📌 We know that many of our readers would like to see some short, pointed posts here. So, in contrast to the longer, more analytical articles we usually publish – normal for an academic institution – an Oberg Comment is a short text by the editor of The Transnational, Jan Oberg, which alerts you to one or two main points, offers some informative links for self-study or is simply a recommendation or “MustRead/Watch” with lasting educative value. Since they will be maximum 600 words, they are also easier to use for the media. We hope you will like the format too.

July 31, 2020

In times of fake and omission – not to speak of deliberate deception and lies – society’s very foundation is shaken: What can we believe? Who can we trust? What is reliable and truthful information – and how do I know?

Tragically, substantial knowledge with complex reasoning about our complex world and its problems has been overwhelmed by marketing, smart soundbites, tweets and ignorance.

Diversity has been substituted by uniformity, political correctness and, more recently, the awfully destructive cancel culture and its close companion, self-censorship.

People read less, and less and less the long argument – such as (good) books about global problems. Perhaps because we think we are so busy? Whatever the reason, the attention span has shrunk and many have a comfort zone the size of a pinhead.

It bodes ill – no matter the kind of social body in which this disease takes root. It spread like malign cells in a human body.

And it seems that it is OK to lie, not the least for the big and powerful.

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Many people ask us: What do you think I should read to better understand the world?

Well, you can always turn to TFF – we’ve been around since 1986 and we are not easily fooled. The large majority of analyses, articles and videos we publish is research-based and written by people with enough life experience to be both factual, critical and constructive – and not in need of getting famous or to pursue careers that might tempt them to join the above-mentioned trends.

Fortunately, there are still lots of good media and analytical bodies that you can rely on – not the least thanks to solid scholarship and integrity. Certainly, TFF is not the only one but even in the field of peace, conflict and future research, a wide-ranging mainstreaming and uniformity have developed. TFF has not and will not go that way.

TFF is also people-financed and all-volunteer. We receive no funds from corporations or governments and have no sugar daddy. These characteristics is a guarantee for you.

However, we think it is our duty to help you find these other good sources beyond ourselves – win-win for us and for them.

Here are our recommended links to media worldwide you may like to consult instead of holding on to your local mainstream media which perhaps you do because it is difficult and time-consuming to find your own way.

And here is our link collection to a lot of analyses, serious debates, theories, concepts, ideas and self-learning.

And then you have all the Themes on our front pages – in red.

There is enough to throw yourself into!

All in one place. At your fingertips. We call that public education.

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There is only one – yes, one – remedy in times of fake, omission, conspiracy and propaganda: Substantial, verifiable knowledge created with objective, scientific methods and intentions while also being open about unavoidable subjectivity and consciously promoted values.

Like medicine, peace, conflict and future research is a value-oriented endeavour. Like doctors, we at TFF believe in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment, or healing. That is a value orientation in and of itself and we gladly state that nonviolence is better than violence and that our goal is to push thinking and action in the direction of less, not more, violence in our world.

In these times everyone has a choice: To either become illiterate and be fooled – or to be in the know and reveal and ignore the rampant, unethical newspeak that has spread like a pandemic the last 20-30 years, not the least in the fields of conflict, war and peace.

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