Kai Ochsen ⁽¹²⁸⁾

For decades, Europeans assumed that state power existed to protect them. The post-war social contract promised stable rights, predictable institutions, and a presumption that ordinary people were, by default, honest. The state might occasionally overreach, but restraint remained the norm.

For most of modern history, citizens relied on governments to provide core services. Roads, utilities, transit systems, and public spaces formed the shared foundation of civic life. They belonged to everyone, funded collectively, and overseen by elected institutions. This arrangement…

Work once meant producing something tangible. Fields harvested grain, factories forged metal, workshops built tools, and offices coordinated real commerce. The connection between effort and output was visible, even when the labor was exhausting. Today, that link is thinner. Much…

Most people imagine power as something visible. They think of presidents speaking from polished podiums, lawmakers drafting bills, and diplomats negotiating under chandeliers. These are the images we associate with authority. Yet the true structure of modern civilization runs elsewhere,…

Most people no longer remember phone numbers. A few decades ago, we carried dozens in our minds. Now, we delegate them to a device that always knows more than we do. What began as comfort has quietly transformed into displacement.