A Broader Perspective

Last Saturday was our very funny federal election day here in Australia.  In the afternoon, I went up to the top of Mount Lofty to gain a broader perspective of...

...the next three years.  It is important to have a vision of the future, even when the view of Adelaide from Mount Lofty is quite hazy.

Anyone hoping to be a member of the House of Representatives or Senate in Canberra is also wise to visit Mount Lofty in winter time, to gauge the climate.  The physical climate is problematic at present in many parts of the world, as is the economic climate.

One of my unofficial economic advisers, Lorenzo de' Medici (Il Magnifico), believes that if you run a business, a country or a household on credit, you are living and working not just on borrowed money but on borrowed time.  I often find the advice of unofficial advisers to be more enlightened than official ones.

The Magnificent Lorenzo

Most modern economies in most developed nations are empty and worthless, according to Lorenzo.  He believes that experts with any sort of political bias are not worth your time, or his or mine.   He has also stated on several occasions that there is no such thing as a sustainable, national free market in the globalized world of today.

Lorenzo frequently reminds me that a supervised national economy can support fair trade, as long as the supervisors of that economy are competent and unlikely to become corrupt. He also says that he learned from his mother that it is very silly to have a large mortgage on a silly, ostentatious house, unless you are of noble birth.

Sandro Botticelli made a rather nice family portrait of Mrs Medici and the children, when Lorenzo was a little boy.  The artist and the parents were in agreement about many things that young people ought to know, such as it being madness to use substances that create madness in the mind.  Hence the clear, humanist thinking of the household.

Medici Magnifico or Magnificat?

Lorenzo was a well brought up boy in many ways.  Now that he is somewhat older, he is quite well known for his view that it is ridiculous to spend important amounts of money on things that are ridiculously unimportant. This is why the world has so many magnificent art works, sponsored by Lorenzo and his family bank.

I have recently been searching for an aesthetically magnificent vision for the future of Australia.  My own vision is quite clear, of course.  All I want is an enlightened 21st century.  This is very easy to achieve if the majority of people in the majority of electorates in the majority of countries are enlightened too.

Although unenlightened behaviour is sometimes amusing to observe, it is also, sadly, too prevalent nowadays, hence my concern that ideological numskulls may prevent enlightenment from occurring to the extent required - and with the climatological urgency it necessitates.

Rossini knew Don Magnifico

A broader vision of the future often requires a broader understanding of the past than most politicians believe to be possible.  I would like politicians to express a clear, harmonious and enlightened vision for Australia and Adelaide at the local, state and federal levels.  However, many politicians appear to behave more frequently like Don Magnifico than Il Magnifico, especially during parliamentary question time.

Here is a little video of Don Magnifico, to acquaint you with his basso buffo antics, as performed by the magnificent, recently departed Giuseppe Taddei (1916-2010).