To The Age What Peter Hartcher discusses as the contemporary success of "right-wing populism" ("The pragmatic populists", 17/12) can perhaps be better seen, on a much greater time scale, as the beginning of a return to public order. The thousand year rule of Catholic Christianity was gradually overthrown by a reform movement that began with Protestantism and ended with a Marxist collectivism that rejected the sacred completely. Unfortunately, while the reform movement freed us from an inquisitorial "orthodoxy" that contained major misunderstanding of the Jesus story, it also unleashed a variety of modes of selfishness that have greatly damaged human society. It has also been utilised by financially powerful globalist elites intent on extending their influence. In the face of this disaster ordinary people are beginning to recognise that daily life will be safer and more pleasant if their nations readopt a sensible conservatism, which will include a wisely articulated moral code based on awareness of the sacred underpinning of all human history.
Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic