Welcome to the world of Janus. Janus was the Roman god of doorways, among other things. The month January is named after him, being the doorway between the old year and the new. Janus sees both past and future and it is this all-encompassing view that is the reason why the name has been chosen for this series of articles. Here we look at some of the big moral and philosophical issues of the day and try to take a long term, common sense view that we hope will be acceptable, or at least non-controversial, to both sides.
Janus does not provide any "silver bullets"; there are no magic solutions to the world's problems. If there were then the many clever men and women who run the world would surely have found them by now! Janus instead will try to show that solutions do exist. If the path towards them is not clear or acceptable to all then this does not mean that they are no longer solutions; it just means we have to try harder and spend more time and effort. There is always a way!
Janus does not like labels. They have a similiar function to that of an observer in a Quantum Theory experiment; once the label has been applied the many possibilities collapse into just one. Call Janus what you will: a Taoist, a woolly minded liberal or a dangerous lefty. Such labels will not stick; Janus will not be categorized!
Here then are the topics on which Janus has so far pronounced. Love them, hate them, but at least read them.