The Lucky Country

 

I have been meaning to get back into writing fiction for some time now. I have not written much fiction since I was very young, in my late teens and early twenties. But it is something I have done before, and I have decided I just need to do it if I want to get back into the habit.

This story was not created using any AI. The whole point of me creating these short stories is to work out the cobwebs and rust of having not practiced writing non-fiction for a long time, and to hone my writing skills for different tasks.

Let me know your thoughts about this story. I will aim to get out more from time to time on this blog and will see where this develops over time.

“We were the lucky country…”

What most of us failed to consider is that luck always runs out… 

…I heard the first shot as I was walking past a black Landcruiser in the beach front carpark. At first, I told myself I was hearing things…then I heard the second shot…then I heard the third.  

I turned to my wife, who was standing frozen right behind me, holding our daughter’s hand, “Sandi, get down! Sit next to that tyre right there!” I shouted, pointing at the large four-wheel-drive tyres right next to us. “Jody, sit next to your mum, and don’t move. DON’T MOVE!” I emphasized loudly and clearly. “Both of you SIT DOWN!”  

I quickly ducked down and moved to the end of the Landcruiser. Luckily it was one of those overly modified types, with the too big tyres, the illegal black tint windows, and steels bars front and back. Great cover for the moment. I peered from the rear of the truck and took in our surroundings.  

Bang!! 

Bang!! 

Two more shots. Heavy calibre. Maybe a hunting rifle or shotgun.  

Ba-bang!!  

That was two shots nearly simultaneous. There was a second shooter; where were they? I needed to determine that before we moved any further. 

“Sandi, stay here, I need to work out where they are so that we can move away in the right direction.” I was speaking quieter now, as I knew how much danger we were in. She looked back at me with fear in her eyes…and trust. She trusted me to get them both out of this. Now I had to live up to that trust.

I move carefully to the front of the of four-wheel-drive, it was reverse parked, and ducked my head out from the around the front headlight. The custom bulbar allowed me to scan the area without being too obvious. Thank God for Aussie four-wheel-driving culture! I looked ahead down the carpark and spotted one of the shooters. He was standing on the top of a large truck holding a hunting rifle, and wearing what looked like the kind of tactical gear you could pick up at any sporting goods store.  It had only been a handful of seconds and already my training was kicking in. This shooter looked like he knew what he was doing, which meant he either had some experience or some training.  

I saw him lift the rifle and shoot to my 3 o’clock. Bang! He pulled the bolt back. Ok, the first gun identified, it was a high-powered bolt-action rifle. Now where was the second shooter?  

Bang!! That was the second shooter. He was closer than the guy on the truck. But I could not see him from my position and the loud echo of the bullet firing made it hard to precisely identify his location, though he appeared to be not too far away from my position.  

I turned and went back to Sandi, “I will be back in a sec.” She started to say something, but then I saw her mouth something to herself, maybe a prayer, and then she clung Jody to her even more tightly. Prayers were good, we needed all the prayer we could get.  

I moved back quickly to the car parked behind the four-wheel-drive. It was one of those cars that could not decide if it was a station wagon, SUV, All Wheel Drive, or hatchback. I hated them usually, as they were not good at anything, and were ugly. But not today, as it also had darkly tinted windows and was higher than a sedan. Today that was useful to help me stay hidden.

I stuck my head slowly out from the front of the car, it was reverse parked, so I could not rely on the back of the car for cover.  

There was the second shooter. Walking down the carpark row about 7 meters away. He was carrying a shotgun. As I watched, he put it to his shoulder and moved towards a small car in the carpark. As he moved forward a girl screamed…Bang! Her scream was cut off halfway through. Damn those bastards!  

He was facing to his right, if I were to run out in front of him across the carpark he would see me pretty quickly. At that range a shotgun would make light work of me, and then Sandi and Jodi would be sitting ducks.  

I had to think quick. There was a spotter on the truck with a long rifle, probably a .308 or something like that. If we tried to move down the rows between cars he could line us up pretty easily. With a high-powered scoped rifle like a .308 or 30.06 we’d be pretty obvious targets. But if we tried to run across the carpark row here the second shooter with the shotgun would get one of us, if not all of us.  

Think quick, Doug! Otherwise you are not getting out of here. I muttered under my breath. 

In my pockets all I had was my keys, a small Swiss army knife, my phone, and my wallet.  

Swiss army knives aren’t weapons; if you tried to use it as one you are more likely to cut off your own fingers when the blade snaps back in.  

My keys! I could use my keys like brass knuckles! But the chance of getting him before the shotgun got me was also nil. Nope, I had to distract him.  

I ran quickly and quietly back to Sandi, who was still sitting next to the overside four-wheel drive tyre, “Give me your phone!” I said this quietly, but urgently. She looked at me strangely but handed it to me. I took it and moved back to the other car and slid it underneath it hard enough so that it sat under another car two carpark slots down. I could hear the shotgunner walking closer, he was pretty much in line with the Kia now. So, I waited, he passed the car two parks down and sounded like he was in front of the car next to the small SUV vehicle, a small Chinese car from one of those look alike brands that you can’t keep up with.  

I looked under the SUV, I could see his feet, he kept walking. As he got past the Chinese car, I put the keys in my hand and stuck some out of my fingers, and I rang Sandi’s phone. Luckily, praise be to God, my wife had not listened to me when I said to put her phone on silent when we were having lunch earlier. The phone started ringing and to me, Sandy and probably everyone else in that carpark it sounded like the loudest most distinct sound in the world. The sounds of a late 90’s pop song started reverberating across the carpark.  

I looked under the SUV, at the front of it the gun man’s feet were just visible past the front right wheel, but now they were facing the other way.  

This was my chance. Probably my only chance. I leaped, crouched, to the front of the SUV, and blessed be the God who spoke this world into existence, the shooter was so distracted by the phone ringing a few meters away that he did not notice me coming. I came up behind him quickly and put all my weight and strength behind a right-hand punch to the back of his head… 

…BANG!!!! 

He must have missed the class on trigger discipline wherever he learned to shoot, because as I hit him he slipped and the gun went off, blasting a hole in the side of the Chinese car right in front of us. But if he missed trigger discipline class, he was still a tough bugger, because he didn’t fall over, he began to turn around, so I did the one thing that I could think of in the moment. I grabbed him from behind at the neck and fell backwards.  

We tumbled to the ground in front of the SUV and as we fell he swung his hands over his head and the shotgun slid just behind my head. But I forgot about this, I forgot about everything else and I just held on to his neck like it was my one and only chance to save my family and myself.  

And he struggled, something fierce. This guy was strong, he must have been a gym freak. He struggled, and struggled, and I held tight, and tighter, until he got weaker, and then I held a little longer.  

I had done a little Karate and boxing when I was younger. I had learnt a few choke holds. But this was no regulation hold, or anything like that. This was just me desperately trying to hold on until this killer was no longer a threat to my family.  

Eventually he went still. It felt like hours, it had been just over a minute. I blinked, it was only at this moment that I realized my head hurt like it had been whacked by a hammer, only it had not been a hammer, I had hit the bumper-bar on the SUV-like car on the way down and then the ground. In fact, hitting the bumper-bar probably stopped me hitting the ground with the full force of his body on top of me.  

I slowly started to move him off me, noting that my left should felt banged up too and a little numb.  

I rolled him off me, he weighed a tonne. Creatine! 

I got up very slowly staying close to the front of the SUV. The shotgun had ended up a bit further away than I realized, I considered picking it up. But it was then that I realized that I was nearly exposed to the original shooters line of sight. In fact, why had he not gotten me yet?  

I didn’t realize it at the time, but his gun had jammed, and he was furiously seeking to clear the bolt and cartridge to get it working again. I am telling you, God was with me that day… 

…But in the moment, I did not know this. I had a decision to make, risk getting the gun and getting shot, or get back to Sandi and get out of here. I chose the second option.  

I started to move back to the side of the Landcruiser where Sandi was still huddled when she screamed and started pointing. She was pointing underneath the car at the man I had just immobilized. He was starting to stir.

Like I said, that was no regulation move, I just held on till he stopped moving. I must have just caused him to momentarily pass out, rather than fully knock him out.  

This changed our situation; now I had no choice but to grab the gun before he did. I stepped out to grab the shotgun, fully exposing myself to the rifleman on the truck. I fully expected to hear the sound of a gun going off and then feel the hit of a hot bullet hitting me. But instead I heard…I heard…sirens. Sirens and they were not too far away. I picked up the weapon.

By now we had only been here for a few minutes. I quickly moved back to Sandy and Jodi, “The police are coming, we should wait here.” Sandi nodded.  

But at that moment the man on the ground in front of the SUV got up, shaking his head, and he reached into his jacket and pulled something out. He started to walk across the front of the vehicle…a gun! He was holding a small pistol, but it did not look like any pistol I had ever seen. As he moved around the front of the SUV I lifted the shotgun and pointed it at where he would step into view at any moment and right as I did that I heard the roar of a turbo engine and the screech of tires and realized the blast of the siren was getting louder, in fact it must have been in the actual lane of the car park we were caught in.  

I got ready to shoot. I had no choice. But at that exact moment the man turned around and ran.  

I breathed a sigh of relief. And then I heard the loudest sound I had ever heard in my life, so loud that sometimes when it is quiet I still hear it. A car or something exploded and at the same moment the police siren was suddenly cut off.  

I did not realize what had fully happened till later, but the terrorists had parked a car near the entrance of the carpark, right near where we were, and where the first police car came in. The rifleman saw the police car coming towards his accomplice and detonated it right as the squad car drove past their booby trap. 

This hit my mind like a vice trap. We had to get out of here. The police were here, so I dropped the gun, I did not want to get confused for one of the shooters and I made a decision, “Sandi, I will go first, we are going to stay low and run down between the cars. Jodi, take my hand. At every third car duck between the cars and sit there for a moment, and then we run again. We have to zig zag as much as possible and keep low. We can’t stay here now.” 

She looked as terrified as I felt. But she was listening.

I got up, took my daughter’s hand and ran. First between the cars parked next to the Landcruiser and a moment land Sandi ran behind me. I heard a loud crack, but I resisted the urge to look behind me. We got three cars up and ducked left in next to a small sedan…a second later Sandi swung in right and sat next to the car in front of the sedan. I looked at her, count to ten I mouthed and held up ten fingers.  

Sirens, more sirens. Louder. The police were coming. I heard another shot, but the ricochet did not land anywhere near us, so I got up and ran again, a couple of seconds later Sandi followed Jodie and I.  

Bang!! 

I am not sure if I felt it first or heard it first. But I definitely heard a loud band and then felt something warm rip through my right thigh. I tripped, I had only made it two cars down, I fell and hit the ground and then…black… 

When I woke, I was in the back of a stationary ambulance, Sandi and Jodi were sitting next to me. My head felt like it had lost a fight with a hammer and I realized it was bandaged, and so was my right leg.  

My girls were alright. I was going to pull through.  

But when I think about that day, I think, was I lucky? Or had the lucky country rolled the dice too often and all our luck had run out?

 

Vale Patrick Stewart

 

For me this is Patrick Stewart's finest moment in film/media. 

"There are four lights."

In this story he is told that if he just lies and says there are 5 lights he will be released. He refuses to lie to escape torture. 

There are four lights!!!

Agreeing to lie just to get an easier road corrupts your soul in irrecoverable ways. 

Don't ever do it. Refuse to do it. Defy all who would ask you to do it.

Be Prepared For Steady High Inflation

 

A lot of people are not aware of this, but there are few who are.

The RBA seeks to fight inflation by one broad strategy: creating higher unemployment. That is a core reason it raises rates. Higher rates are designed to curb spending both for individuals and for business.

Why does it do this? Because neo-classical economic theory says that full employment is bad and will cause increased pressure on inflation, because too many people have jobs and money to spend. Hence, they seek to increase the unemployment rate to fight inflation. Their hope is that this will 1) mean less people have solid work, and 2) those with solid work will be more hesitant to spend because they see jobs are becoming scarcer. 

It is a fundamentally flawed concept, an overly simplistic one.

It is a concept that is designed to hinge the whole weight of fighting inflation on the families with mortgages, individuals with credit card debt, and businesses with business loans. Which just happens to be most people between 25 and 55. The section of the economy you should put the least amount of burdens on, as they are the most productive and because they are the less financially secure. Comparatively speaking.

It is also an economically flawed idea, as inflation often is not caused by personal spending, it is caused by:

Badly spent government money.

Energy policy.

Supply chains dependent on overseas products.

Global conflicts.

Foreign trade policies (like tariffs).

Tech spending (currently driving DRAM and VRAM increasingly out of people's reach, tech which exists in many household products, not just computers).

And more.

You will notice something about all these things, no one in our country between the ages of 25 and 55 with credit debt or a mortgage has any control, say, or influence over any of these foreign influences on inflation. None, zero, zip. Well, none, except the government ministers who could institute energy policies and resource policies which would provide us with much cheaper energy. But they are ideologically committed to energy dependence suicide because of false climate ideology. So, don't expect the ones who can do anything about this to do anything; they are literally committed to policies that exacerbate our situation.

The other problem is that for many over 55 who are out of debt, which is not all in that age bracket I know, but still more people in that bracket are more likely to be out of debt, for these people rate increases make them richer, so they can spend more. If someone has a significant stock portfolio or cash in their bank account, a rate rise might mean they get a little interest bump that pays for another weekend away, a new motorbike, a nicer computer, or something else. Hence, when rate rises increase those with the most wealth already tend to spend more, as they are being gifted more money. This directly counteracts the suppression of spending placed on the younger cohorts.

What is worse is that as we have an aging population, and immigrants tend to earn less on average compared to Aussies. So we then have a situation where the group of the population least disadvantaged by rate rises is getting measurably larger and therefore their spending power is increasing not just by age, but by proportion of the population. Hence, the out of date, always poorly conceived, policy of simply raising rates to fight inflation will become increasingly counterproductive in coming years. There is simply now too many people in the category of people who benefit from just such a policy.   

Add in deliberate government policy to increase bad spending (by that I mean not spending on infrastructure which is good spending, but on welfare, ideological issues, pork barrelling, etc, etc) and also government policies deliberately raising energy costs for ideological reasons to push people to choose falsely labelled “green alternatives” and I believe we are heading into a long term period of higher inflation and much higher interests rates. This will likely be the case because these higher rates can't stop the inflation, as they have the effect of putting more money into the hands of those with the most money to spend, and every motivation to spend it; as their time is running out in this world.

This has already been observed in recent years. Inflation is incredibly sticky, and past policy approaches are showing to be far less effective in curbing it. I expect this to continue, especially because all of this is being driven by the various ideologies of the institutions in power.

The people who could turn this around are the very people in power who believe they have a moral responsibility to do the things which cause many of the problems. We are watching the convergence of bad ideologies all at once, and we are stuck in the middle.

King David’s Sin

 

Often when a celebrity pastor falls into terrible sin, like adultery, or even multiple adulteries with women he met in or through his ministry or because of the prominence his ministry gave him, and then seeks to get back into ministry there are people who say he should not do this and others who say, “What about David?”

It is my belief that when someone’s public ministry and platform is part of their fall that avoiding public ministry should be part of their repentance. Because it was his position previously which gave him so much access to the women he sinned with. He clearly has a severe problem in controlling himself in this environment and hence it is not good for him, for others, or for the public image of the gospel for him to be a public minister of others again. Let me reiterate the principle: When your public ministry is part of your fall, avoiding public ministry should be part of your repentance.

But what about David? Some people like to bring up David here, because David was forgiven. But I think most people learn the wrong lesson from David.

Firstly, you are not a king.

Secondly, even if you were a king, kings in our age are not untouchable like in David's age.

Thirdly, and very significantly, God cursed David and he, his family and his kingdom suffered terribly for his evil crime: the sword shall never depart your house, was the curse, remember.

For one he lost multiple sons as a direct punishment for his sin. His daughter was raped by one of those sons. Another violated his wives, that he left behind when David fled for his life away from that son. His kingdom faced a civil war, in which fathers killed sons and brothers killed brothers. And his kingdom was ultimately split in his grandson's time as a direct result of his sin, as that grandson was a product of his son by the woman he stole from a righteous man.

By his own words David declared to Nathan he deserved death. By his own words.

David is not an example of rosy restoration. He is an example of how a king has so much power that no one can even punish him how he deserves to be punished, just as God implied would happen, when God told Israel how the kings would take so much from them. They would lose so much of their rights, but they chose to have a kind, anyway.

God made David suffer awfully for his crimes. Yes, he did forgive him, but he also disciplined him. That is the lesson we should take.

Yes, he will forgive us, but bad things happen even to the people we lead if we follow what David did. We should look at David's curse and fear, we should not see his situation as an out for pastor's who have abused their position.

Is there no fear of God in men today? A pastor should have too much fear of God to commit such an act.

The Anti-Feminists Knew

The anti-feminists knew and they were right.

It is so important to read history and old books to realize that many of our ancestors were far wiser and more insightful than we even might already think they were. Here are a few of my reflections on an anti-suffragette book I have been reading recently.

On Feminist Mental Load

Why do so many women report record levels of burnout?

There used to be a wider community of women to share the domestic load together.

“There is, among others, this fundamental difference between the business life of men and women. For men who pursue occupations outside the home, there are women to manage that home. For women who pursue occupations outside the home, there are, not men, but other women, to manage the home. The final domestic care of the world must come upon women. The final attention to social life must come upon women. In behalf of the women who are constrained, or who choose, to sacrifice their share in this part of the world's necessary work, some other women must do double duty. That this rule has seeming exceptions does not make it less the universal rule.”

Helen Kendrick Johnson, 1894, Woman and the Republic

I have heard countless young mothers say that staying at home feels isolating, and many go back to work just to avoid this feeling. Many also lament how their mums, sisters or friends are working so it is harder to share the load.

Isn’t it fascinating that this 19th century woman Helen Johnson, predicted this would be exactly one of the problems women faced because of the advent of feminism?

Our instinct today is to mock feminists who complain about “mental load”, but they are giving voice to a deeper problem: the community of women has been severely broken, and it makes life harder. Women are expected to do way, way more in modern society in most households, and it burns them and their relationships out in massive numbers.

The solution? The complete unwinding of feminism.

On Equal Pay

They once knew how to attract more men into teaching:

“In New York I heard Superintendent Jasper, I think it was, say: "I am in favor of equal pay for equal work, for the two sexes; but we cannot give it here. We can get twice as many good women teachers as men teachers, and when we need men we must pay at a higher rate."”

Helen Kendrick Johnson, 1894

Considering the state of education in Australia, and the fact that schools are crying out for more male teachers, old solutions should be considered.

Especially considering that in today’s climate, a man takes a far greater risk being in a school environment than a woman. By that I am referring to the potential for false accusations and the like.

He also is far less likely to leave or go part time to have children. And he is far more likely to have to support dependents.

Hence, higher pay is reasonable, would attract more men and make a big difference to the state of modern education in schools.

Of course, modern ideology precludes sensible solutions like this. But this would be a smart solution.

On Chivalry

What happened to chivalry?

You hear that asked a lot. What happened was feminism. By upsetting the natural order between women and men it made chivalry not only old fashioned, but unsuitable. Remember chivalry was created in hierarchical Christian societies to honour the hierarchy and ensure it was protective of the weaker individuals in society. But it also required that those weaker individuals provided respect back on up the chain of the hierarchy. Feminism is the chief opponent of such a society:

“Before the Committee of the Constitutional Convention, Mrs. Ecob, of Albany, said: "You speak of chivalry. We scorn the word! What has your chivalry done for the weaker sex? Women are the unpaid laborers of the world—outcasts in government." Mrs. Hood, of Brooklyn, on the same occasion said: "Who dares insult our American manhood by declaring that men will be less courteous to mother, wife, and sister, because they are political equals? Woman's equality in the industrial world has to-day produced a nobler, better chivalry than was ever conceived by the knights of old."

Helen Kendrick Johnson, 1894

Mrs Ecob and Mrs Hood obviously never worked in a mixed factory and saw how men and women speak to each other in that environment. Those who predicted that making men and women both into worker drones were absolutely correct that such an arrangement would destroy chivalry.

Chivalry makes sense when women are more likely to be dependent on a man. It means every man expects other men to treat women with high honour, as she is another man’s honoured treasure. But in our society she is your competitor, she uses her sexuality against you and other men, she would just as soon see you fired for a joke or a comment as talk to you, and she rules the HR departments of the world and government bureaucracies in such a way that your rights and freedoms are squashed more and more. In this world chivalry is insane.

Of course, many women would cry out, “Not all women are like that.” To which I say, of course, I understand that. Every many understands that. But he also does not necessarily have the time or the inclination to work out which woman is which kind. Men and women are now forced to be competitors and this simply erodes the conditions in which chivalry can be fostered. Chivalry requires both hierarchy and that the hierarchy be honoured and treasured.

And the original opponents of feminism saw this.

They were incredibly insightful.

I have been finding Woman and the Republic an insightful read. Some of the specific information is out of date, for instance statistics about who works in which fields and information like that is largely out of date. But the sentiment of the book which calls into question the entire legitimacy of the feminist movement is spot on.

We had wise ancestors who predicted the insanity we face today. If only they had been listened. In some ways Helen Kendrick Johnson is a bit like Cassandra, and we all know how that ended up.

The Problem is Worse Than You Think

 

This picture is pointing to a truth, economically it was easier to get ahead in the past, at least in countries like the US and Australia that still had factories after World War 2. Many of the things people associate with that era of prosperity existed because of that core advantage.

Things are now a lot harder. Renting or buying is insanely expensive. Education costs more than ever before, and often allows for less of a payoff in the job market. Unions were stronger and that mattered for job security.  

But the biggest factors crushing birthrates are:

The pill,

Abortion,

Women pursuing advanced education and focusing on career.*

These three things are going to prove more deadly to the West than any invading army. Think about it, feminism has managed to do what the Mongol's, the Barbary pirates, Communism, the Ottoman Empire and other invading armies and poisonous ideologies could not do: kill the West.

People fear mass immigration, and how this will change our societies, but if our birthrate declines continue other nations will simply walk into empty houses and suburbs and tell stories and legends about the ghosts who once inhabited them.

This is why only repentance and faith can save the West. Ironically there are Bible passages challenging our approach to all three of the main things killing the West; abortion, the pill and women pursuing careers over motherhood. The pill would be challenged, biblically, by the proscriptions against pharmakeia, which incidentally also refers to abortion drugs, and Paul says in Titus 2 that Titus should teach the older women to teach the younger women to love their husbands and children and manage the home. In fact, that one verse challenges all three of the things which are crushing our western societies.

The Covid lockdowns should have caused a baby boom. People were locked down with not much else to do. But instead we saw no increase in births, in fact a decrease.

Why?

For the same reason that salted soil cannot bear crops. Rome salted the ground around Carthage. Today the West is doing the same thing to its own future, for ideological reasons.

*(If Vox Day is correct about what modern genetic science says about the human genome in the Frozen Gene, then also the human genome is degrading so fast this is effecting birthrates too).

 

A Man of Honour

 

David's Song about Saul and Jonathan when he finds out about their deaths, is pretty powerful. Especially when you factor in how Saul treated him while he was still alive.

“17 Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, 18 and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher:

19 “The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places!

How the mighty have fallen!

20 Tell it not in Gath,

Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon—

Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,

Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

21 “O mountains of Gilboa,

Let there be no dew nor rain upon you,

Nor fields of offerings.

For the shield of the mighty is cast away there!

The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

22 From the blood of the slain,

From the fat of the mighty,

The bow of Jonathan did not turn back,

And the sword of Saul did not return empty.

23 “Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives,

And in their death they were not divided;

They were swifter than eagles,

They were stronger than lions.

24 “O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

Who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury;

Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

25 “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!

Jonathan was slain in your high places.

26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;

You have been very pleasant to me;

Your love to me was wonderful,

Surpassing the love of women.

27 “How the mighty have fallen,

And the weapons of war perished!” (2 Samuel 1:17-27).

There is something noble about being willing to view someone who is basically on the same team, but at times was against you, this way when they pass.

Saul may have been David's enemy at times, but he was also his father-in-law, his king, and the leader of his people. And it was worse for him to see this man fall before their enemies, than to focus on how he had opposed him while he was seeking to be his steward.

David was clearly a man who genuinely and truly believed in the divine hierarchy, not just as it applied to him, but also how it applied to others. Though he would fall into disgrace some time after this event, as his power to some degree went to his head, he was especially a man of honour in his younger years, and this caused many men to flock to his side.

There is something hollow about our anti-hierarchical culture that is permissive of pulling down every structure. People with that perspective cannot be trusted to build for the future, whereas David could be and did.

If we are going to rebuild this ruined civilisation we are going to have to learn to honour those that are working for the same thing, even though they may be flawed at times. David knew Saul was a tormented man, he probably deeply pitied him. Jonathan was everything David was, and would have made a very good king. But the responsibility passed to David, who believed in the structures and society he was building. We need more of that in these days.