The Art of Being a Diehard

In our valley of tears, life can be tough. Today in 2026, however, toughness is the privilege of firefighters and soldiers. Ideally even soldiers of a distant past, such as Ulysses, Achilles or Alcibiades. Our contemporary TV heroes, on the contrary, present themselves as ‘softly boiled eggs’, as they suffer from hypochondria, unshaved beards, lack of attention and other general discomfort. Any kind of obligation is blown up to incredible proportions. Life is totally unbearable at more than ten metres from the swimming pool. A famous metaphor for our culture would make the story of the princess and the pea of Hans Christian Andersen.

This may explain our admiration for the very authentic character of police officer John McClane, performed by actor Bruce Willis. We admire this diehard police officer not so much because of his intellectual subtleness. We admire him because of his unwavering commitment to the good cause, his ‘never give-up’ attitude, his audacity and his willingness to suffer the worst of injuries with a modest smile. Toughness is not only a character trait. Toughness is a virtue and an indication of the more widely recognised virtue of courage.

In the Christian calendar we celebrate today Saint Agapitus of Palestrina, whose statue you can admire at the Duomo of Milan. Agapitus was still very young when he refused to participate in the Roman Army cult of Sol Invictus, imposed by emperor Aurelian. Therefore he was starved, scourged, hanged upside down, burned, fed to the lions, .. without much result until he finally got decapitated. Even compared to other spectacular cases of Christian perseverance, Agapitus must have been the ‘diehard’ John McClane of the Roman Christian martyrs. Of course, we need to remain aware that the traditional martyr stories did not so much aim at describing the historic events. They mainly aimed at supporting us in our faith.

Therefore, may the legend of Agapitus support us in our faith and may it encourage us to some toughness in daily life. The swimming pool is for next year. Let us return courageously to our workplace and let us practice the art of being a diehard.

Picture: By Yair Haklai - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Koppeling

The Armed Man

On the dome of the basilica of Neuss on the left bank of the Rhine there is no statue of Christ or Mary. What you see, is just an armed man. Quirinus of Neuss is commemorated around April 30 in Neuss and in Leuven. His relics are kept here in Leuven. He is venerated in our Park Abbey where he has a small altar with his statue. It is a strange coincidence because it was a regiment of Neuss that set fire to our city of Leuven in 1914. My grandparents' house in the Ravenstraat had a memorial stone that commemorated the fire. But why does the Church venerate a soldier here?

Quirinus van Neuss is not the only soldier venerated in the Church. We think of Saint Michael, Saint George, Saint Martin, Saint Maurice and Saint Gereon who regularly appear in our medieval art heritage. Usually, these figures are framed in a mythical battle between good and evil, in which the revered soldiers were of course on the side of good. Yet there is a commandment: "Thou shalt not kill". And after Peter had cut off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest, Christ said, "He who wields the sword will perish by the sword." Can armed men then be "benedicti", i.e. blessed?

I ask myself this strange question because we live in a time when even journalists preach armaments and war. I'm not saying they're wrong, but it seems to be dictated by the issues of the day. In the profane life we have always honoured fallen soldiers with lots of pump and circumstances. Even a hundred years after World War I, we still blow last posts in Ypres with a lot of interest. That is not insincere, but it does raise the permanent reflection in me that the powerful of the earth are happy to profit from the willingness to sacrifice of young brothers in arms.

Peter's current successor, Leo XIV, repeated Jesus' call to nonviolence, which was not appreciated by everyone. The media tried to make a competition out of it, as always, but that is irrelevant to anyone who places the moral authority of the gospel far above all the turmoil. Yet a lot has happened in the Church between Peter and Leo XIV. Is violence an inevitable component of our human condition, as twenty centuries of Christianity seem to suggest?

The Church Fathers developed the justification of the just war, which we will discuss in a future blog.

I refer to my blog Pray for Peace.

Picture: Saint Quirinus statue on the dome of the Neuss minster, 2024©Wim Lahaye

Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen

On this 6^th of January we celebrate the feast of Epiphany, more widely known as Three Kings’ Day. It marks the end of Christmas time. Many of us go back to work after a nice Christmas break, and in a certain way, we feel catapulted into a deep cold darkness, including work, stress and uncertainty about the future. We may recognise ourselves in the three magi, as they face many risks on their unpredictable journey, yet we may also find relief in their courage and steadfastness when they follow the star, convinced that it will lead them to their destiny.

This is a great time to listen to this German song Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen (By good forces wonderfully protected).  The song is well-known in Germany, and I plead it should be better known in our Low Countries and in the rest of the world. I found this excellent performance by Siegfried Fietz. The text has been written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a spiritual man. He did what was right, irrespective of what other people believed or did. The irony of his destiny is that he was not wonderfully protected by good forces at all; you may even argue he was terribly attacked by evil forces. The fact that he found the incredible strength to resist these evil powers, is due to his strong faith and steadfastness. His spiritual consistency with his writings made him embody the good forces in himself. Let us resist to the temptation of supporting inhuman solutions to difficult problems. Let us draw poise, bravery, hope, courage and steadfastness from Bonhoeffer’s words. May the good forces be with you!

I refer to my blog Dunameis and to my Dutch blog Driekoningen 2018.

Image: The Three Magi, Hendrik Van Balen, Sint-Andrieskerk Antwerpen, artinflanders.be, photographer Hugo Maertens (public domain)

Science and Belief in Lucky Charm

On this commemoration day of Niels Bohr, we reflect on an anecdote about the famous scientist receiving a colleague* in his log cabin at the Danish coast. The fellow visitor noticed Niels Bohr had put a horseshoe in the cabin as a talisman – lucky charm. He asked Bohr if he, as a scholar, could believe that his horseshoe could bring good luck. Niels Bohr is said to have replied: "I don't believe it, but they tell me that it brings good luck, even if you don't believe it!".

This anecdote says a lot about what faith is. Faith is not scientific certainty, not perfect control. Rather, faith is a humble attitude of surrender. It is acknowledging that others could know more about the theme, something that does not suit us very well in this time of strong opinions. It is letting go of all certainty, leaving the truth open and trusting others while remaining open to the possible positive effect of your faith practice.

That doesn't mean we can believe everything. At the very least, there must be confidence that our faith and our faith practice are good and healthy for us. And this confidence can only grow with the help of fellow human beings who have grown up in that same faith. There must also be respect for the faith of others.

The anecdote also reveals something about science, or at least about the wise attitude of Niels Bohr as a scientist. Niels Bohr starts from an attitude of humility. He makes a clear distinction between what he believes is true and what is actually true. He recognises there may be a difference, with a certain non-zero probability. Probabilities are popular in quantum mechanics. Moreover, even though he doesn’t really believe it, Bohr opens the door to the possibility of the workings of lucky charm, an interesting viewpoint for the world of quantum mechanics, where the observer may influence the actual outcome of a measurement. According to some, this may explain the evolution of the universe.

I refer to my blog Bigger than my faith and to Belief Creates the Actual Fact.

(*) Probably not Albert Einstein. The frequent scientific dialogues between the two have suggested Einstein as a visitor, but that is an apocryphal story, a so-called urban legend.

Image by Bernhard Rauch from Pixabay

The Measure of a Man

This autobiography of Sidney Poitier is certainly worth reading. First, it sheds an interesting light on the conditions in which a black man could reach the top in the Hollywood film industry. Being raised in a poor tomato farmer environment on the Bahamas, in a simple, almost idyllic environment where everyone was poor, he hadn’t undergone the ‘conditioning’ in the back ghettos in American suburbs. In spite of the racial tensions and the underlying social injustice, he never felt inferior and could keep up a modest pride as a human being to be respected. In this way, he developed a ‘character’ of authenticity and integrity in full accordance with the actor roles the film industry needed at that time. He testifies he wasn’t that much aware of his race before he left his idyllic youth environment on the Bahamas as a young man.

The other reason why this book is worth reading resides in the title. What is the measure of a man, the author asks himself. We know we should be mild on people. Do we have the right and the capability to take the measure of a man? The author refers to his father, who repeatedly claimed the measure of a man resides in his ability to provide for his children. As his father was a poor man, he certainly must have meant provision in the material sense, but it was much more than that. It was also the education he gave and his example of a decent life in courage and integrity. Sidney Poitier sees the greatest part of his father’s legacy as the knowledge that in discipline and commitment lies hope. Nevertheless, Poitier remains realistic enough to see this will not solve all problems in society.

We tend to measure a man by his income. As a result, we live in idolatry for billionaires. The measure of a (wo)man should actually be estimated by what (s)he brings to society, not by what (s)he gets from society.

It seems like Poitier's education didn't burden him too much with status anxiety. I also refer to my Dutch blog Elitaire of egalitaire samenleving?

The Secret of Simple Sound World Economics

In this merciless world, we observe chaos, corruption, trade barriers, extortion and exploitation of the weak. We wonder if there exists any solution to the unsurmountable problems of world economics. We acknowledge there will always be shortages. There is simply not enough for everybody on this planet.

Puzzled by these questions and by feelings of guilt two thousand years ago, people asked John the Baptist what they should be doing. You would expect a very demanding list of charity related duties. The answer was astonishingly simple, minimalistic even. To the public officials, he said: “Don't ask more than what has been established for you.” To the soldiers he said: “Don't rob anyone. Don't extort or fine anyone falsely. Be satisfied with your pay.”

Especially the idea of showing satisfaction with your pay seems unworldly strange in this era of never enough. Showing satisfaction with your pay sounds like asking to be robbed.

Nevertheless: could we try this? And see where we end up in this chaos. In combination with modest generosity, this is the best simple cure for a sound world economy.

I refer to my blogs Temperance saves the World and to Economics of Good and Evil.

Picture: retable ‘The Life of John the Baptist’ from the Notre-Dame cathedral of Amiens 2019 ©Wim Lahaye

The Legacy of Dag Hammarskjöld

63 Years ago on September 18^th, 1961, UN secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld died in a plane crash near Ndola in Zambia. The plane crash happened in suspicious circumstances. The TV documentary “Cold Case Hammarskjöld” sheds some light on these circumstances, but the truth remains hidden in secret circles and may never be revealed. Whatever happened, Dag Hammarskjöld is a person worth remembering because of his unwavering integrity and his willingness to do the right thing. There is no doubt about his good intentions. He surely wanted to bring peace and justice to the people of central Africa.

His legacy also includes his writings. His book Vägmärken or Markings reveals a vulnerable soul, willing to bring sacrifices for the greater good of mankind. He was a man of great spirituality.

His death was predicting the misery central Africa would go through in the years after and up until this day. May his remembrance be a stimulus for bringing peace to this part of the world.

Beatus vir qui sperat in eo – Blessed is the man who puts his hope in Him.

I also refer to my blog: Truth and Justice are not found through Alliances

When I am Weak, then I am Strong

It is one of Saint Paul's strongest statements. And again a paradox jewel, so typical of Christianity. There is a deep truth in this statement, and the reverse is also true. When I'm strong, then I'm weak. When everything is easy, arrogance is never far away, and with arrogance comes the fall. But there is also the potential of failure. In your deepest misery, in the face of reviling, persecution, fear, despair and failure, your strongest self also emerges. Or as Paul writes to the Corinthians: "My power is made perfect in weakness." Those very worst moments that you experience are precisely moments of new insight, growth and change that lead you to happiness. A sea change, into something rich and strange.

Image: St. Paul bitten by a viper, fresco in Canterbury Cathedral. This is a free license, as in the definition of Free Cultural Works. 

The Engineer’s Social Role

There is a history of the technical marvel IMEC in presentation form. In it, Professor Hugo De Man characterized his closest colleague the late Professor Roger Van Overstraeten as a ‘visionary Fleming’. According to Professor De Man, it had always been the intention "to put Flanders on the map of the industry of the future by training a generation of engineers who, in addition to a solid scientific basis, also have an eye for the social and economic progress of the people."

We did indeed have some professors at our University of Leuven who gave a little more than the sober lessons. On the one hand they tried to teach us a kind of entrepreneurship and on the other hand they reminded us of our social role and our social responsibility. Entrepreneurship was not an end, but rather a means to improve the socio-economic fabric of society and the common good. This may all sound rather obvious, but it never was, on the contrary. Not all colleagues showed the same interest in social themes. Deep specialisation threatened to suck many fellow engineers into the deep oblivion pit of the professional nerds. It didn’t end up that bad, however. The problems to be solved became so complicated that only good teamwork proved to have a chance of success. Furthermore, new developments are now being evaluated very thoroughly in terms of their social relevance. After my studies, at the engineering association and at the European Young Engineers,  I met many like-minded people.

The profession of engineer is indeed a wonderful profession, although it sometimes takes courage. It certainly deserves promotion among the various groups that are still underrepresented in this profession. But the beauty of it all is that I became more and more aware that I did not have a profession but a vocation. In "Science as a vocation" we already saw that this vocation can be described as a kind of apostolate in the industrial landscape.

I also refer to my blogs: "The Why of Technology” and to “The Trap of Technology".

Picture: Brussels Airport Runway, courtesy Jan Straus

The legacy of Georges Lemaître

George Lemaître enjoys a late but high recognition. We can admire him for several reasons. First of all, Georges Lemaître must have been an extremely gifted mathematician. Perhaps he became this in artillery during World War I. Also remember that all calculations at that time were still carried out with the help of a fresh head, calculation slats, tables and millimetre paper. It is true that George Lemaître was one of the first users of early computers.

We can also admire him for his clear vision. He developed a cosmological vision that is extremely modern. Even when he is under pressure, he does not succumb to the temptation to make theological statements about the cause of the Big Bang. He does not desire to see his God intervene in the early existence of the universe. It's all in line with the blog Deus Absconditus. Georges Lemaître saw it almost as a blasphemy if God needed his finger to set the cosmos in motion. Perhaps he saw that there was no point in associating the world of Roman Catholic religion with the world of science.

I also refer to my Dutch written blogs science as a vocation and ode to physics.

Ode to Friendship

Today is Saint John's day. Saint John is the patron of friendship and namesake of many good friends in many countries (Jan, Jean, John, Johan, Hans, Juan, Giovanni, João, ..). In art, Saint John is recognisable as the 'youngest looking' apostle, with long hair and a slightly feminine touch. Legend has it that he was so loved by Jesus that he became the only apostle allowed to live until his old age.

December 27 is also an ideal day to reconnect with your friends. Friends are peers in whose company we like to stay. They know us and we know them. We don't have to wear masks. We accept them as they are and they accept us as we are. However, the differences can be very large. That way, good friends can often form very strong teams. But friendship is not there to deliver great achievements.

Colleagues can become friends, but it is only when they become friends that it is a relief to be among them. In friends we recognise ourselves. We sympathize with them in the event of success or setback. Friends can compete but know no jealousy. To true friends we grant every success.

We can tolerate more from friends, but at the same time we also dare to demand more from friends. True friendship gives and asks. Friendships are often intertwined life stories. This intertwining makes the life stories fascinating and beautiful. Friendship gives colour to life.

Picture: Hans Memling - Johannes op Patmos, This is a freely licensed work, as explained in the Definition of Free Cultural Works.

The Honour of Humiliation

In our blog Senators are good men we already learned that people seek recognition in the group they belong to. Members of a group tend to behave like selfish sheep. The herd itself behaves like a bad beast. The Russian president became more popular in his country by starting a war. Western leaders have started using warlike language to become more popular as well. Nowadays, at both sides, truth is at risk. Fortunately, in the history of time, there have always been leaders who have been able to stand out. They were not leaders by worldly power; they were leaders by moral authority.

Emile Zola went to prison after having written his famous letter ‘J’accuse’ to the people of France. He did this because he was convinced that truth and justice were more important than power. Other examples include Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Dag Hammarskjöld. These people retaliated evil with good. They accepted all the consequences of their unwavering integrity. Thereby they exposed the lack of integrity of the political parties they had to deal with; they also exposed themselves to the aggression of these parties but never changed their opinion to comply with the powerful. They preferred the honour of humiliation over the disgrace of power.

What silent people could do, is support such leaders. We need to recognise Confucius inequality. It will inspire new candidate leaders. After all, nowadays the fools stand out too easily.

I refer to my blogs Ode to Audacity (English) and Leiderschap en Liefde (Dutch).

Picture: Henry de Groux, Zola aux outrages, File:Zolasortie.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Beethoven 250 Year

Next year, we celebrate Ludwig van Beethoven's 250th birthday. I believe Beethoven's music is the best music to introduce young people into the world of classical music. I also believe Beethoven somehow reaches  a summit in the world of music. After him, nobody reached the same level again, perhaps with the exception of Peter Tchaikovsky.

My favourite Beethoven classic is the "Pastorale", the sixth symphony. At my parents'home, we used to have a vinyl Long Play record directed by Otto Klemperer. My sister and I used to call this record: "the Rain" because the fourth movement allegro clearly sounds like a thunderstorm.

I refer to my Dutch blog: "Thank you for the Music".

Leonardo and his Creation

Today we remember Leonardo da Vinci who died on
2 May 1519, exactly 500 years ago. Leonardo remains the most famous example of a “homo universalis”, a versatile man and a man of creativity and passion. He could pass as the man most recognised in history for having developed his many talents.

Looking at today’s company culture, Leonardo could be a role model. Today’s adage is: follow your dreams and passions, develop yourself! I sometimes call this the Steve Jobs culture. Although I support like most people the idea of self-development, this Steve Jobs culture is based on a contemporary problem and a contemporary misconception. The contemporary problem is that in larger organisations, there are only a few people who can really make free choices of their own (such as Steve Jobs) and the other 99% needs to sweat to realise these nice ideas. Even worse, the biotope of knowledge workers is far from attractive in most cases and that is why all this Steve Jobs nonsense is spreading well on the social media. Larger companies will not support multiple Leonardos, at most a single one who pulls the ropes like Steve Jobs.

The misconception is the idea that creative people are people who are doing what they like. Wrong. Creative people have a clear vision of what they would like to realise and they do everything they can to realise it, including the activities they absolutely detest. In other words, creative people aim at a beautiful result of creativity, not at the creation work itself, which is usually hard. Passion means suffering and passionate people suffer a lot during their creation work; they only enjoy the beauty of the end result. A thing of beauty is a joy forever ... once it is ready. The joy of creation is not doing what you like, it is holding in your hand what you could only imagine for so long. Creativity can’t do without patience and diligence.

I refer to “Believe in Personal Progress” and “Ode to Curiosity” and to my Dutch blog: “Imaginatio”.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

On April 9th, 1945, today 74 years ago, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed in concentration camp Flossenbürg, only two weeks before its liberation by the U.S. Army.

Some years ago, I bought this small booklet “Worte für jeden Tag”, with quotes and extracts from Bonhoeffer’s work. His writings bear witness to an enormous spiritual strength. It is amazing how a single man could show such individual resistance against a totalitarian system. To overcome the internal doubt and the fear and yet keep following the right path requires a huge faith.

We should not admire Bonhoeffer because of his forlorn fate; his enemies had determined this for him. We should admire him for his spirituality, for being consequent in his resistance against mainstream and his incredible persistence. Even if we can’t condemn people for not having had his strength at that time, the attitude of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is the only real weapon against new successful types of barbarism.

Belonging to a protestant church himself, Bonhoeffer somehow unites Christians of all traditions. Many Catholics cherish his words and venerate him like a saint. Let us hope he will at least receive his deserved attention next year, when the end of the war will be 75 years behind us.  Beatus vir qui sperat in eo - Blessed is the man who puts his hope in Him.

I refer to “The Siren Songs of Simplicity” and to my Dutch blogs: “Titus Brandsma” and “Hannah Arendt”.

The Legacy of Stephen Hawking

On March 14^th, 2018, exactly one year ago, the world lost one of the most colourful scientists of the last 50 years. March 14 is also known as π –day and it happened to be the birthday of Albert Einstein.

I’m reading a Stephen Hawking book every decade since 30 years now. Stephen Hawking was not only popular because of the area in which he worked: black holes, theoretical physics and cosmology. He was also popular because he was the most remarkable example of how a man could overcome his handicap and become extremely successful. He also attracted media attention and became popular with the general public, even if few people could really understand his discoveries. Even after having studied the basics of thermodynamics, relativity and quantum mechanics, I have difficulty imagining what could be the meaning of the entropy of a black hole. The late professor ir. Theo Van der Waeteren at KU Leuven could have said: “How amazing the number π pops up in this equation!”. (His former students will understand.)

In his latest book, Stephen Hawking also writes about the great questions of the universe. He suggests the mathematical laws of the universe are such that the universe could have originated from  … nothing. In other words, science no longer needs a prima causa, a first little godly spark to ignite the big bang. Our universe would be some kind of natural unfolding of mathematical equations. He also addresses the future of mankind, such as the environmental problems, the need to travel through space and the emergence of artificial intelligence and genetic manipulation.

What a constructive contribution to society this is! Throughout the different books I have been reading, I could discern some evolution in this rich personality. Our world has become a little smarter and wiser through Stephen Hawking.

Ref: “De erfenis van Hawking” in Karakter 63 by Prof. Thomas Hertog. I also refer to my blogs "Making Science accessible to All" and “Finding Exoplanets”.

Making Science Accessible to All

On December 20^th, 1996, Dr. Carl Sagan passed away after having lived the life of a successful astronomer. Carl Sagan had become a celebrity because of his brilliant television series Cosmos.

Sagan made science accessible and comprehensible to all. I watched his television series Cosmos at the age of 16-17 years, and this opened my mind to science and to the universe in general. Later I read his books Broca’s Brain and the Dragons of Eden. Cosmos was not only about the stars, it also described life on earth and potential life on other planets. It talked about the history of science and of the great discoveries on earth and in the universe.

There is no nobler and more beautiful work than popularising science. Sagan could also raise enthusiasm with his audience. He testified from a certain spirituality of science, something that I still seem to live from today. What is this spirituality of science? It means that we can stand in awe for the cosmos and its beauty. This also includes the inherent beauty of the laws of the cosmos, so we can also stand in awe for science itself.

Sagan did not deny that the Cosmos could not become a threat someday, as the laws of nature can also lead to cataclysms and to the end of humankind. He didn’t deny the inherent timeliness of our presence and the vulnerability of humans on this planet and in the universe. In this space age, science and technology, including space travel, seem to become ordinary commodities. People tend to become cynical and indifferent.

We need more people like Carl Sagan to encourage young people to enter the world of science and to stand in awe for this “Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring”. These were the last words spoken by Sagan in his television series Cosmos, and these words have been resonating in my mind since 36 years now.

I refer to my science blogs among which SETI and Day of Wrath.

Ode to Audacity

“Quantum potes, tantum aude”, As much as you can, so much you should dare. It is a sentence written around 1264 by Thomas Aquinas in his sequence  Lauda Sion Salvatorem. In the next sentence he explains the reason why: “because you can never praise God enough”. Thomas suggests it takes a certain audacity –against God and man- to pay a tribute to God. But he also suggests that God likes those who dare, those who show audacity.

Medieval man was not so different from postmodern man. Perhaps all virtues seemed more divine in those days, but most of them still stand today. We feel intuitively that audacity has a certain value, as it is also related to courage. If we don’t dare, we achieve less than we can, and this feels like a sin, although we don’t call it a sin anymore. Sometimes, audacity requires the fight against fear. Darers deserve praise. Entrepreneurs accept high mental risks and deserve to be praised by society. There is however an unclear boundary between audacity and recklessness. According to Thomas Aquinas, you should only dare as much as you can. Yet audacity is often needed when you can’t know very well what you can, and our aviation pioneers could not have brought us the wonders of flying without a certain recklessness.

Our society has paradoxically become extremely risk-averse in a number of things. We could even discern a certain lethargy in a number of areas, probably because we have become too attached to our image and to a number of realisations of the last century, and we refuse to adapt to new times. We tend to draw all benefits of the modern world to ourselves, yet at the same we push back all risks of modern life to the public authorities, who are always to blame if something bad happens. We fail to see our world will only be safe with world-wide social justice.

Let us therefore show audacity and courage in realising this worldwide social justice. Perhaps our audacity will encounter resistance – also within ourselves – but it will finally deserve praise and God will like it, according to Thomas Aquinas.

Utopia - Thomas More

In 1516, exactly 500 years ago, Sir Thomas More published his “Utopia”, actually a seafarer’s story in which an ideal society is portrayed. Utopia, ancient Greek for “no-place” or nowhere, is a word that stands since then for the society we can only dream about, but which we will never be able to realise. It is worth reading the Utopia, the society vision is surprisingly modern. In Utopia we find equality between all people, education for men and women, six hour working days, distribution of wealth based on needs rather than on power, selection of public officials based on competence and an early vision on social security.

There is yet another reason why the Utopia is so interesting. We have lost the capability of dreaming and imagining. Yet you need a vision if you want to move forward. Whether it is at the political, the economic or the social level, we need new visions on how our society could work in the future. This would also make sense at a more technical level, where we urgently need to improve our urban planning and construct ‘smart cities’, so that our quality of life can become acceptable again. (I believe it is not acceptable today.)

As the first “Utopia” was printed on Dirk Martens’ press in 1516 in my home town Leuven. I can recommend you to come and visit the wonderful Utopia exhibition in the town museum and in the university library (picture).

I refer to my more extensive Dutch blog “Utopia - Thomas More”, written 4 years ago.