I am not a Monarchist. I am morally opposed to hereditary leadership. Not because I believe that a King or Queen cannot be a net positive for a nation, that has been proved many times throughout history. The Imperial House of Japan has been in power since 660 BCE and […]
Blog
Posted on:
Chpt 25: Very Little Gravitas Indeed
Performative activism, moral grandstanding, social pressure, peer group conformity, slogan chanting and virtue signaling. Is it a net negative or positive for a movement? Is it a net negative at a personal level? Some view it as a genuine expression of moral values, while others see it as a self-serving […]
Blog
Posted on:
Chpt 24.3: Profit Margin
Let’s briefly recap Part 1, and Part 2 of this short series. The Cantillon School of Economics “The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.” Terry Pratchett – Men At Arms Sam Vimes isn’t wrong in his basic assumption about […]
Blog
Posted on:
Chpt 24.2: Profit Margin
Captain Sam Vimes’ belief was that people are motivated entirely by self interest. That those with wealth use it as a marker of influence and status, and those who possess great wealth are often able to exert control over others. Something I think most would agree with, and that we […]
Blog
Posted on:
Chpt 24.1: Profit Margin
I grew up reading the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, through my teens and probably into my early twenties as well. A prolific writer, averaging two books per year, writing a total of forty one books in a series that combined humor with science fiction and fantasy clichés. As a […]
Blog
Posted on:
Chpt 23: God Told Me To Do It
Quetzalcoatl is one of the most important gods in ancient Mesoamerican mythology, a deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and means “Feathered Serpent” or “Precious Serpent”. For the Aztecs, their mythology, rich with tales of gods and cosmic events, may hold more than mere allegorical narratives. Could it […]
Blog
Posted on:
Chpt 22: Demented But Determined
Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, grappled with the concept of utopia in his works “The Republic” and “The Laws.” His ideas on the ideal society continue to influence modern thought and invite us to consider whether utopias are truly attainable. Or, if this is even something we should be attempting […]
Blog
Posted on:
Chpt 21: Death and Gravity
Anubis doesn’t have a monopoly on being the only God of the Dead, despite being perhaps the most famous. Around the world, in ancient texts, oral traditions and myths there are hundreds of beings associated with Death, all with various attributes and abilities. Hades in Greek/Roman mythology is responsible for […]
Blog
Posted on:
Chpt 20: I Blame The Parents
In 2008 I travelled to Japan with friends and spent time in Kyoto and Tokyo. This was an eye-opening trip for me, someone who had never travelled to a country that didn’t use the Latin Alphabet, bearing in mind that about 50% of countries globally use this as the basis […]
Blog
Posted on:
Chpt 19: Trade Surplus
This November will mark the 20th anniversary of my having worked offshore in the oil and gas sector. A career that has taken me around the world and given me many opportunities. So in many ways, I have a vested interest in the topic of Energy Return on Investment (EROI). […]
Blog
Posted on:
Chpt 18: Steely Glint
Winston Churchill, in a speech to the House of Lords in 1943, famously said “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us“. The pre-war urban landscape of Britain was very different to what it is today, with many of the major cities bombed out during the blitz and needing rebuilt, […]
Blog
Posted on:
Chpt 17: Reformed Nice Guy
So it is, that we are taught from a young age to fall in line, to be indoctrinated, to adhere and comply. Teaching people in a way that stifles independent thinking, and promotes conformity, would seem the easiest way to maintain social order. Indeed a population that is taught to […]