22 Mar, 2023
"History suggests that once a country crosses the threshold of negative population growth, there is little that its government can do to reverse it." This line is an excerpt from a 2023 NYT article: Can China Reverse Its Population Decline? Just Ask Sweden. Another 2023 quote: "The negative population growth trend cannot be reversed, but behavior and expectations...
13 Jan, 2023
The oldest (known) city is some 11,000 years old (ie, Damascus). The oldest (known) country is some 2,500 years old, being: San Marino (301 BCE), or Japan (660 BCE) or China (221 BCE). See 2020 ThoughtCo. article. Much more recent is geopolitics, which (probably) started with WW I (1914-18). Geopolitics represents the global interconnectedness of Politics, one of...
8 Nov, 2022
I've been watching Hallmark Christmas films again on Amazon Prime Video. Yes, these films are entirely predictable. Yes, some actors are out of their depth. Nevertheless, I love watching those scenic locations (eg, countryside, snowy mountains), and their cosy, farm, and/or majestic houses. Hallmark films usually show rural America which is indeed quite different...
1 Nov, 2022
I just had another look at my 2017 blog Me time, following a recent BPS article: Periods of solitude help older adults recharge after socialising. Back in 2017, my blog was about the need for me time within a relationship. Nowadays, even a short joint vacation forces me to recharge my batteries. source Recently, an old friend posted something like the older we get,...
12 Oct, 2022
In a recent facebook remark, I wondered how we can restore togetherness in a society; or in Dutch: hoe krijg je saamhorigheid terug in een "samen"leving? Our Western societies are often characterized by glorifying freedom (eg, sexual expression, speech) and by individualism. I received several replies. A friend of a friend is convinced that global grass roots...
3 Oct, 2022
My question may trigger a negative response (eg, "not true"). Nevertheless, one can only conclude that we - at the very least subconsciously - must believe in bigger = better. I do not but I'm an exception, along with 15% of the world population. About 85% live in urban areas. My village (c.2,000 people) offers at least something: an elementary school, bars,...
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