# Laura Slot > Historian & Writer ## Posts - [The End of Short-Term Thinking](https://lauraslot.com/the-end-of-short-term-thinking/): Read in Dutch on The Fire Online All institutions and companies have short-term thinkers and long-term thinkers. Short-term thinking is the prioritization of obvious, easy gains over lasting value; it is a form of self-sabotage and short-sightedness. The only good thing about short-term thinking is that it always ends quicker than long-term thinking. The main … Continue reading - [The Conditionality Curse](https://lauraslot.com/the-conditionality-curse/): Read in Dutch on The Fire Online Freedom is the absence of conditionality. In this industrial, mechanical, technical era, however, conditionality is the ever-expanding center of existence. All of our appliances and software revolve around the concept “if this, then that” – it is conditionality that enables functionality. It is easy to spot conditionality in … Continue reading - [When the Worst Won](https://lauraslot.com/when-the-worst-won/): Read in Dutch on The Fire Online In a kakistocracy the worst of all people are in charge. This Greek word can be applied to any governed entity, a country, an institution, a company, et cetera, and it reflects a situation that is inherently harmful. Leaders are incapable of doing their jobs, either morally, practically … Continue reading - [Heroic Historians](https://lauraslot.com/heroic-historians/): This list of historians is continuously updated At the moment I am writing a history book and I am realizing that our old ways of conducting historic research are existentially broken. The information I find in university libraries –on this topic– is just as unreliable as a random internet page, the only difference being that … Continue reading - [Between Coincidence and Conspiracy](https://lauraslot.com/between-coincidence-and-conspiracy/): There is one specific article by Edward Snowden that has been inspiring me since its publication in August 2021. It’s called Apophenia – How the Internet Transforms the Individual into a Conspiracy of One. ‘Apohenia’ is a term coined by a German psychologist during the Second World War, it means seeing patterns that aren’t really … Continue reading - [From Individual Power to Collective Shame](https://lauraslot.com/from-individual-power-to-collective-shame/): In 1919, Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays (1891-1995) founded America’s first public relations firm, applying psychoanalytic discoveries to promote consumerism and to use latent sexual energy to manipulate the masses through subliminal seduction. Freud, and his more daring colleague Wilhelm Reich on whom I’ve written previously, knew exactly how important latent –unrealized potentiality– energy is … Continue reading - [It's Human Nature?](https://lauraslot.com/its-human-nature/): Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, … Continue reading - [I'm a Guest at 'Bakkie met Bergsma'](https://lauraslot.com/im-a-guest-at-bakkie-met-bergsma/): Dutch publicist and former lawyer Sietske Bergsma invited me to talk about my latest blog post, Building the Non-Lie. Sietske runs the video channel Bakkie met Bergsma as part of her publication The Fire Online. Our conversation is in Dutch, about one hour, click here to watch on YouTube. I’ve been a fan of Sietske’s … Continue reading - [Building the Non-Lie](https://lauraslot.com/building-the-non-lie/): It’s harder than it seems to build a truthful venture atop the ruins of a World of Lies. Whoever has had the courage to start such a new venture is working hard to make ends meet. Picture an under-funded, under-appreciated startup that disrupts nothing but the phoney. There exists no subsidy or Quantitative Easing, no … Continue reading - [The FBI and the Why of the Blue Sky](https://lauraslot.com/the-fbi-and-the-why-of-the-blue-sky/): The biggest censorship case in modern history is that of the brilliant Austrian-American psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957), who worked closely with Sigmund Freud. On August 23, 1956, the FBI burned 6 tonnes, 5443 kilograms, of Reich’s books and research. Reich died in prison a few months after his arrest in 1957. His research focused on … Continue reading - [Myths and Constitutions](https://lauraslot.com/myths-and-constitutions/): Freedom and power are oftentimes inversely related, similar to the way social norms and moral codes can be inversely related. In times like these, when causes and consequences are continuously overlooked, ignored and denied, inversely related correlations are useful to have on your mental radar. One common trend from the past few years is that … Continue reading - ["Oh, What'll You Do Now?"](https://lauraslot.com/oh-whatll-you-do-now/): On Action in the Face of Destruction "I’m a-goin’ back out ’fore the rain starts a-fallin’" -Bob Dylan, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (1963) Is it comforting or worrisome to know that, sixty years ago, Bob Dylan sang about many if not all of our current problems in his early 1960s songs? Perhaps both. You’ll … Continue reading - [I've Closed My Substack](https://lauraslot.com/closed-my-substack/): Yesterday I migrated most of my ‘Old Revolutions’ Substack content here to my own website. If you are subscribed to my publication Old Revolutions on Substack you don’t have to do anything, you will receive emails from my WordPress website LauraSlot.Com instead. My reasons for this change: I hope you’ll stay with me on this … Continue reading - [Addiction Cure Suppressed](https://lauraslot.com/addiction-cure-suppressed/): The strange disappearance of books and articles on baclofen Around the time I was born, my 25-year-old father was most likely already addicted to alcohol, and I’ve spent a big part of my life taking care of him until he died at age 58. He was my best friend. He had the strongest will to … Continue reading - [Dutch Debate is Dead](https://lauraslot.com/dutch-debate-is-dead/): Debate Remains Dead. And They’ve Killed It. A popular song about the Covid restrictions was ‘We’ve Lost Dancing’ in 2021. In The Netherlands, we certainly lost much dancing during these years – our house-, techno- and dance DJs are the best in the world – but we also lost another valuable part of our national … Continue reading - [Assumptions are Dangerous](https://lauraslot.com/assumptions-are-dangerous/): Especially for the Targets of PsyOps: You & Me “Assumptions are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things to make — bombs, for instance, or strawberry shortcake — if you make even the tiniest mistake you can find yourself in terrible trouble. Making assumptions simply means believing things are a certain way with … Continue reading - [Revenge of the Epistemologists](https://lauraslot.com/revenge-of-the-epistemologists/): How to Acquire Knowledge? What can we know? Perhaps not an uncontroversial question nowadays, yet an important one. Right after his speech at the Heritage Foundation Tucker Carlson said that, in today’s world, we should only cling to what we can smell. Hold on to printed books, he said, implying that it’s wise to approach anything … Continue reading - [On the Denial of Evil](https://lauraslot.com/on-the-denial-of-evil/): When Moral Relativism Becomes Nihilism Back in 2007, Argentinian native Máxima Zorreguieta, who married Dutch crown-prince Willem-Alexander in 2002, angered many Dutch people by saying she ‘searched for the Dutch identity’ for several years but had not found it, and that ‘the Dutchman does not exist’. This display of moral nihilism can be seen as … Continue reading - [All Talk, No Action](https://lauraslot.com/all-talk-no-action/): Journalism Since the Great Financial Crisis In early 2009 I attended a memorable panel discussion at Columbia University’s Journalism School in New York. A handful of elite journalists who were trained in finance, statistics and data came to talk to about fifty of us students. The main questions were: What could journalists have done better … Continue reading - [Dutch Media's Unforced Errors](https://lauraslot.com/dutch-medias-unforced-errors/): Balancing the Scales after Deceit A law of nature dictates that energy always tries to balance itself, like a scale that’s always moving to the middle, which is the most natural, comfortable and peaceful position: homeostasis. Call it physics, biology, whatever you like, but this law also applies to all the energy that humans put out … Continue reading - [Long Live All Who Can't Be Fooled](https://lauraslot.com/long-live-all-those-who-cant-be-fooled/): A poem by HK & The Saltimbanks This is my first post in a couple of weeks. I intend on blogging more in the nearby future. I am taking a break to recap, reconsider and re-energize life. For now I want to share a beautiful poem by HK & The Saltimbanks, a French music group, published … Continue reading - [The Deafening Silence of Columbia Journalism School](https://lauraslot.com/the-deafening-silence-of-columbia-journalism-school/): Maybe I missed the memo. I sure hope I did. Maybe there are groups of journalists trained by my alma mater, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, who are taking a stance against censorship and propaganda. In any case, the vast majority in my alumni network either promote it, are on … Continue reading - [De Vrijheidsjurist](https://lauraslot.com/de-vrijheidsjurist/): Een groep Nederlandse juristen heeft een prachtig initiatief opgezet om te benadrukken dat essentiële burgerrechten in deze tijd extra bescherming verdienen. Ik ben er trots op dat ik de eindredactie heb mogen verzorgen van hun manifest. - [De 'hamsterwiel'-jaren](https://lauraslot.com/de-hamsterwieljaren/): Waar ging het mis? Zal het straks mis gaan, is het al mis gegaan, of allebei? Voormalig econoom en oud-werknemer van Lehman Brothers Michael Krieger, @Libertyblitz op Twitter, omschreef laatst dat we niet een donkere periode ingaan, maar dat we juist een donkere periode achter ons laten. Die gedachte stemde mij optimistisch, maar ik wilde … Continue reading - [Mijn visie op de informatie-oorlog](https://lauraslot.com/mijn-visie-op-de-informatieoorlog/): Op uitnodiging van Fiona Zwart was ik onlangs te gast bij Café Weltschmerz. Deze journalistieke denktank richt zich op maatschappelijke, sociale, politieke en filosofische vraagstukken. Het is in 2014 opgericht, een periode waarin voor mij persoonlijk duidelijk werd dat de wereld een minder rooskleurige richting op ging, primair gekenmerkt door de internationale geldontwaarding als reactie … Continue reading - [New Words](https://lauraslot.com/new-words/): The beauty of language is that it can’t be stripped of its human, unpredictable, flawed, emotional, dynamic, local, temporary and irrational elements. Language is always moving, it’s never the same in any time or place. New words are born each day, and old ones silently die in forgotten places. The IT and software companies I’ve … Continue reading - [From Ponzi to Ponzi](https://lauraslot.com/from-ponzi-to-ponzi/): I met Bernie Madoff at a party in Florida. It was just a year or so before December 2008, when he got arrested and began his 150 years in jail for running the biggest ponzi scheme the world had ever seen. Back then, he was just one of the many older, grey-haired people I shook … Continue reading - [Journalism, Truth and Time](https://lauraslot.com/journalism-truth-time/): If I don’t speak my truth, I will never be able to take myself seriously again. I would be betraying myself AND my profession. My entire career is built on making information available to people. Freedom of information is my #1 motivation. This is the work I’ve been doing for more than 10 years in … Continue reading - [Er klopt iets niet](https://lauraslot.com/er-klopt-iets-niet/): Het was nog erg vroeg, maar zoals altijd en overal in New York was het leven op straat in volle gang. Ik liep vlak bij het metrostation Brooklyn Borough Hall op deze bewuste koude, maar zonnige doordeweekse ochtend in november 2008. Als student journalistiek was ik onderweg naar een interview. Ik kletste tegen iemand door … Continue reading ## Pages - [Publishing](https://lauraslot.com/publishing/): Old Revolutions Press publishes new and old books on post-materialist science and historiography, linguistics, anthroposophy and spiritual science as well as poetry collections and classic facsimile editions of rare and relevant antique books. It places the old in a new light, and the new in an old light, through intellect, imagination, inspiration and intuition. - [Blog](https://lauraslot.com/blog/): Old Revolutions - [](https://lauraslot.com/): Laura Slot is a historian and writer from The Netherlands. She focuses on outsiders in twentieth century intellectual history, the history of ideas. She writes and publishes old and new books at Old Revolutions Press. On December 19, 2023 Old Revolutions went live, an artistic blog focused on post-materialist science, historiography, linguistics, anthroposophy, spiritual science … Continue reading - [The Fire Online](https://lauraslot.com/the-fire-online/): Laura’s articles in Dutch for The Fire Online: - [Archive](https://lauraslot.com/archive/): All blog posts: - [Pictures](https://lauraslot.com/pictures/): Plain pictures, by Laura Slot - [Poetry](https://lauraslot.com/poetry/): Below you’ll find a few examples of my poetry. My inspirators are, among others, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Tupac Shakur, Charles Bukowski, J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Graves, Theodore Roethke, Rainer Maria Rilke, W.S. Merwin, Jorge Luis Borges, W.B. Yeats, Walt Whitman and of course D.H. Lawrence. Suggestions for creative collaborations, including editing and song writing, are … Continue reading - [Publications](https://lauraslot.com/publications/): For forthcoming books, see: OldRevolutions.Com/Books - [Nieuwsblad Gezond Verstand](https://lauraslot.com/gezond-verstand/): In September 2020, former NRC Handelsblad Asia correspondent Karel van Wolferen (1941) launched a bi-weekly print news magazine, Gezond Verstand. Laura’s articles: - [Media](https://lauraslot.com/media/): Videos, podcasts, articles, broadcasts: - [Book: Bertrand Russell](https://lauraslot.com/book-bertrand-russell/): Consistency and Change in Bertrand Russell’s Attitude towards War (2008; 2025) Available for purchase as ebook and paperback Philosopher Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872-1970) lived almost an entire century, a century full of change. He was one of the few who dared to provide answers to the impossible questions of twentieth century world politics. Several … Continue reading - [New Replacement Therapies for Marijuana Addiction](https://lauraslot.com/new-replacement-therapies-for-marijuana-addiction/): By Laura Slot, 2009 ~ 11 minute read Names have been changed to protect privacy Anne Badeni is a passionate and successful musician in New York City who loves to sing and play guitar. She’s an intelligent woman in her mid-fifties with short blonde curls and pale skin. She looks tough and unapproachable, but her … Continue reading - [De lange weg naar vrede](https://lauraslot.com/de-lange-weg-naar-vrede/): Het pacifisme van Bertrand Russell Door Laura Slot, verschenen in Geschiedenis Magazine, juni 2008 | Geschiedenis Magazine is a Dutch popular historical magazine. It was first published as Spiegel Historiael in 1966. Tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog had de Britse filosoof en wiskundige Bertrand Russell de reputatie een vurig pacifist te zijn. Dit bleef hij zijn … Continue reading - [The Oldest Italian Parish in Brooklyn](https://lauraslot.com/the-oldest-italian-parish-in-brooklyn/): By Laura Slot, published in The Italian Tribune, December 11, 2008 | The Italian Tribune is America’s oldest continuously published Italian-American publication. It was founded in 1931. Less than 20 feet from Robert Moses’ thundering Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Sacred Hearts & St. Stephens Roman Catholic Church in Carroll Gardens stands as a serene sanctuary of Italian … Continue reading - [For Richmond Hill's Sikhs, Obama's the One](https://lauraslot.com/for-richmond-hills-sikhs-obamas-the-one/): By Laura Slot, published in The Queens Chronicle, September 2008 | The Queens Chronicle is a free weekly newspaper based in the New York City neighborhood of Rego Park, Queens. It was founded in November 1978. Senator Barack Obama’s campaign has missed some opportunities to connect with the Indian American community in the past, but … Continue reading - [Mental Health Care Strained in NYC](https://lauraslot.com/mental-health-care-strained/): By Laura Slot, 2010 ~ 8 minute read Names have been changed to protect privacy David Faye was walking down a corridor at Lehman College in the Bronx when suddenly he thought he heard the janitors shouting obscene words at him. Faye, then 22, had no idea what was going on. Later, he learned that … Continue reading - [About](https://lauraslot.com/about/): Laura Slot is a historian and writer from The Netherlands. She focuses on outsiders in twentieth century intellectual history, the history of ideas. She writes and publishes old and new books at Old Revolutions Press. Some moments in time or some facts of old: Master of Science, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New … Continue reading - [Contact](https://lauraslot.com/contact/): Elsewhere: [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)