![Aai-, dear, dear Steven, My esteem and respect for you, since the days when I visited you when you still studied so incredibly hard in the U.S. of A. and to which I even devoted a radio story, is boundlessly great. Your statement about suspending parliament in Suriname to save the country in various areas is in principle good and interesting. But now that I try to think about it further and deeper, I believe that other solutions must be found and sought after. 01) After the Second World War, the IMF, as an offshoot of Bretton Woods, saved Western Europe from ruin and poverty with good and respectful management of the money. So your comment that they are good for nothing is not entirely correct. I really understand very well that times have changed, but still. The distribution of wealth, albeit in fits and starts in Europe, is much better now in 2023 than elsewhere. And some countries prosper. 02) However, suspending parliament for five years is a very big question mark. Plans to return power to parliament after a certain time – such as the five years you are talking about – have already been tried and implemented in various countries. It is true: the economy could flourish again and achieve growth. But: [ what could be the results and at what human costs ] That’s why social history is so interesting. On our own continent: 01) Brazil 1964 with Marshal Castelo Branco and his successors lasted until 1989, the generals also had the plan to make it only five years. I was able to shake the hand of the last general in question Joao Figueiredo and still have a sore arm left. It is true that the economy has grown enormously and Brazil has been able to join the so-called BRIC countries thanks to a great variety of factors, mainly from the private sector and has quickly overtaken us in Suriname. But the better distribution of wealth was not due to the generals, but to an economist and president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who inspired Lula to better distribute the proceeds of taxes and all other incomes and, in return, demanded that the poor had to send their children to school and feed them well. ( And training of teachers, of course ) In this way, 38 million people have been lifted out of severe poverty.](https://antonfoek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Suspending-parliament-in-Suriname-1024x768.jpg)
Aai-, dear, dear Steven, My esteem and respect for you, since the days when I visited you when you still studied so incredibly hard in the U.S. of A. and to which I even devoted a radio story, is boundlessly great. Your statement about suspending parliament in Suriname to save the country in various areas…
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Stanley Brouwn [ Paramaribo 1935 – Amsterdam 2017] antonfoek Amsterdam, January 28, 2023– Perhaps it would have been better if there had been no obituary by Stanley Brouwn here. Or if nothing at all is said about the artist, who died in Amsterdam on May 18, in this obituary. If even his birthplace and year…
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Cameras everywhere antonfoek Amsterdam, November 13 2022 –15,000 cameras or even more cameras will monitor soccer fans across eight stadiums and on the streets of Doha during the 2022 World Cup, an event expected to attract more than 1 billion football fans from around the globe. “What you see here is the future of stadium operations,” the…
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Dutch Design antonfoek Amsterdam, July 5, 2022– A bright autumn day in Dubai: a clear sky and 33 degrees. Still, Willem-Alexander and Máxima needed an umbrella at the opening of the Dutch pavilion at the World Exhibition on November 3, 2021, so as not to get wet. The royal couple looked at the eye-catcher of…
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Giving Life Tony Verhey/Anton Foek Amsterdam, May 16, 2022–During pregnancy, the baby’s cells migrate into the mother’s bloodstream and back into the baby, this is called ‘fetal-maternal microchimerism’. For 41 weeks, the cells circulate back and forth, and after the baby is born, many of these cells remain in the mother’s body, leaving a permanent imprint…
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An Anton Foek Special We listen to scientists, media- and theatre producers, authors, and philosophers about important contemporary personal and social questions. The Italian-American economist Mariana Mazzucato thinks and reflects over the question how to adjust our capitalist system. Anton Foek Amsterdam, December 12, 2021–We ( sic ) have really big problems: lack of sense…
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Bankruptcy and jail by Anton Foek Amsterdam, October 21st 2021– The story of William Smith is simply fascinating: the orphaned son of an English country blacksmith, who became obsessed with creating the world’s first geological map and ultimately became the father of modern geology. Craters on Mars named after him as well as an annual lecture of the…
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Enigma at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Anton Foek Amsterdam, 29 sept 2021– Ever since the man in the clock at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport started his activities and telling us stories about the enigma of Time, I am fascinated by its mechanism and able to watch and keep watching. I am mesmerized as it is very…
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