Arena Online

Meta-Facebook: The Quest for the Infinite Office

Arena Online

Timothy Erik Ström

30 Oct 2021

Zuckerberg describes the metaverse as ‘an embodied internet’. In this, he could not be more wrong: the metaverse is precisely about deepening the forces of disembodiment.

Squid Game’s Failure

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Catherine Papadopoullos

28 Oct 2021

Maybe you can’t berate someone for what they haven’t done, but it seems that it’s the things that aren’t there in Squid Game that are the important ones.

Judith Butler: Gender Politics versus Fascism?

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Simon Cooper

28 Oct 2021

Given the ease with which Western state and corporate power has welcomed gender inclusiveness (while hypocritically propping up forces that actively suppress gender diversity elsewhere)…there is little evidence that a pro-genderism stance necessarily disrupts entrenched forms of power…

The Mistreatment of Tunisian Migrants: Fortress Europe ‘Protects’ Itself Against Border-Crossers

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Jyhene Kebsi

28 Oct 2021

…the videos document that Tunisian border-crossers have all been put in tight, crowded spaces with complete disregard for the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

The Palestinian Question: Celebrating the Liberal Media?

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Alison Caddick

14 Oct 2021

A certain anti-intellectualism, perhaps especially rife in the Australian context, is arguably one of the major problems of mainstream respectable media.

‘Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?’: Join the in-group, recognise the conspiracy

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Mark Furlong

14 Oct 2021

To be sensibly upbeat about what is coming round the corner is a big ask. Much easier is to sum it up and say, ‘It’s not my fault. We have been cheated’.

Trade routes or War Games?: Subs and the geopolitics behind the China threat

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Clinton Fernandes

1 Oct 2021

Australian strategic planners are well aware that it would be absurd to protect trade with China from China… In the real world, the military build-up is about whether foreign military and intelligence activities can be conducted in another country’s exclusive economic zone.

The Nuclear White Elephant

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Darrin Durant

30 Sep 2021

…when we see right-wing politicians and commentators in Australia on the nuclear bandwagon, it seems little more than a culture war to wedge the political Left, creating a fight over technological feasibility to mask the lack of an actual energy policy.

AUKUS: It’s about Sovereignty, not Submarines

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Binoy Kampmark

30 Sep 2021

AUKUS is also a screeching message to powers in the region that the Anglophone bloc, with its vast historical baggage, intends to police the region against a country never mentioned in the joint statement but crystal clear to all present.

The politics of vaccine passports

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Guy Rundle

30 Sep 2021

…it is tempting to argue that any society should resist both state compulsion and certification, and encourage the social recognition that global diseases and rapid vaccine development predispose us not to the primacy of individual bodily rights but to the recognition of our obligation to the other.

Myall Creek: A Need for Deeper Reconciliation

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Maurits Zwankhuizen

30 Sep 2021

When one stands at this memorial, one should be able to look beyond the sacred space, beyond the granite boulder, to land that honours the original inhabitants, land that welcomes all, land teeming with native wildlife instead of introduced cattle and sheep. Isn’t that the ultimate memorial, the ultimate act of reconciliation?

Sub-Imperial Australia

Arena Online

Guy Rundle

16 Sep 2021

Our focus on subs has long been an expression of our idea that any defence would involve us contributing a subordinated part of a giant US-led naval force in the region.