Trying to make sense of it all...

This is the webpage of a student still finding his bearings in this globalised 21st century society. I am in a constant process of looking for and trying to formulate perspectives from which to identify the contradictions, injustices, pitfalls, hollow crevices and herd mentalities that abound today's societies. While everyone is aware by now that something is systemically wrong with the economy, few dare to find out more.

With resources dwindling, polupations growing, temperature rising, wealth concentrating, and politicians self-censoring, we certainly are not destined for a more pleasant future. The current process of crises coming together and accelerating each other is quite aptly described as 'clusterfuck'. We, the present generations, are clearly screwed in so many ways. But in order to do better ourselves, we need to find out what is going wrong, why, and what is possible in stead of the systems in place now. This is a very difficult task, because it requires the synthesis of so much knowledge of different kinds, philosophical flexibility of perspective, intellectual honesty and determination. And the more you find out, the harder it is to communicate your findings because you drift away from the dominant world view that is implicit in the main stream media, most universities, and public debate.

This website is an effort to bring as many pieces of the puzzle as possible together, to promote informed debate, and to encourage critical thinking. Many radical views will be allowed and proposed here, but all of them will be subjected to criticism. I will use different methods as I see fit; writing reviews for books that deserve attention, linking news, articles, documentaries and online lectures by insightful speakers. I hope that in time this collection will serve as a home base and a waypoint for people who, like me, want to make sense out of a system coming apart. As Slavoj Zizek turned Marx upside down:

'To change the world, we first need to interpret it!'

Welcome to my corner of the web,

Freek Blauwhof

A list of interests and topics to expect:

Relevant Disciplines:

• philosophy; ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of social sciences, Frankfurter critical theory.
• ecology; understanding the sources and sinks of the world's ecosystems
• system dynamics; seeing the economy as (part of the global) ecosystem, streams of energy and matter in the economy
• economics; from Smith, Ricardo, Malthus and Marx to present
• sociology
• history; especially the parts we Westeners keep omitting or forgetting

Subjects to explore:

• recent events in politics and the economy
• peak oil and gas; their consequences for the economy
• energy conservation and renewable energy
• climate change
• limits to growth
• population and growth
• ever growing gap between rich and poor
• how fiat money works
• history of political thought
• historical and actual popular movements
• history of political systems
• legitimacy of the state; (philosophical) anarchism?
• capitalism and the state; systemic mechanisms that reinforce the power of capital
• capitalism and culture; consumption society and alienation
• capitalism and the media; the trade in audiences
• community organised media
• what is democracy (supposed to be)?
• expanding the political; democracy in the work place?
• the corporation
• globalisation and the third world
• ideology and ideologies
• war and imperialism
• terrorism
• military-industrial complexes
• suppression and rise of socialist states in Latin America
• political use and abuse of language and definitions
• possibility of and necessary conditions for rational, honest, and enlightened public debate (or could Habermas be right after all, and how can we prove him right?)
• the search for reasonable and realisible political philosophies of a better lifeworld for all; social ideals within limits to growth.