In the winter of 1821, a boy named Isaac Tange was born in a coastal town on the North Sea, Vrouwenpolder, in the United Kingdom of The Netherlands. Ten years […]
Category: Old in New Light
People of the Past
Much of our modern world depends on selling the future. When selling anything from mortgages to new medication, the latest vacuum cleaner or tickets to a luxury cruise, the promise […]
Marx Attacks!
Jordan Peterson recently made an attempt to equate philosopher Karl Marx (1818-1883) to the devil, but this was nothing but an insult to the devil –and a definite end to […]
Until Morale Improves
The beatings will continue until morale improves. Cartoonist and illustrator Gerald Scarfe (1936) Many years ago a friend of mine was managing a sales team. One evening, at a house […]
The Little Man
In the summer of 1945 psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957) wrote a riveting essay entitled Listen, Little Man! – addressing all the forms of the ‘Little Man’ and ‘Little Woman’ who […]
Old Wild Horses
All wisdom found outside the rational mind has consistently received a bad rap, particularly during the last fifty to one hundred years. Much attention was given to academics, researchers and […]
When the Worst Won
In a kakistocracy the worst of all people are in charge. This Greek word can be applied to any governed entity, a country, an institution, a company, et cetera, and […]
Heroic Historians
Without a somewhat accurate, reliable account of our common history we can’t work towards a better future. Sometimes time will tell. Sometimes time will set the record straight, but time […]
From Individual Power to Collective Shame
In 1919, Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays (1891-1995) founded America’s first public relations firm, applying psychoanalytic discoveries to promote consumerism and to use latent sexual energy to manipulate the masses […]
The FBI and the Why of the Blue Sky
The biggest censorship case in modern history is that of the brilliant Austrian-American psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957), who worked closely with Sigmund Freud. On August 23, 1956, the FBI burned […]
“Oh, What’ll You Do Now?”
On Action in the Face of Destruction I’m a-goin’ back out ’fore the rain starts a-fallin’ Bob Dylan, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (1963) Is it comforting or worrisome to […]
Addiction Cure Suppressed
The strange disappearance of books and articles on baclofen “Drinking heavily, you abandon people–and they abandon you–and you abandon yourself–It’s a form of partial murder but too sad to go […]
On Indifference and Identity
When Moral Relativism Becomes Nihilism Back in 2007, Argentinian native Máxima Zorreguieta, who married Dutch crown-prince Willem-Alexander in 2002, angered many Dutch people by saying she ‘searched for the Dutch […]
All Talk, No Action
Journalism Since the Great Financial Crisis In early 2009 I attended a memorable panel discussion at Columbia University’s Journalism School in New York. A handful of elite journalists who were […]
Long Live All Who Can’t Be Fooled
A poem by HK & The Saltimbanks This is my first post in a couple of weeks. I intend on blogging more in the nearby future. I am taking a […]
New Words
The beauty of language is that it can’t be stripped of its human, unpredictable, flawed, emotional, dynamic, local, temporary and irrational elements. Language is always moving, it’s never the same […]
Journalism, Truth and Time
If I don’t speak my truth, I will never be able to take myself seriously again. I would be betraying myself AND my profession. My entire career is built on […]
Er klopt iets niet
Het was nog erg vroeg, maar zoals altijd en overal in New York was het leven op straat in volle gang. Ik liep vlak bij het metrostation Brooklyn Borough Hall […]