Ward Kaiser
Hello - and Goodbye!

When the world we live in shifts, our response to it changes. Right down to this blog. Let’s be specific:

This will be the last in the “Maps Change Things” series. Declining health requires that I give up this enjoyable way of keeping in touch with you on things that matter. Make no mistake: my farewell goes with deep appreciation for the connection we have.

Hello - and Goodbye!

PARTY TIME – YOU’RE INVITED!

Want a lift for your spirits? Try this question: Which life events deserve a really good party? Does your list include

  • your best friend’s birthday?
  • your team scores its biggest win ever?
  • a loved one is declared cancer free?
  • you’ve just been given a job promotion?

While you’re having fun with your own list, here’s another question: Did you watch the Republican and Democratic conventions in July? Remember the dancing decorations, the upbeat music, the carefully crafted speeches, the hoisted placards and (well, more or less) spontaneous shouts from the delegates? Can you still picture the balloons – ah, yes, the balloons dropping in a mighty deluge?

If you say yes, then you know rah-rah. You understand celebration.

Let’s refocus. Transfer your attention from where you live and from the American cities of Cleveland and Philadelphia to a town – more specifically, a castle – in Germany. We’re suddenly in a different kind of celebration. We’ve come to honor what would have been Arno Peters’ 100th birthday. Dr. Peters – for all those who enjoy above-average competence in world history or how maps function in our lives, or who follow this blog or who have read How Maps Change Things – is the person who brought new insight to our understanding of history and geography, who died in 2002.

Why Can’t They Be More Like Us?

The countryside shines green with growing grain. Roads are smooth if winding, with little traffic. Every farm building seems to speak of prosperity and well-being.

On a hillside, one area stands in contrast. No crops, no cattle, no flower garden around somebody’s house. Instead, a one-of-a-kind structure with such crazy angles you wonder if the architects were drunk when they designed it.

We’re in Germany, at a place called Hinzert. 

“MAPS BRING US MANY WAYS TO SEE THE WORLD”

 – we’re all indebted to ODT Maps for forcefully making that point. 

Today we bring you one more way to view the world – or five more if you wish. Under the title “Anyone who wants to be president needs to understand these 5 maps,” it uses visuals to make clear some of the most important realities now affecting life on the planet.

View all five, then see if you agree: what they tell us is not just for wannabe presidents.

The first one especially, “The map Donald Trump doesn’t seem to understand,” is timely and revealing. On the map and in brief text you’ll see the pipeline sprawling from Alberta’s oil sands to the Gulf of Mexico; you’ll see Fort McMurray, very much in today’s news: the city where fire destroyed the homes and livelihood of an estimated 88,000 people; you’ll see where the much-discussed Keystone pipeline would go; you’ll get a fact-based story of what “the wall” to keep Mexicans out of the U.S.A. would do to businesses and people both north and south of the border. Catch the reference to climate change as well. Once those realities have registered, you’ll have a firmer grasp of some issues than several persons with sights set on high office!

At least that is the message of the author of the material. Parag Khanna is his name; Connectography: Mapping the Future Global Civilization, his new book. Born in India, he has lived also in the United Arab Emirates, Germany, England and the United States. A graduate of Georgetown University with a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics, he is now Senior Research Fellow in the Center on Asia and Globalization at the Lee Kuan School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. Earlier books include the award-winning How to Run the World.  Amazingly, he also finds time for mountain climbing and international charity work. There’s much more… but judge for yourself: click -- and have your eyes opened to a stimulating new way to see the world!