Unfortunately quite a few 'historic facts' turned out to be urban legends, a cautionary tale or simply a made up story. Take the 'true' story of Lady Godiva. The story about how she helped the locals by riding through town naked in exchange for lower taxes implemented by her husband, was written down some 200 years after the events supposedly took place.
Of course details of the story got mixed up and changed in translation and by passing on the story orally. Everyone who has ever played 'Chinese whispers' knows what I mean.
Am I drawing parallels with The Bible? Of course. It's not that the old stories don't hold any wisdom and every single detail is made up but we have to remind ourselves they are stories. Just stories. If you follow the Bible/Torah literally, the Israelites started out as a family of 70 people. Just a few generations later there were at least 2 million Israelites.
Apparently Abraham/Ibrahim had a few thousand children with his half sister Sarah. Very potent couple. If you take the stories literal.
Was that some kind of miracle or simply a made up story, an exaggeration? Made up by the people who wrote the stories to give themselves some extra credit, a 'Raison d'être'?
The Exodus is the founding myth of the Israelites.[1][a] The scholarly consensus is that the Exodus, as described in the Torah, is not historical, even though there may be a historical core behind the Biblical narrative.
"Yeah, but there is some archealogical evidence that some of the people and places in the Bible/Torah existed to the stories must be true!"
Sorry to tell you but that's a rather stupid argument. Unless you believe Spiderman is real.
A Canadian gentleman wondered what it would be like to ride an 'omafiets', literally 'a grandma bike'. It's the kind of bicycle that one commonly sees on Dutch bikelanes. Check out his video:
Everyone interested in bikes, Dutch culture and especially both know the famous YouTube Channel Not Just Bikes. Informative, funny, nice to watch...a really good channel. Especially in this niche.
Here's an American dad reacting to a Not Just Bikes video concerning another popular Dutch bike, the 'bakfiets' ('container bike'):
Here's how The Netherlands became one (another one is Denmark, maintly Copenhagen) of the most bike friendly countries in the world:
'Yeah, sounds nice, better health, less impact on the environment, less deaths in traffic, working closer to home and all that but it would never work in the United States!'
Not Just Bikes reveals why that is nonsense.
The only thing that is really needed is the political will. Just like in Amsterdam in the seventies. The capital of The Netherlands was extremely car centric and moving towards the future. The future of cars, following America's lead. Amsterdam - and many other cities in The Netherland - would today look a lot similar to US (and Canadian) cities. With suburbs and all, the 'ideal' of urban planning.
But one young girl changed the course of history. Like hundreds of children, six years old Simone got killed by a car on her way to school. Her father, Vic Langenhoff, rounded up some activists, started the movement 'Stop de kindermoord' ('Stop child murder'). They petitoned, blocked streets with protests and the government conceded: from the mid seventies on, emphasis in The Netherlands shifted from 'freedom for cars' to 'freedom from cars'. Saving thousands of lives in the process and having a more healthy population.
Who else helped were the nazis. 'What!?' Yes, because in World War II they 'conviscated' (ie stole) some 100,000 Dutch bikes and the Dutch started to revolt and come to see the bike as a symbol of 'resistance against the system'. Leading a nazi to exclaim: 'The Dutch are a very easy going and accomodating people. But don't touch their bikes.'
Thus the bike became a Dutch symbol for hope and freedom. You can call the Dutch cowards for never taking sides in international conflicts; you can tell them their national football team sucks, take forcibly control of their country and they won't even blink an eye when you kiss their partner in a bar. But don't touch their bikes.
Do you have a bike? A bakfiets maybe even? And do you use it often?
The Upside Down World is not a reference to the alternative dimension in the acclaimed series Stranger Things. But it ís a strange world. And fairly innocent when young children play to be living in it. When adults do, they are called 'wappies'; a Dutch umbrella term for racists, 'Karen's', conspiracy nuts, Trump fans, antivaxxers, climate change deniers...you know, crazy people.
The term 'wappie' has its roots in the Dutch clubscene from the nineties. To describe someone who - under the influence of alcohol and other drugs - has completely lost it and only speaks gibberish. Perhaps because their 'voice in the head' (in basis the amygdalae) is damaged and they can't distinguish fantasy from reality anymore, nor tell the difference between actual fears and fears they have been talked into believing.
Nowadays it refers to basically any lunatic. Which in turn is a term derived from people who - according to urban legend - went crazy under the full moon: Luna was the ancient Romans' moon goddess.
For wappies everything is 'upside down': an obvious lie they call 'the absolute truth!', the members of Antifa are 'all fascists!', when they simply parrot the words of some right wing populist, they say: 'I think for myself!' and copying a Facebook message from a conspiracy nut in their world is: 'I do my own research!'
With: 'I'm afraid of nothing!' they refer to anything they don't understand and are therefore terrified of. From socialism to transgenderism, from science to foreign cultures.
Since the introduction of sociale media, the number of wappies is on the rise: amplified because they love to live in their own echo chamber.
During the Brexit* campaign a lot of fake news was being spread to convince gullible British people to leave the European Union. Mostly via questionable media sources, often known hoax-websites. Those media spread other fake news too, not only about 'the EU' and 'the elite!' Hence the percentage of Brits who believe the moon landing was fake rose to an alarming 25%. In comparison: in the USA 'only' 6% of people believe men never went to the moon. Only nazis did. 😐
For wappies that now go: 'Yes, but...!', take a few minutes to listen to some actual science instead of to your favourite conspiracy theorists.
Here's an excerpt of a piece I wrote on Brexit: "..in 2019 the EU anti tax avoidance directive would come into force. Meaning it would become very hard for very rich people to avoid taxes. When they live in the EU. By chance a couple of very, very rich and powerful people funded and supported a Brexit.
"We are in trouble as a species if people refuse to believe in things that they couldn't actually do themselves" a guest in this TV-quiz states.
I think that takes us to the core of the problem: a growing number of people don't understand the world around them so - like the ancestors of our ancestors did - they make things up and are an easy prey for any demagogue who wants to steer 'the people in a certain direction.
The economic, political and social implications of Brexit were (and are) too complicated for most to understand. So 'the people' voted for politicians 'who tell it like it is!'. Does that make 'the people' stupid? That's debatable. But that they are like children playing they live in The Upside Down World is a certainty. And a problem if we ever want to advance as a species.
How do you propose 'wappies' can be turned (back) into reasonable people?
'Homosexuality is unnatural!' terrified, dumb people like to shout. It's nonsense of course. From the dawn of time animals have shown homosexual behaviour. And yes, humans are simply a different kind of animals. Just less civilised than other animals. While homosexuality is normal in 2000+ species, only humans know homophobia. And no matter what your Pastor told you: missionary position is very unnatural. Just ask scientist Kees Moeliker who got critically acclaimed for his research on necrophilia among homosexual ducks.
Recently researchers were happily surprised to finally catch a couple of humpbacks in the act. And no, I won't apologize for the pun. They were even more surprised to discover they witnessed not just any couple having s3x but a gay couple.
What amused me most about this news were the predictable responses of terrified, stupid conservatives and...hey, that's a triple pleonasm!
Why do you think there are still people who don't realise humans are just a different kind of animal?
Why are some terrified of the thought King David was most likely in a homosexual relationship with one Jonathan, 'who he loved more than a woman'?
"Yes, but King David was married to a woman! That he had s3x with a man does not prove he was gay!"
By the way: King David had at least eight wives. But don't tell fake christians who state we all should marry 'in accordance with the Bible'.
Okay, having gay s3x can be 'just a hobby' then? Just like engaging in s3x acts with a minor didn't make this US youth pastor 'a pedo!' because having s3x with children is not his nature 'but just a hobby'?
This 14-years old girl was made pregnant some time ago but the father was never punished. Do you think he should be punished for his deed?
If someone commits a crime and you think that person should be punished more or less severe because of ancestry, skin colour, sex or religion...congratulations, you're an *sshole!
If a rich, white dude commits a crime, 'he made an honest mistake'. Was the same crime committed by a poor, black guy, 'he's a thug and should be severely punished!'
At least, that seems to be the consensus.
Or is there some other reason Charlie Sheen has not long ago been arrested for possession and use of drugs?
In the Harry Potter books there are wizards who hate Muggles and call themselves Purebloods. In our world there are idiots who hate Jews, Arabs, Asian and African people and call themselves Purebloods.
Most racists nowadays are also anti-vax so they claim 'Pureblood' is by no means racist but simply means they haven't been vaccinated against a deadly virus.
A common misconception is that only Caucasian (i.e. 'white') people can have racist tendencies and prejudices against people with a different colour skin.
Watch the series 'Roots' to understand why people with dark skin developed a hatred for people with light skin. LeVar Burton, the actor who portrayed the main character of Kunta Kinte, recently discovered he is not 'pureblood'. It was a shock for him to be confronted with the fact he was a bit racist himself with being proud of his 'all black' lineage.
I am of mixed blood myself: Indonesian, German and with touches of Chinese, Portuguese and Irish.
If you really are 'pureblood', you are rare because by far most people are not. What's your heritage? From how many different 'races' are you made up?
Some people deny (the history of) racism. But did you know 'the Irish' were once considered a race?
.jpg)
