I have a problem here. I, in my humor, decided to finally read this in full light of J.D.’s vice-presidency candidacy and the elections next month,So.
I have a problem here. I, in my humor, decided to finally read this in full light of J.D.’s vice-presidency candidacy and the elections next month, placing this in October as a funny nod to Spooktober and calling it a horror.
When looking at the current politics, with so many of J.D.'s stances and horrible comments—not to mention how he still espouses crackpot theories and is in bed with Peter Thiel in some rather vast and disturbing ways—I thought I’d find a book full of faults and ideas that point to an easily cynical “social currency” that would also, cynically, propel his person, through this “memoir,” into politics.
Which, if we look at the course of things, DID. Almost as if it were custom-made to grease his way into the public consciousness.
So. With all of the “social currency” that J.D. keeps mentioning throughout this book, about how “social currency” is the only way to lift up the poverty-ridden, trauma-led Hillbillies (of any persuasion, even rednecks like me), I’m reminded of one little fact: Money, itself, is also, at its core, “social currency.” No matter how you stretch the idea, it’s a fact. Those who give money to others do it to propel their vision of what is right and proper, socially. That’s why we have Yale and other Ivy League schools. To build social connections, to open those doors, to create the society that is right and proper for all those with the money to make the world go round. And if you don’t follow the “social” in the “currency,” you don’t get the currency.
J.D.'s final point in this book underscores it. The poors that he escaped are at fault for not getting with the proper social behavior—indeed, because they eat poorly (because they’re poor), because they treat each other abominably (because they’re traumatized by generational poverty and abuse), or even because they’re uneducated and bombarded with overwhelming agendas (often eschewing further education because of the need to WORK—just to survive—because that’s how it’s always been done), it gets them all farther and farther away from the “social currency.”
I’m underlining this point because he underlines it.
Other than that, I generally have few qualms about the actual observations he makes throughout the memoir. I agree that poverty is absolutely horrible, that nobody ought to go through systemic abuse or trauma while growing up or as adults, PERIOD. J.D. brings up all the big issues that seem to be endemic in the poorer parts of America. I say America because, while there are poverty-stricken areas everywhere else, there is a particular flavor here that isn’t quite like the others. Any embellishments J.D. makes in this book are rather insubstantial compared to the recognition of the real problem. Namely, it IS very different from generations past, the poverty has only grown worse, and so has the continued abuse between all those people still living in it. They’re tearing each other apart, one relationship at a time, and I find no reason to fault J.D.’s observations.
Only his conclusions.
I’m going to ignore the blame game here. Republicans or Democrats, the lies or truths told about either. I’m just going to focus on the little problem of poverty. If money is a social construct that serves to give advantages only to those who play the right games, then J.D. is saying that if you’re poor, like he was, YOU need to simply play the game right, like he did. And then, miraculously, you, too, will be on the winning side.
See how it is?
The book is a masterful work of manipulation. It tells a lot of truth, and then, when it gets to the zinger, it also seems to offer a brilliant, hopeful truth.
So, now that we see where J.D.’s wonderful memoir is headed, and now that we see where HE is headed, we also see quite clearly WHY J.D. is headed right to the top—if Trump wins.
He is a pied-piper. And if YOU follow him, YOU, TOO can sing the praises of “social currency,” together, perhaps, with real currency! All you grassroots will get to sprout into actual trees!
Well. Who knows. Maybe I’m utterly wrong on this.
Maybe J.D. really did go through systematic abuse throughout his young life and came through it all extremely well-adjusted and blessed, always on the lookout to not perpetuate more abuses. Maybe he isn’t on the dole of a massive amount of “social currency” from Peter Thiel and the RNC. Maybe he isn’t cynically cashing in on a massive load of kingmakers who see him as someone who can be level-headed AND controlled. Maybe.
Well, anyway, after reading this book, I feel like I could have a nice conversation about the ills we’ve encountered, discuss possible solutions, and in the end, be proud to call someone who has gone through so much and even now seems to have his head screwed on right, a friend. I could disagree with his conclusions, but likely never his observations. We would part as possible allies.
At least, I could with the man he wrote himself to be back when this book came out....more
Wowsers. So. I'd been joining my buddy reader on a musical journey with Greenberg's wonderful lecture series and I'd been accustomed to 4-5 hours per Wowsers. So. I'd been joining my buddy reader on a musical journey with Greenberg's wonderful lecture series and I'd been accustomed to 4-5 hours per lecture. A nice bite-sized immersion in musical history.
And then we get to Bach and the High Baroque, assuming we'd get a quick little masterwork on some masterworks.
I immediately had to change my tune -- indeed, all my tunes -- when I realized that this one was a true honker of a lecture cycle. It was only 4-5 times longer than all the rest. And then it slowly dawned on me that Greenberg must have started out with this particular period, even sharpening all his musical keys on Bach's whetstone.
And, indeed, I've never been so steeped in notation as when he showed me Bach's brilliance.
Ok. Back up. I admit I've always been a huge fan of Bach. Give me those concertos any day, or maybe the fugue, or, hell, any piano. It always spoke to me, even sharpened my mind, and I used to muse on how many future artists, even rock-n-roll artists, roll with him. It's just one of those constant idle musings, you know? I and I always enjoyed going back to Bach for the pure pleasure of it.
Fast forward to now. I've never been filled this high to the brim in musical theory, enthusiasm for the Baroque, or amazement at Bach's tonal masterpieces.
And for the future, if any ya'll pick up Greenberg's lectures, just know that this one is a definite outlier. It's great, but wow, it's overflowing, almost too much so, with composition and nitty-gritty. :)...more
My first impression of this book was that it was going to be slightly gimmicky, by focusing on twelve cherry-picked events and spreading out from therMy first impression of this book was that it was going to be slightly gimmicky, by focusing on twelve cherry-picked events and spreading out from there, and I was right.
That is not to say that it wasn't entertaining, because it was. I suppose I might have gotten more out of it if the writing had been more engaging, even more narrative. We did get some of the circumstances of some of the crews, of course, where we actually have history for them, and in general, I was happy to see context spiral out further and further from the core wrecks.
As it is, we got ancient boats all the way up to subs, and it had much more depth to it, more details, than I might have expected.
Interestingly, though, as I was reading it, I was struck by the idea that all of this would have been much more engaging as if it had been written as though from the ghosts of true sea men. Alas, however, it wasn't to be.
Michael Lewis's non-fiction really hits different. I loved the detail and my outrage after watching, then reading, The Big Short. Little did I know thMichael Lewis's non-fiction really hits different. I loved the detail and my outrage after watching, then reading, The Big Short. Little did I know that he took on High Frequency Traders as well.
Flash boys spans the first couple of years after the '08 debacle, when high speed trading and the creation of Dark Pools took more than half of all trades off the lit market to be finagled, squeezed, and literally scalped by predatory traders. Put simply, a black curtain was pulled over the entire stock market (still true today) to hide everything about the trades on the backside. This means that brand new middle-men were telling everyone on the outside some hogwash about greater liquidity in the market, while actually lining hedge fund shark's pockets and screwing over average traders who weren't in the know. This quickly led to an average of a billion dollars per year profit with no downsides for these middle men. They didn't have skin in the game. All they did was take an order from the outside, screw up the trade, make sure it gave the trader a worse deal, then let finally letting the trade through, skimming the profit for themselves. (As a single example)
The problem with this is that every big hedge fund or outfit getting into this lucrative business is making a TON of money and have absolutely no incentive to call it quits -- and the profits are so huge that they can literally buy themselves out of anything. And now, a decade and a half later? We're still in the same boat. Dark pools, high-speed trading, and now AIs to do most of the behind-the-curtain work to skim, scalp, and deny everyone else a fair market.
You know, a "fair market" where a direct, one-to-one buy and sell order could go through, giving true price discovery rather than outright, extensive price manipulation.
The fact that this book came out in '14, laying out all these problems that have gotten so much worse since then, should still give it a top billing for anyone who wants to know HOW the market is so fucked up. Its writing is great. It shows some wonderful individuals and their own path to discovery, highlighting all the their challenges to create the IEX, finding out how pernicious the rest of the exchanges were, while attempting to prevent all scalping when any order goes through them.
Of course, at this point, it is still just early days and so much has happened since then, good, bad, and interesting. What I really want now is a follow-up.
Or better yet, actual reform. What did I hear the other day? That approximately 28 trillion dollars goes through all the market -- and most orders are getting scalped through Payment Through Order Flow. Only the big boys are making tons of profit, but that's because they own the casino. Put in perspective, the entire world economy sits at around 90 trillion.
Put simply, THIS is THE current method on how the rich get richer. There's no transparency, so no accountability, and worse, nobody in positions of power are willing or able to sit down and understand this problem -- or if they did, I'm pretty certain that most are getting paid off.
Honestly, this is one of THE biggest problems. It needs a spotlight shining on it. It's definitely not cleaning itself up. ...more
I have no real complaints about this book, assuming all you're looking for is a decent, surface-skimming book on planets, their formation, and a decenI have no real complaints about this book, assuming all you're looking for is a decent, surface-skimming book on planets, their formation, and a decent amount of info on theoretical and discovered exoplanets out out there, then this is pretty much perfect for you.
Don't expect anything but a light survey on the level of a short documentary, but do expect something on that level.
While I didn't mind it, I personally wanted a lot more meat. Or rather, dirt, gas, and starshine. But we can't always get what we want, alas....more
Truly remarkable precisely because it couches the problem of late stage capitalism in our concrete reality, it briefly, eloquently poses the exactly cTruly remarkable precisely because it couches the problem of late stage capitalism in our concrete reality, it briefly, eloquently poses the exactly correct questions we should all be asking every day -- and realizing that we have all been fooled. That we are continually being fooled.
Here's the rub: We weren't always in this deep. There are still living people who remember the protections against runaway capitalism and the reality of a better way of doing things.
There was a massive push by capitalism, itself, to re-frame and re-contextualize the very concept of the profit motive, how people work, even the idea that good works could be offloaded as donations to non-profit mega-corps rather than the thing itself. (Look at carbon credit programs which have all almost entirely turned out to be fraud-schemes.)
And more importantly, look at what kinds of problems that capitalism can NEVER solve: the medical field, mental health, bureaucracy itself, or the circular self-serving nature of a monolithic money machine that cycles through the endless stages of control, from putting leashes on politicians, creating laws to benefit their profit margins, steamrolling popular opposition, controlling all narratives, and successfully silencing or exhausting the grand majority of the entire population -- making us all accept the fact of our Learned Defeatism.
The fact that practically all of us genuinely hate this entire system, sees how it is destroying us, and how we all wish it could just go away is really rather funny.
But it IS the core narrative. Capitalism is designed to have everyone hate it IF ONLY TO OFFER UP A PLEASING PRODUCT MADE BY CAPITALISM TO FIX THE PROBLEM THAT IT, ITSELF, CREATED.
See the trap?
None of us will get out of this without understanding that there are no quick-fixes, no products we can buy, and we can't even trust our near-universal cry of: "Oh, there's nothing that I (singular, just me,) can do." That line has also been programmed into us by the same people who make 500+ times our take home salaries. Honestly... should we trust their narrative?
This book is pretty amazing. It is smart, short, and drives each point home in a way that old masterworks on economic theory rather fail to do. This, at least, holds up an unclouded mirror.
I'm pretty sure anyone reading the title for this book will either fall into one of two camps: "Oh, of course, we have to hope and plan!" or "Oh, god,I'm pretty sure anyone reading the title for this book will either fall into one of two camps: "Oh, of course, we have to hope and plan!" or "Oh, god, this is real claptrap."
Well, let me point out one little thing for those in the first: Hope is useless. Planning based on real data and the real efforts of those who know what is going on is the only real way.
For the second camp:
Ignore the damn stupid title. This is really good stuff, backed up by thoroughly researched studies, carefully analyzed and stupidly shelved past research, and amazingly simple common sense. Do yourself a favor and pick up the book despite your preconceptions and read it.
It addresses the real stakes of the barrel we're staring down. Worse than when this was written, we're facing screws that are tightening on our thumbs more than ever before. Be it the widening poverty, the automation-to-extinction of the workforce, or the simple fact that poverty can only be solved by GIVING PEOPLE MONEY and no thoughts and prayers or efficiency experts, the real solution is pretty simple.
House the unhoused. Feed the unfed. Clothe the unclothed. I mean, seriously. It all boils down to a basic, surprisingly unsurprising tenet: When everyone is lifted from poverty, EVERYONE benefits. That big gap we're seeing? It will only create disaster. The big banking industry and all the parasites that provide nothing to the world other than obfuscation, theft, and then bail on all their victims are one of the biggest issues. A fraction of a fraction of the huge bonuses some of these assholes make could afford to house everyone -- but that hurts their bottom-leeching-line. The solution? Break through the propaganda, organize however we can, and bring honesty and fairness back to our lives. I honestly believe there are a lot more good people out here than bad. We just happen to have these stupid societal structures that absurdly reward the very worst of us, and that needs to be stopped. Most of us do not get a single damn thing out of it except exhaustion, existential woes, our own increasing poverty, and rage.
So, yeah, let's read a book that gives a clear eye to this issue, shall we? Not everything is doom and gloom. We DO have good ideas going forward. We just need to start telling those who say we've exhausted every option to shut the fuck up.
People who suddenly wake up without a boot on their neck won't start causing havoc. They start doing the things they've always wanted to do. How many artists out there are dying inside? How about would-be teachers who are disgusted with the way things are? How about ANYONE in a bullshit job stuck there just for the paycheck even as their minds rot?
THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY. And, indeed, there is....more
There's a reason why so many people hold Mozart up as the best of the best, but his actual story is WILD. Between being a child prodigy, the rebelliouThere's a reason why so many people hold Mozart up as the best of the best, but his actual story is WILD. Between being a child prodigy, the rebellious rock star of the age, battling the jealousy of his peers, his utter, jaw-dropping brilliance in composing, and so much more, it's easy to come up with many, many theories.
Greenberg delightfully distills it down to some great common sense. He was not only composing everything in his head, just transcribing the notes fully formed, but he was a virtuoso in every other way, rocking all the instruments, being hell on apolitical wheels for his sponsors, and being just TOO GOOD at what he was about, often never being anything close to being appreciated in his lifetime. Some, yes, and those who GOT the music were blown away, but it was only repeated listenings and new generations that truly understood what they heard.
And this is no different then than today. Mozart is everywhere and still so very loved, and yet during his lifetime, he'd gone through so much craziness, only to be dumped in a communal grave at age 35, that it's enough for me to start screaming.
Well, maybe I'd couch my scream in the Magic Flute, but you know what I mean.
Great biography! Funny, pretty amazing, and rather more realistic, if not proven, look at his life.
Despite all that, a little part of my heart will always think the move Amadeus is cannon. :) ...more
My god, what a lecture. Greenberg went over and above by showing Shostakovich in his time and place.
From the very start, Shostakovich is beset by somMy god, what a lecture. Greenberg went over and above by showing Shostakovich in his time and place.
From the very start, Shostakovich is beset by some of the most horrible times in Soviet history, right out of the famines of Lenin, the atrocities of Stalin, and always, the hounding pressures of the politburo. We know, after the fact, that Shostakovich never felt in tune with the live and death finality of political necessity. He had a gun to his head, saying all the right things, attending all the right meetings, but he was rebellious.
Oh, he was REBELLIOUS. He was constantly in trouble -- and it was all because of the MUSIC, ITSELF. He made destructive commentaries, using very controversial stories, material, poetry, even making Stalin sound like a little roaring mouse, and Shostakovich came SO close to getting a bag over his head SO many times.
Amazing. Utterly amazing.
This little, nervous, shy man is a true wonder and an inspiration. And on top of all that, he wrote some REAL BANGERS. I always liked his symphonies when growing up, but now, I'm just filled with awe....more
I've been reading on this subject matter for well over 20-25 years, with a continually increasing realization, over and over, that the real problem isI've been reading on this subject matter for well over 20-25 years, with a continually increasing realization, over and over, that the real problem is in processed foods -- not so much fats, carbs, etc.
Here's the real deal. Shaming people for being overweight is becoming an increasingly stupid idea when greater and greater of percentages of people in certain parts of the world are in epidemic territory. It's not willpower. It's the FOOD.
When fresh foods made healthily are more expensive because they can't be kept fresh for almost indefinite amounts of time, when you can't mass produce them easily, both regular people and corporations have found it much more cost effective to use tons of chemicals to fake out a healthy meal, pretend to freshness, and seriously enhance, or even create a genuine addictive element, then we're running into the big, BIG problem of capitalism.
When we're faced with big corporations, be it Coke or the consolidated monsters of the aggro community, it's all about the bottom line. Constant growth, constant new profits. So, make the product addictive, process it to an inch of its life, make sure that people keep consuming.
The problem is multi-fold, of course, but the big one is the cycle that keeps the profit margin growing, be it massive advertising, squeezing out any and all alternatives, outright lying about the effects, whether in studies, marketing, or pushing deregulation and giving kicks to the government.
We know WHY it keeps going. But this book also goes into the SCIENCE and a full review of all the studies, including new ones, that point to the real facts: that these processing methods, including zero-sugar alternatives, flavor enhancements, spoilage prevention, all lead to very hard-core changes to our gut's biome. Sugar-free items do approximately nothing for weight loss. They're on the same level as sugared items. On the other hand, because so many of these chemicals are designed to make you feel like you could consume forever (or actually make you malnourished) then we're all constantly taking in a vast extra amount of calories despite being careful.
And this, in my humble opinion, is probably the most outrageous trap that we've all fallen into. Yes, all these processed foods are cheaper, but even while they might be considered neutral for your health, they are tricked, chemically, into making us want more and more of it. In a word, exactly like an addiction. A chemical addiction.
And THAT is fantastic for the bottom line. For them to replace all real food so they get rich. Cornering the market is more like creating a market of slaves.
And we let it happen to us. Fast food everywhere, plastic wraps on massively modified food products everywhere else. Chemicals that look like the ingredients on degreasers and shampoos, ingested hungrily despite decades of warnings against it.
And all because it is convenient -- and because all our safe alternatives are either hard-to-get or time-intensive to use.
We've all been had. We let it happen to us. All of us.
And let's make no bones about it: we ARE in an epidemic. None of these companies have any incentive to do the right thing. And we are forced into worse and worse choices.
Cook for ourselves? Sure. I'm doing it so much, too. But it isn't enough. Marketing will lie to all our loved ones, our children, and we few are like lone voices in the wilderness. We have to make a change, but big money won't be able to profit off it.
This book is great, by the way. It's VERY rage-enducing, but in a good way. I love all the focus on the science. It's a proper update for today....more
Easily one of my most favorite musicians. More than practically any other classical musician, he by far had the most, best, most absolutelTchaikovsky!
Easily one of my most favorite musicians. More than practically any other classical musician, he by far had the most, best, most absolutely memorable works.
I just LIKED them all so much more than the rest, on the whole.
Sure, I liked some other musician's works better, but I liked no other musician's total body of works more than Tchaikovsky.
This lecture gives us all a pretty awesome overlook on WHY that might be the case. I mean, sure, Tchaikovsky's EQ just poured into his music, making it so lyrical and memorable -- not just Nutcracker Suite, but 1812, Swan Lake, all the Dances, the String, the Symphonies -- instantly recognizable and celebrated -- it is utterly amazing.
Those old Russians knew their shit.
But specifically, Tchaikovsky was a special case. Gay, and more afraid of being outed than anything else, drove himself to that peculiar bout of societal madness. And for all of his depression and wild fantasies, he poured it all into his music, into his art. And in this way, it's also SO very Russian.
Suffice to say, I am and will always remain a total fanboy of this guy's work. So expressive, melodic, speaking directly to the EQ of me, there are hardly any other artists who are able to plumb my emotional depths so consistently.
Robert Greenberg always delivers. His lectures on Musical masters never fails to enthrall and edify.
That being said, with no complaints about the lectRobert Greenberg always delivers. His lectures on Musical masters never fails to enthrall and edify.
That being said, with no complaints about the lectures, I should say that I'm a bit... how should I describe this... ANNOYED with the whole Romantic ideology.
I'm not referring to modern romance. I mean the old, "Let's have it big and emotional and 'Oh, gosh' idealism." I'm talking about Percy Bysshe Shelly, but not Mary. One was AWESOME while one was Edgelord pretentious.
And so we get to Robert. Clara was pretty damn AWESOME while Robert, with his likely descent into Syphilis, had a decent enough pretentious career... where he eventually became a mentally-ill burden.
WHAT??? Am I dissing a mentally ill person? lol, no, but all things being equal, she was the one who wore the pants in the relationship.
Knowing what I know now about Brahms, I rather wish he had flitted away with Clara, leaving the Olympic masturbator Robert behind.
But then, maybe I'm just mean. It doesn't help that I was never that awed by any of Robert Schumann's works....more
Muahahahahahaha I think I rather love Brahms. His music is bombastic and really appealing, but after this little lecture series on Brahms, the man, hiMuahahahahahaha I think I rather love Brahms. His music is bombastic and really appealing, but after this little lecture series on Brahms, the man, himself, is highly amusing.
He LOVED messing with people. Between his devoted care of the Schumanns, his undying hate of Wagner, his many, many fireplaced works that might have been lost brilliance, this damn guy ALSO loved to insult many people to their faces while staunchly defending them behind their backs.
He's just that kind of guy. And money? He always dressed threadbare, earned tons of money, and just did all he could to give it away as soon as people threw it at him.
In a way, I think ALL of that expresses his musical genius, too. He threw it ALL at us, endlessly gregarious and generous.
Mild, brief Fry humor amid a nicely huge, or rather, broad, if brief, selection of music throughout western history.
No, there ain't no Greeks here. LMild, brief Fry humor amid a nicely huge, or rather, broad, if brief, selection of music throughout western history.
No, there ain't no Greeks here. Let's start with the monks a-chanting, head on through the Medievals, the Madrigals, Renaissance, etc through Haydn, and what we've got is a very brief SURVEY.
But hell, that's fine. I enjoyed every second of it.
Um. Except the Madrigals. I hate chorals, too. I'm fine if we just stick with the boondocks of the Medieval period, or better yet, just give me ALL the "Sumer is icumen in" on repeat for approximately a full day of revelry right before some asshole lord comes in and kills my wife and takes my daughter. It is 1225 AD, after all.
That reminds me though:
It's 1364 AD
Imagine Guillaume de Marchaut’s Mass being played so somberly at Charles V’s coronation, only to have the tip-tops of the passage end with “ASSSSHOOOOOLLLEEEEE”
But everyone would be too embarrassed to stop the mass. The King would just be looking side-eyed at the composer, thinking how best to murder Machaut.
The music continues somberly, and then at the rise of the next chant, another “Assssholllleeeee” graces the pews.
No one dares to stop the music now. It’s holy, after all.
And then, another “Assssshoooollleeeeee.”
By now the king is going to murder the FUCK out of Machaut, but in the meantime, all the church, the nobles, EVERYONE, is snickering, having a horrible time trying not to burst out in laughter.
Near the end, Marchaut bows his head, saying, “Worth it.” to the person sitting next to him.
THIS is why classical music kicks ass. Even if it is apocryphal. ...more
Here's an impressive economics book that isn't even precisely about economics.
It's properly anthropology by an honest anthropologist. If it were actuaHere's an impressive economics book that isn't even precisely about economics.
It's properly anthropology by an honest anthropologist. If it were actually written by an economist, it'd be devoted to actual coinage and a priori arguments, not with an eye to what was actually going on.
So, what's the meat? Well, economists bring up an old, oft-repeated fairy tale about barter systems, how they become super unwieldly super quick, and that's why another symbol for exchange must always be created so they can all work together easier. But in reality, as seen through actual anthropologists observing reality, there's a much more obvious side to it. In order to get along and survive, money was created as a form of social currency, of trust -- and that is what debt really is.
A person might willingly sell their social standing, putting them lower than another, in order to get the goods they need to survive. That's employment. Enslavement is quite similar, always getting boiled down to hierarchical social standings and enforced with violence, with the whole thing reduced to a system of running debt. Of course, nothing works in a vacuum. It's all a social construct, with religions running the same gambit and ingraining the IDEA of debt in everyone's minds.
"You can never repay your parents for raising you, so you better do extra good for your offspring." "You can never replay your god, your country, your wife, for all they've given you, so you must remain perpetually in debt to them." "We house and feed you, slave, you can never repay your debt to your slavemaster."
I mean, obviously, some of these sound really good, and others, not so much, but the idea of self-sacrifice, or just plain sacrifice, is embedded in not just our economics, but in every kind of social structure, and so much returns directly to the idea of debt.
Now, here's a funny little thing: throughout history, there's the commonality of the abuse of debt and inequality -- and its correction. The forgiveness of sins isn't only for Catholics. The forgiveness of sins is the same as DEBTs. Hammurabi used to run a yearly debt-forgiveness party. Hell, the Rosetta Stone itself is super famous for being the bridge between ancient languages, but was anyone taught what it ACTUALLY SAID? It was talking about a debt forgiveness. :)
That brings us back to the obvious inequalities on how debt is treated across the world and time.
Debt is OFTEN forgiven for those who have high social standing. The rich get a welfare state. The poor are usually enslaved or pushed to the point where they EITHER revolt, or they are given their eventual debt holiday.
What we're never taught is that this is a common cycle. We often put others higher above us on the debt cycle, making kings, celebrities, or religious leaders, freeing them from the burden of debt and putting ourselves in the yoke. When it gets abused, as it always does, tons suffer, and it either devolves into bloodshed, massive hardships for the lower classes, or debt forgiveness of some smaller or greater effect.
You can talk all you want about supply side economics or the divine right of kings, but all of it circles right back to the core: across all cultures, debt of all flavors has been around since recorded human history. It's primarily a social structure passed from generation to generation, a symbol of intertwining interests and social cohesion -- but it's abuse is also almost eternal.
Just look at our modern world, creaking and straining on immense loads of debt, where the grand majority is squeezing normal people to death, with the super rich just shrugging off the burden of that debt as if it were nothing but a social guffaw. As if it was just an annoyance that they could cancel at any time. As, indeed, it actually is.
If that makes you a bit angry, then join the club. When the pressures of debt build up too much, then, historically, that's when the weapons come out and the class war begins.
It's easily solvable, of course. Erasing the debt also erases the social webs that keep or society in place, but if so many are suffering, then we need to ask if those social webs were worth keeping in the first place.
I, for one, absolutely love seeing corrupt rich mf's getting away with the worst shit imaginable, having all their debts welfared, while everyone else gets inflationed into utter poverty.
(Yes, I am, indeed, being sarcastic.)
That being said, what a cool book! It's pretty exhaustive and touches on so many different cultures and time-periods. A definite must for non-fiction fans....more
A truly wonderful book. David Graeber may have gotten popular by just posing a simple question, but the outpouring of RESONANCE with the rest of us maA truly wonderful book. David Graeber may have gotten popular by just posing a simple question, but the outpouring of RESONANCE with the rest of us made this anthropologist see the need for a much bigger book filled with study after study, reasoning, demographics, a careful skewering of all official political stances.
But the point is blindingly obvious. When 40-50% of all jobs have their own workers wondering what the hell they're doing with their lives, either by the uselessness of their work, the mind-numbing, soul-crushing idiocy of constantly duct-taping a broken system, checking off boxes that lead to nowhere, and the rise of just trying to look busy at all costs when there's nothing to do, there IS a problem.
The author goes over everything, mind you. All the arguments why this obviously isn't the case, the loud, screeching mentalities that say it can't be the case, and all the actual self-reporting where people say it's absolutely the case, all the way through almost every industry.
A little tidbit, however: jobs that are absolutely necessary for a functioning society, be it teachers, sanitation, food production, or keeping roofs over people's heads generally pay the worst, as if to drive home the fact that those above them HATE them for doing something that might salve their souls. My words, not the book's.
We keep seeing it... you can either have a job that makes you fulfilled and you get paid peanuts, or you can you have a job where you sell your soul or even actively make many other people's a living hell and get paid a lot.
This is the premise. David Graeber writes about it wonderfully, carefully, with a ton of evidence, good reasoning, and goes into the causes, philosophies, and potential solutions.
If you want to get a good foundation on what those might be... I highly recommend this book.
It sure as hell punched all my buttons and made me want to write down all my own experiences....more
That being said, if you DO love birds and don't mind wallowing in nuts, seeds, marrow, and scraps of flesh, or jumping into the matingMust love birds.
That being said, if you DO love birds and don't mind wallowing in nuts, seeds, marrow, and scraps of flesh, or jumping into the mating habits of many different kinds of avians, then stick around, pull up a refuse bin, and watch these excellent adventurers ultra-specialize in their diets far beyond our own average city-dweller slurping a Starbucks.
What? Do you think there's that much difference between us and them?
Bah, suit yourself, but don't blame me if you start preening and attract a mate in almost the same way.
So, here's the skinny: I hoped I would get a bunch of new stories and essays, timely or otherwise, regarding SF, science, prediction, or just the scooSo, here's the skinny: I hoped I would get a bunch of new stories and essays, timely or otherwise, regarding SF, science, prediction, or just the scoop on all his novels.
And to be sure, there was some talking about the novels, some about prediction, science, and the nature of SF. It was light, nothing deep, and the essays were, on the whole, solid, if not groundbreaking.
The short stories were good, but they were not new. I had read them in other locations. As were, oddly, most of the other essays.
It might be a pretty good book for anyone just getting started with Cixin Liu, or for those who have read at least the trilogy, but I was slightly disappointed that it was mostly all a re-read.
Robert Greenberg's lectures on Haydn was a pure pleasure to experience. His enthusiasm and exploration of Haydn's music and life kept me thoroughly enRobert Greenberg's lectures on Haydn was a pure pleasure to experience. His enthusiasm and exploration of Haydn's music and life kept me thoroughly entertained.
It should definitely be a must-read for anyone interested in classical music, if not for his place in the public imagination, his wonderfully good-natured or hard-working personality, then definitely for the pointers on WHAT music I should hunt down and listen to.
Honestly, I'm thoroughly impressed with his life and output. He was one of the only men that Mozart totally respected. And even though I've been a life-long listener of classical music, I never quite connected with this composer.
I guess, at long last, I have reason to. :)...more
I received a little treat for the end of the year. This author reached out to me out of the blue and asked if I wouldn't mind reading and reviewing thI received a little treat for the end of the year. This author reached out to me out of the blue and asked if I wouldn't mind reading and reviewing this non-fiction on the origin of humanity and because it just tickled my fancy (even though I've read many, many books on the same,) I said yes.
Here's the thing, though: It's written very well, it's really short and to the point, and while it doesn't go the sensationalist popular route of trying to be funny or charming with anecdotes or any wild theories, it DOES have the pure charm of being extremely good with the facts.
Indeed, it only starts with Evolution and Darwin and branches out wonderfully to the Simian world, what characteristics were really selected for during our own genetic progression, and so much more.
I can't say that I've read anything new in this book, but I have read over four hundred science books, so I tend to judge these things on how well they're written and the ideas and/or facts within them.
For Ms. Nitam's work, it is clear she used her Doctorate of Philosophy to a wonderful purpose. This is an excellent synthesis of our current understanding of the field.
Indeed, as I was reading it, I came to the conclusion that I would have LOVED to read exactly this book as I was just getting started.
It is no-nonsense, full of great facts, and would have been a perfect introduction for a serious student. There's absolutely no wasted time and it's perfectly accessible.
In other words, this book OUGHT to be well-received everywhere. All it really needs is great marketing. I wish it, and the author, all the luck....more
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