Democracy was invented by the Greeks. But their philosophers had very grave doubts about it and generally did not believe that it could be brought to work. Socrates explained it like this: Imagine an election between two candidates: a doctor and a sweet shop owner. The sweet shop owner would say of his rival:“Look, this person here has worked many evils on you. He hurts you, gives you bitter potions […]
Democracy is a numbers game. The rules are as simple as they get: one person, one vote. It’s as basic as that. So it naturally follows that whichever faction has the most people, is the faction with the greatest power, yes? That was the conundrum which faced the major European powers in the years following the French Revolution. To ensure the stability of their lands – not to mention the […]
Society today rests on a fundament of principles. World views. Things which we believe to be absolutely true and eternally valid. One of those – in some ways by far the most important of them – is the idea of democracy. Democracy (literally: rule by the people) is the glue which links all of the various elements of our society together. It is made possible by the essential idea that […]
We live in a world of scarcity, of needs and wants and unfulfilled dreams. And we, ourselves, are the ones who made it that way. Not because it seemed good or wise to do so, but simply through ignorance – and a lack of caring. We are the stewards of the world. And it has not prospered whilst in our care. Nor, in fact, have we done all that well […]
A powerful post about democracy – and how it is undermined and weakened by the very people who are supposed to uphold it. Never mind whether you are for or against Brexit; the whole question of democracy itself is up for grabs here…
Our reality is defined by what we can think and sense. Technology has given us a greater reach than ever before. We can visit – both physically and virtually – almost any area on Earth, when and if we should want to. We have, literally at our fingertips, access to an unprecedented universe of information; more than any human soul of any previous century even dreamed of. Physically – and […]
“Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., American physician, poet & polymath You That you, the flame of consciousness reading these words, where is your reality? Where do you exist? Well, inside the mind, the brain – obviously. And yet, it literally takes no more than a thought for you to escape that constraint and to roam free – […]
“Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view.” — Obi-Wan Kenobi We live – and therefore we think. In many ways, the human mind is the crowning achievement of Earthly evolution. It’s still open for debate, of course, whether it will also be the very last achievement of evolution… ever; we’ll see about that. But there is no other, evolutionary feat in the world […]
What is reality? That question has been the subject of countless hours of thought and philosophical or religious debate. What is it…? Is it a world comprised of physical matter which we can touch and sense and influence – and which exists due to natural laws we are only now beginning to comprehend? Or is it an illusion shaped by mystical forces or gods beyond our ken? Or maybe it […]
It may be difficult, today, to truly see the world as other than what it is right now. Oh, sure – you can dream of a better future, yes? Even imagine how it may look, with flying cars, free medicine to all, and global warming but a distant threat kept at bay by the boundless resource of human ingenuity.
You can dream…
But can you remember? […]
Northern Dragon 