Here I would like to share my favorite websites and blogs and hope that these posts can also be an inspiration to you. I also added lists with some of my favorite articles.

“Almost always when I told someone I was writing a book about “eating animals”, they assumed, even without knowing anything about my views, that it was a case for vegetarianism. It’s a telling assumption, one that implies not only that a thorough inquiry into animal agriculture would lead one away from eating meat, but that most people already know that to be the case.” 
— Jonathan Safran Foer

If just about three years ago, you had let me choose between a schnitzel and some tofu sausage, I would have picked the schnitzel without thinking twice. The mere title of this post would have made me hungry and there were few things I would have considered more delicious than a juicy steak.

But times have changed.

I read a lot in my free time and in this section I would like to recommend the most interesting, inspiring or absorbing books I've read.

There is the common view that the truth can be found through reason and argument. That if only people get access to information and the knowledge from science and research they will adjust flawed opinions and convert to the truth no matter how they personally feel about it. This is the ideal of science, that man can leave his emotions and personal views behind on the road to objective insight. 

“A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections - a mere heart of stone.” — Charles Darwin

But then there is an opposing view, that man is a self-righteous scumbag, mostly using his mental faculties to win pointless arguments and to justify his egocentric worldview.

I want to understand the big relationships in our world. I want to learn the reasons of unemployment and inequality; how to design successfull economies and how to prevent financial crises.
I am as passionate about economic issues as one can be and this is why I have been studying economics for the last 5 years.
Unfortunately, to say that I am a little unsatisfied with my major would be a strong understatement - I am deeply frustrated.
In this post, I'll try to explain why that is and what's wrong with the current state of economics.

Personally I enjoy to regularly set myself new challenges and to try out new stuff. Following is a list with multiple interesting challenges and inspiring "Life Hacks" that you could try if you'd like to spice up your life a little. I will probably write about my motivation and experiences about some of the items below in some more detail in my blog.

“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” — Winston Churchill

What makes some nations great, people there living in dignity and prosperity whereas other states fail, again and again, trapped in poverty and misery?

I have often wondered about this question.
Common explanations focus on differences in geography, resource endowment, the amount of capital, culture or religion but these answers have never really satisfied me as they didn't seem to go to the core of the problem.
Then, very recently I stumbled on a new explanation, as simple as convincing: Institutions.

During my own search for happiness I have come across various sources of insights and advice that have been very helpful to me. In this post I would like to share the best texts, videos and books I have found and also put forward some of my own ideas about happiness.

So ... what is happiness?

Maybe being with a loved one? The intensity of a crazy party? The peace of wandering in nature? Or laughing your ass of because you accidentally kicked your roommate in the balls?

And what makes up its importance in our society?
Is a life of maximum happiness a successful life? Would it be justified to measure a countries success through the average happiness of its citizens as the Happy Planet Index does? Should one agree to Jeremy Bentham, founding father of utilitarianism, saying:

“It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong”

Speaking in public, travelling a foreign country alone, approaching a stranger to ask for a date or running around in a mankini in a busy shopping street. All actions that are typically outside of peoples comfort zone.
In case you are not familiar with the term, the (psychological) comfort zone describes the restricted set of situations and activities that a person feels comfortable doing and usually does on a regular basis. “Where our uncertainty, scarcity and vulnerability are minimized. […] Where we feel we are in control” (Brene Brown). A comfort zone differs among people and is dynamic and changeable over time. You might feel embarassed to sing karaoke while your sister is crazy about it and what might have been a major challenge in your teens can seem normal today, like driving a car. The comfort zone is not to be confused with the set of things you enjoy doing though. These sets can and often do overlap, but you can for instance be comfortable about dancing in a club without enjoying it or also enjoy it even though you feel sleightly weird.

When most people hear the term “Meditation” they think of Buddhist monks, hippies or general esoteric weirdness. Definitely nothing for normal, down-to-earth citizens.

I used to share this same skeptical attitude, but after stumbling on multiple blog posts about the various benefits of meditation and scientific studies proving countless advantages regarding health and happiness, my curiosity was aroused.

To describe the philosophy of minimalism I will reuse Leo Babautas excellent description: "It's one that is stripped of the unnecessary, to make room for that which gives you joy. It's a removal of clutter in all its forms, leaving you with peace and freedom and lightness. A minimalist eschews the mindset of more, of acquiring and consuming and shopping, of bigger is better, of the burden of stuff. That earning more and having more are meaningless. Figure out what makes you happy. Get rid of the rest, so you have room for those important things."

The decisive inspiration for me to become a follower of the minimalism philosophy has been a blog post by Mark Manson. I realized that currently even a massive increase in my living standard just wouldn’t substantially improve anything relevant about my life.
That I already own enough.

It seems that capitalism has enabled humankind to replace the struggle for survival with infinite possibilities to pursuit happiness and fulfillment.

However, when you move your perspective from the greater picture to the level of the individual, there seems to be something right about the popular quote:

"The things you own end up owning you"