THE VOTER AND THE ELECTED
The will of the people?
Politicians are usually depicted as unreliable. And that is not without reason. But at least as big a problem are the voters in a democracy. Voters come literally in all shapes and sizes. This diversity is in itself well and good. Diversity can keep us morally tight and ensures that along with their own qualities people can bring something about in society that would otherwise not be possible. If that diversity would not have developed over centuries, we would still live as nomadic hunters. In his book ‘Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human …
Read the rest »
AN OPEN LETTER TO DONALD JOHN TRUMP
Dear Mr. Trump,
What do Gonzalo Curiel, Andrew McCutchen, Hillary Clinton, Bishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Vicente Fox Quesada, Fidel Castro, Barack Obama and you and me have in common? That probably all of us are descended, just like all the other people on earth, from people who lived in Africa in the distant past. Viewed in this light we are all each other’s brothers and sisters. It’s one big family, one big human community but not so tightly and strongly connected as many of us would want.
In the course of history differences arose. These were all kinds of differences …
Read the rest »