https://antipodeanobservations.org/tags/australia/Recent content in Australia on Antipodean ObservationsHugoen-ushello@example.comhello@example.comWed, 06 May 2026 20:16:41 +1000https://antipodeanobservations.org/posts/late-stage-democracy/Wed, 06 May 2026 19:00:00 +1000hello@example.comhttps://antipodeanobservations.org/posts/late-stage-democracy/How a wealthy, stable democracy perfected the procedural arts of not quite getting around to it. Late Stage Democracy Somewhere in the Hengduan Mountains, workers are boring a tunnel through seismically active rock at 4,500 metres above sea level. The Sichuan-Tibet Railway — 1,629 kilometres from Chengdu to Lhasa — is roughly 95 percent bridges and tunnels on its most challenging section, threading through gorges, fault lines, and some of the most geologically hostile terrain on the planet.