Will Germany’s post-Merkel future resemble its recent past? The jury is out. Has the work-life status quo changed for good in the US? Probably. Why the upcoming US summit in defence of democracy runs the risk of backfiring. A flexitarian (mixed/balanced) diet is best for people and planet. Historical high achievers’ winning formular was a mixed and balanced approach to rest and work.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“So ask yourself this: Who would you be if work was no longer the axis of your life?” Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Petersen in the second article of this weekly selection
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Helmut Anheier, Germany’s Modern Angst
(Project Syndicate, 3 December 2021)
Germany is a beacon of stability and one of the world’s richest countries. Yet, like many other Western countries and despite all it has going for it, it seems to be caught in a constant state of unease – a suspicion that things are changing, and not for the better. This review of four books that examine the current and future state of German society concludes that the post-Merkel era is as likely to bring disruption as it is to preserve continuity with the recent past (metered paywall – reads in 6-8 min).
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Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Petersen, How to Care Less About Work
(The Atlantic, 5 December 2021)
A US focused article but interesting for all of us as it addresses the fundamental issue of what we want to do and not do with the rest of our lives. Societally, many of us are taught to revere and strive for hard work (a preconception rooted in the industrial mindset), but this is a very opaque goal. Isn’t the purpose of work to be meaningful or innovative? For those who throw themselves into work, the treadmill rarely provides the kind of value and meaning they hope that it will. With the ongoing impact of the pandemic, there is as growing certitude for many that the status quo of American working life is untenable. Covid has created an opportunity to reconsider and reimagine the structure of our lives and, perhaps, “remove the vestigial, extractive elements” (metered paywall – reads in 10-13 min).
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Stephen Walt, Biden’s Democracy Summit Could Backfire
(Foreign Policy, 8 December 2021)
The professor questions the merits of pushing ahead with the idea of a summit on democracy at this juncture, particularly when the ultimate objective of such a gathering remains ill-defined. Rightly, he argues that the only way to promote democracies is to show that they outperform autocratic alternatives. But the US is not well positioned to do so right now (downgraded a few years ago to “flawed democracy” by The Economist). Nor are some of the other invitees like Brazil or the Philippines. The greatest risk: if the summit doesn’t create real results, this will reinforce the perception that democracy is no longer fit for its purpose (metered paywall – reads in 7-9 min).
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Gayathri Vaidyanathan, What humanity should eat to stay healthy and save the planet
(Nature, 1 December 2021)
In 2019, a consortium of 37 nutritionists, ecologists and other experts from 16 countries— the EAT–Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health — released a report that called for a broad dietary change that would take into account both nutrition and the environment. Recommending that a person following its reference diet becomes ‘flexitarian’, eating plants on most days and occasionally a small amount of meat or fish. This article discusses what this prescription looks like around the world (metered paywall – reads in 7-9 min).
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Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, How to rest well
(Psyche, 1 December 2021)
Taking a break isn’t lazy – learning to recharge is a skill that will allow us to enjoy a more creative, sustainable life. In today’s always-on culture, resting is frowned upon, but a deep dive into the lives of history’s most accomplished scientists, writers and even generals, reveals that they laboured far fewer hours than many do today, and that they crafted daily routines that balanced periods of intensive labour with downtime. The article concludes with a few key points on how to rest well and some thoughts on developing a good morning routine (metered paywall – reads in 7-8 min).
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