As we once again vacillate over the vexed question of Indigenous recognition, Australia’s multicultural society and house-of-cards economy are showing signs of fragility. Mike Dowson reflects on how risk and opportunity are linked.

Did you hear that kings rule by divine right? Or that a woman’s place is in the home? How about capitalism lifts people out of poverty?

All these have at some time been taken for plain facts. But they are not. They …