Mark
Latham, leader of the Australian Labor Party from late 2003 to early
2005, was unconventional as a politician but, I feel, extremely
sincere; he was never afraid to state the obvious. He made
politicians on both sides of politics feel uncomfortable - something
that is undoubtedly necessary
if we are to achieve a more honest and trustworthy political system.
In
2005, he published The Latham Diaries, and the following is a
quote he has included from Kelvin Thomson (page 139).
People
can proclaim their compassion in the abstract as loudly as they like,
but there is no such thing as humanity in the abstract, there are
only people. If you treat people in your life with contempt, then
your great compassion for humanity in the abstract does not mean a
lot.
Please note: There
will be no blog post next week 11th August; the next book review will
be on the 16th August.