February 6, 2023
Dear Editor,
Regarding the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament: The great African-American, Korean-war veteran, economist, and philosopher Dr Thomas Sowell is quoted: “The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best.”
So, Sen. Lidia Thorpe and Noel Pearson, please take note!
Afghanistan has never been a nation – always tribes: all Muslims, but not united under Islam. Australia was all tribes (with over 700 languages/dialects, and often at war with each other) before colonization by civilization (compared to what it was)!
And never a united – under The Dreamtime – nation, so hardly “first” nation with only one…”Voice”.
Yours,
Howard Hutchins
Victoria, Australia
An excellent point. It made me ask the question, which is best, the Western Canon of knowledge and learning, or anything else?
Picking people like Plato and Aristotle as fundamentally important philosophers has been the result of centuries of debate. It is arguably a, gasp, consensus. But it is a consensus grounded in rational thought. However, in another respect, these thoughts end up as opinions lacking any firm final determination. So,the debate continues. But there is no question Thomas Sowell made a very important point.