I really enjoyed this. It's a very far-ranging discussion of shifting goals, means, conditions, and values that shaped a mainly commercial (rather thaI really enjoyed this. It's a very far-ranging discussion of shifting goals, means, conditions, and values that shaped a mainly commercial (rather than political) world-spanning empire. It also explores how people's interests and values evolved in many directions, giving me a better understanding of my rather diverse U.K.-origin migrant ancestors. The story features every continent, and there's so much to illustrate that various really major events just don't make it in, such as the Anglo-Persian oil crisis if the 1950s. I'm going to look for some of Darwin's other works, such as "After Tamerlane."...more
This is highly relevant to our whole global division over Israeli Zionism, Christian nationalism, and global anti-colonialism. It builds on a lecture This is highly relevant to our whole global division over Israeli Zionism, Christian nationalism, and global anti-colonialism. It builds on a lecture that the author gave in Jerusalem in 1996, on the question of “Does the God of the Bible Sanction Ethnic Cleansing?”
In considering that, Prior examines the Bible’s calls for exterminating the people of Canaan (i.e., “You shall devour all the peoples that Yahweh your God is giving over to you, showing them no pity” (Deuteronomy 7:16), as compared with the prophetic protests against persecution of foreigners (i.e., Leviticus 19:33–34). Next, Prior surveys how the Bible’s “war texts” were used in Christian colonial conquests of the Americas and South Africa, as compared to the more modern movements for social equality as a fundamental Christian principle. Then it all comes down to modern Israel and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, for perhaps the ultimate moral conflict over which version of Judeo-Christian religion will prevail....more
Such an honest, authentic guy, who shows the reformative and even political power of public confession. I wish we rewarded rather than punished that iSuch an honest, authentic guy, who shows the reformative and even political power of public confession. I wish we rewarded rather than punished that in our institutional life....more
This book rambles through 13 discussions of various particular people's lives. With each character, Sharlet focuses on something very basic, namely thThis book rambles through 13 discussions of various particular people's lives. With each character, Sharlet focuses on something very basic, namely the raw anguish they face in living. It's disturbingly unblinking, and the prose is often far more beautiful than necessary....more
I think it's a competent, entertaining survey of the world's doomsday prophecies. The selection of examples to discuss is a bit random and a bit repetI think it's a competent, entertaining survey of the world's doomsday prophecies. The selection of examples to discuss is a bit random and a bit repetitive, but Newman does her homework and her attitude is refreshing. For example: People can't decide when the Middle Ages ended. Personally, I think we're still in them. After all, if this is the last age, then any quibbles about eras within it are rather pointless.
In discussing Augustine's views on the book of Revelation, she comments, I find it comforting that someone as brilliant and devout as Augustine couldn't understand it either. In examining the predictions of total cataclysm in the Mayan Popol Vu, she notes This is what happens to people who don't respect the hard work their gods went through to create them.
Here's a few more quotes that convey the book's scope and approach:
In researching this book, I read about a lot more prophets, doomsday groups, and theorists than I could possibly include. You may find the ones I've chosen a bit odd. I may have left out your favorite scenario. But the more I researched, the more I realized that the ideas about the end of the world were astonishingly similar.
Also,
I began to realize that no one expects their world to end. People who expect the Apocalypse soon arn't preparing to die but to survive. They'll build an ark or be raptured up or hitch a ride on the mother ship....more
For at least the first half of the book Parenti has a light, entertaining touch, noting for example that in many respects “God is an underachiever.” IFor at least the first half of the book Parenti has a light, entertaining touch, noting for example that in many respects “God is an underachiever.” In some places it’s hilarious, as when Jimmy Swaggart pauses in the middle of a sermon to announce, “Hold on, God is telling me something.” Only towards the book’s end does serious condemnation of cruelty and hypocrisy predominate. Overall, Parenti is an equal-opportunity abuser of abuse, denouncing inhumanity among Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, etc., including Jesus, Mother Teresa, and the Dalai Lama. Just to be fair, he pays some respect to whatever he finds helpful. Overall I found it good clean fun, at the expense of all whose aspiration to godliness leads to self-deification.
There's one thing outdated about the book. Back when it was published in 2010, the author assumed that fundamentalist Christians are inherently legalistic, and devoted to restricting a range of popular activities. He did not foresee the rise of libertarian fundamentalists, who claim that God forbids restrictions on the freedoms of true believers....more
I’ve much appreciated Monbiot’s work as a passionate environmental activist, and there’s a lot of that in this book. But I hadn’t realized what an allI’ve much appreciated Monbiot’s work as a passionate environmental activist, and there’s a lot of that in this book. But I hadn’t realized what an all-round journalist he is, covering loads of additional issues involving war, finance, culture, God, power, or housing in England. This collection of articles dates from the war on terror decade, and Monbiot mercilessly rips the stupidity of spectacular spending on military crusades, while we approach the point of no return on global warming. He’s an angry, driven reporter, and I’d rate his research excellent....more
Ferguson raises a good question, answers it himself, and gives a far-ranging tour of history to show that he's basically right. Why has the Western woFerguson raises a good question, answers it himself, and gives a far-ranging tour of history to show that he's basically right. Why has the Western world been dominant for 500 years? His answer is its six virtues of competition, science, property rights, medicine, the consumer society, and the work ethic. Ferguson upholds the worth of these virtues, and shows that they've enabled enormous progress around the world. He considers the recent setbacks and deficiencies of Western societies, but remains optimistic that Western values shall yet prevail, to uplift all humanity. He complains that "Empire has become a dirty word, despite the benefits conferred by the rest of the world by the European imperialists." That's close to being an editorial war crime, but at least his storyline beats the common apocalyptic predictions of inevitable war to the death between civilizations.
I enjoyed Ferguson's big-issue discussion and appreciated his practical, quantified assessments of issues, solutions, and results. But as with most works of collective self-praise, the holes in the account were glaring. Concerning "competition," he admits that early-modern Europe was exceptionally divided into hundreds of constantly warring principalities, and such competition was a spur to innovation. But wasn't that competition largely in the means of killing, and wasn't that the primary kind of superiority by which Western states conquered most of the world? Concerning "property rights," wasn't it military superiority that enabled the expropriation of three entire continents from their native people, and turning much of that seized property into highly profitable plantations worked by enslaved people?
Concerning the past century or two, Ferguson details the impact of Western scientific innovation on industrial development and medical care. It's an impressive story, highlighting how Japan made massive progress by emulating Western ways. In other nations, however, such as Iran, Guatemala, Congo, Brazil, Chile, or Vietnam, progress was much delayed, either due to anti-Western values or because "U.S. interventions were shorter in duration." Did Chile, Vietnam, Algeria, Angola, Congo, Guatemala, etc. suffer from a LACK of U.S. or European intervention?
Of course it's a good thing when people affirm what's great about their culture, and Ferguson gives powerful testimony to the virtues of his people. But sometimes a shadow side of presumed superiority appears. Ferguson repeats the conspiracy theory that Muslim migrants in Europe threaten to replace European civilization, because their birth rates could make Muslims outnumber Westerners by 2050. He suggests that Barack Obama wrongly ceded the West's primacy to China, because he gave a slight bow of politeness when shaking hands with premier Wen Jiabao. And then we have Ferguson's full-throated affirmation of the Christian religion as the real source of Western greatness. He waxes enthusiastic about the growth of home-grown Christian churches across China, and holds out hope that Christian values may yet transform Chinese culture. I just hope he doesn't go making a similar pro-proselytization speech in India. And concerning "the Protestant work ethic," were the people of Asia ever lacking a work ethic?
Finally, I should mention that Ferguson's measures of progress mainly concern growth of income, with an assumed goal of maximizing that growth. There is no measure for the value of sustainability, as achieved for example in the virtually permaculture farming systems of Asia that have always sustained the greatest populations on earth. If the book was a real dialogue among civilizations, it would consider what Westerners can learn from others....more
Solomon does very extensive visiting in countries off the beaten tourist track (for example Mongolia, Ghana, or Greenland), and I enjoyed how he eagerSolomon does very extensive visiting in countries off the beaten tourist track (for example Mongolia, Ghana, or Greenland), and I enjoyed how he eagerly fills up holes in his experience of the world. He seems to be an almost ridiculously sophisticated connoisseur of art, food, ideas, etc. When he visits a country, he commonly hangs out and parties with the nation's avant garde artists. But he's also concerned with mental health and depression, and some of his trips are focused on mental health caretakers dealing with traumas that beggar belief in places like Cambodia and Rwanda. Also, traveling itself is Solomon's therapeutic practice for opening up and really living.
In talking to people of every description, he often gets quotes that capture the local drama in ways both revealing and hilarious. He goes to Russia several times, and in the 1990s talks with a new Russian capitalist investor who works for the "Foundation for the Privatization of State Industry Through International Investment." The man describes his work as "moving what already exists from one set of hands to another." He adds, "the more I take for myself, the more I help Russia."
Over a decade later, Solomon goes back and visits Patriarch Krill of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Patriarch explains that Putin's leadership has been a "miracle"; he has restored greatness and religion to Russia. Church membership has risen from around a third to three-quarters of the nation's people. Concerning Putin's opponents, the Patriarch warns, "liberalism will lead to legal collapse and then the Apocalypse."...more
De Soto explores the power of actually free economic competition, where poor, jobless people create their own businesses in the streets of Peru. His rDe Soto explores the power of actually free economic competition, where poor, jobless people create their own businesses in the streets of Peru. His research team exposes the labyrinth of official regulations that protect established businesses from facing the challenge of informal local enterprise....more
This book is fantastic. It shows the Calypso in action as a kind of Star Trek, journeying on a mission of both science and compassion, exposing the liThis book is fantastic. It shows the Calypso in action as a kind of Star Trek, journeying on a mission of both science and compassion, exposing the little-understood wonders of the Amazon's ecosystem, addressing inhumanities against it's Native people, and investigating practical solutions to the issues at hand. I have seldom seen scientists playing such an inspiring role....more
I liked this better than the vast majority of history books I’ve ever read, even though some parts were beyond my comprehension. Mostly, I liked the qI liked this better than the vast majority of history books I’ve ever read, even though some parts were beyond my comprehension. Mostly, I liked the questions. For example, how do we get to feeling obligated, or to feeling that other people owe us things? How is that sense of obligation turned into quantified debt, with collection enforced by the powers that be?
Graeber explains a lot about how debt and collateral have worked, producing bonded servitude, sex slavery, debtors’ prisons, inherited debt, and other sorts of debt peonage on a massive scale. He shows how the responsibility for paying debts has been shifted onto less powerful people, such as the citizens of African nations being penalized into paying at interest for loans taken and stolen by absconding dictators. He explains how creditors have sought to place all risk on debtors through pre-set interest rates, or raising interest rates at will, as allowed in 1980 by a U.S. law to eliminate legal limits on interest. He points out numerous examples from around the world where people have treated each other better, and managed things in more mutually beneficial ways. Maybe, for example, the world could learn something from Muslim efforts to control interest, or maybe just to limit the total payment required to twice the original amount of the loan.
As I said, I don’t really understand Graeber’s proposals for monetary policy or global finance. But maybe to suggest the creativity of the discussion, I’ll just cite the two quotes he uses to start chapter 12:
“Look at all these bums. If only there was a way of finding out how much they owe.” – Repo Man, 1984
“Free your mind of the idea of deserving, of the idea of earning, and you will begin to be able to think.” – Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Dispossessed”...more
Subin does a far-ranging investigation of an odd religious problem: many people have been deified. It happened to Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, GeSubin does a far-ranging investigation of an odd religious problem: many people have been deified. It happened to Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, General Doulas MacArthur, Christopher Columbus, Julius Caesar, Hernando Cortez. Gandhi was widely deified regardless of how hard he protested against it. A lot of these deified men were white, and happened to be crusaders for supposedly godly empires. It gets confusing who was deifying who, or who was just reacting to enemy gods with the volcanic power of spirit possession.
All this opens a highly eclectic search through the global history of popular religion, rummaging for perspectives on the nature of spiritual quests, saints, saviors, avatars, etc. Colonial Englishmen such as William Crooke cast critical eyes upon India: “Hinduism lies in urgent need of a Pope. … there is no official controller of the right to deification.” The long-buried gnostic Gospel of Philip announces, “In the beginning, God created humankind. But now humankind creates God. This is the way of the world—human beings invent gods and worship their creation. It would be more fitting for the gods to worship men!” A man named Baylis on Tanu Island in the Pacific is reportedly “not quite a god,” or he is “more what they call a ‘tabu man,’ someone so sacred and dangerous that they occupy a place somewhere between the living and the dead.” The ancient bishop Clement of Alexandria holds that divinity “pervades all mankind equally.” Those who follow Christ’s teachings “will be formed perfectly in the likeness of the teacher—made a god going about in the flesh.” Of course many people maintain that divinity is inherited. As a participant in the white nationalist online forum Stormfront (named Aryan7314) explains, “God is in our Aryan DNA … So we must do everything to be eternal.” Subin claims that almost all deified people are men, but her dataset omits a lot of goddesses.
All this free-flowing discussion is fascinating, but how can Subin conclude it? In the end, she turns to a fairly safe focus, pointing out the hypocrisy of religion as a quest for superiority: “How can one seek supremacy through a faith that teaches the universal brotherhood of man?” It’s a good question, but she has raised far more questions than that....more
This book reads like a long, rambling conversation. Instead of proposing answers, it raises and discusses good questions. Like the early 20th century This book reads like a long, rambling conversation. Instead of proposing answers, it raises and discusses good questions. Like the early 20th century anthropologists who tossed aside accepted models for the “universal stages” of cultural evolution, and then went to study particular cultures in all their complexity, Graeber and Wengrow aim for a fresh look at ancient civilizations in the light of new findings from the past several decades. Where most archaeologists, historians, or social scientists have tried to retroactively identify the “laws” that have determined how things turned out, Graeber and Wengrow see the vast diversity of ancient cultures as experiments that suggest alternative possibilities for humanity. The evidence they compile undercuts a whole series of assumptions about the inevitable stages of technological, economic, cultural, or political development. By the time they’re done, almost nothing seems inevitable, and everything seems open to our choice and imagination....more
This is a well-condensed summary, which is primarily focused on U.S.–U.S.S.R. relations. I like how Gaddis takes a long view, and points out the signsThis is a well-condensed summary, which is primarily focused on U.S.–U.S.S.R. relations. I like how Gaddis takes a long view, and points out the signs of hope in how things developed. For example, he notes how in WWII, all warring states restrained themselves from using their stockpiles of poison gas. Then in the Cold War, all enemy nations refrained from using their new atomic weapons. A consensus seemed to be forming that victory in war is not worth it if it destroys the things fought for, be those things actual societies, or their basic standards of human decency.
However, I feel the book is outdated in its promotion of American exceptionalism and triumphalism. Gaddis portrays the USA as emerging onto the world stage after the world wars, innocent of the Old World’s battles for world domination: “The United States, … was not about to defend European colonialism …. Its own history had begun in rebellion against and empire.” As if it had not fully engaged in the race for domination across North America, Latin America, and the Pacific.
Then, in comparing the USA and the Soviet Union, Gaddis almost always paints the Americans as offering positive inducements for justice, while the Soviets rely on threats and fear:
“Both of the ideologies that defined these worlds were meant to offer hope: that is why one has a ideology in the first place. One of them, however, had come to depend … upon the creation of fear. The other had no need to do so. Therein lay the basic ideological asymmetry of the Cold War.”
As if the USA never helped European colonial powers to retain their colonies after WWII. As if it never helped overthrow governments in Guatemala, Iran, Haiti, Brazil, Argentina, or Chile. As if it never armed anti-socialist death squads across Central America, or gave military support to capitalistic dictators across Africa and Asia. As if it never invaded Panama or Grenada, or bombed Indochina for decades....more
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