Rubrics » Bridging News
Some Aspects of Today’s Economic Growth
We include in the conceptual framework of economic growth, in a broader sense, the individual, the society, the institutional performance, the investment, geopolitical situation, but also issues of natural resource management and the current state of technological development. In this context, we can look at individuals both in terms of their own cultural evolution, in terms of the evolution of the society of which they are part, but also in terms of the environment in which they operate. More
Pieces of a Puzzling 2050
Imagining the future is frequently a delightful pastime, as evidenced by the numerous science-fiction works that have been published over the last century. The various authors pondered how humanity and the role of human beings (both collectively and individually) will be shaped by the interplay between technological advancement, societal dynamics, cultural trends, political reorganisation, space exploration and environmental change. It would not be wrong to state that some of these works have anticipated or even encouraged the development of some of today’s mundane features: the internet and wireless communication, gadgets with ever-increasing computational power and storage capacity, artificial intelligence, the search for intelligent life in the universe, plans to colonise other planets (i.e., Mars), genetic engineering as well as the negative impact of human activity on the environment and the climate. Of course, while predicting the future is challenging for even the keenest and most knowledgeable of scholars, educated guesses and analyses are still welcome and well-worth engaging in. Below are several takes by Romanian students from the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, the Master’s Programme “Geopolitics and Business”, on various issues of interest and how we can expect them to impact the world of less than three decades from now. In short, it is more or less on “their life in 2050”. The selection, assumedly casual rather than scholarly, is based on their subjective current concerns with regard to a future to be objectivated one way or another, which some of them perceive as implacably possible / plausible / probable, whilst others envisage as preferable and somehow influenceable. And if there is one thing to known for certain about the(ir) future, it is just the certainty of its arrival. More
Farewell, Camil!
I met Camil Aurelian Petrescu as if in a revelation: it was not only the scent of the novels and plays of his well-known father, which I had read long time ago, that hit me then; it was not only the scent of freedom that he brought back home from his beloved America to his beloved Romania that I inhaled then; it was simply the scent of a vividly beautiful mind and of a imperturbably good soul. More
The Russia-Ukraine Crisis: A Deceptive Geopolitical Jigsaw
Seven years after the Crimean annexation and the events in Eastern Ukraine, there has been talk again of a possible Russian attack on the Ukrainian state, scheduled for early 2022. One should remember that these speculations were not fuelled by Russia, but by the Western press and policymakers. A state attack is never announced in advance, just as it is not announced by states that do not plan to attack. Behind these speculations was an exercise in anticipation, warning and active deterrence. More
A Kingdom in Heaven, a Serfdom on Earth
When states become “more sovereign” than human persons and their property rights, when the positive law outweighs the natural one, when people become peoples before being free, here is a question we might ask: will there ever be peace in a land that is so holy for so many, who, by the machinations of the politics of warmongers, arrive at hating each other with such undisguised anger? More
The Rise of the Administrative State
Before the Great Depression, President Calvin Coolidge restated an earlier vision of America which had been memorialized at Independence Day celebrations for 150 years. In his sesquicentennial address entitled “The Inspiration of the Declaration,” he described the convictions which shaped the thinking of the ordinary people who agreed together to separate from imperial Britain: “They were a people who came under the influence of a great spiritual development and acquired a great moral power.” More specifically, the President stated: “No one can examine this record and escape the conclusion that in the great outline of its principles the Declaration was the result of the religious teachings of the preceding period.” Coolidge concluded with this observation: More
Santa-Nomics and Santa-Comics Stories
The gift of wisdom (which does not reside in Santa’s bag of gifts) also enjoins us to reflect an additional second beyond the first impulse. For instance, Christmas is a parable of austere Birth, but we celebrate it with bells and whistles; Christmas floods us with gifts, but with every useless little thing that we receive, some say, welfare is lost; Christmas remains a Christian holiday, but it externalizes secular glamour into a globalization which is decorated with Xmasy globes. More
Pirouettes and Profits: Pointe Shoes Updated
Have you ever wondered how ballerinas make executing such delicate movements look so effortless? From the 19th century, when Maria Taglioni was the first ballerina to ever perform a full-length ballet on pointes, this specific footwear was never meant to comfort the dancers’ feet, but only to pleasure the eye of the spectator. But as everything rapidly evolves, the art of ballet had to do so as well. That is when Eliza Minden decided to ease the dancers’ activity by creating what is considered today to be the ‘perfect’ pair of pointe shoes. More
Dissolved Magazine
The Market for Ideas recommends Dissolved Magazine, a platform devoted to the production and promotion of visual and literary arts and cultural events, featuring consecrated artists and creative young people. This exquisite Romanian magazine, created by Melissa Antonescu and Romina Banu, delivers content that defies linguistic barriers, as it originates from a community able to speak fluently the language of image and imagination. Savour it, in responsible excess, at: www.dissolvedmagazine.com. More
Of Sand and Time – Life, Dignity and Age in a World of the Self
For the first 18 years of life, people are dependent on others. Their productive years are perhaps from 18 to 60, or more, if they are lucky. Then, they become reliant on others again. After having gotten used to independence, they revert to a childlike status. In the West, especially the US, they might move in to assisted living facility and have their belongings, including their home (including through specialized products such as reverse mortgages), sold so that they can afford a good care facility in their old age. And then, just like that… damnatio memoriae! They are one step closer to being forgotten, along with obsolete models of lifestyle, mores, and economic thinking. Almost as if fearing the reminder of impending old age and eventual death, contemporary society is quick to hide elders away, to put them in a place where we will not bother or depress anyone with the reality of their existence. More
On Normative Violence
The social contract (no matter its type: contractarian – John Rawls, of capability – Martha Nussbaum, or of resilience – Robert Nozick) was born precisely to eliminate or avoid the private violence or, at least, to guarantee protection against it, with the state as protector. The social arrangement against private violence is very sophisticated and, generally, functional enough to provide freedom and democracy – first of all, based on Constitution as the basic structure of the society. The problem is: what about public violence? Public violence can take the following three forms: a) violence between states (either economic, diplomatic or military); b) the violence of a dictatorial state against its own people; c) the violence of a democratic state against its own people. Since the first two forms are outside any problematization, I shall discuss more analytically the third one. More
The Year 2050, the Imaginary and the Unimaginable
Both “imaginariums” and “histories”, while differing on essential ingredients, visions and vestiges respectively, share an essential imperfection – incomplete information and/or bounded rationality. We compose mosaics (using also our imagination) about a past which we did not witness; and we extrapolate tendencies/trends (undoubtedly, with a historical basis) for a future which we may or may not be there to witness. Combining “path dependencies” with “disruptive revolutions”, we can generate scenarios with varying confidence. More
