Tired after more than twelve hours working day I was driving home through Andrássy Street recently and got slowed down by the taxi drivers’ protest. Blue lights, horns, yellow cars squeezed together like irritated bees. In that moment, when the city suddenly becomes a bottleneck of human frustration, you cannot help wondering how many strange incentives are packed into one square kilometer of Budapest traffic.
At first glance they looked … Read the rest
When I was a young lad long ago in the bland, faceless, smugly prosperous America of the 1950s, I had an itch to be somewhere else. As I heard the expression put first on the TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, I would indulge myself regularly in a game called “Anywhere but Here.” The Germans have a beautiful word for it: Wanderlust.
But … Read the rest
From the vantage point of someone who has spent enough time in uniform to know what real threats look like, it’s always instructive to watch a much larger state invent imaginary ones. Some governments worry about missiles; the Northern Colossus worries about whether its citizens are having enough state-approved sex. Different risk matrices, same existential drama.
Their latest stroke of national genius is a full-spectrum campaign against the most dangerous … Read the rest
Content 21+ In the vast expanse of human history, one concept has persisted as a pernicious toxin infecting the minds of the masses: hope. Like a seductive siren, it lulls individuals into a false sense of security, promising salvation and deliverance from the trials of existence. Yet, upon closer inspection, hope reveals itself to be nothing more than a mirage, a cruel deception that shackles humanity to a cycle of … Read the rest
Content advisory 18+ Imagine walking down the street in spring, dust sifting through the air, horns of impatient cars blasting, sad people rushing towards old buildings, tensions of all sorts smoldering in the air.
Imagine people fainting because of hydrogen sulphide in the atmosphere, and lamenting their choice to buy apartments in such a miasma.
Imagine your salary dropping down 50% two years ago, and 20% more today, with dramatic … Read the rest
