Clive Bibby: “To be or not to be”

It is somewhat ironic that the Shakespeare’s character, Prince Hamlet, is asking the same question that has been asked by earlier civilisations facing an unknown future which they, like us, were hopelessly unprepared for.

And, like modern society (which includes all the peoples of this planet), the problems we face are almost entirely of our own making.

Whether it be climate change, threats of nuclear war, famine or the collapse of moral standards that have previously ensured we have had the ability to rise to the challenge - our own destiny is hanging by a thread and most of our leaders appear unwilling to acknowledge the reasons why it has all come to this.

Guy Hatchard: A Fatal Fascination With Pharmaceutical Interventions

Earlier this week Leighton Smith asked me if I thought the structure of society was breaking down. Before the week is through, the UK Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is out after just 38 days in office (exit right). He suggested that the uber wealthy needed more money to manage and the common man a lot less in difficult times. The UK papers, both left, and right, have had a field day suggesting PM Liz Truss has lost her balance of mind.

Do I think the condition of society is terminal? No. It is wildly out of balance, completely polarised, and financially strapped, but these are still things that hopefully can be fixed. So why have they happened?