White nationalists forget the original replacement
Thank you for the excellent articles on the recent white supremacist attack in the US, on far right nationalist terror and the comment piece on white replacement theory (9 August).
It is a glaring irony lost on these nationalist extremists that in the white European colonisation of the Americas it was the indigenous peoples who were displaced – by mass killings, the introduction of diseases like smallpox and the genocide of millions of native peoples.
Similarly, in Australia the European occupation resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Aboriginal people through massacres and the communication of fatal diseases. The situation was also the same in New Zealand with the colonial invasion, conflict and carnage causing thousands of deaths. In all these cases the native peoples were reduced to a small minority in their own lands.
These indigenous peoples became a minority through a policy of ethnic cleansing and a large influx of European settlers. These are the causes of the real great replacements: a truth the white nationalists conveniently forget.
Steven Katsineris
Hurstbridge, Victoria, Australia
Myth of supreme leader is a hindrance to democracy
I enjoyed David Runciman’s The illusion of control as well as Damian Ram’s brilliant illustration of the theme (16 August). Both point to the impossible dilemma faced by leaders of nations and of other great enterprises: in attempting to take control of an all-powerful yet unpredictable machine, they risk becoming part of that machine, thus losing perspective of the whole.
Runciman points out that the qualities most needed to accede to leadership – ruthless ambition and an unwavering self-belief – are incompatible with those required to succeed in that role – a willingness to delegate and to compromise, as well as the ability to negotiate.
He concludes by suggesting we substitute the idea of a leaderless democracy for our pervading myth of the strong leader, which is a valiant notion, but one that is beyond our current level of political savvy.
We are left with our seemingly innate need for a supreme being – in other words, omnipotent and omniscient leadership. We satisfy this need at the expense of taking responsibility for our own actions. We can only hope that our hazy and as yet unrealised concept of true democracy will ultimately prevail – in Lincoln’s words: government of the people, for the people and by the people.
Noel Bird
Boreen Point, Queensland, Australia
Wild boar scourge can cause many problems
I have lived with sanglier/wild boar on my property for the past five years (Boar wars, 9 August). The previous owner of my property gave permission for the local gun club to hunt them because of the damage they did.
The hunters and their dogs arrived unannounced and started to work their way around the property. Apparently there are rules that the hunters cannot fire their guns within 50 metres of a house; however, accidents have happened.
After repeatedly having my bin raided by sangliers I installed an anti-sanglier bin holder with a high wooden fence. I am the first householder on my street to do this.
This month our local hunters held their annual sanglier repast. Those people who are anti-hunting boycotted the repast but those who went, including myself, enjoyed themselves. Sanglier must be controlled, but as they were here before we were they may have rights.
Val Wake
Lodeve, France
Misspellings can cause some peculiar errors
The 9 August feature delete!!! about computer gaffes created by simple misspellings, reminds me of a medical friend who referred a patient to a gynaecologist for diagnosis of a bladder problem.
The consultant’s diagnosis was a bladder prolapse: cystocoele; the audio-to-text system used for his reports confidently stated that the woman had a “sister seal”.
Anthony Walter
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
• Several years ago I got a text I thought was in Arabic. I replied saying I could not read Arabic but thanked the sender and wished him/her well. The reply told me the text was in was Persian and tashakur (thank you) for my reply. Thus began a lovely epistolary friendship between an old Australian woman (me) and a young Afghan man. Since then I’ve become a widow and he’s married and become a father of two. We have never met.
Kate Stewart
Bellthorpe, Queensland, Australia
