This reading begins the first chapter of the book by asking a range of questions about contemporary ideas of Being. It also seeks to justify the idea of Being pursued on the book of convenience pursued by violence. It frames the questions used as an inquiry throughout the book: who is enjoying convenience, who can sustain convenience through aggressive action, when did a group retreat from conflict to pursue survival instead and was the price of convenience too big for the exoneration of Fate?

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Or read the book? Being in the Colonies

This episode concludes the reading of the introductory chapter. The exploration of convenience begins. Colonial Tasmania is depicted as a neurotic tussle against Palawa inhabitants who pursued their own idea of convenience and fought effectively for it. Western Australian settlers complained that there was too much red tape involved in the apprehension of Indigenous cattle thieves. Being is likened to membership of a gangster in-crowd. Polite and social until the moment violence is necessary.

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This episode briefly considers the challenge for making a reading of Being as a historical enterprise. Then we make our first assessment of the events after the fall of Singapore as a lesson in Being. It was a triumphal moment for the Japanese Imperial Army and then an excessive one. The question of whether Chinese survival without resistance constitutes Being is raised.

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