Racial classification is just a human invention … but could it be useful?
A lot of social science – beginning with the Victorians – uses the concept of race to analyse humanity. Much of that analysis is uncomplimentary toward non-white groups. It appears self-serving toward the British Empire and is frankly just racist.
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Today’s Daily Friend Show features Anlu Keeve and Nicholas Lorimer. They discuss anti-South African sentiment on social media surrounding the football World Cup. They also discuss public service culture in government and the failure of basic services in courts and
Don’t fear the machine. Fear those who want to govern it
AI is the most consequential tool of our age. The greatest danger it poses is not what it will do to us, but what governments will do to save us.
Gutting firms of HR may save the future of work
Ordinarily not predisposed to heaping upon praise on tech bros, I can’t help but think one of them has just revealed how to save the future of work. At a recent Fortune event, Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow remarked that he’d
South Africa’s fat bloated government
Ofentse Davhie and Nicholas Lorimer discuss calls for restrictions on the size of South Africa’s executive. They also discuss the significant vulnerabilities in the South African government’s web infrastructure. Lastly, they discuss the banning of a Somali football official from
Will the PIE Amendment Bill solve land invasions?
The government claims that an escalating crisis of property hijackings and unlawful land invasions – long encouraged by the PIE Act – will be curtailed by the PIE Amendment Bill, which creates a better “balance.” This claim is false.
Public pressure can help bust corruption
In the seminal case now known as Glenister Two, the Constitutional Court laid down that SA law requires “a body outside executive control” to deal with corruption effectively. The motivation for this ruling is clearly that placing such an entity
A restrained DA does not have what it takes to fix Joburg
Last week in The Common Sense, David Ansara outlined what it would take to arrest Johannesburg’s accelerating collapse.
Economy growing, but is it enough?
Nicholas Lorimer and Chris Hattingh discuss the GDP figures for the first quarter of 2026. They also discuss the Mining Department’s failure to implement new systems and the DA’s visit to the Zulu King. https://www.youtube.com/live/AIunYy0Z5dw?si=F7-SM8blMk-8hP_h