The most depressing aspect of Trump's victory, aside from the lies, the racism, the misogyny and the hate, is that not one female leader of any country I know of spoke to congratulate him. Perhaps that's because they do not exist. Half of the population has no representation at the top. America could not elect a woman to be president.
How did we ever allow this to happen? Do we have to take radical action like the 4B movement in South Korea, where young women are refusing to marry, have children, hook up with men in any way until they have equality? I wish them well, but the bro culture's response is 'your body, my choice'. It's chilling, and shows how far we have gone backwards.
Every week in Australia one or more women is murdered by her partner. Rape is the threat levelled at any woman who speaks out. We are not safe. What is our crime that there is so much hatred of women? Anyone who doubts this hasn't listened to the likes of Andrew Tate and his mates. They were once little boys, so what happened that they despise women? I believe enough hate-filled young men voted for Trump and we have politicians in Australia emboldened.
Please let us not tolerate misogyny in our next election. Women's lives are not at the mercy of anyone. We are entitled to dignity and autonomy like male citizens.
Sarah Taylor, Merewether
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It's politics, not personalities
Julie Robinson"s comment ("Trump victory for bullies too" Herald 9/11) that Trump's victory was a victory for every other bully, abuser, liar, misogynist and racist appears to be a confession of her view of Trump and not why people voted for him. Could I suggest it was a victory for people who are doing it tough under the Biden/Harris administration and their rejection of their policies? Thinking people vote on policies and results, not personalities and ideologies.
John Cooper, Charlestown
Highway plan's a time warp
I READ with interest Bradley Perrett's expansive piece last week calling for a six lane alternate M1 to run slipshod through just about everything from Merewether to Belmont along the coastal strip ('There's a solution for Charlestown, Belmont traffic', Opinion 8/11).
The suggestion that the government is refusing to build a 1940s suggested Champs-Elysées equivalent running rough-shod without an iota of relevant contemporary planning context is whimsical at best, and dangerous at worst.
Just like his previous calls for a Newcastle Harbour tunnel and a Mayfield transit corridor, there seems to be this running idea that anything is possible with the use of concrete walls. Impact on our community and much-regarded shared public assets are palmed off with cursory gloss, but our inner-city roads are for our inner-city residents. We already have major arterial roads for those passers-by, much like these grandiose transport thought-bubbles.
What's next? Compulsory home resumptions along City Road? Let's keep the analysis and discussion more real, perhaps. Traffic congestion can be alleviated with local and respectful smarts. There's plenty from the 1940s I'm glad our government refuses to adopt or do.
Dayne Steggles, Merewether
Denial's cosy but not helpful
ON climate change, Niko Leka ('Blockade risk pales in comparison to what's coming', Opinion 12/11) observes, "people are terrified of existential risks, which is why they vote for somebody who denies their existence", and he's correct.
Denial is an extremely comforting condition. I would truly love to live in the world of the deniers, fossil fuel companies, capitalists and others who believe an increasingly expanding humanity can somehow manage continual growth on a finite planet, even though 500 years of scientific knowledge, let alone common sense, tells us it's impossible.
Professor David Suzuki, the world-renowned environmentalist, once stated that humans invented economics to support society but now humans exist to support the economy. I believe the latest court ruling supports that observation.
The Albanese government is not serious enough about climate change action, and it's hard to think that the Coalition even accepts the science. The selfless actions of Rising Tide and similar groups should be supported by all of us if we want a liveable future.
John Arnold, Anna Bay
Something is shaking it up in the Hunter
SO another earth tremor hits Muswellbrook. So much for my theories of mother nature trying to restore equilibrium after all of the big holes people have dug in the area. This succession of tremors would substantiate my theories, however misguided the original concept was.
John Bradford, Beresfield
Rudd's jibe a bit unkind
FANCY Kevin Rudd calling Trump a "village idiot". I guess he forgot he was the village idiot to many too as prime minister. Pot calling the kettle black, in my opinion.
Greg Lowe, New Lambton
Trump letter on the money
I DON'T usually agree with some of Carl Stevenson's opinions but his five cent rant about The Don is spot on the money, word for word, I totally agree.
Mick Porter, Raymond Terrace
Fallout stretches far past US
WAS it purely coincidental that Russian state television ran a news item containing naked and salacious photos of the wife of Donald Trump just hours after his election win, Greg Hunt? Trump may not be sunk (as I predicted) but we have to wonder what old Vlad still has up his sleeve.
Mac Maguire, Charlestown
Complexities have grown on coal
CARL Stevenson writes that we will apparently always need coal - whilst missing the point completely as to why people are protesting its expanded use and the lack of tax revenue its corporate extractors pay. He writes "I was taught all this information at primary school, so is this now classified as disinformation?" I'd like to remind him that those making the decisions rely on a bit more than a primary school education.
Thomas Levick, Elermore Vale
Cricket call is out of step
I FEAR Cricket Australia is yet another high-profile woke, anti Australia Day organisation. Recognising January 26 is favoured by the majority of citizens, both old and new. A bit like the 'no' vote on the Voice.
