There is an English proverb, “In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” This is glib and ‘obvious’, and prompted H G Wells to write a memorable […]
Sharpening our tools
Our ‘thought-tools’ (concepts) often need sharpening—or even replacing.
The country of the blind
The three economic classes
In Chaucer’s day, there were just two recognised classes: the nobility (which included the higher clergy) and the common people (who were simply defined by being not-noble). You will come […]
Political labels (‘left’ and ‘right’)
Since we are profoundly affiliative creatures, we are attracted to labels. Most are labels which would be rejected by the political group identified. It’s unlikely, for example, that a group […]
‘Mental health’
Between school and Oxford, I borrowed a recently published book from the local library:Â The Myth of Mental Illness, by Thomas Szasz. It has achieved some fame over the years, and […]
‘Sex’ and ‘gender’
I have included sex as a driving force in human life among my “demon drivers.” This is about ‘sex’ (and therefore ‘gender’) as a classification. President Trump recently declared, “there are […]
Tribes
In England, in late 2020, the former “Brexit” party re-branded itself as “Reform UK.” Because of its history as a Brexit party, it already had support, and the new party […]
A nod to a ‘demon’
A Yeats poem from the late 1930s, when politics loomed large—testifying to the power of one particular ‘demon driver’. Politics “In our time the destiny of man presents its meanings […]
Types of people
To live with people, you need to know what they are like. One handy method is to identify the type of person someone is. The most thorough attempt to sort […]
Shoreham incident
In 1955, on a long summer holiday in England, my father rented a house in Shoreham, on the Sussex coast. This was when I met Brighton and Eastbourne, and fell […]
Back to the future?
(As I write, the country’s landlords—and landladies—are lining up to support ‘Reform UK.’) Telephone Conversation Wole Soyinka (1962) The price seemed reasonable, location Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived Off […]