Vol 34 No 3

12 February 2024

Introducing: 40 Days with Eureka Street
- Staff
- 14 February 2024
Eureka Street, published by Jesuit Communications, is offering 40 days of Eureka Street Plus free for all new subscribers until Easter. As part of this Lenten journey, Eureka Street is bringing subscribers a weekly reflection on a theme, followed by selected reading list from our archives to help readers reflect more deeply throughout the week.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Why we keep coming back to Groundhog Day
- Paul Mitchell
- 22 February 2024
1 Comment
Since its release, audiences, critics and philosophers have grappled with Groundhog Day’s take on time and eternity. Like all great art, Groundhog Day resists easy categorisation and is a story that, in a wonderful irony, we can go to again and again.
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INTERNATIONAL

The perils of being a civilian
- Tony Smith
- 22 February 2024
1 Comment
The illusion of warfare as a contest between professionals should have disappeared forever as the twentieth century brought numerous examples of barbarous armies butchering civilians. And unfortunately, the pattern now is that some 90 per cent war casualties are civilians.
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AUSTRALIA

On striving officiously to keep alive
- Andrew Hamilton
- 22 February 2024
If the treatment of persons is unethical, it will inevitably lead to ethical corruption in the people and the institutions involved in administering it. It is almost impossible to participate in a policy based on such unethical premises without being complicit in it. If we do, we become blinded to what we owe one another by virtue of being human.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Power pop powers on
- Barry Divola
- 21 February 2024
1 Comment
A sparky, exuberant pop sub-genre with roots in the ’60s was meant to have died at the end of the ’70s, but its impact and influence are still being felt today. But what was it exactly and why does it matter?
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ARTS AND CULTURE

On the anniversary of a poet's birth, a universal message to nations
- Warwick McFadyen
- 20 February 2024
1 Comment
‘The loss of memory by a nation is also a loss of its conscience.’ As the loss of conscience grows with each succeeding generation, one day righting the boat on the sea of forgetfulness will become impossible. In the end, what people don’t know, they won’t miss.
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AUSTRALIA

40 Days: Community
- Andrew Hamilton
- 20 February 2024
In an individualistic culture, Lent could be seen as an individual practice of self-betterment. Historically, however, it was a communal activity designed to make the community more attentive and aware of those around them and of their world.
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CARTOON

Shaving the fatcats
- Glen Le Lievre
- 20 February 2024
1 Comment
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ECONOMICS

Are we in a post-industrial society?
- David James
- 20 February 2024
3 Comments
What does it mean when ideas of scarcity – supposedly the driving principle in understanding supply and demand – are no longer the only or best way to think about economic activity? What is needed to understand the post-industrial environment is a new way of thinking about economics and finance.
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INTERNATIONAL

In praise of Ercolina
- Andrew Hamilton
- 19 February 2024
2 Comments
The heroine of last week’s most diverting news story was a cow when she and her minders were refused entrance into St Peter’s Square in Rome. Ercolina’s mission was to protest against the low prices and excessive regulation of farming In Italy, highlighting how economically more efficient production has come at a cost to a way of life.
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INTERNATIONAL

The love of a good convent
- Gerard Windsor
- 16 February 2024
1 Comment
Casamari, my destination for the night, was fifteen kilometres more walking. The signs pointed off the road, but I must have missed one. By this time, I had wandered too far to simply retrace my steps. I was lost. To be on this walk is to convince you that Italy is composed entirely of mountains.
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AUSTRALIA

The return of the native
- Gillian Bouras
- 15 February 2024
6 Comments
Tolstoy once wrote that exile is a long dream of home, but the dreaming does not persist forever, so that you eventually wake to the knowledge that home exists only in your head and in your memory. Welcome home, various people have been saying, but my silent question is Where is it?
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AUSTRALIA

Living with the death of the referendum
- Brian McCoy
- 14 February 2024
1 Comment
Months after the referendum, can we allow this referendum to die while preserving the essence of its vision and optimism? This is akin to our response to the loss of a loved one — we hold onto their memory, reluctant to let go. How do we keep the deeply treasured aspirations of the referendum journey alive while facing the reality of its death?
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AUSTRALIA

Redefining Dad: Research leads, but policy lags
- Mike Kelly
- 14 February 2024
2 Comments
Despite a 'fatherhood revolution', government policies continue to neglect the positive impact fathers can have on child development, educational success, and even social well-being. Bridging the gap between the surging research on fatherhood and concrete policy measures ultimately means better outcomes for families.
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AUSTRALIA

40 Days: Humility
- Andrew Hamilton
- 14 February 2024
Lent is a time of asking what matters and on commitment. It is a time of grounding, on awareness of the ground and the ash on which we stand, and of focusing on what is important. That being grounded underlies the idea of humility, of being earthed with one’s bare feet on the soil.
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INTERNATIONAL

When is a fashion fad a nationalist signal?
- Jeremy Clarke
- 14 February 2024
In China, the resurgence of traditional Hanfu garb from the Han dynasty is capturing the imagination of social media users, sending a multi-layered message about Chinese identity. The trend goes beyond most online fads, subtly conveying China's desire to project cultural and political influence.
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RELIGION

Can ashes find a voice?
- Andrew Hamilton
- 13 February 2024
5 Comments
In a world grappling with war, inequality, and environmental devastation, can a celebration of sacrifice offer hope? For a secular Australia, the relevance of Lent may lie in bridging the gap between a seemingly dehumanizing act and the profound belief in the preciousness of human life. Can this paradoxical notion inspire action to heal the wounds of our world?
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AUSTRALIA

We need a real conversation about tax reform
- Joe Zabar
- 12 February 2024
1 Comment
Much of the discussion about tax reform is about the mechanisms of collection; around changes to things like negative gearing, stamp duty, land tax, capital gains tax, and superannuation. But what is missing is a statement of values about what we expect our tax system to fund.
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AUSTRALIA

On optimisation
- Michael McVeigh
- 12 February 2024
1 Comment
A coffee shop used AI technology to track and measure the activity of its employees and customers to 'optimise' team performance. Not only does this raise a slew of ethical issues, but also leads us to consider: can the human element that makes a team or business successful ever be truly quantifiable?
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Vol 34 No 3