Mapping the promised land for God’s chosen people
Imagined lands, biblical narratives and monotheistic practices and beliefs.

* First 'Bible map' published 500 years ago still influences how we think about borders, study suggests
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-bible-published-years-borders.html

* Assmann, Jan. The Invention of Religion: Faith and Covenant in the Book of Exodus. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691157085/the-invention-of-religion

#territory #maps #borders #expansion #PromisedLand #monotheism #BoundaryMaking #ReligiousAuthorisation #sovereignty #BiblicalLiteralism #GodsWill #christian #fundamentalism #theology #LandClaims #ImaginedCommunity #PlaceNames #SettlerSociety #narratives #GodZone

Inequality is undermining the wellbeing of the whole community

" In fact, the real gap in the US over the past decade has been estimated to mean CEOs earn a staggering 265 to 300 times more than average US workers.

A long-running study found CEOs of the top 100 Australian companies earned 55 times more last financial year than average workers.

At a broader social level, research from the UK indicates that as inequality increases, social outcomes get worse. These include increased crime, drug and alcohol abuse, obesity as people struggle to afford nutritious food, and reductions in social trust.

The most recent Bureau of Statistics data we have, from 2019-20, showed the richest 20% of Australians owned around 62% of our wealth.

As inequality gets worse, evidence suggests it will lead to social problems that threaten to undermine the wellbeing of the whole community. "
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https://theconversation.com/how-much-money-do-you-need-to-be-happy-heres-what-the-research-says-265184
#inequality #LivingWell #society #participation #Australia #nation #ImaginedCommunity #unity #work #IR #crime #trust #TheresNoSuchThingAsSociety #stuff #EarthsMetabolism

Are 'ordinary mums and dads' making 'bad apples' ?
Caught up in tight-knit webs of hate

“There was a range of grievances on display about perceived immigration rates on Sunday, but it was clear for many that the return to an imagined white Australia was a central theme...It’s not that white supremacy, which was present clearly yesterday, is something that the neo-Nazis in some evil, secretive fashion introduced into the political mainstream. It is something that has always been present in parts of the mainstream." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/02/how-neo-nazis-used-the-shield-of-ordinary-mums-and-dads-at-australia-anti-immigration-rallies-to-sell-white-supremacy-ntwnfb

"The March for Australia’s racism can’t just be blamed on far-right ‘extremists’ - it has been enabled by the mainstream." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/01/understanding-anti-immigration-march-protest-australian-mainstream-society-ntwnfb
#HateCrime #violence #FarRight #HyperNormalisation #BatWieldingGangs #Nazism #IndigenousPeoples #dehumanisation #Australia #mainstream #ImaginedCommunity #decline #ressentiment #WhiteSupremacy #EthnoNationalism #EnablingSystems #SettlerSociety #grievances #WhiteEntitlement #RottenAppleTheory

Australia's semantic struggles over a "one and only" reality or a pluriverse?
From the 'heart of darkness' to the “sanitised” articles of sub/urban place names.

"Some (Wikipedia) editors told us they felt it was their responsibility to include First Nations’ perspectives, even though they met with heavy resistance. One, Lucas, had repeatedly tried to include First Nations place names, often unsuccessfully. He no longer edits Wikipedia. “I just ran out of energy for it”...One or two editors “were going around removing Aboriginal place names from all the articles about Australia and Australian places”.
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https://theconversation.com/we-analysed-35-000-wikipedia-entries-about-australian-places-some-sanitised-history-others-privileged-fiction-over-reality-241364
#wikipedia #SettlerSociety #Australia #SocialImaginary #ImaginedCommunity #fiction #violence #FirstNations #TruthTelling #naming #IndigenousKnowledge #pluriverse #EditWars #WorldMaking #EpistemicInjustice #language #framing #worldviews #AI

Road to nowhere: The cul-de-sac is a suburban trap. It’s virtually useless as a road, doesn’t support public transport, cycling or walking, and doesn’t work well as a play or gathering place. Like many modern #transport nightmares, it originated in the #car-oriented suburban planning of 1950s America, a defence against the perceived threat of the inner #city. They are the antithesis of #connectivity. Residents of #suburbs have much lower rates of civic engagement than those living in a more urban environment.

https://theconversation.com/road-to-nowhere-why-the-suburban-cul-de-sac-is-an-urban-planning-dead-end-194628
#Bellingen #Toormina #suburbia Tight-knitCommunity #ImaginedCommunity #cars #fossilfuel #mobility #cul-de-sac #subdivisions #So50s single-family #housing