Image thanks to doc reseacrh group Anyone who thinks you can have infinite growth on a finite planet is either a madman or an economist - David Attenborough. The problem with using GDP as a measure of the human condition is that it will ultimately fail. The prospect of keeping growth going to satisfy an … Continue reading Going for growth
Free speech (again)
Image thanks to TheAtlantic.com Trump has been banned from Twitter and Parler has been taken offline. Proponents of so-called free speech cry foul and all the old arguments about the role of social media companies and the media in general have come to the fore again. Yet over the last few days we have seen … Continue reading Free speech (again)
Guilty interest
Image thanks to LendWithCare.org I feel fortunate, at my time of life, to have some money in the bank. I feel that I have earned it and it is a welcome cushion against a very uncertain future. Every so often, though it has not been much of late, I get paid interest. It is paid … Continue reading Guilty interest
Dying of boredom
Image thanks to Columbia University I feel lucky in that I am rarely bored. Yes, I end up doing boring things from time to time yet there is so much else to be getting on with that it is easy for me to switch my mind to something more entertaining or challenging. Boredom can be … Continue reading Dying of boredom
Alone in the UK
‘Alone in Berlin’ by Hans Fallada tells of what it was like to live in Berlin under the Nazi party during the Second World War. It gives a truly frightening take on how society breaks down and where everyone is under suspicion because they are all guilty of some form of sedition, whether they know … Continue reading Alone in the UK
Seeing better
There was a soft thud on the mat and the sound of shuffling feet outside the front door. The Post had arrived and I knew this was the parcel I had been waiting for. My eyesight has been getting gradually worse, year after year and when the advert on the television said I could get … Continue reading Seeing better
Happy New Year 2021
Image thanks to WallpaperCave For three years now, I have published a list of resolutions. This is my fourth. They are not things that I have set my heart on achieving but rather things to aim at. For the year just gone I have given myself three and a half out of the five yet … Continue reading Happy New Year 2021
Story without end
Sorry but this is another blog about books, sort of. I’ve been getting through a lot of them during COVID and have just finished ‘After Dark’ by Haruki Murakami. His work is described as surrealism or magical realism and I have been on a bit of a streak of his work. Don’t worry, there are … Continue reading Story without end
House of competition
The news is so depressing these days. To avoid watching the BBC at 6 o’clock I have been turning over to watch Richard Osman’s House of Games. It’s a funny programme in which four contestants ‘compete’ to win naff prizes by answering inventive and amusing questions. It is supposed to be a light hearted show … Continue reading House of competition
Reading your own thoughts
Twice this week I have read my own thoughts in other people’s books. On two separate occasions, one fiction and one non-fiction, I have read things that I have written before. Don’t get me wrong, I am not for one minute suggesting that either of the authors had taken my ideas as their own. There … Continue reading Reading your own thoughts
