Art as a million dollar project

In our capitalist society, works of art represent the ultimate status symbol. The art market is booming, prices are rocketing. Why is it that people are willing to spend millions of dollars on works by van Gogh, Klimt, Keith Haring or Gerhard Richter ...

How many people these days can still recount the story of Romulus and Remus or the punishment of Tantalus? Ulysses and Oedipus are household names in twenty-first century, but characters like Hecuba, Medus, Perseus, Hydra and Cassandra, formerly part of any educated person's vocabulary, are often ...

Compassion is the inner barrier to the inhumane. In Liverpool, two eleven-year-old boys abducted a two-year-old and murder him. This crime could have been avoided if passers-by who heard the child scream had intervened. Arno Gruen asserts that these passers-by placed themselves on the side of the ...

Preface by Gaetano Benedetti

The concept of autonomy, which does not mean power and superiority but full conformity of a human being to his feelings and needs, is an important factor of modern psychology. If this autonomy is lacking - more often the rule than the exception - ...

Much reflection by many disparate thinkers has been devoted to the complex issue of evil in the world, and psychologists have devised different theories to explain the destructiveness of man. But rarely has anyone dissected the causes with such rigorousness as Arno Gruen. He demonstrates how ...

The battle against racism is a task for the human race

Hamed Abdel-Samad has experienced racism from all sides. In Egypt, he was denounced as a pale-skinned bastard Crusader, and in Germany, his skin was too dark for some and his name was too Muslim for others.
Although based ...

In their election districts, they are kings. In Berlin though, they are often just benchwarmers of little renown. And yet, the 709 members of the Bundestag, Germany's Federal Parliament, constitute the backbone of our democracy.
Who are these 221 women and 488 men? How do they work? How do ...

"Meaningful work and equitable salaries make people independent and proud, providing them with increased self-confidence. This is how they can be integrated into the broader society. They find what we all need: a home!"
Sina Trinkwalder, who established her business by employing 140 ...

"The fire of the Chinese dragon will put the heat on us."

China extends its influence like a new colonial power: Chinese businesses are being managed in an authoritarian model, just like the Communist party.
In Hong Kong, an authoritarian regime clashes with a ...

With photos and illustrations

Drive, flexibility and spontaneity have always been the hallmarks of the isolated North Atlantic island dwellers. Not only have these characteristics helped them to weather the tough conditions of daily life in their inhospitable climate and rough landscape ...

Renaissance man, scientist, citizen of the world, first environmental activist, international publicist His articles and essays were distributed around the world in an extraordinary manner: over 1,000 texts in fourteen languages in 30 scholarly disciplines in 250 media platforms ...

An inside view of the most important power in the Middle East

The Islamic Republic stands for an authoritarian yet modern society grounded in technology and the military which has nevertheless managed to retain a unique Iranian culture. But Iranian society is rent by an ...