Gordon Young

First published in 2020 with The Banking and Finance Oath It is not news to say that Melbourne has fared poorly during the pandemic. The sudden onset of a second wave, dwarfing the first in severity and plunging us suddenly from a relaxed level 2 lockdown all the way to a level 4, complete with […]

First published in 2019 with the Planning Institute of Australia As a professional ethicist, very few things fascinate me as much as the topic of power. The ability to control the circumstances of oneself and others is a fundamental factor in how society operates, both professionally and far more broadly. Many of the centres of

First published in 2018 with The Ethics Centre There are few topics that both sides of politics can agree upon these days, but one issue that does bridge this ever-widening divide is the question of population growth. Whether the cause of concern is immigration or environmental sustainability, fiscal responsibility or social justice, the fact that

First published in 2018 with The Ethics Centre If the last decade of Australian politics has taught us anything it is this: democracy is a deeply flawed system. Between the leadership spills, minority governments, ministerial scandals, legal corruption, and campaign donations, democracy is leaving more of us disillusioned and distrustful. And that’s just in Australia.

First published in 2018 with The Ethics Centre One of the more disturbing trends to emerge in public discourse recently has been the idea that we live in a ‘post-truth’ era. While the phrase has most often been used in reference to President Trump’s frequent and shameless self-contradictions, it is also reflected in other debates.

First published in 2018 with The Ethics Centre It was only two years ago that I said with confidence that the question of feminism was over. Oh sure, there was still plenty of mopping up to do – ingrained practices and subconscious beliefs that needed to be rooted out – but the war was won;

Submitted to the 2017 New Philosopher Awards If there was an award for ‘most obnoxious phrase of the year’ then ‘Fake News’ would have won 2017 in the first month. But obnoxious or not, the term has entered the public’s lexicon and the phrase is being thrown around with glee by pretty much anyone with

First published in 2017 While social justice issues such as gender, racial and most recently sexuality equality are well established conversations in Australian society, the discussion around disabled rights is significantly less developed. Significant progress has certainly been made from the days when the disabled were considered lost causes, or even targets for racial ‘cleansing’.

First published in 2017 For an industry founded on helping people during the worst moments of their lives, insurance suffers surprisingly poor PR. Research conducted by Roy Morgan indicates that the insurance industry is among the least trusted professions in Australia, rating barely ahead of car salesmen in terms of public perceptions of trustworthiness. This

First published in 2016 with The Ethics Centre In the great debate about political correctness, ‘trigger warnings’ is one of the most fiercely contested concepts. By demanding that audiences be warned of content and ideas that may be traumatic, proponents aim to protect the vulnerable from harm and exclusion. Meanwhile detractors describe such measures as