| Climate, Dutch, Nederlands, Personal
In het Knack artikel van ‘De Klimaatoptimisten’ van 26 augustus 2024 houdt Han Renard het zoveelste pleidooi voor een groen kapitalisme, inclusief de groene marketeers. Tegelijkertijd speelt ze vlotjes ook het gekende riedeltje over bangmakerij en doemdenken, met andere woorden: het is weer klimaathysterie.
Read more...| Dutch, Nederlands, personal
Een avondje samen in het cachot schept een band. In canon liederen zingen met de naburige cel, lachen met de flikken en nieuwe boodschappen kerven op de muren van de aftandse kazerne, het zijn maar enkele van de vele activiteiten waarmee we de tijd doden terwijl we wachten om ‘verwerkt’ te worden door ons inefficiënte politionele systeem. Je celgenoten worden al snel kameraden, ook al heb je in het verdere leven weinig met elkaar gemeen. Je bent tenminste niet alleen.
Read more...This past year I started participating in so-called ‘nonviolent direct action’ (NVDA), specifically against the ongoing climate catastrophe. But while I think those type of actions are good and worthwhile and we should keep mobilizing people for them, I also started to have some doubts about how nonviolent activists think and talk about their tactics. I’ve become increasingly convinced that nonviolence is actually a misnomer.
Read more...| Design
For years I was a member of a philosophical-minded, freethinking student society in Ghent, called “T.S.G. ’t Zal Wel Gaan” (“T.S.G.” stands for “taalminnend studentengenootschap” or language-loving student society). It’s, as far as I know, the oldest of its kind in Belgium, founded in 1852. It has a long and turbulent history, but that’s a story for another time.
During a few years I was a member, I did the visual side of operations, designing the posters mainly. Here I’m sharing a few that I’ve managed not to lose.
Read more...My yearly retrospective on the books I read, general impressions they left on me (if any of note). This post will go over the non-fiction works I’ve read and what I think about it in a line or two.
Read more...My yearly retrospective on the books I read, general impressions they left on me (if any of note). This post will go over the fiction works I’ve read and what I think about it in a line or two.
Read more...In this post I won’t be explaining why I think communism is right, or expound on in-depth theory about historical necessity or what have you. Here I’m just going to explain what my personal reasons are for joining and participating in my local party - being the Workers' Party of Belgium or the PVDA-PTB (Partij van de Arbeid van België - Parti du Travail de Belgique).
Read more...| Politics
The recent war in Ukraine has shocked the (Western) world and will probably, together with the (still ongoing) pandemic, be a moment of a great change in historical direction. A lot is being said, a lot of discourse generated and in typical jingoist fashion a lot of nuance is being lost. In this post I’d like to write out some of my own thoughts on this topic.
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