The Arithmetic of Standing Still
Australia’s productivity angst and the economics of presence
Theme archive
Musings on Civilisation and Collapse
Civilisational patterns, breakdown, renewal, cultural memory, risk, and the long arcs of societal survival.
The Little Blue Book
And the fiction we nostalgically call the international order
Who Is Allowed To Say Stop?
A summons to pause unconstrained development of AI
Gambling With Our Lives
Why Saving Humanity is a Competitive Disadvantage
Elasticity Has Its Limits
It might sound implausible, but a Patriot interceptor missile takes longer to build than a war takes to fight.
What Life’s All About
We live, let’s be honest, in a world that appears to be losing its mind.
Beyond the Reach of Recovery
Collapse, Ecology, and the Unforgiving Present
Some Truths About Getting Old
Modern society has developed a peculiar habit of romanticising old age.
What The Body Already Knows
Somatic Intelligence and Industrial Civilisation
The Moment Power Chose Itself
America's Moment of Undisputed Leadership
Certainty’s Standing Ovation
A thousand people rose to their feet in Sydney on 22 August 2026.
When Numbers Whisper Sweet Nothings
Mathematics, Meaning, and the Search for Intentionality
Narrative Matters
The Real Threat of Artificial Technology
Everything Except Their Names
The accusation arrives early in the Bishkek Declaration, and it arrives with full force: strikes on Iranian territory violated the UN Charter, damaged international law, and put regional peace and stability at risk.
A Correction Before It Arrives
A curator in a regional art gallery is completing the wall text for a group show.
The Beginning of Our Collective Maturity
Collapsing Towards An Empathic Civilisation
Something Behind the Eyes
In the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the horror was never the alien.
The Collapse of the Story
There was a time when power didn’t need to explain itself.
Source networks
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RichardHames.com carries the official archive. The original networks remain the places to subscribe, support, and follow new dispatches as they travel.
Substack / Published periodically
The Hames Report
Long-form essays and reflections on the future of everything. Read and support on SubstackPatreon / Published daily