What about this, then, Alan? Treat currency like stamps. If we’re trying to emphasize liberal democracy, stress that human life is sacred, what about putting cultural, and literary heroes and heroines on the money? Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Anton Schmid, people whose life choices can be seen as objectively admirable? Europe has seen great virtue over the centuries, not merely low criminality
No objection from me. But the problem is that Bonhoeffer and Schmid are best known for ideas and events that a post-Christian Europe is running away from. When you create a transnational market and currency, the central bankers don’t want your mind drifting off to, say, the brave souls who took a stand against the Nazis. Wrong vibes (for them). The only Invisible Hand the ECB wants you thinking about is Adam Smith’s.
No doubt you’re right, but it’s not just the currency, the moral/cultural rot, if we want to call it that, lies at the heart of the EU project.
“Why are the nations in an uproar? And why do the peoples mutter in vain? The kings of the earth stand up, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD, and against His anointed: Let us break their bands asunder, And cast away their cords from us.'”
Alan, the "big story" you are searching for is happening right in front of us. SpaceX going to Mars. That story is as unifying as you can get. Since they are a herd of nerds, they are going to need someone to develop their story and tell it. That just might be a job tailor made for you. Yes, I'm serious.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ehud, but you have the wrong guy. The exploration of Mars puzzles me more than it excites me, although SpaceX technology is eye-popping. The first time I saw the pair of rockets (boosters?) land side by side many months ago, my jaw was on the floor. But as Neil Postman liked to say whenever presented with a new technology: “This new tool is a solution to what problem?” Or to put it more profanely: *Why does a dog lick his balls? Because he can.* We build this stuff because we can, not because we should. Same for a whole range of new tech, including all the transhuman stuff still to come.
Space travel is what we do when the frontier closes here in Earth, and we can’t bear to look inward so we keep running restlessly outward. Anything to avoid looking in a mirror and asking the Jewish question: Why am I here?
P.S. If you’re already in the Promised Land, why do you look at SpaceX and dream about leaving? 😊
What about this, then, Alan? Treat currency like stamps. If we’re trying to emphasize liberal democracy, stress that human life is sacred, what about putting cultural, and literary heroes and heroines on the money? Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Anton Schmid, people whose life choices can be seen as objectively admirable? Europe has seen great virtue over the centuries, not merely low criminality
No objection from me. But the problem is that Bonhoeffer and Schmid are best known for ideas and events that a post-Christian Europe is running away from. When you create a transnational market and currency, the central bankers don’t want your mind drifting off to, say, the brave souls who took a stand against the Nazis. Wrong vibes (for them). The only Invisible Hand the ECB wants you thinking about is Adam Smith’s.
No doubt you’re right, but it’s not just the currency, the moral/cultural rot, if we want to call it that, lies at the heart of the EU project.
“Why are the nations in an uproar? And why do the peoples mutter in vain? The kings of the earth stand up, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD, and against His anointed: Let us break their bands asunder, And cast away their cords from us.'”
A short article, bit one of the most important. Mine later is on a similar theme!
Looking forward to reading it!
Aren't they trying to shove a universal digital currency down our throats? What gives?
Alan, the "big story" you are searching for is happening right in front of us. SpaceX going to Mars. That story is as unifying as you can get. Since they are a herd of nerds, they are going to need someone to develop their story and tell it. That just might be a job tailor made for you. Yes, I'm serious.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ehud, but you have the wrong guy. The exploration of Mars puzzles me more than it excites me, although SpaceX technology is eye-popping. The first time I saw the pair of rockets (boosters?) land side by side many months ago, my jaw was on the floor. But as Neil Postman liked to say whenever presented with a new technology: “This new tool is a solution to what problem?” Or to put it more profanely: *Why does a dog lick his balls? Because he can.* We build this stuff because we can, not because we should. Same for a whole range of new tech, including all the transhuman stuff still to come.
Space travel is what we do when the frontier closes here in Earth, and we can’t bear to look inward so we keep running restlessly outward. Anything to avoid looking in a mirror and asking the Jewish question: Why am I here?
P.S. If you’re already in the Promised Land, why do you look at SpaceX and dream about leaving? 😊
“A heard of nerds.” From one nerd to another 🤣🤣🤣