Johann Thorgeirsson

Politics I have frequently come across criticism of the current African leadership, or African political leadership in general. This criticism comes from all directions, local and foreign alike. I find this criticism often harsh and unjust. Defense 1 of 2 I find it often more resembling a complaint than constructive criticism. I am not defending anyone in particular and if we go into specifics, there...

The question of truth can be found in documents as old as the written language. The ancient Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, all dealt with questions about truth. A simple definition of “truth” is “the quality or state of being true” or “that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality”. Britannica gives a much more comprehensive...

It was hard to read the article by Mike Whitney from February 11, 2022, talking about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s hard because in the article he was treading between truth and falsity, between fiction and reality, without ever mentioning the main subject, the people of Ukraine.  It is obvious he does not like the USA foreign policy, neither do I. The...

In the first part of The Open Society, The Spell of Plato, Karl Popper deals with Plato and gives a devastating criticism of Plato’s political stance and the concept of Historicism. In the second part, The High Tide of Prophecy, Popper moves closer in time and focuses on Karl Marx and Hegel. Although much of the second book is centered on...

Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, or Seneca, as he is commonly known, was a Roman statesman, tutor to Emperor Nero, stoic philosopher and playwright. Seneca was born in Cordoba in Spain, about 4 BCE and raised in Rome, where he was trained in rhetoric and philosophy.  He died at the age of 69, in 65 CE.  Throughout his lifetime, Seneca wrote innumerable...

Reading is gradually going out of fashion. This is nothing new, it has been happening since the invention of the radio. Before that, for thousands of years, writing and reading was not public pastimes.  We can even say that for most of the human existence on earth, there was no reading since writing had not been invented.   After about 25,000 years from...

The Individual All of us have certain image of ourselves, who we are, what we believe, what we like, what we want outof life and what values we hold. All of this forms what is called our identity. At the same time others have an image of us. Our identity is made by us, and it does not have to correspond with the...

I recently came across a discussion thread on social media. Members were discussing an article on ‘the africa report’ by Prof. Nic Cheeseman. The article was titled, Lesson from Africa: Is there such a thing as a ‘good coup’? The title caught my attention as the discussion went on in the Africa Network Forum (ANEF). ANEF is WhatsApp platform bringing together think tanks...

Sometimes when you read text that is over seventy years old, you find it not relevant. The language is 'outdated', words have changed meaning or fallen out of use, references obscures. If it is a scientific paper you may find it archaic, many have come since, updated theories, refuted claims or discredited the work overall. Our world is changing and not...

Corruption exists on every level in every country on planet earth. It has existed since beforeoldest recorded annals. Corruption is older because we cannot blame the art of writing for bringing on this plague. Corruption can simply be defined as a form of dishonesty or criminal offense undertaken by a person or organization entrusted with a position of authority, to acquire...