The only drawback to this book is it was written in 1995, leaving the most recent 30 years out.
The reader gets a comprehensive look at the progress ofThe only drawback to this book is it was written in 1995, leaving the most recent 30 years out.
The reader gets a comprehensive look at the progress of commercial aviation since the first mail runs were made in biplanes when flight after dark was out of the question. Gradually, haltingly passenger service becomes a money maker as airplanes increased in size and the distance they could fly. The classics of air flight such as the DC3 and the Constellation came and went and the reader finds out why they deserve their exalted places in aviation history.
Running as a theme through the book is the advance of engine design with simple drawings to illustrate milestones such as the turboprop and the fan-jet.
One reads of the competition by and eventual elimination of railroad passenger service of which AMTRAK is a pale shadow and of the intense competition among the airlines driven by the personalities who directed them. I was a bit disappointed that there was not more told about the one and only Howard Hughes.
Air traffic control is not overlooked, getting down to a simple description of the VOR and MLS systems and the problems they overcame. In the current rage to eliminate government, this book is a reminder of the chaos that was increasing in the skies before the government stepped in to create a network of air travel corridors allowing a multitude of aircraft to operate with safe separation in time and space. The safety we expect today came about through lessons taught by tragedies that the author relates.
It's worth pondering that less than 100 years have passed since Lindberg made his solo flight over the Atlantic. As we sit packed into an airliner today, it seems like it has always been as it is now. This book shows how much has happened to get us to where air travel is the routine thing it is for millions....more
This 1998 publication, significantly from The New Press and not a major publisher, is a collection of essays documenting the invasion of academic reseThis 1998 publication, significantly from The New Press and not a major publisher, is a collection of essays documenting the invasion of academic research by the government, specifically the CIA and military, and by business.
The culprit, as with the corrupt US Congress that is devoted to lobbies, not the people it is supposed to represent, is money.
In exchange for money, schools have and will create "chairs" in this or that area of study with the understanding that the person holding the position will be devoting time to doing research that the government or business want done. In exactly the same way that big donors to political campaigns expect to benefit from the work in office of the candidate they are buying, er, I mean supporting, large grants to universities do not come without strings that determine what is to be done on campus.
While all of the essays in the book are interesting and none of them long, the final essay, The New Corporate Yen for Scholarship is a must read even if the other essays are neglected. Case after case of business buying scholarship are cited all of them pre-1998. Now, as I write in 2024, the situation is certainly no better with no attempt to reverse the trend having come in the intervening 26 years. And education is not alone as we see this or that brand name given to a sports stadium. The most outrageous thing mentioned is that businesses will take the results of the research, go on to make a great profit from it and give none of that to the school, while at the same time patenting everything they can so neither the school or those who did the research have any claim to the work done. Thus does the public, the students who pay to attend college, subsidize big business.
This book is not an eye opener, since I think most Americans, certainly all who are either students or faculty at any big university, well know how the bread is buttered. If any eyes were opened in 1998, nothing came of it. At least this collection of essays is an example of uncorrupted education, for those who want to know the history and details of how higher American learning institutions have been bought....more
The first 65% of it cannot be bettered. Wolff describes capitalism perfectly along with the failures of socialismIt is hard to give this book a rating
The first 65% of it cannot be bettered. Wolff describes capitalism perfectly along with the failures of socialism and communism, making the valid point that socialism is really a state directed form of capitalism; there is still the division between the directors of a company who make all the decisions, and the workers who, for wages, do what they are told to do by the directors.
Then comes the last part of the book where the author makes his proposal for change, the implementation of what he calls "Workers' Self-Directed Enterprise" (WSDE) and that is where I found the book preposterous.
In a WSDE the workers take over the entire business and direct its operation. This means doing all the things business executives do now. How to make a product, when to make changes in the product or introduce a new product, how to sell the product, how to use the profits all would be done by the workers who collectively would be the board of directors, or rather who would rotate through being directors.
It wouldn't work.
First of all, people are people. Those who work are no more moral or free of self-interest than those who manage. The difference is in the power the latter have over the former and the law that does not prevent management from self-dealing, something not available to workers. If workers were put in charge of what to do with the profit of a company, they would surely direct it as much as possible to themselves and not to a lower price to the consumer. Unions have been known to make demands regardless of the danger to the survival of the company. Workers might well decide to have a 20 hour workweek. Just as surely as we now have company management using stock buybacks to line its pockets rather than to use the money to improve the product, so we could expect a group of workers to do the same, albeit spreading the takings more justly across all the employees of the company.
Secondly, why would good management come from workers who might well have no aptitude for the job? Wolff proposes training for workers so they could manage a company properly but there already are business schools. Job specialization is a known producer of quality because doing a particular job as a career produces thoroughly competent workers, whether or not they like having the same job over a period of time. It's well known (I have seen it) that workers do not like to be told to change what they do and be trained for something different. Those who do enjoy challenge and welcome it soon move into management but the majority fear change. WSDE's would not take risks.
Third, incompetent management is punished by removal from the job. While it is true that CEO's can lead a company to disaster and still get pay increases, in the end they get removed. Can you imagine the internal arguments within a WSDE about who is doing a good job and who isn't? Factional strife could not be avoided. And who gets to decide who is removed? The workers vote on it? Who gets fired? The workers vote on it? This would be unworkable.
The problems of capitalism as we know it are not insoluble. They could be corrected with changes in business law, such as limiting maximum salaries to some multiple of basic worker pay. Stock buybacks could be outlawed. Loading up executives with stock options could be outlawed. Executive compensation committees dissolved. This would certainly produce a more just distribution of profits than is the case now without concocting a way to put workers in charge of the company for which they work.
But towering above all that I have just written, the looming, immediate problem with capitalism is that it is not sustainable. There is no such think as infinite growth in a finite physical world, planet earth. This is bearing down on us now with climate change, ecological damage and the ever increasing load of debt on both countries and individuals. Every company wants more business. Every individual wants to have more stuff. At the same time population growth has not been halted and intense competition for scarce resources is bound to eventually lead to military conflict. There is no miraculous power that assures there will be enough of everything for everyone.
The problem this book addresses is moot in light of the brick wall civilization is racing toward at ever increasing speed. Read Democracy at Work for the excellent analysis of how capitalism works, a fair analysis that does not trash the concept. Think of it this way - on an out of control train certain to jump the track unless action is taken, should the passengers be concerned over whether everyone on board is being treated fairly as catastrophe looms?...more
Eugene V. Debs was the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party in America, running five times for the office and living to see socialism as a moEugene V. Debs was the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party in America, running five times for the office and living to see socialism as a movement in the United States crumble long before the Great Depression reopened questioning of capitalism.
He was a humanitarian and a revolutionary, one who would never hurt a flea, but at the same time was convinced that capitalism had to be overthrown and replaced by socialism. He was of the group believing that the 1917 Russian revolution was a wonderful breakthrough for humanity that could spread across the globe. Lenin knew of Debs and approved of him. Though the history of the Soviet Union has certainly proven this rosy view wrong, Debs did not live to see it.
A tall, thin man, Debs was a standout in any crowd and his eloquence attracted many crowds, often of thousands, who were inspired by his words. The federal government did not hold a positive view of his views and in the clampdown on dissent by the Wilson administration during WW1, Debs was accused of calling for the overthrow of the government under the Espionage Act of 1917, exactly the same legislation with which President Obama hoped to convict Edward Snowden. Convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, he served a bit over two before being released by President Harding.
The tale of Debs' term in prison is remarkable and should be known by all Americans. His kind manner, engaging way of speaking and humility won him the admiration and friendship of three prison wardens. At the same time, he won the admiration of his fellow inmates who referred to him as "Mr. Debs" and insisted that all prisoners do the same. A man of honor and principle, Debs did not think himself above the convicts around him. Showing them respect, he received it back. He said they were some of the best people he had met.
Something unique happened when Debs was released with a picture in the book to show it happening. Making his way on foot away from the prison, of the typical gigantic multistory fortress design, Debs turned to wave goodbye to the inmates who had crowded to the bars to see him depart. They raised a cheer for him so loud that it could be heard a half mile away. This expression of friendship and respect by those society thought of as human refuse, understandably reduced Debs to tears. Reading about this took my breath away while at the same time saddening me at the knowledge that few Americans know of this event.
Debs called prison a "deformatory", a school for depravity and a place where guards enjoying absolute power over the inmates would be cruel as a result. Has there been any change in the 104 years since? He wrote a book about his prison experience, Walls and Bars that I intend to read.
Ernest Freeberg provides a running account of the turbulent time in America over Debs lifetime including the people who did so much to promote socialism, an uphill battle, as corporate America did all it could to fight unions. Freedom of speech is central to the book. How the First Amendment was interpreted by the Supreme Court is covered in detail along with how citizens viewed it, thinking it worthless as was the case in the violent reactionary activities of the American Legion. The infamous raids conducted by Wilson's Attorney General Palmer on suspected subversives show how little the First was valued during the war, as Wilson's Postmaster General was banning radical publications from the mail, continuing it after the war ended.
Showing what one person can do, we read of Lucy Robins whose belief that socialism was best advanced by working within the system, rather than overthrowing it as Debs envisioned, had her winning the support of Samuel Gompers, the head of the American Federation of Labor.
Democracy's Prisoner is a very enjoyable look at the America of the early 20th century of the all but forgotten part played by Debs when the socialist movement reached its peak of popularity in the US. Capitalism has since taken over the world delighting with the things it has produced. Other political ideologies have been swept away, yet the unsustainability of the endless growth capitalism demands will have the final say. No alternatives are on offer.
In President Eisenhower's farewell address he famously warned of the danger to the country of the military industrial complex, that money for weapons In President Eisenhower's farewell address he famously warned of the danger to the country of the military industrial complex, that money for weapons was producing nothing of value for the American people.
Ike's warning has had no impact. The military industrial complex has grown without end. The end of the USSR only temporarily caused a drop in US "defense" spending. Seymour Melman wrote this comprehensive account of the problem in 1974, dedicating it to George McGovern who was critical of the MIC but was not effective in bringing it to heel.
At the time this book was written the annual "defense" budget of the US was around $350 billion. Now, in 2024, the amount is almost $1 trillion with increases of 5 to 8% per year. It is estimated that the US war in Iraq cost $2 trillion, so the country is now paying half that amount each year simply to keep the weapons production lines running.
Melman tells of the non-competitive nature of military spending. If a contractor is awarded a job, then there is no real limit on what can be claimed from the government to pay for it. Nor are there real consequences if the job is not done right. It can be expected that there will be large cost overruns along with a multitude of problems that only become clear when the final product is released. Melman uses the example of the huge Air Force transport plane, the C-5A, that was initially delivered with hundreds of missing parts, subsystems that did not work properly and a failure to meet the requirements set for it when the contract was awarded. Recently, the F-35 aircraft and the notorious Littoral Combat Ship have been examples of weapons spending problems. The first two LCS were so bad in performance it was cancelled, sailors taking to calling it the "Little Crappy Ship". Project cancellations are not unusual.
Recently, auditors said they could not audit the military as the documentation needed to do so was not available, not that it was secret, an audit trail simply didn't exist. The Marine Corps alone has been able to pass an audit. One would think that this profligate spending with no accountability would have Congress in an uproar but it doesn't because the widespread awarding of subcontracts across the 50 states as a jobs program and the ability of weapon sales to cut into the ever widening foreign exchange deficit keep Congress quiet.
Melman leaves no stone unturned. He describes how the non-competitive nature of the military industry brings with it administrative and managerial practices so different from those in the competitive commercial world that there is no possibility of turning military contractors into competitive businesses. Melman sees this bizarre architecture as destructive of the practices that make commercial businesses competitive both inside and beyond the US.
Above all, Melman emphasizes the foolishness of unlimited spending for war in a world where, with nuclear weapons, world war cannot be fought. Pretending that such a war can be fought justifies all kinds of state of the art weapons systems that would never see action, just as huge massed armies taking the field would be instantly destroyed. Even in non-nuclear wars such as happened in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq the unquestioned technical superiority of US weaponry was unable to prevail against primitively equipped opposition.
It is the chapter Melman titled "Limits of Military Power" that captured my attention more than any other part of the book. It consists of a listing of 26 limits with a detailed explanation for why the limit is undeniable. Here is a sample of those limits...
> deterrence is a threat system, not a shield > a city or country cannot be destroyed more than once > once nuclear arms are available in quantity, more weapons or firepower do not necessarily add to military power > among nuclear powers, military dominance is no longer definable or achievable
Melman, who died in 2004, was a worthy opponent of the uncontrollable military spending of the United States. An engineer, he had the knowledge and did the investigative work to give the results of his research solid standing that remains today. That said, it has been ignored. All that he found out did nothing to stop the unending growth in US spending on preparing for war that cannot be fought. US military action since WW2, in particular from Vietnam on, has been disastrous and continues to be so in Ukraine and in the unlimited support for ethnic cleansing by Israel. It doesn't matter to our government.
The US military budget will continue to increase, and will continue to be called the "defense" budget though no country threatens the US. With the USSR long gone, the American people are now being coached into believing that China is a threat while a real threat, global warming, goes unaddressed. Melman did a very commendable job with this book, but wisdom to be effective must have listeners. There is too much money in not listening.
The story tells of boys at a New England college preparatory school in the 1940's. About to reach the age to be inducted into the armed forces, they aThe story tells of boys at a New England college preparatory school in the 1940's. About to reach the age to be inducted into the armed forces, they are trying to figure out who they are and what life is about.
The characterizations did not reach me. I confess that reading about pampered children of the wealthy in a private school of an America long gone doesn't stir me. The boys do act like boys of their age; taking risks, being goofy and spontaneous in pursuit of sensation for the sake of sensation, yet I found nothing remarkable about the tale and the ending was predictable....more
History as taught in American schools is sanitized and concentrates on those who reach the top or near the top of power. Real history involves everyonHistory as taught in American schools is sanitized and concentrates on those who reach the top or near the top of power. Real history involves everyone and the movements that can succeed or fail to change the course of power either by replacing it or modifying it.
Howard Zinn set himself the task of informing readers of the many events and groups of people that standard histories overlook. This is beneficial in showing how the little people can organize to make a difference and how organization begins with someone believing change is possible.
This book is an excerpt of Zinn's longer work, A People's History of the United States. The account is moving and at the same time sobering. Advances have been made in the status of non-white Americans and of women. We should be proud of the end of slavery in America and the attempts at restraining the power of wealth.
What sobers this reader is the knowledge that much of the progressive changes have been either blunted or rolled back. Unions are a shadow of what they once were. Wealth is more powerful than it has ever been as the 1% depart to an ever greater degree from the 99%. The ultra rich waste billions of dollars on the hope of profit from the wealthy eager for space tourism. Liberty and justice for all is so far gone that ethnic cleansing Israeli Prime Minister is invited to speak to Congress even as he is conducting a slaughter in Gaza made fully possible by President Biden supplying all the ammunition to kill and destroy without restraint.
The power of Israel in the United States illustrates how wealthy individuals, the mega-donors, can corrupt Congress via campaign contributions that the Supreme Court has opened wide to businesses as well. The 2nd Amendment is interpreted to allow unlimited gun sales to individuals for the sake of huge profits to the gun makers. The Supreme Court has recently allowed the sale of bump stocks that turn semi-automatic rifles into machine guns, devastatingly demonstrated in the slaughter conducted in Las Vegas by one man.
Reviewing the civil rights struggle, the reader is astonished that the Supreme Court we see today could ever have been leading the way by interpreting the Constitution in line with the needs of the all but forgotten African Americans.
The United States, admired and respected by the world at the end of WW2, has now retreated into isolation with tiny Israel as the world looks on astonished at how low America has dropped and with no reversal of course in sight. Business lobbies have their way in preventing national healthcare and a carbon tax so desperately needed is not employed as American drivers boost rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere ever higher. Nothing is more needed than the elimination of private money from election campaigns as this is the lever of lobby power, yet all lobbies will unite to prevent a change to our democracy of lobbies.
As a person born in 1950, the nation's future in my youth always looked positive. Even the disaster of the Vietnam War offered hope for change, but so many pointless wars since show the change has not come. With no threat to national security, the "defense" budget is almost $1 trillion for one year.
This book made me sad as it is hard to see the regression underway being stopped. Huge problems face us, global warming being first among them, and the US is doing nothing substantial to address it or the other troubles of we the people.
This is a delightful, tender, affectionate story of a boy growing into manhood in the Jerusalem of Palestine from just before Israel became a state toThis is a delightful, tender, affectionate story of a boy growing into manhood in the Jerusalem of Palestine from just before Israel became a state to its establishment through victory over the native Arabs (who retained the city until 1967).
Beginning with a description of his forebears, Oz introduces us to a wide variety of characters both within and around his family, all of them revealed to the reader in their idiosyncrasies, while around them tension rises amid the conflict with the Arabs.
Though the tale is built around the life of the author's beloved mother and ends with her death, we do get placed into the near future beyond that point, where Oz breaks from family tradition and joins a kibbutz, the communal settlements dedicated to manual labor and the raising of children by the community rather than the parents.
As a single child, Amos Oz is in an overwhelming atmosphere of books and scholarship. His father speaks multiple languages and revels in words, never hesitant to tell one and all about the history of this or that word to the point of tedium. This shows one side of Jewry where study and education are vital; the very basis of life punctuated by heated arguments between the highly opinionated determined to stand their ground. Often I was put in mind of another book, Jews Without Money, that I have reviewed.
In sharp contrast to his father, his mother tells him imaginative stories that challenge him because of their unexpected and often anxiety provoking themes. Most of the time, the boy is left to his own imagination, much in the manner of the character Calvin in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. Mighty fortifications are built from anything that falls to hand from spillikins (pick-up sticks) to storage boxes, only to be swept away by parents cleaning the room. This writer, raised in a very quiet home without television, readily identified with coming up with activities on one's own.
In keeping with the author's impetuosity, incidents occur where he greatly embarrasses his parents in the way that any parent of a boy will understand. This extends into his older years when he breaks out laughing during a very serious speech being given by Menachem Begin, to the shock of the audience.
His mother develops mental problems leading to long periods of inactivity and sleepless nights spent staring out a window. Everything is done to try to help her as we follow in great intimacy the reactions of spouse and son in their helplessness.
Oz is never hesitant to paint delightful pictures of personalities as we follow him to elementary schools that could not be more different from each other.
Several times I wished for photographs, but realized that none are needed as the book is a vivid series of mental photographs the author brings to life. Near the end of the book is a single simply posed photo of Oz, his mother and his father, placed appropriately only after we have come to know all three of them well.
At times I found it hard to believe that Oz could remember word for word lengthy conversations between adults when he was only 5 or 6 years old, and on subjects which would baffle a small boy, let alone the vocabulary from several languages. But this did not keep me from enjoying the words of wisdom (certainly thought so by the speakers) he overhears or that come to him in the form of lectures on proper behavior. He could not know the thoughts of his mother as she reached her final days, but artistry must be given license and this book is a work of art true to its title....more
This book, written in 1970 is part diagnosis and part suggestions on how to handle what is diagnosed.
The diagnosis is on the mark. I was around in 197This book, written in 1970 is part diagnosis and part suggestions on how to handle what is diagnosed.
The diagnosis is on the mark. I was around in 1970, 20 years old, and for me the hubbub was all that I had known, so adapted to it had I become in growing up. Yet, I was not aware of the many things that had started back then which have only become glaringly obvious today in 2024.
For example, Toffler mentions part time employment growing at the expense of lifelong careers. I found a lifelong career but it is no longer available and the work is now being done by daily hires and part time employees. Toffler mentions transience, jobs being moved and people having to follow them. Even CEO's at the time had average tenure at a company of only five years.
Future shock is essentially stress brought on by the lack of permanence, of anything, and since 1970 this has become more extreme. While Toffler recommends things that common sense would suggest such as taking time off, slowing down, backing off on scheduling, arranging getaways to quiet places, what we see today is a drive to the opposite with caffeine laced drinks, Xtreme this and that, spectacles (Superbowl, Burning Man) that put anything from 1970 deeply in the shade. Americans, at least, have turned to everything but backing off the frenzy.
Toffler suggests that technology drives us and nothing has happened since he wrote to indicate otherwise. Watch any smartphone user (is he/she at work or play?) thumbs flying, never looking up. He believes that people can get together and plan the future when the pace of change has become so frantic that no one has any idea of what things will be like tomorrow, let alone in years to come.
Who is it that will gather to plan? He thinks a variety of people from different fields could jointly imagine what would be desirable in years to come. Even wild ideas would be entertained and when the group comes up with something then the idea is turned over to experts who judge if such a thing is possible. This would never work. First of all, who is going to pay these people to sit and imagine the future? How could people from various walks of life ever agree on what the future should being? And then give final say to experts, they're hated, aren't they?
We the people already have a great need for national health care, but it will not be coming because it would cause profit loss to businesses that thrive on the system we have. Even if a great idea would be practical, would it be profitable? If not, no investors would show interest and the idea would die. That's the way our system works, not directed to need.
Though Toffler briefly mentions the environment, there isn't a word about global warming because it had not been clearly established. Today, it is a problem well known and acknowledged to be due to the burning of fossil fuels, primarily from automobiles. It is not something planned for the future, but will be the future and is something each of us can do something about in our daily lives, if only to minimize it.
But instead of individuals taking responsibility, we see a surge in the purchase of large gasoline burning vehicles. Not only do we not plan for the future, we disregard it and think that technology will save us. By the way, there are about 3 cars on the American road today for each car being driven in 1970. Stress levels? Road rage was unknown then. What is being done to deal with it? We put stickers on cars that say STUDENT DRIVER - PLEASE BE PATIENT.
Toffler is a great writer, making perfectly clear all that he wants the reader to know. He says the primary purpose of the book is diagnosis and in that it cannot be faulted, but when he gives his imagination free rein in the last third of the book, the book offers nothing.
What he failed to see is profit driven technology has put humanity on a railroad track into the future, aboard a train that will always be increasing its speed and the stress level of we the passengers. So much science fiction is anti-utopian because we are all bewildered and have no idea what is to come, nor would we waste a second considering it as there is so much stuff to enjoy, to divert and distract us from thinking about things. We love all the tech advances such as smart phones and huge flat screens and the Internet, but we would be at a complete loss to either say what should come next or what will come next.
What we do know is that our lives are driven by the economy and the economy is driven by profit. What masses of people will buy is unpredictable. Investors are trying out anything and everything in the hope of discovering the Next Big Thing. For investors, there must be a Next Big Thing as their money demands it. This means that all anyone can say about the future is that it will bring a sequence of Next Big Things, often more than one at a time, about which none of us has a clue.
Toffler was an optimist evidenced by his many ideas about what could be done to plan a future. He could not at that time see that we are fated to acceleration until the natural world that supplies what is needed to produce the things that we must buy to keep profit rolling in collapses or, as with global warming, responds in ways that we cannot, or will not, control if it means a change in our lifestyle.
The very last thing that capitalism will tolerate is the one thing Toffler knew is needed - slowing down. This book provides a 1970 benchmark on frenzy. Read it if that will interest you....more
I first knew about Ryan Grim through his work as a journalist and I enjoy watching him on the online show Counter Points. I had no idea he had writtenI first knew about Ryan Grim through his work as a journalist and I enjoy watching him on the online show Counter Points. I had no idea he had written this book but based on his intelligent and perceptive reporting decided to read it when I made the discovery.
Drugs. Our bodies are chemistry factories and often the natural processes in our bodies don't quite get the job done, making too much of this and too little of that. Medicine is around as a fix, but some like to take things further and use the body to go as far in one way or another as one can go. Grim mentions the everyday benefits of speed, to help get things done. But I think of those lyrics "if you give me weed, whites and wine and show me a sign then I'll be willing to be moving" Yikes, keep me off that highway!
I graduated high school in that famous year 1968 and drugs were certainly available but I never had the desire to take them. In college I smoked some grass but the effect was not pleasing and that was that. I've never suffered any significant pain and have never felt the need of anything more than 3 prescriptions. I've always felt empowered through speaking and writing while life in general has been enjoyable day in and day out. Honestly, I can't think of any reason to take mind altering drugs and the risk of damaging my brain simply to experience something exotic holds no appeal.
With this my view, this book seemed interesting for the journey deep into the world of drug users, but it seems a crazy world easily avoided and with no appeal. It is incredible what people will do to get drugs, what they will pay for them and how much they seem to need them. I say this apart from addiction, I'm referring just to the desire to take the stuff as one might like to consume one kind of food or another. While cultures throughout history have put mind altering drugs to use for religious or personal development, such as the native-American spirit quest, our culture just throws the stuff out there for anyone to do with as they wish. There's nothing larger than the self involved except the community for distribution.
Most of the book deals with trying to get stuff in spite of officials acting to prevent it. The complexity of searching and buying seem like a lot of work, except at Burning Man, but the lengths to which government will go to road-block drug use are absurd. Let people do what they want to do to themselves but act to support those who get into trouble using drugs.
Grim provides lots of information on how this or that drug became popular and how squeezing the market for one drug can cause a surge in use of another. It's strange to me that there should be such a need to get out of one's normal life that almost any drug is welcomed even if it doesn't duplicate the effect of a drug one has been taking. Grim doesn't offer much insight into why American culture causes the desire to alter the mind. Escape from normality seems to be a very big deal and of course alcohol is the predominant and legal way to do this, though it is good to see the end of celebrating the drunk as was once the case with Dean Martin and his friends. Drug use back in the 60's and 70's was THE subject in rock music and that has passed.
This book is dated. I checked Grim's website thisisyourcountryondrugs.com and it no longer exists, too bad because he used it to track drug popularity.
Interesting, well written, but for me it couldn't hit home....more
This is the story of a working class American who saw that change was needed in the situation of Native-Americans, a group of which he was a member.
SoThis is the story of a working class American who saw that change was needed in the situation of Native-Americans, a group of which he was a member.
Son of an iron-worker, and sometime professional boxer, Richard Oakes went into the same field as happens so often because unions, usually very exclusive, look kindly on the new generation taking over from the old.
Seeing the plight of the "Indians" initially among his particular tribe in northern New York State and southern Canada, Oakes observed demonstrations and began participating in them with the full cooperation of his wife, Annie. Taking on work at San Francisco State College, Oakes worked to find staffing for courses on Indian culture with the full cooperation of the college president.
Though Alcatraz, left abandoned by the federal government after it closed as a prison, had been occupied briefly in the past, Oakes had the idea of a long term occupation in keeping with other such actions he had seen that took over abandoned federal facilities, surging in number with the Red Power movement that was a part of the turbulent days of the late 1960's and early 1970's that convulsed America's youth during the Vietnam War.
But Oakes stayed only a matter of weeks before the death of his daughter in a fall down a stairwell left the family distraught and unable to stay on the island amid factional strife. Though Oakes had departed, the Alcatraz occupation continued for 19 months as federal authorities were on the back foot and eager to compromise rather than confront as confrontation only promised chaos and grievances were well founded.
Richard Oakes, like so many working class men, was no stranger to fighting and bars were often places to gather to discuss how things were going and what should be done in days to come. In a tragic incident an assailant in a bar broke a pool cue over Oakes' head giving him a concussion and a skull fracture requiring months of learning to speak anew and left him limping.
His life ended on a lonely road where he was walking when he was shot to death. The shooter claimed self-defense and a jury ruled not guilty. At no time in his life did Oakes approach what would be called a middle class life of security. His iron-working days provided a good income, but he made the decision to make a difference for his people rather than sit back and enjoy life.
This book is testimony to the willingness of government officials to work for the redress of grievances, as mentioned in the Constitution, something that seems far in the past in these days of nothing but shouting and name-calling in Congress while wealth is served and we the people draw little from legislation that so quickly sends weapons abroad for no national purpose.
The book includes a very powerful, though posed, photo of Annie and Richard Oakes seated with several of their companions while at Alcatraz. You can view it at ...more
With the hectic pace of events, it's helpful to have books like this one to tie things together, to show how we have arrived where we are today. OtherWith the hectic pace of events, it's helpful to have books like this one to tie things together, to show how we have arrived where we are today. Otherwise it is too easy to forget what our leaders were saying and doing yesterday.
Evan Osnos is an accomplished and prolific writer. This book is a fair minded accounting of the troubles plaguing the United States as the author dips into Chicago and Clarksburg, West Virginia to take the pulse of the people whipped this way and that by the economy and COVID. As the 1% has rapidly pulled away from everyone else, the government has been steadily working for wealth while leaving the vast majority of the American people to deal with their problems as best they can.
Osnos is undoubtedly a Democrat and a supporter of Joe Biden, having written a book about the man. While there is plenty of material in this book to show what a shady character is Trump, we get to read of Biden expressing sympathy for people and are told of his loss of his wife and son, yet this is the same Joe Biden who instantly jumped to provide unlimited aid to Israel to slaughter tens of thousands of people and after months of same still refuses to demand a ceasefire. This is the act of a war criminal. It looks like the Presidential election of 2024 will give us Trump vs Biden, as low a point in US political history as I have known in my lifetime.
By all means read this book to collect your thoughts about what has happened in the past 20 years. Osnos does not specifically endorse the Democrats, but keep in mind that neither of the two parties is representing we the people in a productive way. Billions get handing out to Ukraine and Israel while Americans still do not have universal national healthcare coverage. Nobody is working on getting private money out of campaign financing even as each new election season sets new records for this corrupt practice that favors the wealthy.
Nothing is in prospect to address the woes Osnos describes....more
Here is a heartfelt look at humanity in the squalor of early 20th century New York City's East Side tenements.
I pulled the book off of a shelf of old Here is a heartfelt look at humanity in the squalor of early 20th century New York City's East Side tenements.
I pulled the book off of a shelf of old books in a residence, having no idea what it was about but suspecting that it might be an antisemitic rant given the time it was written (1930). Thinking I would have to hold my nose as I read, I was surprised to find it a jewel.
Michael Gold writes of his personal experience growing up amid prostitutes, bums, the mentally ill, religious fanaticism, bigotry from and to others, street gang violence, rape and murder, all promoted by grinding poverty that demands everyone do even the most menial work to avoid complete degradation and surrender to crime, too often without success.
While Gold writes as a Jew and the story is filled with details on the Jewish experience, idioms and Yiddish words, the account with different details could have been written by a member of another ethnic group. Many immigrant groups were in the same dire situation at the time and, sad to say, there remains a large black American population that faces the same issues as I write.
Even in the face of a horrible environment, continual setbacks and daily events that are seldom positive, the full spectrum of human behavior is found. Gold devotes his chapters to this or that person taking a particular path for survival. Or, some event might bring many out on the street showing the reader how community can still exist; how one survivor can support another amid predation even when the means of support are vanishingly small.
Gold's mother stands out. Her upbringing and experience in the old country have shaped her views as she speaks, but her humanity prevails when her eyes or ears reveal someone in need. Gold's father is deeply depressed and usually in despair, but his enchanting ability to tell stories captures audiences that come to hear him spin a tale and hold them in rapt attention under the scarcely perceptible light of a gas fixture turned way down to save money.
His account of his younger sister, Esther, brought me to tears and I would be surprised if it doesn't do the same for every reader.
Gold's writing is gritty and vivid and easily becomes lyrical at several points. He doesn't hesitate to criticize while letting virtues, and they can be found even in the hell of the tenements, come through on their own, more powerful for that.
The end of the book is abrupt and takes a tone not found earlier in the text, not surprising given what we have learned from the story he has told us....more
In the fourth century Christianity had been proclaimed the state religion by the Emperor Constantine. He had left Rome to establish Constantinople as In the fourth century Christianity had been proclaimed the state religion by the Emperor Constantine. He had left Rome to establish Constantinople as the capitol of the Eastern Empire, Rome remaining the capitol of the Western Empire. The emperor in the east was called Augustus, that in the west, Caesar. For a Caesar to become Augustus was a promotion.
Our protagonist, Julian, came along two generations after Constantine. As a teen he had dreams of being a philosopher in Athens but was to rise to become Caesar and then Augustus, during the process aware of many murders and fearing for his own life. Not liking Christianity he wanted to return the Empire to worship of the old gods.
Gore Vidal chose a wonderful way to tell the story. Julian's memoire is the backbone, but it is interrupted frequently by the correspondence of two other men who are looking back on the life of Julian and commenting to each other about it, both of them having known him well. This works wonderfully to put what Julian says into perspective. It allows three well placed people to opine about the time.
The reader is rewarded with a wealth of insight on the culture, the places and people of a time of turmoil when the empire had split but Rome itself had yet to fall to the German barbarians, even as Germans made up a good percentage of the Roman Army.
I was impressed by the need for conquest. What Alexander the Great had done set a high bar for anyone wishing to control the known world. Julian, who comes across as a very reasonable even likeable man, nevertheless is driven by a desire to top Alexander, killing and conquering as needed to do so.
Not only is warfare the norm, so also is pederasty/pedophilia. Women are a spoil of war. If you are in an army, you will expect rape and booty and if they are not forthcoming, you go home. The life lived by Jeffery Epstein that we condemn was the general expectation of men of power in ancient Rome.
Religion gets examined in detail. Early Christians are already in violent dispute over church doctrine. Julian believes in the old gods and is beguiled by prophecy. Yet, as we all experience, signs that auger well are gladly received while those that don't must be false or are misinterpreted and can be dismissed. Humanity's follies are on full display. I understand that Vidal was not a fan of religion and this book shows a solid basis for his view, yet presents the subject realistically, in a way that is not dismissive of the power that religion, underpinned as it is by emotion, has on people.
It's true you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I put off reading this book for some time because of the simple drawing on the cover that does not It's true you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I put off reading this book for some time because of the simple drawing on the cover that does not convey much excitement. Inside, I was delighted with the read.
Benedict Arnold was a skilled general for the Continental Army and for Pennsylvania who did an outstanding job fighting the British, but the constant conflict with the colony of Pennsylvania and the Continental Congress wore him down.
In spite of his high standing in the eyes of George Washington, Arnold was always under suspicion by those charged with paying him for the expenses he incurred in keeping an armed force operating. It didn't help that there was little money available to pay anyone and Arnold did bend the rules from time to time. And there was the problem of promotions, or the lack thereof. Washington was insistent that the new democracy should determine who was to advance in rank to the point of standing by when Congress would promote someone with nowhere near the accomplishments of Arnold.
He was at Ticonderoga and then led a force attempting to take Quebec. There his forces managed to get into the city only to be overwhelmed by enemy forces that arrived after the date on which the attack was to have taken place. The horrors of getting to Quebec through rugged, swampy land in icy temperatures are almost beyond belief.
The story of his battles and of the times was of delays, failures in communication, lack of supplies and people promising one thing and then doing another. I find it remarkable that commanders were able to know where the enemy was, let alone able to deploy troops to the right place at the right time when it was all by way of hand written messages dispatched by couriers. The fog of war was dense and yet good leadership could prevail.
Why would a man, a member of the elite of his time, one who fought so courageously for American independence, then turn around, deceive Washington to his face and try to betray the American garrison at West Point to the British? I won't spoil it for you, but this book will make clear the several factors that came together to make Arnold the notorious traitor that every American school kid learns about.
A brave man, beloved by the men he lead for his initiative, fearlessness, willingness to be on the front line and always showing a concern for the welfare of his men, Arnold was not suspected of treason until...well, you will find out.
It was a tough time. The American Revolution was at the same time a civil war with a substantial number of loyalists willing to fight for the British but even more were passive, not fighting but not willing to help the revolt. For some time Philadelphia was American held (the capital) and NYC was British held. Once out in the country it was hard to predict what one would find. Financial distress was a very large factor. The British paid in gold, the Americans in all but worthless paper money, if even that was available. Debts could remain unpaid for years.
This is a wonderful look at the history of the time....more
Interwar Germany was a mess. The Weimar Republic had been formed after the defeat in WW1. Onerous reparations prevented economic recovery and then camInterwar Germany was a mess. The Weimar Republic had been formed after the defeat in WW1. Onerous reparations prevented economic recovery and then came the Great Depression. The Russian Revolution of 1917 brought the possibility, greatly hoped for by many, of socialism, if not communism, spreading to Germany from Russia. It was thought by many, including Lenin, that Germany with its mass of educated workers, would be the logical place for a working class to rise up against capitalism.
Though Hitler suffered a setback when his failure to pull off a coup in Bavaria landed him in jail. He took his prison time to write of his plans for Germany in Mein Kampf, and begin speaking at first to small audiences with a bodyguard that became the SA, the brownshirts, a force that by 1933 outnumber the combined manpower of the German police and army.
The author starts the 100 days at the point where Hitler, though despised by German President Hindenburg, is chosen as chancellor, the opening he had been waiting for in order to grab power away from the republican Reichstag (legislature), which he proceeded to do in an extraordinary series of actions that not only grabbed the attention of the public but succeeded, in concert with terror by the SA, to win at least acquiescence, if not vigorous support, of the German people.
When Hitler became Chancellor, in March of 1933, the public scene in Berlin had been one of Communists and Nazis engaged in street battles with demonstrations by both sides equally successful in bringing out large crowds. At the end of the 100 days, the Communists were intimidated, subject to arrest and very unlikely to shout out, as they had so recently, "Berlin Stays Red!" The SA was marching here, there and everywhere and the Nazi swastika was ubiquitous.
Hitler, Goering and Goebbels were on the radio constantly, national holidays were declared and by public referendum the republic became history as Hitler assumed absolute power. The Nazi choreography was underway for an attentive public.
Hitler's First 100 Days takes the reader into the streets, into the tenements, and best of all into the thoughts of individuals who express a variety of views on what is happening. Some fears are stoked but many more are put at bay with the restoration of order even at the cost of hearing the endless sound of boots marching down the streets. At last Germans feel pride to see people working who had been jobless, to see the other, carefully and constantly identified as the Jews, stripped of positions and publicly humiliated. At last someone has a plan and is putting it into action!
Self righteousness comes with self identification as "Aryan" as people start filling out paperwork to prove their ancestry. Excitement and anticipation fills the air. What can't Germany do if all real Germans come together as one?! The Hitler salute becomes the way to say hello and the Nazi anthem, the Horst Wessel Song, is heard everywhere.
Peter Fritzsche lets the newspapers of the time, by way of German editorials and the reports of foreign correspondents, speak to the occasional fears but much more common accolades that come with a Germany on the move. Comparisons are made to other periods of 100 days, those of FDR in the United States and Napoleon upon his return to Paris after escaping Elba. Goebbels speaks from his biography. Charles Lindbergh gets in a word.
This book is one of the best I've read in a lifetime of reading and cannot be topped as history. You may be stunned, as was the world, by what took place in such a short time. You will be astounded by the mastery of power that the Nazis used to dominate an entire country. Best of all, you will be pleased by the increased depth of your understanding of what happened not so long ago in Germany where what seemed impossible happened.
A good easily readable account of a young man from north of Greece that got around quite a bit in the ancient world, knocking out this and that king, A good easily readable account of a young man from north of Greece that got around quite a bit in the ancient world, knocking out this and that king, putting an end to the Persian Empire of the time and killing lots and lots of people in the process.
He did as he wished, sparing this enemy and slaughtering that, sparing this city and leveling that according to how he felt that day. Underlings might be preserved or they might say the wrong thing at the wrong time and meet a messy end. Mom was back home conniving and appointees left in charge of some region could get carried away and forget who gave them power. Being dissed was something he would not tolerate.
Of course he was asking a lot of his army, marching and fighting with occasional forced marches, deserts and mountains to cross. Even Afghanistan was no problem. At long last, they told Alex they had had enough when in India and he wanted to go on. This made him mad, but he couldn't kill his own army. He sulked in his tent for three days complaining of how they were treating him wrong until he realized that god-like as he thought he was, he couldn't conquer more territory by himself.
Though the author would have us admire Alexander as a general and wants us to credit him with spreading the Hellenistic world quite widely, this reader can only conclude that Alexander is yet another example of how unrestrained power is not a good thing. Those whose cities and lands were destroyed would have disagreed with the benefits of Greek culture making up for mayhem coming from a man with an unquenchable desire for glory at their expense. But Alexander was quite popular with his troops with the raping and looting he allowed unless he felt the need for discretion to gain loyalty from the locals. It's hard to keep conquering if you have rebellion behind.
He did have a big regret, though not about any lives that were lost. He regretted that he had allowed the destruction of the temples of Cyrus and Xerxes in Persepolis because they were the kind of guys he admired, being so much like him in the desire for glory and the spread of empire.
Of course the like of Alexander are with us at this moment, but they've been diverted into business where fabulous wealth can be unlimited without the associated slaughter it required in the old days. That's progress.
Before I go, I feel Alexander would want me to mention that he was related to Hercules. He had a living relative of that name, but it didn't keep him from being murdered....more
Henry Chadwick in this excellent work avoids going into the biography of Augustine, sticking to his philosophy and how the mind of Augustine developedHenry Chadwick in this excellent work avoids going into the biography of Augustine, sticking to his philosophy and how the mind of Augustine developed over his lifetime. The man was far more open minded even into old age than one might assume about a person completely dedicated to religion and was genuinely dedicated to finding the proper way to think about things for which there was, and still is, no clear evidence as we moderns understand it.
Those, like me, who put little value in discussion of whether the Father and the Son are one and the same, or the nature of the three-in-one, the detailed handling of Augustine's theology may hold little appeal, but Chadwick doesn't leave it out because of its profound impact on the Church. Augustine is the very rock upon which Catholic theology has been built. We are told of the influences on Augustine that educated his thinking. He was a man of his times who did not develop his philosophy in a vacuum.
What interesting times they were in the 4th century. Discussion of the various Christian sects, the tensions between them and between Christians and the authorities at a time when pagan practices were still popular I found fascinating. ...more
A couple of common expressions come to mind after finishing this book: "Move along, nothing to see here" and "nothingburger"
There are a number of storA couple of common expressions come to mind after finishing this book: "Move along, nothing to see here" and "nothingburger"
There are a number of stories told, some quite curious but none of them particularly interesting. There is nothing to support the idea that the Masons are in any way scheming or conspiring. It's a group, whose membership is dwindling, that has almost from the start been a congregation of successful men who enjoy socializing but like a hint of mystery and selectivity presented to the public. They are and have been no more threatening than the Shriners, Elks, or Kiwanis.
If any of these groups would fascinate you then this book might be a good read, but for most it can be passed by....more
For a period after the Renaissance, it became popular to write a book to show just how encyclopedic the knowledge of the author could be. This book seFor a period after the Renaissance, it became popular to write a book to show just how encyclopedic the knowledge of the author could be. This book seems to be Kim Robinson's contribution to that genre.
You couldn't find a better tutorial on the aspects of global warming. The author leads you through it all, the CO2 in the atmosphere, the rising ocean, the melting glaciers. This could almost be a textbook with a plot thrown in for entertainment and warnings that nobody is really doing anything about it. It's definitely a work for our times; science fiction that is mainly real science. Why no introduction by Greta Thunberg?
But it doesn't work because the writing is poor. On things technical Robinson will wow any reader but talking about stuff is far less interesting than developing characters. He attempts to present many different voices from across the world, personally testifying to this or that situation to show impact around the globe. The problem is all these voices are the same because the author is incapable of giving them ways of speaking that sound authentic. He is in effect sending the same reporter everywhere. Then we get the planet and even the carbon atom coming to life to bend our ears.
I got bored. When we have a bureaucrat in her late 50's being given crampons for a march over part of the Alps and submitting willingly, my ability to suspend disbelief came to an end. At a little over the halfway point I threw in the biodegradable organic towel and went in search of a better read.
It's a nifty idea of an uprising for the environment but the lack of any depth left me wondering why I was turning the pages. No danger of me spoiling the plot for you because I lost interest in where it was going, so maybe you can tell me...but no rush.
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