Huis van Oranje

 If I told someone because carrots are also orange thanks to the Netherlands, many people would probably think it’s fake.

For most of history, that simply was not the case. Carrots existed in many colors — purple, white, yellow, and red. The orange variety that dominates the world today only became popular in the early modern era, mainly thanks to Dutch agriculture, which I have mentioned several times already as highly inspiring.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, agriculture and trade developed rapidly in Netherlands. Dutch farmers experimented with cultivating different vegetable varieties and gradually bred more stable and tastier orange carrots.

And thanks to the strong Dutch trade and logistics network, which I have also mentioned before, orange carrots quickly spread across Europe and later to other parts of the world.

The orange color is also linked to a high content of beta-carotene, which the human body converts into vitamin A.

And just to add a bit more Dutch… who knows who is behind New York City? Today’s New York City was originally a Dutch colony called New Amsterdam. The Dutch founded it around 1624 on the island of Manhattan as part of the colony of New Netherland.

A world without human freedoms and rights

 The idea of equality carries within it a paradox that may ultimately lead to the denial of the human being itself. If people are naturally different, then every difference creates the potential for hierarchy. Differences in intellect, talent, ambition, creativity, or will create differences in influence. And differences in influence gradually create inequalities of power. The moment a society decides to eliminate all hierarchies completely, it comes into conflict with human nature itself.

Human beings are not static creatures. They long for growth, self-overcoming, creation, knowledge, and progress. Yet progress means movement forward, and movement forward creates differences between people. Some think faster, some create more, some lead, while others follow. Absolute equality therefore could not tolerate true individualism, because individualism itself is the source of inequality.

If a society without any hierarchy were to exist, it would have to control not only the economy or social relations, but human thought itself. Intellect would become a problem, because differences in intellect create differences in influence. Ambition would become a problem, because it creates movement and progress. Individuality would become a problem, because it disrupts the uniformity of equality. Such a society would have to constantly ensure that no one “stands out.”

This is where the similarity to Nineteen Eighty-Four emerges. Not necessarily in the form of a traditional state, but in the principle of absolute control in the name of a higher idea. In Orwell’s world, that idea is power. In a vision of absolute equality, equality itself could become the new authority, total power over mind of all beings. The control of language, the restriction of thought, and the suppression of individuality would not serve to protect the state, but to preserve the uniformity of society. 

The paradox of such a system is that the attempt to eliminate hierarchy creates a new and even deeper form of domination. Power would no longer exist only within institutions, but within the very principle of equality itself, which would define the limits of human expression. A person would cease to be a unique individual and instead become a function of the system. Individuality would be seen as a threat to the stability of the collective order. 

Drink spiking

January 2022

 I already mentioned the unusual situation in drum and bass—that in January 2022, at a well-known Prague club, after accidentally entering the backstage area, I saw fans chanting Sidney SN. I also mentioned a likely case of drink spiking. It was probably an opiate; I was still experiencing hallucinations on the evening of the third day, when I was calmly lying on my bed while the shadows of objects in the room were moving. The strange thing was that despite the hallucinations, I was at the same time extremely calm.

A recent Beat Sexism survey was published: According to the survey by the organization Beat Sexism, around 32–33% of respondents had personal experience with so-called drink spiking (meaning that a drug or another intoxicating substance was added to their drink without consent). Out of 1,041 responses, 336 people reported personal experience, which is 32.3%. More than 91% of them were women. The most common age group was 19–24 years old. The research was focused mainly on young people in Prague, especially students and visitors of nightlife venues.

If the survey is accurate—which it most likely is to some extent—although chanting the name of a liquid drum and bass artist is rare, drink spiking is quite widespread in Prague.

I also wrote that these very experiences with events in Prague are among the reasons why I do not want to visit Prague. For me, it is a dangerous place, not only because of poisonings at events, and I prefer daylight events outside of Czechia. And the fact is that since 2022, I have not attended any event in Prague.