On
Having moved to Ireland, I found myself writing occasional columns for the Irish Times. That then led to a daily blog for the same newspaper. In addition to that, I now also blog for the South African newspaper, the Mail & Guardian on their Thought Leader platform. My ultimate goal is to broaden ongoing discussions on the way the world currently operates, especially with respect to social relations within and between nations and regions, the distribution of wealth, and power.
Writing in 1936, John Maynard Keynes noted that,
... the ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated with the gradual encroachment of ideas ... soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous, for good or evil.
I think Keynes was right. My plan is to highlight some of those ideas and challenge people to really engage with them.