Prose | Kamiel Choi

The Enemy we Need?

Starring: Corporations (or rather any constellation that has so much capital at its disposal as to develop the emergent quality of being able to ignore the disastrous "externalities" they cause - of not giving a shit about reality) We are entering a new phase of schizophrenia. In today's globalized world the military powers might still ...

Oath of Hypocrisy

In medicine, doctors swear the Hippocratic Oath, promising that they'll use their abilities in the best interest of their patients. Whether or not that includes euthanasia doesn't matter here. The Oath is close to sacred and medical commissions can respond to its violation with severe punishment. When it comes to affairs of the mind, a ...

Countdown from Peak Child

I watched an entertaining and instructive talk by Swedish professor Hans Rosling the other day, because YouTube recommended this video. Mr. Rosling introduced himself as a dry statistics professor but did everything humanly possible to maximize the probability of laughter he induced among his mixed audience. Watch the first few minutes of his presentation and ...

The Aura of Money

A little anecdote that showed me recently what is wrong with our money: We were eating out in an Indian restaurant, where they serve excellent vegetarian dishes, fresh naan-bread and aromatic rice. The portions were quite large, and we were enjoying the many flavours, while feeding some of the salat cucumbers to our one-year old. ...

The Virtue of Giving Up

In our culture people who "give up" anything but drugs, are considered losers. Why is that? The logic is as follows: [1] You conscientiously choose a task, and because we consider you a rational being, the task is to achieve a certain purpose; [2] You work hard on the task, and it goes more or ...

To respect us, is to respect this land

So today I can't write a hymn that flows well, but I want one for all the good people trying to live a life of respect for Mother Earth. Would you help me make the lyrics below sound better, express better what we aim for? Don't worry about hurting the "author's" feelings because there should ...

“But you need money”

Money. I've always had enough of it because of my natural thriftiness. So I can't really speak for those who have experienced real poverty (the UN's $1.25 a day kind of poverty), and for whom an empty wallet means an empty stomach. I know the predicament of all too many people: They simply need money ...

The Average Family

Kansas, 2050. - The shit has hit the fan, years ago. The Surveillance State has diabolical proportions and every citizen gives voice to dissent, shows abnormal behavior or otherwise deviates from the average, is arrested. Family Grey has always lived comfortably, and during the first months after the crises (a term that was used mostly ...

Personal story: How to tell the story of our car explosion

We're doing fine. I'm sitting in a bar in Zaragoza, watching an old man waiting, a glass of brandy in front of him. He looks at his watch. The Chinese children on the bar are yelling, and the television plays football. It is eight and I am here to write. Words are increasing their subjective ...