Laryngitus

'Well, it looks like the yes campaign’s heading for defeat,’ said Janno.

'As soon as it became apparent that it wasn’t going to get bi-partisan support, it was well and truly stuffed,’ said Johno. ‘Welcome to the Land of Laryngitis.’

'Albanese and Dutton should have made it a free conscience vote, and taken the politics out of it,’ replied Janno.

’Unfortunately, we live in a time of hyper partisanship. Across most Western democracies, ultra-Conservative oppositions in particular, see the political advantage in obstructing everything the Government of the day proposes. They’ve created a THEM versus US environment of fear and distrust. Them being: elusive elites, the deep state, and a myriad other conspiracy theories,’ said Johno. ‘The worst example is in the United States, where there is now a de-facto Cold Civil War. So we find ourselves in the situation where there’s no perceived advantage for any party to compromise and find consensus. Instead, they reinforce division in an attempt to destabilise or destroy their opposition. We no longer subscribe to the concept of a contest of ideas, but alas it is now a battle of intransigent ideologies,’ he continued.

Alphy had long observed that a major failing of the Saps was their inability to discuss and resolve competing needs, wants and ideas. For the Saps it too often resulted in a constant stream of wars. For eons, Centaurians had been taught from a very early age the concepts of mediation and conflict resolution. A great leap forward for Centaurians had been the development of ‘Truth Be Known’ an independent and trusted AI resource for verifying facts and confirming truth or otherwise. Alphy had given it an Aussie vernacular BuBu (Bullshit Buster). He had reported this back to the Guardians on AC, and to his delight they had adopted it. So when a statement was found to be untrue, Centaurians now commented, well that was a real BuBu.

'Now war has broken out yet again in the Middle East,’ said Janno. ‘With the recent focus on Ukraine and Taiwan, the Middle East hasn’t been top of mind for us.’

'As long as I can remember, it has sadly been an ongoing cycle of conflict, war and ultimately failed peace talks,’ said Johno. ‘A long list of US presidents and other world leaders have expended a lot of political capital in trying to solve the problem, to no avail. Yet again, another bloody conflict where civilians will pay an awful price.’

'So what do you think Alphy?’ enquired Janno.

'To paraphrase H.G. Wells If you don't end war, war will end you,’ said Alphy ominously.