Writings on the wall

If society is in tune with human proclivities it works better, because people enjoy what they do. You only have to look at small boys playing “hunting”, or notice the difference between the incentives necessary to get people to sit in an office shuffling papers compared with those required to get people to dance and [...]

Much of this has a European focus, and I apologise for that, especially because colonialism and its devastating effect on the world are consequently not given proper attention. The focus of the article is narrow and designed as a contrast to the situation described in Part 1 - Ancient Economics. By the way, I’m no [...]

This article is the first in a series. I’m leading up to something and it takes quite a long time to get there, but it’s generally about my idea that people are far less self-interested than it appears.

NB:
In the following I have used the term “traditional culture” to refer to the ancient and complex social [...]

Vasco Pyjama has been on fire since coming back to Australia. Here she outlines the basis of the divide between the developing world and the west:
Two years ago, I travelled through Mindanao, the war-torn southernmost island of the Philippines. Villages there were populated with modest wooden huts made with coco lumber and leaf roofing. Then [...]

Following a post by Robin Warner, a rant on decaf.
You see, I have a guiding principle which steers me away from decaf. It’s based on the idea that fun is temporary - nothing lasts forever and you can have too much of a good thing. So when you enjoy something, really enjoy it. Don’t be [...]