimise the bullying in the bully's own eyes. He must have stooges.

Sadly, most teachers in my experience are happy to assist in the legitimisation of the bullying in order to remain in favour with the bully. It is a bit like forcing a witness to participate in a rape so that the witness will keep quiet later about the crime. The witness becomes a rapist too.

It also reminds me of the now infamous scientific experiment in which a person in the role of doctor was asked to inflict pain on a person playing the role of patient in order to continue receiving the approval of the experimenter. Surprisingly, most people playing the role of Doctor were indeed ok with inflicting pain on the patient -just in order to retain the approval of authority.

Throughout my career it has disappointed me to learn that most teachers are prepared to be stooges in order to survive - and they appear to able to sleep soundly on it. Others are not so happy about it but will do it anyway and then keep a low profile, avoid the victim, and stay away from him/her in the staffroom. Keeping away from the victim in order not to be reminded of their collusion is cowardice.. Either way most teachers seem to willingly sell their soul in order to survive themselves.

Darwin would have explained these observations by telling us that people are ultimately only looking out for themselves and their offspring-their genes.

In which case it should come as no surprise that some victims have a desire to attack and destroy bullies and stooges.

Darwin would say it is human nature.

The devout would tell us to forgive the bullies and the stooges.

But how can you forgive a sin unless the sinner first admits the sin?

Do you know of a bully or a stooge who will admit to being one?

And yet, dear teacher,most of your colleagues are one or the other.


The moral of the story-is to find another profession if you are young enough to do so.

Free at last!

This is my experience as a teacher for thirty five years in many different countries and contexts.

Most teachers are cowards.

For thirty years as a teacher I have watched teachers hide, run and ultimately serve themselves as their colleagues are eliminated by poor or corrupt managers.

People in Australia these days are so afraid of losing their contracts.

Why?

A lifetime of contracting overseas as a teacher has taught me one thing-if nothing else--that the contract is not worth the paper it is written on. No matter where it is, from the UK to Australia, from South America to the Middle-East and from Africa to Asia -the contract has meant meant almost nothing to the two signatories!

Well, are you going to sue the Sultan of Brunei or the Sheik of the United Arab Emirates? No.

Are you in a position to sue anyone overseas? No!

Is it worth while suing your boss in Australia or the UK? of course not -do you have the money for legal aid? Do you want to get all the dirty jobs to do? or be blacklisted by the bosses friends in the 'industry' ? Of course not!

I am 58, and I have come to the conclusion that I don't want a contract as a language teacher in Australia. A contract is a trap designed to force me do what someone else in the company wants me to do.

I want my freedom and will remain as a casual employee.

That way, my employer has to be reasonable. If he or she isn't -then I will walk away.

In the old days the union would have ensured the employer behaved-but the unions have been broken by the employers, by the selfishness of Union officials and of union members. The Unions are now are now weak.

So now, after a war of attrition for about forty years, employers and their stooges in mangaement have what they want -a more-or- less powerless employee to exploit and manipulate at will.

There is a way out of this depressing mess for the employee. But you have to pay for it. There is a way out.

Only the wealthy really seek contracts-because the job isn't really essential to their survival. The wealthy teacher deludes him/herself that they actually need a contract when , in fact, they don't need it -they just want it.

You don't need a contract-all you have to do is be prepared to give up something. But there is the rub!

The teacher who is comfortably off is never prepared to do that. He/she is addicted to their own material comforts.

So,the teacher who is comfortably-off is a problem. He/she is invariably a coward who, when push comes to shove, will hang his/her colleagues out to dry.

I don't care if I have no house, less money, no holidays , no sick leave. I am prepared to give all that away. I don't need a house -I can rent one.

Nobody is going to hang a mortgage around my neck and imprison me.

When I am casual the bosses have to be pleasant and reasonable to me or I will leave and work somewhere else -or not at all.

If I sign a contract my bosses will eventually exploit me -and my colleagues will just sit and watch and do nothing as I am crushed in front of their eyes.

That has been my experience , anyway.

I find this new freedom quite liberating. I am a free agent at last. I no longer care what the boss thinks -or who his/her 'pet' on the staff currently is or indeed, what such people think of me.

People talk about working FOR someone. I now want to satisfy myself first-and only then other people. I feel much freer at last .

What do I get out of all this?

Self-respect.

Cheap at twice the price!

I wonder have other people had the same experience in the workplace?

mind you -if there is no work what happens?

Selfishness and the Devout

Openness is my religion. Religions promote closed minds (Christianity and Islam included). Indeed very much so.

The real heroes are the doubters -sceptics the people who struggle with doubt and uncertainty. This is my own faith. The devout are ultimately cowardly and quitters. They choose the easy path. They give up on the world, their neighbour and their friends eventually. They are selfish.

I also believe that the human need to believe in something is almost as important as the need for food, accomodation, sex and status.

The devout are selfish - believing that they are going to have a good time in heaven. When push comes to shove, they ultimately will look after themselves. It's their own salvation they are concerned with.

skepticism is the most difficult faith to keep. But I do accept that some people can make something beautiful out of religion, whether Islam, Judaism or Christianity. Ultimately, though being devout makes you mentally lazy, selfish and complacent-and even cruel to your neighbour or your friend.

I hate fighting but it is necessary.

Life is one long fight - one long struggle with myself and everyone around me.

As a friend said 'I don't like to mess with the certainties of the devout-they need them for their own sense of validation'

But they sure don't care about messing with my uncertainties. When they get an apportunity the devout feel they have a right to do that.

I wish they would just leave my uncertainties alone.

They are my faith.

Pretending in Adelaide

It is the process not the product which is important. A mantra which I repeat to myself every couple of days and forget in between times.

I have to make do with the simple things like the winter sun, the birds and and reading a book in this pretty but joyless city.

Adelaide is beautiful but many people are closed and humourless.

Electronic friends bring some relief from anomie in this emotional wilderness.

People rushing around trying to earn money to collect more commodities to make themselves more comfortable so they can show off to themelves and their friends. Comfort doesn't make us happy.

Success, exhiliration and joy make us happy.

People who don't know and think they don't need friendship or joy.

People who want to do instead of be

People running away from themselves and everyone and  everything.

People pretending to themselves and everyone else.

Pretending...pretending....pretending...

Always pretending.

Surviving!

Waiting for a miracle to come in Australia

In spite of protestations to the contrary, the "stand-offishness" of Australians is legendary..

It is difficult to get further than the overly familiar "Hail fellow well-met" transaction at the petrol station, shop or the supermarket.

The Aussies are if anything worse than the British in this respect. (I am British myself)

The Aussie seems to be loathe to ask anyone for help or assistance - even the most trifling of things.

At the barbecue or dinner party they seem to make a point of not enquiring about anything personal of each other.

In fact, it seems they are ashamed to ask anyone about or for anything!

They just don't ask questions!

As aussies, we are all supposed to be perfect individuals-self contained and independent - able to look after ourselves.

Is this due to pride, arrogance and conceit?

Is it due to a lack of curiosity? .

Is it due to indifference to the concerns of others?

I think it is mostly due to a fear of intimacy

Probably all of the above.

Why?

The history I suppose.

In the same way as the British stand-offishness must be the fault of the Romans, Vikings, Normans and other invaders (The invaders traumatised the British and the British, in turn, traumatised the Aussies, both indigenous and convicts)

Both cultures are 'Developed' that is their original traditional sense of community has broken down as a result of urbanization and industrialisation. People have moved around looking for work and abandoned their communities.  Their mental health has deteriorated and they have become suspicious of strangers. They lack intimacy with their neighbours.

Both cultures are traumatized and the signs of dysfunctionality are there to be seen...

and they are all so 'busy!'

They are scuttling about in a frenzy pretending to be doing something.

But inside they are empty and lonely...."waiting for the miracle to come" (As Leonard Cohen says in his song)

They buzz around like flies on a window on a summers day.

Up and down, up and down. Trying to get through the glass.

Buzz...Buzz..!

Look at me -I'm busy!

Don't bother me - I'm busy!

Buzz... Buzz...!

Scrambled egg and families

It is very difficult to meet and get to know people in Australia.

That's nothing new.

But I've also realised something new today: the problems young adults have are everywhere.

It is almost everyone who has these problems! So many people I meet are from blended families which are split up: spouses living with second or third spouses with one or some of the children.

It is just unbelievable the number of them. It is almost impossible to meet a family which has a complete nuclear complement living under one roof and in which at least one member is not on prozac!

Western society has become like a scrambled egg

Why?

More importantly for me-why is no-one interested? Am I the only one?

Do we see the media full of comment and analysis of the gathering speed of social change which has had drastic consequences for the human spirit?

What has led to the disntegration of the family into lonely isolated individuals who continously reassemble into an amorphous mass of spouses and children with no meaningful bonds: a coagulated mass where no-one has a sense of belonging to an entity greater than the individual self?

Nobody seems to be interested.

All people seem to want to do is sit in their cells in isolation, work themselves to death, watch the football and drink themelves into oblivion.

As an ageing and isolated 'unit" I am still very interested.

I am aghast at how this has happened.

I don't like being part of a scrambled egg.

For me, years of refection on this issue has only been rewarded with confusion, isolation and loneliness.

I used to think that we in the western civilised world were so sophisticated and advanced.

What a con!

Now, I think we are not clever.

Not clever at all.

Isn't this what the divide between East and West in the world is really about?

Friendship ingredients

In my adult life friendships for me have been more influential than relationships with my siblings..

In terms of psychological support I have gathered it all from my friendships.

Living in different countries has made making succesful friendships crucial to survival.

But for me, friendship still has the same essential ingredients -irrespectie of the context within which it is forged.

What are the core ingredients?

Appreciation

Both parties in a friendship need to feel appreciated: I must feel that a true friend sees in me some good qualities and vice -versa. (which they perhaps don't see in themselves) Opposites attract. The two friends must view each other positively.

Vulnerability

Both parties in a true friendship must feel needed by the other. To do this each party must make themselves vulnerable and expose themselves to the scrutiny and judgement of the other.

Friendship cannot be based on a one way flow of 'gifts' from one to the other. Gratitude is not a sound basis for a sustained friendship, although it may be useful initially in the short-term. Ultimately, both parties have to learn to give and accept gifts. The gifts will be metaphorical ultimately-such as advice or affection-as-well as material.

I think friendship helps us see things (in ourselves and the friends) which we fail or are afraid to acknowledge within ourselves.

For a friendship to flourish we should be as essential to the survival of our friends as they are essential to us.

When I lose a friend a part of me dies.

I am the lesser for the loss.

Death, for me, is ultimatley having no friends at all.

It is therefore a great priviledge and gift to have friends.

I have made many friends but have lost them too because I have expected too much from them.

Many people get a lot of psychological support from their family, their local community or their church. Such people seem to rely less on their friends for psychological support than I do. They expect less of their friends and in turn they expect to give less of themselves.

I have realised such people have a different concept of friendship than I do.

This I have realised to my cost.


Friendship can not be taken for granted. It is a delicate flower which can easily perish if not constantly nourished and renewed carefully by both parties.

The odd e-mail once in a while may be enough for some but it is not enough for me.

Adelaide- Wiping bums and taxes

Family and money is what matters in Adelaide.

Hence the migrant is excluded and patronised-but tolerated as a necessary evil to wipe the bums of the children of the affluent and pay taxes for the retirement of same.

Same as everywhere else.

Rainy days in the workplace.

There is nearly always a "Quid Pro Quo" in every workplace relationship between an employee and the employer.

The most diligent and worthy employee will sell himself or herself to their employer in return for a few small favours for that rainy day when they are needed-even if it is at someone else's expense.