The Aporia · If humans are the problem, can humans be the solution?

If humans are the problem, can humans be the solution?

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗

Cite

APA MLA Chicago

Zwartz, B. (2026, September 26). If humans are the problem, can humans be the solution? The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/if-humans-are-the-problem-can-humans-be-the-solution-20260927-p6108q.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Barney Zwartz discusses whether human institutions like the United Nations can provide security in an age of global uncertainty and instability caused by issues such as climate change and geopolitical conflicts. He contrasts the UN's limitations with the idea that true security comes from faith in God, based on biblical teachings. The article also mentions a suggestion by atheist Tom Drake-Brockman for a spiritual humanism inspired by Christian ethics to address contemporary societal challenges.

Written by AI on 2026-09-26, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Noted human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson proposed in a recent article that Melbourne could be a good candidate to host the United Nations headquarters if it were relocated from New York. Robertson believes that moving the UN to Melbourne would enhance the city's cultural life and economy, despite the organization’s long history of failures. Some critics argue that human institutions like the UN are inherently flawed due to their reliance on human decision-making, which is often hindered by issues such as the veto power held by China, Russia, the US, France, and the UK in the Security Council. This pessimism stems from the current global insecurity caused by factors including climate change, AI, conflicts, inflation, crime, pandemics, and social media negativity.

Written for “Climate Change Solutions” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

19%

3 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

withheld

no quote in the article backed the model's score

Publisher signals

61/100

The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Politics

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articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 5845 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Barney Zwartz

1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Noted human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson proposed in this masthead last week that, given widespread agreement that the United Nations should replace its New York headquarters with one in the global south, Melbourne would be a good candidate.

2026-09-26 · assertive framing · If humans are the problem, can humans be the solution?

The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

China Melbourne New York Russia the United Nations

Subjects

Melbourne GPE · 2× China GPE · 1× France GPE · 1× Geoffrey Robertson PERSON · 1× Jesus PERSON · 1× New York GPE · 1× Robertson PERSON · 1× Russia GPE · 1× Winston Churchill PERSON · 1× the United Nations ORG · 1×

Narrative

As atheist Tom Drake-Brockman wrote a decade ago, “just as faith-based religion has run its dubious course, secular humanism has proved itself incapable of little else beyond an obsession with individual rights, manifesting as neo-liberal excess on the right and self-serving identity politics on the left”.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-26

2026-09-26 · The Sydney Morning Herald

If humans are the problem, can humans be the solution? · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 3 hedged)

Noted human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson proposed in this masthead last week that, given widespread agreement that the United Nations should replace its New York headquarters with one in the global south, Melbourne would be a good candidate. asserted

Melbourne → note → south

Robertson is convinced Melbourne hosting the UN would enrich this city’s life, and the economy. asserted

hosting → convince → life

Many people admire the UN despite its long record of failures – as Winston Churchill observed, jaw-jaw is better than war-war – while another commentator wrote that there is no problem the UN cannot make worse. asserted

UN → admire → war

I incline to the latter view, not least because of the embedded handicap of the veto for the US, Russia, China, the UK and France that generally guarantees no meaningful action can be taken in the organisation’s chief role, to preserve global security. asserted

action → incline → security

We cannot find security in any human institution precisely because all are run by humans. asserted

all → find → humans

People are insecure because of climate change, AI, conflicts, the abandoned rules-based global order, inflation, crime, the prospect of pandemics, the negative influences of social media and the rising epidemic of anxiety and loneliness. asserted

People → abandon → anxiety

The Bible, whose authors are fully aware of the flaws all of us are heir to, tells us our security is found in one place only: God himself. asserted

security → tell → place

Here security takes a different sense – it’s not that we are spared the ills listed above. asserted

we → take → ills

Jesus is quite explicit to his disciples: “In this world you will have trouble. asserted

you → have → trouble

I have overcome the world.” asserted

I → overcome → world

The security people find in God is because, no matter what may befall, he has promised never to leave or forsake them – they do not face their trials alone. uncertain

they → find → trials

The Bible is filled with metaphors about this: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble; he is our shield, our sword, our high tower; our rock; our shepherd; he shelters us as a mother hen under her wings. asserted

he → fill → wings

It might be unclear from the outside how something so intangible can provide spiritual strength and comfort, not least because so many see Christianity as merely a set of intellectual claims rather than a personal, living experience. uncertain

many → provide → claims

itself → write → left

The Christian ethic of grace, Drake-Brockman suggested, could inspire a spiritual humanism “capable of reigniting the kind of self-belief, values, idealism and common purpose the Western world so desperately needs”. uncertain

world → suggest → belief

Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. asserted

that → get → views