Multiperspectivism
Multiperspectivism as a response to the stagnation of progress, and the foundation of an approach to break the deadlock at the heart of current Western politics and societies.
Read MoreHypermodernity – the political is personal
An overarching approach threading together previous essay topics to form an explanation of the impasse currently faced in most democracies through the analysis of the historical, political, cultural, ecological, and psychological aspects of the deterioration of the modern concept of progress, the current religions of progress, the loss of future, the surfacing of multi-perspectivism in societal discourse, and the socio-cultural effects of digitalization.
Read MoreThe progressive positivist paradox
Outlining the paradox at the heart of politics based on progress and the trap it creates when the concepts of rights and equality, and with them, identity, are based on a Western-scientific conception of positivist value and worth.
Read MoreThe religion of progress
Part two in a series of (hopefully) four essays discussing different aspects of the dissolution of linear time and progress. This one tries to connect the historical dots and trace how the concept of progress (and, with it, revolution) was infused with an eschatological mindset and monotheistic morality, and how this informs the current political atmosphere and the nature of our disputes. Basically, modern politics as religion.
Read MoreHypermodernity and cultures as aesthetic individuality reservoirs
The first in a series of essays on the effects of the disintegration of the belief in progress, discussing the modern cultural phenomenon of short-term nostalgia, the 20-year revival, leading to the concept of the “big now”, cultures as identity reservoirs, hypermodernity and individuality as an end in and of itself.
Read MoreAbout Death
A re-edit of the essay on the visceral experience of my brother’s death as an event which helped me develop a deeper level of understanding for other people and also gain insight into some of the pain and horror entailed in conflict and events at large throughout human history, as well as offering a lens though which to view national leadership.
Reader warning: Contains graphic descriptions of death that some may not feel comfortable with. This was not done for shock value, but to illustrate the aspects of first-hand experience that contributed to insight.
Read MoreCommunism and Fascism — A Short Walk Through a Berlin Neighborhood
It’s been a long while since a longer piece of writing due to life choosing to be on the very busy side. I’ve decided to just try and get back up and running with some shorter pieces before getting to the longer essays I have in the pipeline.
This first one back was inspired by a walk through my neighborhood, looking at the very present traces of two of the most extreme political systems that have ever existed and which can be found all over one and the same city - Berlin. It caused me to think about the present political hysteria and how people fling comparisons around to try and make sense of the shift we are currently living through. In essence, it made clear that traces of the past won’t help identify what the problems of the future will look like.
The Tragedy of Culture and the Liberalization of the Self
Using ideas from Georg Simmel’s 1911 essay on “The Tragedy of Culture” and the continued influence of neo-liberal thinking to elaborate a paradox at the heart of today’s disjointed and hyper-personal cultural discourse: The mechanism we use to identify ourselves and others in society also presents the biggest obstacle to having a healthy and effective societal discourse.
Read MorePopulism - Preaching Strength Through Weakness
Thinking about 21st century populism and its penchant for basking in the idea of its own weakness, a type of complete impotence that is made into a virtue. The incapacity of the individual to effect real change is key. Ultimately a celebratory exercise in self-denial and self-defeat.
Read MoreComplexity, Uncertainty and Our Longing for Duality
Discussing the clash between our natural instinct to break our surroundings down into dualities and the actual complexity of the universe, our world and the general uncertainty of life.
Read MoreNo More Heroes
A rant about the failure of 20th century culture and subcultures and the echoing wasteland of meaninglessness we live with today. Welcome to the apocalypse of mediocrity.
Read MoreNegative and Positive – Identity and Self
A meditation on negative self-identification as affected through negative experiences and seeing parallels in this behavior, on an individual level, with larger-scale political currents and (inter)national politics.
Read MoreA Post-Truth Test
A simple question and answer for post-truth frames of mind to illustrate our saturation in information. Something we have no control over.
Read MoreWe are War
Addressing war and conflict as inherent features of human societies and behavior. To forget or negate this, or espouse an easy solution, is to ignore the complexity of our world and a defining negative element of our real selves.
Read MorePost-Factual Humanity
On the post-fact, post-truth world we have currently chosen for ourselves - an attempt to dissect and clarify the different human, psychological elements of our condition.
Read MoreHeritage and Identity
The origins of personal identity as a heritage of movement, history, politics and cultures melding with one another to create new and temporarily modern ones.
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