Marco den Ouden
Bio
Marco is the published author of two books on investing in the stock market. Since retiring in 2014 after forty years in broadcast journalism, Marco has become an avid blogger on philosophy, travel, and music He also writes short stories.
Stories (71)
Filter by community
Heaven, Hell and the Multiverse
The mythology of heaven and hell has often been used in literature as a way to comment on ethics in general. Dante's Divine Comedy takes us on a journey through hell, purgatory and paradise, the most famous of these being his Inferno. Milton gave us Paradise Lost. The satirist Jonathan Swift described The Place of the Damned by its inhabitants including "Damned poets, damned critics, damned blockheads, damned knaves, damned senators bribed, damned prostitute slaves". The poet William Blake wrote The Marriage of Heaven and Hell in which he contrasts the free Dionysian spirit of hell with the authoritarian and carefully regulated, dare we say repressed, heaven.
By Marco den Ouden2 years ago in Geeks
Self-Liberation: An Intense Experience. Top Story - September 2023.
The quest for liberty takes many forms, from political activism to philosophizing. But the freest country in the world will not be satisfying to one who is not at peace with oneself. To one who lacks self-esteem and a sense of personal worth, political freedom means very little. And one who is not confident in their moral code or who lacks a clear-cut set of values is more susceptible to authoritarian pressure than the self-confident individual.
By Marco den Ouden2 years ago in Chapters
A Month on Skid Row
In February 1972, I was in the fourth year towards a Commerce degree at McGill University in Montreal. I was struggling and my grades were poor (involvement with campus politics had become a huge distraction), so when my friend Tony asked if I wanted to take time off and go to California with him, I jumped at the chance. "You bet!" I cried.
By Marco den Ouden2 years ago in Chapters
Songs About Hotels
Home is where the heart is, but a hotel is where the heart goes when it needs a break. Or needs to escape. Or to find refuge after a breakup. Or to hide away in loneliness. Or to have a fling. Or to cut loose and have some fun. Hotels are a metaphor for life.
By Marco den Ouden3 years ago in Beat
Songs About Murder
Ballads about murder pepper British and American history. Sadly, as the blog, Murder Ballad Monday (yes, there is a blog devoted to the subject) notes, many of them have a misogynistic streak – men killing women as often as not, just for the hell of it. The Everly Brothers' Down in the Willow Garden is a prime example.
By Marco den Ouden3 years ago in Beat
Songs About Decisive Moments
Life is filled with decisions. In fact, you might say our lives are defined by decisive moments. As the poet Robert Frost once put it, we come across two paths in the forest and have to choose one. Taking the one less chosen can make all the difference.
By Marco den Ouden3 years ago in Beat
P.J. O'Rourke's Brilliant Treatise
P.J. O'Rourke passed away on Feb. 15th after a battle with lung cancer. He was one of America's greatest humorists and certainly one of the smartest. He will be sorely missed. This is a review I wrote of his "Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics" which I reviewed when it first came out in 1999.
By Marco den Ouden4 years ago in The Swamp
The Founding of Canada: Part 3
This third and final installment of my short history of Canadian Confederation concludes with a discussion of the influence of John Locke's ideas on the fathers of Confederation, contrary to the prevailing notion that Canada's roots are predominantly Tory. If you missed them, you can catch up with Part 1 and Part 2.
By Marco den Ouden4 years ago in FYI
