Tired as I, too, am of the American elections, the American friends half-joking about moving to Amsterdam, my mind keeps gravitating around various questions. How do the stock exchange and political elections compare? What would happen if polling and reporting on the election were not allowed? What political philosophy could I read about the life of voting imitating the art of polling? With headlines such as “the county that got every president right”, do Americans feel the discomfort I feel about the idea that a vote can be right or wrong, that it’s a national guessing game? Are we going to be okay after this?

“His observations struck some critics as the smugness of a man who escaped a shipwreck and now has some thoughts about the swimming techniques of the people behind him who drowned.” - Tom Nichols for The Atlantic

Proudly nasty, I joined Anja, my mother-in-law Sauci, and millions of others around the world last Saturday to attend the Women’s March. Museum Square in Amsterdam was full of pussy hats, face paint, smiling faces, and righteous indignation. I don’t often attend protests, not in the last place because I’m cautious about negative media outlets that often ridicule protesters, but I loved being a part of this day. I have no idea what’s in store with this American presidency, but I imagine it can’t be very positive. (Continue)