When Lance Armstrong announced his return to cycling in Vanity Fair yesterday, I could not help feeling some resentment. Even though respecting the man’s incredible achievements, he seems to have an obsessive urge to make his case. It will be interesting to see a retired cyclist trying to return to former levels, and maybe beating [...]
How does one turn an unknown politician into an influential one? First of all, we need a topic that is controversial, but attractive to a broader audience. Let’s make this Muslim integration. The second ingredient: arrange a government and Prime Minister that excels in ‘clumsiness’. They are to say the wrong things at the wrong [...]
Lately Italy has been in the news. Again. With news facts that repeat each other from time to time. Take Alitalia. I do not even need to research the exact number, but Alitalia makes a big loss… every day. On the many flights it makes, most of them are sponsored by the Italian government. Alitalia [...]
‘Liberalism’ presupposes that individuals are capable of taking decisions that make them and mankind in general better off. It assumes that individuals are fully capable of understanding, or at least valuing, things the way they should. There is a deep distrust towards governments and the actions taken by them. I can fully support this distrust. To put it in one simple one-liner: power corrupts. I am pretty convinced it does. Power attracts individuals and groups that try to work politicians and civil servants. There is a high reward for both parties involved. Eventually, power corrupts so much, it (partly) destroys itself.
Unfortunately there are people around who think they are in control of a moving world. Their pride has taken them beyond human proportions, a fate they are unable to carry. I cannot believe they are sincerely trying to make others better off. I think they like being in control too much. This is why messing with the economy is one of their priorities.
One of the drawbacks of the right to free speech is the production of numerous opinions in all kinds of media. Well, yes, I understand that these are of importance for any ‘free country’. At the same time the increasing supply of opinions includes more and more… rubbish (sorry, some frustration at the other side).
Once in a few years you get to see what your tax money is spent on. Today I went to ‘my’ town hall to apply for a new driving license. In my town the town hall has been rebuilt. Actually, it has been rebuilt from scratch. The building is state of the art, designed by an some artistic architect. On the inside it was warm and clean, the room stuffed with the latest technology (screens, computer).
As you (probably) know there is an ongoing discussion in Western Europe about the ‘integration’ of its biggest minority into society. I am talking about (former) immigrants from areas around the Mediterranean, where the Islam is the dominant religion. Some claim that their culture (including religion) does not fit with ours and that there is a need for assimilation. What is the Western European culture?
At some point in recent history a change in our societal mind must have taken place. At this point our focus shifted from looking at the bigger picture to getting obsessed with details. Our society seems to be lost, not knowing in which direction to go. It has become increasingly afraid of fear, pain and [...]
In general we believe that democratic governance is a good moral value. We consider that decision making by majority yields the best outcome. We should take into consideration, though, that the majority as such might evolve into an autocratic mob. The rise of socialism became this de facto clenching of power that subjected individuals to state power.