Excellent, well-reasoned article. I read it and couldn’t help but draw parallels with the feckless political class here in NZ.  The problem persists in most modern liberal democracies, it seems - team red vs team blue mentality, voter apathy combined with (often blind) trust in our leaders / institutions etc.  It needed to be said, so thanks for using your platform to address the many elephants in the room.  Hope to see you in Sydney.