Across Europe, the act of knowing the citizen has become a test of power.
These three essays trace how identity moved from the census to the classroom, from the passport to the algorithm. Germany counts precisely; Britain hesitates to count at all. Yet both reveal the same unease — that the more the state tries to know its people, the more it risks losing their trust. Counting Strangers, The British Fear of Being Known, and From Card to Code follow that uneasy journey from bureaucratic record to digital surveillance, asking what remains of freedom when knowledge itself becomes a form of control.
For centuries, religion has offered meaning and comfort, but also control. Today many still hunger for faith, yet find the old stories impossible to believe. This short reflection asks whether we can keep what was best in religion — compassion, courage, and care — without pretending to accept what no longer persuades reason. It argues that meaning, not miracle, must become the new ground of faith.