Wild ideas to jazz your next dinner party
thought I'd drop a few palate cleansing bombs for you
I’ve been moaning of late (noticed much?) about the lack of intellectually stimulating conversation about the neighbourhood. So I’m doing something about it. I’m going to start some get togethers with extended friends, conversation starters planted. Like the idea for yourself? OK, here are a few such starters I’ve been toying with the past week. Tell me your thoughts or post a few of your own bombs below.
1. What if we’re already fighting World War lll?
This is an idea Russia advisor Fiona Hill put to The New Yorker last week. Hill argues there’s an “element of self-delusion” to the West continuing to back Ukraine while thinking it can avoid conflict with Putin. Says Hill: We are already fighting in the Third World War, whether we acknowledge it or not. “We’ve been in this for a long time, and we’ve failed to recognize it,” she said.
Framing it as such got me sitting up straight, especially in light of very serious discussions about Putin going nuclear and Biden talking Armageddon. Sometimes a (re)framing is all it takes to dislodge something from habitual thinking or chronic tragedies.
2. How about an Indigenous Elder as our head of state?
Broadcaster Waleed Aly posed this idea in an op-ed last week: What if, instead of a monarch or a president, we had an Australian Elder? He argues that this person, appointed as our head of state for life, would fulfil all the “good” things that the monarchy currently does. “This figure already comes anchored in a long history, and a culture replete with ceremony,” Aly writes.
He makes the point that the particularities of a president don’t cut it for most Australians. “If you’re going to ask Australians to forgo the monarchy, you’re going to have to replace it with something more fitting, but still magical."
“It’s fine to say we want an Australian president as our head of state, but a figure that changes regularly with no vaguely predictable line of succession doesn’t offer the sense of constancy, history or ritual we’d be replacing. If we’re going to do this, we’re going to have to draw on our own resources of history, tradition, ceremony, even spirituality.”
Aly acknowledges problems with his idea (like, how would the Elder be chosen from among the hundreds of First Nations?), and doesn’t profess to know all the answers. But invites everyone to ponder it…What do you think?
3. Time to call out the bro-caster guru galaxy brains?
Do you listen to Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, Joe Rogan, Russell Brand or maybe a bit of Lex Freidman? They are the biggest names in podcasting (and beyond) and they started out as progressive voices, robustly questioning the status quo and challenging dominant interests and often bringing alternative spiritual or psychological perspectives to the big debates. But then something happened…have you noticed? As they got famous, they turned into “pseudo psychological bullshit” babbling, “galaxy brain” gurus. My guest for this week’s episode of Wild is Australian psychology academic and host of the Decoding the Gurus podcast, Matt Browne and we call this crew out.
Have you noticed the same trend? Does it bother you Joe Rogan supports Andrew Tate and Alex Jones? That Lex and Sam and the rest support and adore Joe? That men in your life tune into Joe’s shows? That these bro-casters feature so few women on their shows? That some spread conspiracy theories for algorithmic gain?
4. Women’s menstrual “flow” could save the future
OK, so I’m extrapolating a little here. My friend Berry hosts the wonderful podcast Dumbo Feather and in a recent episode she interviews Nate Hagens, director of the Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future. They discuss a bunch of expansive stuff, but at one point Berry, not one to shy from a wild idea, suggests that women’s energy pulses throughout the month, based on our “flow”. On days 1-14, give or take, we are on fire, heightened, surging. Days 14-28 we go inwards, get reflective, mull. Then we purge and we start again. Men, however, have a never-ending, stead(ier) onward flow. Berry’s point, which made Nate stop, was that capitalist, resource-rape-y culture reflects this “tap always on” masculine energy. It doesn’t benefit from the pulsing - from inspired surge to reflection - of the feminine energy flow. Does Berry have a fun point?
5. Make boys do an extra year of preschool!
There’s a book doing the media rounds by US academic Richard Reeves - Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It. (Which is such an American subtitle!) One of the radical ideas Reeves plants for dealing with boys’ slower development, which then leads to plunging workforce participation and spiking suicide rates later in life, is to legislate globally for boys to start school a year later. You can get a feel for the gist of his argument here.
As one reviewer in The New York Times wrote: “Demanding more money for schools is boring; (Reeves’) plan to give boys an extra year of preschool is novel and provocative.” Does it apply outside the US? Here in Australia male-dominated industries (mining, finance, blue-collar work) are still a lot better paid than female-dominated industries, such as care, health and education. In the US, men’s jobs are drying up while healthcare and education are being recognised as the “fastest-growing industries for the future”. Will we be facing this same crisis soon as the mining boom fizzles and automation supplants manual gigs? Should we start planning for it?
6. Here we go: Environmental bounty hunters!
Under a municipal clean air program, New Yorkers who report polluting vehicles can get paid. It’s become a lucrative side gig for some. I’m starting to hear about a number of schemes that work with positive incentivisation and programs geared at combatting “loss aversion”, a cognitive bias that sees us prefer avoiding losses to acquiring equivalent gains. You?
Happy Dinner Party Digesting!
Sarah xx
What a great idea, we could have an indigenous spiritual leader who sits above government interference. Somewhat akin to a First Nations Dalai Lama. Let's make it happen.
Re 4. interesting point, I've read a post a while ago: it stated that our economy, our jobs, 'the grind' etc. are all designed around the male 24hour hormone cycle and us women are often 'forced' to operate in that male rhythm which might not suit our 28 day hormone cycle very well, hence it's no wonder it is harder for us to thrive in society. So I wonder if / how we might be able to change that in the future..?