Wrong Time

Why Do We Get The Wrong Leaders?

James Vitali | Engelsberg Ideas | 10th October 2024

Political leaders in the West seem to be lacking the elusive quality of judgement. For Max Weber, it was “the ability to strike a balance between two divergent ethical imperatives”. Judgement is not to be conflated with expertise, for this presumes that with enough knowledge, a person may become an expert in politics. Rather, it involves making decisions responsibly without knowing whether they are correct (2,500 words)

Empty Vessels Of Time

Heidi Lasher | The Good Question | 7th October 2024

A “culture of busyness” has replaced leisure as the new status symbol. The “harried leisure class” is always pursuing a “hectic agenda, filled with productive and edifying activities”. This author ekes out an afternoon watching the shadows play on her walls. “My kids drifted into the room as if magnetised by my lack of agenda. Like butterflies landing on my hand, they stayed and watched the shadows with me” (2,000 words)