Miscellaneous
Micro: No small thing
For years, Jackson Kahiga lived in insecurity. The small farmer in the Kenyan countryside was at the mercy of his dependence on rain. When there was enough of it, things were fine, but he had to stay prepared for a lack of precipitation and the ensuing bad harvests. Farmers with plenty of land Read More...
Who’s afraid of inequality?
It is widely believed that excessive economic inequality is a profound social problem. Although this new egalitarianism often appears radical, it is, on the contrary, profoundly regressive. Contemporary critics of inequality accuse the super-rich of putting unbearable strain on the fabric of Read More...
A wellspring of peace
The meeting in 2008 about ending the war between Israel and Palestine proceeded with difficulty. Finally, though, came a moment when the two sides reached agreement. The turning point came during a discussion about water. The Jews and Arabs, both Muslims and Christians, acknowledged that both Read More...
Take control of your life
Create your own reality. That mission has supplied a steady stream of self-help gurus and books—from Napoleon Hill, who wrote Think and Grow Rich in 1937, to more recent initiatives like the documentaries The Secret and What the Bleep!?. The experts in these movies eagerly embrace quantum Read More...
Great ball of fire
Children love to play outside; so did Massoud Hassani growing up in Afghanistan. But the fields near his house in Kabul were filled with mines. There are millions of land mines in Afghanistan, and some of Hassani’s childhood friends did not survive their outdoor play. When Hassani began Read More...
A queen is born
For more than twenty years now, conservationist Linda Tucker from South-Africa has been fighting for the survival of the white lion, an animal that plays an important role in the myths and legends of Africa. There are only 500 white lions in the world, and most of them are held in captivity. Over Read More...
Dreaming together
Nine women are sitting in a room with their eyes closed. One starts to speak. “Last night I dreamed I went to the hairdresser. Every week this woman had a new idea for my hair. This time she said: ‘a pony tail.’ I thought,What does she mean? Is that even an option?You see, I had mid-length Read More...
What you can change
EXTRA: Don't miss our online event with John-Paul Flintoff on the 16th of May. Yours is a nice little book, just over 150 pages. Not bad for a guide to changing the world. “Ha! I knew it was a ridiculously grand title, and I’ve heard more people saying what you just said. I think it’s a Read More...
Life is not a contest
Last year, I made a New Year’s resolution that, in hindsight, was both vague and overly ambitious. The resolution was “Get better at everything.” The theory behind it was that I’d been slacking off a bit in my twenties, enjoying the social events, short work weeks and lazy Sunday Read More...
When monks rule
Once, long ago, rulers in India kept monks close to their courts. They knew the ascetics’ daily meditations had a calming effect on the populace. The kings took care of the monks so they could care for society. Even in medieval Europe, villages felt protected against robbers in the presence of a Read More...