• David James wrote on the form of capital that rarely gets attention but may provide a solution to the housing affordability crisis and Australia’s debt trap.
• Elizabeth Dangerfield reflected on what could be learnt from Stoicism and Buddhism to help endure turbulent times.
• Paul Monk reviewed Frank Furedi’s book, The War Against the Past: Why the West Must Fight for Its History.

If a secondary market could be created for those who own their home to sell some of the equity to investors – the investors would get their share when the property is ultimately sold – then they could solve the problem of being rich as homeowners but poor in terms of their income. Finding a way to stop the absurd price rises is all but impossible in the current system because the banks can do what they like. The government has had no control over the supply of money in the system since financial deregulation in 1982. Such a secondary market would not be especially difficult to create. Many such exchanges already exist. Read the full article

When I object to practices like FGM, it is not because of the race of the people who practice it, but because of the harm it causes. When I worry about integration, it is not because of ethnicity, but because of whether people will share in the values of equality, dignity, and fairness that hold my society together. The danger lies in conflating values with race. To say “all Muslims”, or “all Indians”, or “all Africans” is to flatten diverse peoples into a stereotype. Read the full article

In the US, Leftists believe that people should not have guns freely, that we should uphold legal institutions, that we should pay attention to what qualified people tell us, that scientists are not trying to trick us, that doctors are not trying to harm us, that dialogue is the way to solve problems. Leftists tend to be intelligent debaters, not hot heads yelling slogans. I know there are outliers who are not these things, but it is these qualities of calm discussion that tend to describe all the Leftists I know. Read the full article

When I sit down to contemplate the existential threats we face ... I am overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the tragedy our actions are going to cause. So many things, including a better future for our children, will perish in a terrible and wholly preventable way. I feel unhinged by the enormity and relentlessness of it all. But life goes on. How do we deal with the disparity between everyday life and the cruelty, ignorance and greed that will destroy it? Read the full article