Tagged: valuesmatter

1947 - Jadotville, Panda Likasi, Congo - De Gaulle in the living room

Frenchcore

If you wish to know yourself better, there will always be people to tell you what you are. Now, it is also true that it is up to you to consider or dismiss what they say, but even if it is totally off, you know at least what people think....

are you ready to die for your country

Ready to Die for Your Country? Not yet?

War is coming. Every commander-in-chief, active or retired, from every country, even China, has confirmed it was their current scenario. The invasion of Ukraine tipped over 10 years of wobbly international relations. It made the impossible possible again. Mutually Assured Destruction is an actual potential scenario, as demonstrated since 2 years. ...

Living In The Best World Possible

Apocalypse, S1Ep5, the End is nigh-er The 4 riders of the Apocalypse have been cantering around for some time now. Like some kind of screen savers. They just seem to endlessly circle the flaming skies, as prophesied.  The End Times. The 4 Horsemen.  Pestilence? Covid. Check.  War? Check and re-check! ...

“You Do You!” … and Then What Do You Do?

Over the past 10 years, we went from “You do You, you be yourself”, to “You do You, whatever dude”. Once the cornerstone of support, acceptance and inclusivity, the phrase “You do You” is now less a program than a shrug. Whatever floats your boat.  This is so emblematic of our...

I Am Irrelevant

What will the people think? What will they remember about me? A common worry, even when we don’t care. Maybe especially so. And if it is a worry, then we have to admit it has at least some importance in our life. I was recently discussing choice and end-of-life dignity....

Time Flies When Having Fun

Apparently Netflix got a reprieve thanks to Stranger Things. Well. Looking at my feed, the bets to keep me as a client seem twofold: random content selection – quite ironical in itself for a non-linear content provider – and a wall of comedy and stand-up. And yet, my laugh-o-meter has reached a...

political scandals

Who? Me?

This post took me a surprisingly long time to write. It was not the difficulty of the subject or the lack of inspiration. Not even existential boredom. On the contrary. The reason was that raw material never stopped flowing. A flood of information. Political scandals come slushing down the hill...

I Have… No Dream

Many Universal Threats, But Where Is the Universal Vision? We stopped voting. We actively avoid news. We don’t read. Don’t we care anymore? Maybe. Unlikely though. It could possibly be just a matter of era. A generational mood. Despondent, blasé times. When we don’t blame the leadership, we blame the tools. The...

the world before AVV-VVK museum aan de ijzer

The World before The World Before

March 2020. A weather so balmy, yet most of us locked up. It did not take long before many came up with grand plans for the future. All would be well in the “world after”. Certainly, a sound intellectual exercise during an enforced pause in our life plans. At least,...

ice skating child

Is This Child Labour?

Or, what price are we ready to accept for entertainment. Our societies, our self-styled spokespeople, ourselves claim to care more and more about individual mental welfare. We are ready to unfurl the flags and go up the trench against physical exploitation. And then every 2 years, we watch the global...