Thoughts of the day.

When the internet first started to really connect the whole world, some of us -me included -thought that this would be the great 'coming together' of humankind. I thought that from this easily accessible international 'link-up' there would flow more understanding, solidarity and hope. Now, all these years later (not that many), those hopes seem more and more naive.   When we post stuff on sites(twitter and FB for example), do we ever ask ourselves why? Why is it so important for us to air and vent our gut instincts and knee jerk reactions to events and news items? Most of it is just a emotional reaction to things, I call them 'first instinct' reactions, with that I mean it's mostly what we think ,before we have all the facts or background. We read a headline and immediately we form an opinion, mostly before reading up on the details, because we want to be first with a point of view, the online forums are about speed, about being the first with an opinion ab...

Well, I for one didn't see that Trump victory coming. To be honest I felt sorry for the U.S. citizens having to choose between the two candidates on offer -ok, I know there were independent  candidates but in the US they don't have a chance. As someone said on Twitter 'in 8 years we've gone from hope, to a president that was endorsed by the KKK'. It seems to me that we are witnessing a worldwide distrust of politics, (that we then go on to give our trust to corrupt business leaders is another question) the political establishment has lost all of it's credibility. The sentiment of the people that voted Trump is in some ways also that of people who supported Bernie Sanders, or in the UK Jeremy Corbyn and even the Brexit voters. It seems a contradiction but it's really not. A lot of people are feeling disenfranchised by the political elite and turn to other alternatives, I guess a lot of Trump voters saw their vote being a vote against 'politics as usual...

It's the first of November and we all know what that means, we are now entering the 'dark months' . Months of grey miserable skies and not much daylight to compensate. I always find Autumn and Winter a time for contemplation, a time to look in the mirror and take stock. Spring and summer are the times to be playful, zestful and even maybe irresponsible. But Autumn and Winter bring out the amateur philosopher in me. So please excuse me while I indulge. In these days of 'social' networks and twitter fame, a lot of people (me included) get drawn into the constant stream of bickering, adulation, shit throwing and narcissism these networks offer. We count 'likes' 'retweets' and 'followers' like it actually means anything, as if  it will make us happier or more contented -spoiler alert, it doesn't. If anything, it makes us more resentful toward those with a different argument, more success better photos etc etc etc. It's as if we are now a...