But wait there’s more. It hasn't been all bad.
Reminded of better things
As I’ve mentioned before, in his autobiography, ‘Not quite the diplomat’, Chris Patten, the last British Governor of Hong Kong, commented that it is often said that people don’t like Americans, but he noted ‘in fact people quite like Americans, what they don’t like are American governments.’ To which you could add ‘and the robber barons, crooks and mega-wealthy they represent.’ Perhaps in an updated comment he might have added ‘people quite like Americans, except those who voted for Trump.’
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Still, if the governments are bad enough for long enough, there’s likely to be some flow on effects for how the rest of the world views Americans themselves.
Perhaps it’s like I keep saying about Australia – we’re not one country but two, going in opposite directions, one into the past and one into the future. All the indication are that around 25% of the country have their nostalgic eyes on a past that never actually existed.
Sometimes I think that the actions of the American Government have such a profound effect on the whole world, that we should all get to vote in their elections. Given that so many Americans don’t vote, someone has to – and it might as well be us.
On the other hand, I’m not sure I really care. The whole US economy is afloat on an ocean of debt. I wouldn’t be surprised if an increasing number of countries that hold US treasury bonds do the dump on Trump and offload sufficient of the bonds that the economy shudders and even topples into another global financial crisis. During the Great Depression the US had Franklin D. Roosevelt. Now it has – Trump.
'Sometimes I think that the actions of the American Government have such a profound effect on the whole world, that we should all get to vote in their elections. Given that so many Americans don’t vote, someone has to – and it might as well be us.'
I wish the American Government didn’t keep doing its best to wreck the world, so I can’t help but talk about it far more often than I would like. I’d be much happier if they stuck to ruining their own country and left the rest of us alone. Then I could keep writing here about more immediate things, like the garden and the weather.
My own savings and travel plans are being mangled by a war going nowhere, so every day the rest of the world finds itself travelling heavy, not travelling light. Given the US hasn’t won a war since that war – World War 2 – you might expect it would be cautious about getting involved in another one.
Long time to achieve defeat
My mind boggled when Trump was repeatedly asked how long he expected the Iran war to last and in responding in media conferences and on his Truth Social propaganda outlet he cited how long previous wars like Vietnam and Iraq had lasted. Hmm. I’d be taking that as a warning from history that he has overlooked. It took a long time to achieve defeat, surely they can manage it more quickly this time.
Whenever I think about the way the United States is unravelling the world – and itself with it, I am reminded of better things that we will probably never see again. Here’s just two of them:
Exhibit A: The voyage of the Catalpa in 1876 – ‘a noble whale ship and commander, was called the Catalpa they say, came out here to Western Australia, and took six poor Fenians away….so all you screw warders and jailers, remember Perth Regatta Day, take care of the rest of your Fenians, or the Yankees will steal them away.’ It wasn’t the American Government, it was Americans – Irish-Americans – off their own bat, striking a blow for freedom and justice against ‘perfidious Albion’, a country that nowadays can’t even split from Europe without blowing itself into outer space like a malfunctioning missile.
My own savings and travel plans are being mangled by a war going nowhere, so every day the rest of the world finds itself travelling heavy, not travelling light. Given the US hasn’t won a war since that war – World War 2 – you might expect it would be cautious about getting involved in another one.
Long time to achieve defeat
My mind boggled when Trump was repeatedly asked how long he expected the Iran war to last and in responding in media conferences and on his Truth Social propaganda outlet he cited how long previous wars like Vietnam and Iraq had lasted. Hmm. I’d be taking that as a warning from history that he has overlooked. It took a long time to achieve defeat, surely they can manage it more quickly this time.
‘Given the US hasn’t won a war since World War 2, you might expect it would be cautious about getting involved in another one.’
Whenever I think about the way the United States is unravelling the world – and itself with it, I am reminded of better things that we will probably never see again. Here’s just two of them:
Exhibit A: The voyage of the Catalpa in 1876 – ‘a noble whale ship and commander, was called the Catalpa they say, came out here to Western Australia, and took six poor Fenians away….so all you screw warders and jailers, remember Perth Regatta Day, take care of the rest of your Fenians, or the Yankees will steal them away.’ It wasn’t the American Government, it was Americans – Irish-Americans – off their own bat, striking a blow for freedom and justice against ‘perfidious Albion’, a country that nowadays can’t even split from Europe without blowing itself into outer space like a malfunctioning missile.
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| Wall plaque inside a church in Burgundy, France. Unlike the Second World War, when there was a clear line between democracy and the threat of fascism, this is from the Great War, when the two warring empires were indistinguishable. Yet the sense of a democratic common cause for democracy was widely shared. |
‘Whenever I think about the way the United States is unravelling the world – and itself with it, I am reminded of better things that we will probably never see again.’
Exhibit B: Before the current war for fascism, there was the war against fascism. In World War 2, egged on by Roosevelt, America turned its vast productive capacity to defeating the Nazis. At Ford’s Willow Run plant in Michigan a massive manufacturing complex applied the lessons of production line car manufacture to produce B-24 Liberator bombers. At its peak, the plant could produce a B-24 every 63 minutes. The Nazis refused to believe their own intelligence reports, but those in the know recognised they were doomed. Fighting fascism was probably the very last time that America was great. Installing fascism is unlikely to make it great against – grate is more like it.
Dodging a bullet from a country that worships bullets
As I try to dodge the bullet which is the United States attempt to avoid being replaced as the main superpower in the world, I huddle beneath history and comfort myself by thinking about other things. We seem to shrink into ourselves as we get older, lose colour from our hair, become shorter, sleep less. Perhaps we shrink in horror at what surrounds us – the vanity, wealth, greed and power of late stage tech bro capitalism.
We haven’t watched a film for a little while, so last night we rushed off to the cinema to see The Devil Wears Prada 2. It turns out I was right to be wary about sequels. What we saw was a bunch of people obsessed with superficial glamour and wealth and power in a film obsessed with superficial glamour and wealth and power. Only Stanley Tucci saved it. In my plan to minimise our dependence on American products, in future I must make sure to avoid some of these American-made films.
As I try to dodge the bullet which is the United States attempt to avoid being replaced as the main superpower in the world, I huddle beneath history and comfort myself by thinking about other things. We seem to shrink into ourselves as we get older, lose colour from our hair, become shorter, sleep less. Perhaps we shrink in horror at what surrounds us – the vanity, wealth, greed and power of late stage tech bro capitalism.
‘In this crazy world I have taken to getting up earlier and earlier. I have to be careful that I don’t end up getting up so early that it’s the previous day.’
We haven’t watched a film for a little while, so last night we rushed off to the cinema to see The Devil Wears Prada 2. It turns out I was right to be wary about sequels. What we saw was a bunch of people obsessed with superficial glamour and wealth and power in a film obsessed with superficial glamour and wealth and power. Only Stanley Tucci saved it. In my plan to minimise our dependence on American products, in future I must make sure to avoid some of these American-made films.
A shift worker in a factory of thoughts
In this crazy world I have taken to getting up earlier and earlier. I have to be careful that I don’t end up getting up so early that it’s the previous day. I suppose what counts as our waking hours is all relative. It’s like being a shift worker in a factory of thoughts.
As part of our ‘speak English why doncha’ campaign, we are entertaining ourselves with identifying new expressions worthy of Academy awards. We have already twigged that English speakers have moved from the traditional ‘bored with’ to ‘bored by’, so we’ve been rotating between ‘bored with’, ‘bored of’ and ‘bored by’, just to cover all bases. When we’re not doing that we’re reaching out – to everyone everywhere about almost nothing in particular.
Distracted by the Iran War I almost missed some local updates. I’ve previously commented that when police turn up to serve a warrant on wackos like ‘sovereign citizens and their ilk, it’s usually not for being freedom warriors, but more likely to be for domestic violence or child abuse. Turns out the sad example of humanity in Porepunkah – incidentally, one of my favourite parts of Australia - had literally hundreds of examples of child abuse material on his devices.
In this crazy world I have taken to getting up earlier and earlier. I have to be careful that I don’t end up getting up so early that it’s the previous day. I suppose what counts as our waking hours is all relative. It’s like being a shift worker in a factory of thoughts.
As part of our ‘speak English why doncha’ campaign, we are entertaining ourselves with identifying new expressions worthy of Academy awards. We have already twigged that English speakers have moved from the traditional ‘bored with’ to ‘bored by’, so we’ve been rotating between ‘bored with’, ‘bored of’ and ‘bored by’, just to cover all bases. When we’re not doing that we’re reaching out – to everyone everywhere about almost nothing in particular.
Distracted by the Iran War I almost missed some local updates. I’ve previously commented that when police turn up to serve a warrant on wackos like ‘sovereign citizens and their ilk, it’s usually not for being freedom warriors, but more likely to be for domestic violence or child abuse. Turns out the sad example of humanity in Porepunkah – incidentally, one of my favourite parts of Australia - had literally hundreds of examples of child abuse material on his devices.
Anzac march becomes Anzac merch – our most cherished traditions are spin-doctored and sold
As every year it gets used for more and more spin, Anzac Day seems to become even more sacred – if that’s even possible. Anzac memorabilia and merchandise becomes ever more ubiquitous. The much-loved Anzac biscuits is starting to appear everywhere, though now rebranded as Anzac Day biscuits. It seems having become embedded in our national psyche as everyday food, they have been rescued by the spin doctor to play their part in glorifying our military traditions – and the politicians who trumpet them.
As someone who grew up on Anzac biscuits – and can say that the commercial product will never taste as good as my mother’s version – it’s disappointing to see a relic of my childhood become a propaganda item. But hey, spin and din – that’s the story of our times.
Coming soon: Sunny one day – with a dark history the next
As a descendant of Queenslanders, albeit one who was born in Tasmania and still sees myself as (mostly) a Tasmanian, my next post will tackle that most challenging of Australian states – Queensland, possibly the most Australian and most problematic of them all.
As every year it gets used for more and more spin, Anzac Day seems to become even more sacred – if that’s even possible. Anzac memorabilia and merchandise becomes ever more ubiquitous. The much-loved Anzac biscuits is starting to appear everywhere, though now rebranded as Anzac Day biscuits. It seems having become embedded in our national psyche as everyday food, they have been rescued by the spin doctor to play their part in glorifying our military traditions – and the politicians who trumpet them.
As someone who grew up on Anzac biscuits – and can say that the commercial product will never taste as good as my mother’s version – it’s disappointing to see a relic of my childhood become a propaganda item. But hey, spin and din – that’s the story of our times.
Coming soon: Sunny one day – with a dark history the next
As a descendant of Queenslanders, albeit one who was born in Tasmania and still sees myself as (mostly) a Tasmanian, my next post will tackle that most challenging of Australian states – Queensland, possibly the most Australian and most problematic of them all.
© Stephen Cassidy 2026
See also
Thinking twice – about everything
‘Any sensible person might think twice about travelling overseas at the moment, given that the US has been bombing Iran. However, I realised that there has never been a moment in living memory since the 1953 coup in Iran where the US hasn’t been bombing or invading someone, hasn’t recently bombed or invaded someone or isn’t planning to bomb or invade someone. Though, as one commentator pointed out, the last war they won was World War 2, and that was with the help of others. Maybe it’s best to treat it as situation normal, simply ignore it and get on with your life’, Thinking twice – about everything.
‘Any sensible person might think twice about travelling overseas at the moment, given that the US has been bombing Iran. However, I realised that there has never been a moment in living memory since the 1953 coup in Iran where the US hasn’t been bombing or invading someone, hasn’t recently bombed or invaded someone or isn’t planning to bomb or invade someone. Though, as one commentator pointed out, the last war they won was World War 2, and that was with the help of others. Maybe it’s best to treat it as situation normal, simply ignore it and get on with your life’, Thinking twice – about everything.
‘The cool of the changing seasons is in the air and apples are on the table. For me the months of stone fruit are like Christmas – well they are Christmas, along with fruit mince tarts of course – but nothing lasts for ever. Luckily, though, it comes back again a year later. Right now what’s come back are apples. All the apples at the Farmers Market early this morning were new season. That’s good because war is in the air and we seem to be surrounded by things falling apart, so ongoing certainties are reassuring’, Cooling seasons and war in the air.
Stumbling over ghosts in an art gallery
‘We seem to be creeping towards the colder weather. Still with the daily news full of America revisiting its 1953 coup in Iran who has time to think about the weather? In between catching up with old friends, we’d just driven back from one of my favourite spots in Australia – the Thredbo Valley – and now it was time to return to furnishing our home. Someone once commented that inhabiting a modernist house would be like living in an art gallery and I thought I’d like to live in an art gallery. For many decades I carted around some old silk screen prints from my time in Adelaide. We finally decided to get one of them framed after all those decades and cities’, Stumbling over ghosts in an art gallery.
I'm never leaving home again – well, except to travel
‘I’ve made a couple of big decisions. I’ve decided that it’s better to be a Chardonnay socialist than a Riesling reactionary. I’ve also decided that given the state of the world – despite all the good things going on that we never hear about, it seems to be balancing between mediocrity, incompetence and plain greed and lust for power – I’m never leaving home again…well, except to travel’, I'm never leaving home again – well, except to travel.
‘I’ve made a couple of big decisions. I’ve decided that it’s better to be a Chardonnay socialist than a Riesling reactionary. I’ve also decided that given the state of the world – despite all the good things going on that we never hear about, it seems to be balancing between mediocrity, incompetence and plain greed and lust for power – I’m never leaving home again…well, except to travel’, I'm never leaving home again – well, except to travel.
Guides to a fiery future – it was only a matter of time
'It was only a matter of time. It seems such a long time ago that we moved from bushfires to pandemic and watched as a wave of disease and stupidity swept the world and the country. Now the bushfires are back – the stupidity as well. Did we ever think they wouldn’t be?', Guides to a fiery future – it was only a matter of time.
‘Today I popped out to get coffee and to visit the library, which just reopened after the break. They are the only things that would tempt me out of the apartment in this weather. Instead of the normal sheep graziers alert we get in Canberra, today we have a heat wave alert. Today is 33 degrees, then tomorrow is 35, the next day 37 and then Friday will be 39. Originally there were going to be three days in a row where the temperatures reached 39, so I’m thankful that’s changed. I feel as though I am living in Adelaide again, but it’s probably even hotter there’, Sheep graziers warning replaced by heat wave alert.
Lurching to a halt at the end of the year
‘For some reason Christmas reminds me of a play by Jean-Paul Sartre called ‘Huis Clos’, named after the French equivalent of an in camera trial or closed courtroom. It’s about three people who have died, locked together awaiting judgement in a crowded room for eternity. It’s the origin of Sartre’s famous line ‘hell is other people’. But it’s not the idea of hell that Christmas reminds me of, but the fact that at Christmas, especially on Boxing Day, the world suddenly lurches to a halt’, Lurching to a halt at the end of the year.
A different universe lapped by waves‘For some reason Christmas reminds me of a play by Jean-Paul Sartre called ‘Huis Clos’, named after the French equivalent of an in camera trial or closed courtroom. It’s about three people who have died, locked together awaiting judgement in a crowded room for eternity. It’s the origin of Sartre’s famous line ‘hell is other people’. But it’s not the idea of hell that Christmas reminds me of, but the fact that at Christmas, especially on Boxing Day, the world suddenly lurches to a halt’, Lurching to a halt at the end of the year.
‘The little city that serves Australia as a capital is tucked up in the mountains far from any coastline, even though in a strange historical quirk it actually has a coastline at Jervis Bay. Yet to reach the South Coast of New South Wales, below the swollen city where Australia’s official European history began, takes hardly any time at all. It’s much more drawn out heading down the coast from Sydney, through the great Sydney sprawl past Wollongong and beyond. The South Coast is an entirely different universe to the capital’, A different universe lapped by waves.
Walking with ghosts
‘Increasingly people I have known for a long time seem to be dying. In fact my generation is steadily starting to disappear. Who is replacing them? We shuffle along in a world that is unravelling, a world – that for both good and bad – our generation gave birth to. We are teetering in a strange balance between building on the achievements of the past and desperately trying to dismantle them. In many countries, the current generation is poorer than the previous one, upending generations of dreams by working class parents and migrants for a better life for their children. In this time of upheaval – both welcome and unwelcome – creativity is needed like never before’, Walking with ghosts.
On the rails again – a trip about the past and the future
I'm on the road again – well, on the rails again. On Monday I caught the slow train from Canberra to Sydney, and today I’ve woken up to a third morning in Surry Hills. I’m enjoying the days in Sydney – after all, I did live here for twelve and a half years. I’m mainly here to see the Yolngu Power exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, which finishes next week, but I’m also using the trip to see to other business’, On the rails again – a trip about the past and the future.
I'm on the road again – well, on the rails again. On Monday I caught the slow train from Canberra to Sydney, and today I’ve woken up to a third morning in Surry Hills. I’m enjoying the days in Sydney – after all, I did live here for twelve and a half years. I’m mainly here to see the Yolngu Power exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, which finishes next week, but I’m also using the trip to see to other business’, On the rails again – a trip about the past and the future.
Looking down on dire predictions
‘I see the latest report on looming climate change has some pretty dire predictions – like a future of four times the length of heatwaves, up to five times as many deaths due to extreme heat, a massive drag on productivity, 1.5 million Australians at risk of coastal flooding and a potential half trillion dollar hit to property values by 20250 – and that’s just the good news’, Looking down on dire predictions.
‘I see the latest report on looming climate change has some pretty dire predictions – like a future of four times the length of heatwaves, up to five times as many deaths due to extreme heat, a massive drag on productivity, 1.5 million Australians at risk of coastal flooding and a potential half trillion dollar hit to property values by 20250 – and that’s just the good news’, Looking down on dire predictions.
Marching with the Nazis – as un-Australian as it gets
'I’m still shocked by the marches and rallies around the country opposing immigration. Everyone involved says mass immigration, but it’s clear in practice they mean most immigration – and definitely all immigration by people who aren’t white, or as I like to say, ‘pink’. Here I am travelling through my own homeland once again and, at times, it seems like a foreign country – not because of immigrants but because of those who have grown up here. Those taking part in these marches probably have genuine grievances, but they have picked the wrong target to blame and, in the process, have been steered into becoming in effect neo-Nazi fellow travellers. We are (almost) all immigrants here, only just starting to genuinely come to grips with this country', Marching with the Nazis – as un-Australian as it gets.
Self-imposed lockdown – hanging around home
'For all their faults and disadvantages there were some positive sides to the pandemic lockdowns. As I often say, ‘good times’ – maybe my memory isn’t what it was. I realise that I planned and prepared for so long to move to an apartment and now I am here I keep discovering more and more things I like about it. I could stay home and read and write and never leave it, just popping down to the shops when I need supplies – perhaps it’s a case of self-imposed lockdown', Self-imposed lockdown.
Essen, trinken, tanzen – aber nicht rauchen
‘From time to time my posts on ‘travelling light’ include references to restaurants we have eaten at or enjoyable places we have stayed. However, most of my regular writing about food, produce, restaurants and places we have stayed is on one of my blogs, tableland, which I describe as: ‘Food and cooking land to table – the daily routine of living in the high country, on the edge of the vast Pacific, just up from Sydney, just down from Mount Kosciuszko’, Essen, trinken, tanzen – aber nicht rauchen.
‘From time to time my posts on ‘travelling light’ include references to restaurants we have eaten at or enjoyable places we have stayed. However, most of my regular writing about food, produce, restaurants and places we have stayed is on one of my blogs, tableland, which I describe as: ‘Food and cooking land to table – the daily routine of living in the high country, on the edge of the vast Pacific, just up from Sydney, just down from Mount Kosciuszko’, Essen, trinken, tanzen – aber nicht rauchen.
Cooking minestrone in an art gallery – pineapple fruit cake, hot soup and art on a cold day
‘In winter my mind turns to food, but since it is never turned away from art, cooking and looking manage to fill in the cooler months – or maybe that’s all months. I haven’t made hand-made pasta for a while but I have made sushi and sashimi – though only once in recent memory – as I resurrect all my food traditions. Cooking, eating and cruising around art exhibitions – that’s winter for me’, Cooking minestrone in an art gallery - pineapple fruit cake, hot soup and art on a cold day
‘In winter my mind turns to food, but since it is never turned away from art, cooking and looking manage to fill in the cooler months – or maybe that’s all months. I haven’t made hand-made pasta for a while but I have made sushi and sashimi – though only once in recent memory – as I resurrect all my food traditions. Cooking, eating and cruising around art exhibitions – that’s winter for me’, Cooking minestrone in an art gallery - pineapple fruit cake, hot soup and art on a cold day
Winter markets in a creative city
'The winter we had to have (and could have hoped for) finally arrived on the Southern Tablelands. We have gone back to going to the Farmers Market every week. To add to the winter sun good news arrived. For over ten years we worked to have Canberra listed as a UNESCO Creative City of Design, part of a global network of creative cities. Finally the ACT Government announced that it intended to take the bid forward – and that it had allocated funding for it, the true sign of a government being serious. It’s always a pleasure to help initiate a worthwhile endeavour, but even more of a pleasure to look back ten years later and see that it has been a roaring success in more ways than one', Winter markets in a creative city.
Speaking in tongues
‘Where I live a statue of French maritime hero, La Pérouse, looks out over the suburb as though to say: this, too, could have been France. For a period it seemed everyone who went to school in Australia studied French. Perhaps it was a belated attempt to acknowledge how much better everything would have been if the French had got here first. As I like to say whenever I’m in France, ‘j’ai étudié le Français pendant six ans à l’école’ and I would like to have had more opportunity to use that knowledge', Speaking in tongues.Looking down on birds
'While the world unravels and some gleefully repeat the mistakes of the past, life goes on in gardens everywhere. I remember that in the Roman Empire, if a change of regime occurred, soldiers, recognising that they were also farmers, would often retire for a time to their farm - until circumstances and duty called them back. Some wit commented that what is happening now is like the fall of the Roman Empire, but with wi-fi', Looking down on birds.
Back in the days when we travelled
'Back in the days when we travelled, I used to post news of my trips to Facebook, so my friends could follow my exploits overseas. For a long time it has been apparent that Facebook has issues, so back in 2019 I set up this blog 'Travelling light' to replace my Facebook posts. However, in the end I decided to stay with Facebook, so this blog was never used', Back in the days when we travelled.
Travelling light by being still
'As I've said repeatedly, I don't have any problem with flying, it's landing and taking off I don't like – and all the logistics in-between. I have few problems with lounging around for hours and on a flight, you get to sit still while people bring you food and drink. How much better does it get?', Travelling light by being still.
Abandoning the world of work
'When I left full-time work over ten years ago, I was asked what I intended to do. Once I no longer had distractions, like work – fun though it was at the time – it was clear that I would definitely have some time on my hands. I replied that I planned to keep up with my friends and to travel – when I wasn't gardening, cooking, reading or writing. It sounded like a fine plan at the time and as things panned out, it was a fine plan', Abandoning the world of work.
