DEEP THOUGHT

We Are Better Than This

A friendly conversation on stuff that matters
with Andreea Petre-Goncalves

Conversations / Sat 15th Mar / 5-7pm

We know we are better than the news updates that read like dystopian sci-fi every morning. But what specifically are we?

Late capitalism is a church without god, without heaven and without penance. Its monstrous glass and concrete temples signal power, but no promise of absolution. No reward, no relief, no angels, no virgins. Earth burns. Millions toil but cannot escape the precariat, their promised repay not even a pension, let alone comfort. Righteous and rightful pitchforked rage is harvested greedily by callous heirs of blood emerald mines and property speculation.

Our reality is immoral, illogical and unhopeful.

Whether we like it or not, western liberalism is right now the emptiest of promise of all contemporary doctrines. Even bloodthirsty autocrats offer something greater than the self, as we obsess over pronouns while forgetting to utter the value system that sits behind them - one of dignity for all.

We can give each other the confidence to voice and shape what being better than this means. Join us for a hopeful conversation.

Open to everyone | Booking required
Bar open

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ABOUT

Andreea was 8 years old when totalitarian Communism collapsed overnight in her native Romania. She saw then how quickly yesterday’s absolute truth can become tomorrow reviled atrocity. She knows that societal narratives can shift fast, and when they do, they make deep system re-set possible.

For two decades she worked for international development, human rights, health and sustainability in the EU institutions and international NGOs. In 2019 she set up Flare, a Brussels-based think-and-do tank that experiments with practical ways of shifting the collective ideas we hold of what is normal and desirable. This work builds on 15 years of her researching and writing about societal narrative shifts. She is a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader and a member of Global Diplomacy Lab.

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ADDITIONAL INFO 

FOOD & DRINK	EVENT SIZE	WHEELCHAIR
Bar open with snacks	Small (10-20)	Available on request