EGGHEAD CHOICE – Crack open for a hard boiled think

It has sometimes been noted that Lanark is a resolutely conservative place. Conservative with a small ‘c’, that is. There are few actual Tories, of course. Instead it is a small town working class conservatism whose rallying cry glories in the phrase ‘it’s aye been!!’. Well, it may have ‘aye been’, but originality is the lifeblood of […]

As Lanark heads down the road into 2017 pundits in the media will be using phrases like ‘uncharted territory’ a lot. Brexit, Donald Trump and rising populist movements across Europe have shattered the smug complacency of ruling elites. What has given rise to this apparent bursting forth of anger and resentment? Mmm…, I wonder. Perhaps

Let’s just imagine that the Greek work ‘demos’ (δῆμος) means ‘the people’ and the Greek word ‘kratos’ (Κράτος) means ‘power’. You might hope that ‘democracy’ in our modern world had come to mean ‘power of the people’, or that the will of the people should prevail. If it were only that simple! The will of

Any casual observer can see that Lanark, like thousands of other towns, is a shabby, moribund little backwater with rapidly deteriorating public services. At the same time, we’re treated to the sight of billionaires parading their wealth on “Eamonn & Ruth: How the other half lives” (http://www.channel5.com/show/eamonn-ruth-how-the-other-half-lives) And any trip to the smarter parts of London,

There are some people who can’t stand being alone. You might know one. Their self esteem so depends on the constant affirmation of others that 24 hours spent in their own company is too upsetting. They constantly busy themselves with social life, joining activities, running committees, catering for pets, having babies – anything to avoid

Have you ever wondered why the rich are getting richer, and the poor poorer? Why is Lanark, like thousands of other towns, a shabby, forlorn place with rapidly deteriorating public services? The answers lie both far away and close at hand. Ultimately, it is due to the rapacious greed of the powerful, their lust for

A recent discussion on Radio 4’s “All in the Mind” programme concerned wisdom. Is wisdom a state of mind or a trait? The podcast is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b083p88h. A central topic in philosophy and religion, obviously, there always seem to be new ‘takes’ on what actually constitutes wisdom. It reminded me what a rich vein of reading