Australians largely take their freedoms for granted, not realising the importance of the unbroken chain back to the English common law, the key agreements, and the system of governance which underpin that liberty. How fragile are those freedoms? It is not inconceivable that they could disappear in a generation if the cultural memory is lost, supplanted by disruptive ideologies or loss of pride in our Western inheritance.
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In 1854, the eminent folklorist Joseph Jacobs was born in Sydney, New South Wales, though his working life was spent abroad – predominantly in England and the U.S.A. He wished that English speaking children could read tales which had emerged from the folklore of the British Isles, rather than those of the continent made popular by Charles Perrault in the 17th century, and the Grimm Brothers in the first half of the 19th century. Jacobs lamented that Perrault’s genius displayed in Cinderella and Puss in Boots had ousted the English classics of Catskin and Childe Rowland. Likewise, Tom-Tit-Tot had given way to Grimm’s Rumpelstiltschen and The Three Sillies to Hänsel and Gretel.
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English law was brought to the newly founded colony of New South Wales in 1788, which extended from Tasmania (then Van Diemen’s Land) to Cape York in the north and from the east coast to the 135th meridian (roughly to Coober Pedy). For the first three decades, the colony was administered by military leaders who were answerable only to the Crown, the first of which was Captain Arthur Phillip. He arrived on the HMS Sirius with 11 vessels in the fleet carrying 1480 people – half of them convicts. From the start New South Wales was not to be administered solely as a military prison.
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Atlas, the Greek god of philosophy, mathematics and astronomy, holding up the celestial sphere of the universe – 2nd century A.D. Roman copy of Hellenistic original.
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The three Greek playwrights whose names echo down the ages are Aeschylus (Ai-skillus) 552‑456 B.C., Sophocles (Soffa-cleez) 496‑406 B.C. and Euripides (Uri-p-deez) 480‑406 B.C. Fewer than ten percent of their works have survived into the modern era. The 5th Century B.C. was the Greek classical age which saw a flourishing of art, philosophy, theatre, and […]
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An excellent video from 1979 by Prof. David Grene (1913-2002) University of Chicago. They told me, Heraclitus, they told me you were dead,They brought me bitter news to hear and bitter tears to shed.I wept as I remembered how often you and IHad tired the sun with talking and sent him down the sky. And […]
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Australian children encounter Aesop’s fables early on in their lives. Well known amongst a long list of over a hundred titles attributed to him include: The Boy who cried Wolf, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs, The Fox and the Grapes, and The North Wind and the Sun. The […]
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No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny, or delay right or justice.
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A photo-essay taking in a slice of bronze statues that can be found around Hyde Park, the Domain and the Botanic Gardens. Past Monarchs, explorers, playwrights, poets, and Governors are found in this area, as is the magnificent Archibald fountain with its mythical Greek themes.
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Dr James Lindsay talks about the varying degrees of Wokeness. He suggests ways in which one might bring adherents back into the light.
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The New Culture Forum proudly presents Heresies, Episode 4: “Britain’s Silent Cultural Revolution”, presented by Emma Webb (#NCFHeresies). In the year of Black Lives Matter protests following the death of the American George Floyd, we have seen Britain in the grip of a revolutionary and iconolastic fervour. Statues have been toppled and defaced, historic buildings […]
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For more than thirty years, appointed Governors (Phillip, Hunter, King, Bligh, Macquarie, and Brisbane) exercised powers in the colony of New South Wales (N.S.W.) which exceeded those of the King of England. These powers would have been illegal in England unless ratified by an Act of Parliament.
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The IPA wrote:The National Curriculum could remove all references to Christianity, Ancient Greece and the history of Western Civilisation in Australian schools, and treat the arrival of the First Fleet as an “invasion” in radical new changes being proposed. Dr Bella d’Abrera’s research was featured on the front page of The Daily Telegraph. Bella said […]
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The IPA’s Dr Bella d’Abrera explains why critical race theory has turned into critical race practice in Australian schools. “It tells children to hate themselves, it is tyranny of the mind” and it must be banned from Australian schools.
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