It is a peculiar habit of mankind to reject its benefactors, to stone its prophets, and to drive mad its visionaries. One might suppose that a good idea, like a well-planted seed, would take root wherever it falls. But the world is a field of salted earth, and the better…
Author: KoinBlog
The Floating Plank
Men have a peculiar way of fastening themselves to their own misery, of constructing their prisons and then bolting the doors from within. They will toil from sunup to sundown, breaking their backs over ledgers and lathes, pushing papers and pulling levers, all in the service of what they have…
Work That Cannot Be Bought: The Soulful Necessity of Community Service
To serve is to place oneself in relation to another not through force, not through exchange, but through attention. This is the foundation of any authentic human society. Community service, in its true form, is not a hobby, nor a civic requirement, nor even an act of benevolence. It is…
The Tokenization of Time – Good or Bad
Time is an odd thing. We never have enough of it, and yet we waste it like fools. We sell it, we trade it, we give it away for free. Some people hoard it in boardrooms and vacation homes, while others bleed it out in factories and fields. The trouble…
“A Splendid Exchange” by William J. Bernstein
By now, the world of economic history has developed its own niche readership—enthusiasts who, rather than shrink in horror at words like “tariffs” and “mercantilism,” actually lean in. For those readers, A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World by William J. Bernstein delivers exactly what the title promises: a…
The Obstacle is the Path – The Strength Found through Challenge
If a man never encounters resistance, he never learns what he is capable of. He walks through life as if in a dream, untested, unshaped, and unaware of his own limits. He remains soft, unformed. But place an obstacle before him, and suddenly he is awake. He must struggle, he…
“Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
Some books lose their edge over time. Brave New World isn’t one of them. Nearly a century after its publication, Huxley’s vision of a world numbed by pleasure and stripped of depth feels more like a commentary on the present than a warning about the future. If Orwell’s 1984 is…
The Mercy That Defies Nature
There is a curious hum in the air these days, a kind of tremor beneath the pavement, as if even the roots of the trees are uncertain whether to keep growing upward or to retract, embarrassed, back into the soil. I have watched, with no small amount of bemusement, how…
Surviving the Crash: How Time Co-Ops Can Help Communities Endure Economic Collapse
Economic downturns have historically led to significant social consequences in the United States. The Great Recession, for instance, resulted in substantial changes in income, wealth, and employment, affecting many lives. When an economy falters, the ripple effects extend far beyond stock market numbers and corporate balance sheets. They touch the…
Leadership is Inspiration, Not Declaration
Leadership is neither an imposition nor an entreaty; it is the silent force that compels without coercion. To lead is not to issue orders, nor is it to demand obedience, for obedience given out of fear or obligation is a fragile thing, dissolving the moment oversight is removed. True leadership…