Multiple Votes

Recently I was reading a book written in the 1950s but set in the 1980s. The author was imagining the political situation 30 years into his future. In the novel many countries had adopted a multiple voting system whereby people could have up to seven votes, and these countries were far ahead economically than those countries that had stuck to one-man one-vote.

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Chrematistics

I recently became aware of an old word that is rarely used these days. The word is “chrematistics.” It refers to the art of getting rich; of accumulating wealth. Apparently the ancient philosophers, Aristotle and Plato carefully distinguished between chrematistics and economics. Economics, in their view referred to the organization of the household – who did what and who got what. In their minds there was a clear difference.

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Conversations

Conversations can reveal a lot about the people having them. Saying something is always a reflection of what we believe and what we want others to believe. That’s why I find it so interesting to hear what people have to say about “the way things are”. Ask them about real estate, and they’ll say it’s unstable. Ask them about war and they’ll say it’s inevitable. Ask them about other people and... well that’s where it gets interesting.

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Summer Reflections

Ah! The lazy, hazy days of summer. On the radio this morning I heard an interview by Nadia Kidwai on the perfect recipe for a great summer. There were three ingredients mentioned: food, family/friends and freedom and I agree that all of those make for a great summer but I want to add a fourth and that is a special summer connection to the earth.

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What are you drinking from?

Friends of mine were engaged in an argument on social media about drinks bottles and the merits of reusing a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) single use plastic bottle you bought bottled water in versus recycling it. A study recently published showed that to reuse plastic bottles you need more than a quick rinse to get rid of bacteria, which made my friends start to look at other options.

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