mk cgod kleinbl00 WanderingEng and anyone else that whats to chime in.
Throw me some books that would help me better understand current issues or make me a more insightful person.
Ground rules:
Non-Fiction (some exceptions can be made)
Obtainable (Ideal something I can get from the Seattle library)
Provides insight or perspective on things we discussed here
Examples:
Books about history coffee and engines: good
Books about economics and class and poverty: Good
Books about historical battles in WW2: Not so good
Books about how the divisions of countries after WW2 shaped the identity and outcomes of regions: good
If you REALLY think I should read something and you want to send me the book, I will promise to make a attempt at reading it. I wont promise to read the whole thing because some books are thousands of pages and a real pain to read.
Books about economics and class and poverty: Good Books about historical battles in WW2: Not so good Books about how the divisions of countries after WW2 shaped the identity and outcomes of regions: good BUT So lemme give you a shortlist from that longlist and you can evaluate on your own. __________________________________________ Tony Judt's Postwar is THE book for understanding modern Europe. It's also 960 pages... or as an Audiobook, the way I did it, 43 hours. I wouldn't call it dry, but I wouldn't call it riveting. Judt was an academic and wrote like one. I found the subject matter quite engaging but there are more engaging books on the list. Hoffman's Dead Hand, on the other hand, is stultifyingly engaging. However, it also explains a dead period of history that people don't care about anymore. If you want to "get" the Russians through Yeltsin, Dead Hand is the way to go. "Understanding current issues and make you a more insightful person" would be well-served by getting into the Middle East and that's a quagmire. I have and will continue to recommend Tamim Ansary's Destiny Disrupted (hadn't read it at the time of this list) but to tie it into modern realpolitik I'd blaze through Reza Aslan's How to Win a Cosmic War. "Books about economics and class and poverty" is a whole 'nuther world. Piketty's Capital is probably the book right now about economics and class and poverty but it's also a 700 page spreadsheet, effectively. I had to start Ha Joon-Chang's 23 things they don't tell you about capitalism twice because, well, a lot of it is elementary, basic stuff. IF you're the kind of guy who can do Piketty as an audiobook in a week. I think there aren't many of us, and for everyone else the Chang book is really readable. Finally I'd probably recommend a pair of books... or more of an odd couple as their conclusions are diametrically opposed. David Graeber's Debt: the first 5,000 years is basically "capitalism is bad, always has been, always will be, money is the tool of the oppressor." Niall Ferguson's Civilization, on the other hand, is "capitalism is the thing that keeps you from eating dirt sandwiches, also, up with white people." I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle, and I suspect "truth" is more of a scatterplot than an integer.Books about history coffee and engines: good
I wont promise to read the whole thing because some books are thousands of pages and a real pain to read.
Just finished destiny disrupted. I liked the pacing it was engaging and fun to read. The pace was good and kept me hooked. I think I came away from with with a bit more respect for Islam but also the feeling that Islam and western society are inherently incompatible. Western ism for Islam is what torfurky is for vegetarians, its pretending to be something its not. Islam needs to be reinvented to match the 21st century ideas and technology but it has to be done in its own unique way that compatible with its core. Otherwise it will forever clash and be fake. I also ended up taking away that despite what the news networks keep repeating Wahhabism seems to be closer in core to to historical Islam of the past 1200 or so years than "Modern Islam". Ideas of armed resistance and separation of men and women seem to be so deeply embedded into it that I don't really see how those get modernized without opening the entire religion up for re-examination. One would basically have reinterpret the Koran as a series of parables similar to how Christians view the Old testament but the Quran doesn't exactly lend itself to that. I got stuck on Capital in the 21st century. Pacing was a bit slow and I only made it 150 pages or so. Ideas were interesting but its a slow read and the library wanted it back. I have and will continue to recommend Tamim Ansary's Destiny Disrupted (hadn't read it at the time of this list)
Ideas of armed resistance and separation of men and women were both Abrahamic traditions. It was through exposure to barbarian cultures that the Jews and Christians shed that tendency. It was through the existential threat of the Mongol invasion that Islamic scholarship fell to the wayside to be replaced with Islamic theocracy. The Surahs (chapters) of the Koran are not arranged chronologically. They are arranged from longest to shortest. It is a series of parables, or more specifically, the direct transmissions of Allah to Mohammed over time, out of order, piecemeal. While Mohammed was alive he tended to whip out a new revelation whenever problems needed to be solved; there are verses in the Koran that are the equivalent of "barbershops should be closed on Tuesday" because Mohammed needed to solve that. Once Mohammed was dead and the question of "what to do next" came up, Islam relied on the hadiths - sayings or stories about Mohammed that weren't in the Koran but became a part of greater creed. It was the interpretation of these hadiths that led to the flourishing of Islamic scholarship prior to the Mongol cataclysm, and it was fundamentalist blame of this scholarship that led to the collapse of Islamic scholarship. Muhammed Ibn Abd al-Wahab was an 18th century throwback who argued that the hadiths were takfir. in other words, Wahabism doesn't represent the "core" of Islam other than the period when Mohammed was alive... and Mohammed was far more progressive than anyone who came before or since, believing that veils were an affront against God and that men and women were equal. The separation and sublimation of women was a beduin thing before and since with the first 100 years of Islam being a break from tradition.
Your understanding of this is much better than mine and you may have actually read the Koran which I have not. It seems like a slow and painful read much like the bible or any other historical text and probably not a book that I want as part of my digital footprint. From just reading Destiny Disrupted I came away with the impression that the first 3 religious leaders that came after Mohammad ended up shaping the bulk of the problematic ideas in Islam, but because the Koran was written at the time of the 3rd leader all those ideas became enshrined into the book even though they may have never been actually intended by Mohammad. If one could strip out that portion out of Islam one could probably bring it more in line with modern western ideas of scholarship, and roles of men and women but because they are thoroughly embedded in the actual book itself it would be difficult to remove them. I also came away with the impression that Islamic law was good for about the first 200-300 years and after that It became somewhat of a burdensome relic. Islamic countries that were successful in their historic periods would end up having to write a secondary set of laws that would overrule Islamic law but in times of struggle Islamic countries/areas would revert back to Islamic law and regress. That cycle of regression has been one of the major things holding back Islamic countries in the last 150 years (Or really like 1000 years if you include all the missed opportunities).Once Mohammed was dead and the question of "what to do next" came up, Islam relied on the hadiths - sayings or stories about Mohammed that weren't in the Koran but became a part of greater creed. It was the interpretation of these hadiths that led to the flourishing of Islamic scholarship prior to the Mongol cataclysm, and it was fundamentalist blame of this scholarship that led to the collapse of Islamic scholarship.
In my opinion, the best way to view Islam is as a highly successful progressive cult that unified a bunch of warring bedouins during the prophet's lifetime... but then became subject to the petty internecine squabbles endemic to doctrines written for "now" rather than "forever." Really, Mohammed used Islam to unite the Arabs, and then the Arabs used Mohammed to make Islam what they wanted. All the different sects of Islam basically splintered out of different tribes using Islam for different things; Judaism did the same thing, as did Christianity, as did Rome, but that was all crushed by the dark ages such that the Renaissance reshaped things. Islam is still in the thick of it. And not to put too fine a point on it, but Islam remains the principle religion for a deprived, resource-poor region utterly annihilated 800 years ago. Most religions of deprivation either preach subjugation or conquest.
I got the same idea out of my reading. Islam was so focused on making religious laws that the religion ended up too much focused in the now of the 7th and 8th century and was never really able to go beyond that. All the attempts to get past that got destroyed during tough times and always ended up reverting to the core 8th century ideas and laws. Oh on the subject of the Ottoman empire I found that author offered some interesting and relevant insight. One of the reasons that he conjectured that the Ottoman empire started to loose steam and become fragile was because it operated with a somewhat fragile system of checks and balances between trade, government and guilds. When the Europeans began siphoning off raw resources and industrializing it screwed up the manufacturing (guild) sector in the economy. Over time the guilds became noncompetitive and the empire stopped producing their own crafted goods. This caused both a massive resource drain and increased instability due to fewer jobs and less wealth being created in the empire. Eventually the empire grew weak enough that it collapsed to both external and internal forces. I found the similarities somewhat strikingly to what we have been seeing in the united states since the late 70s with the export of American manufacturing oversees and with that all the associated loss of national wealth, power and jobs that come with that. doctrines written for "now" rather than "forever."
Islam remains the principle religion for a deprived, resource-poor region utterly annihilated 800 years ago
Islam has had a lot of ups and downs over the last 800 years. Although the last notable success it had was during the early Ottoman empire (although in a highly modified progressive form). That being said I agree with your larger point that "Core" Islam remains the principal religion of the poor and deprived. I think there is probably a good reason for that as ideas of a perfect community, religious discipline and simple justice resonate well with the poor and uneducated. A system of democratic checks and balances and religious ambiguity are IMO too complex of subjects to be a good sell to the poor uneducated and hungry masses. Besides in most of those places slavery is still a thing so the viewing women as property seems to be a natural extension.
I added all those to the list . Im going to let the library availability gods decide for me :) Any suggestions on a better E-Reader? My second gen kindle is still limping along but its not the greatest and the new ones seem to lack buttons and have gone up in price without actually adding anything. I think i might switch away from the amazon branded ones.
I own a GenIII touch and a GenII DX. The DX is tits. I bought it off Amazon back when they found a bunch of them in a corner of the warehouse two years after they discontinued them. If mine died, I'd buy another off eBay. the form factor is so superior it ain't even funny.
from wikipedia: I know that the new fires aren't anything like a proper kindle... but holy crap the prices... originally almost 500 clams - down to almost 400 clams... and the new kindle basic is like... $100 and has all kinds of games and video functionality. crazy times.On July 1, 2010, Amazon released the Kindle DX Graphite, the 2nd generation of the DX. As well as dropping the price from $489 to $379, the newer Kindle DX has an E Ink display with 50% better contrast ratio (due to E Ink Pearl technology) and comes only in a graphite case color.
From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism is about how the Silicon Valley ideology came from a synthesis of cold war paranoia filtered through research labs and 60s counterculture. It's too simple to be entirely true, I think, but it's the only attempt I'm aware of to trace how we ended up with robber barons thinking they're revolutionaries.
Have you read Postwar by Tony Judt?Books about how the divisions of countries after WW2 shaped the identity and outcomes of regions: good.
I'm finally getting back to your question. I recently read River of Doubt by Candice Willard. It's about Teddy Roosevelt's trip to South America, and I think it hits most of your points. I found it a very enjoyable read.
don't have as much breadth in terms of what I read concerning my world view (mostly political theory and economics) so i would say manufacturing consent by chomsky (and then all of his other stuff ;p) and the new jim crow by michelle alexander. Also I would read influential writers like paine, smith, and marx
http://smile.amazon.com/Destiny-Disrupted-History-Through-Islamic/dp/1586488139 hard to top as far as "increased world understanding/page"
Parting with Illusions by Vladimir Pozner is about a Jew growing up in the Nazi-occupied Paris and the 50s USA before moving the USSR, where the communism ideals of the Jew were broken by the rough reality. Not sure how obtainable it would be for you, but it might be something you'd consider being worth reading. If you're interested in reading the book, let me know and I'll send you the translated addendum that Pozner put in while translating the book into Russian: there are some interesting glimpses of insight as well.
My good friend Adam LeBor wrote a brilliant book called "City of Oranges: An Intimate History of Arabs and Jews in Jaffa". That title right there is enough to make you scroll down to the next recommendation, I know, but this is One Of Those Books. This one will stick with you for a long time. This is one that will keep you thinking about your life and the Middle East in very different ways. What he did was interview six families in the town of Jaffa: two each of Arabs, Jews, and Christians. All he does is ask them questions about their histories, families, and lives, and weave their answers together. What you wind up with is a better understanding of the Middle East, Israel, and Palestine, than you will get from anywhere else, because there is no agenda. Just individuals talking about what the town used to be like, the changes it went through, and what the town is like today. It is the large sweep of global politics and religion writ small and through a personal lens that lets you actually understand the human beings who live in that world every day. This book has had a profound effect on my life, because I see how little divisions can grow over time, and I remember the person on the other side of an issue is just another person like me, with a different viewpoint of the same situation. This book is also a litmus test. Give it to someone you know who has Opinions about the Middle East, and their ugliest racist self will come boiling to the surface in a pique of rage. It turns out that when you treat all sides of the conflict as human beings, it becomes much harder to demonize anyone.
The Treason of the Intellectuals by Julien Benda. How the "realpolitik" corrupted the one in charge of alerting us from the danger of realpolitiks. The first quote about Machiavelli is a good snapshot of the book: it mostly contain a lot of example of how old intellectual were "above" the states, and how the current one serve it. Very fun read all around. Benda is the "Rorschach" (from Watchmen) of philosophy. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber. A thesis on why some moral religious beliefs were necessary for the capitalism to become a thing. Because Capitalism is a fairly new creation. The problem become: why it didnt raise earlier in human history. You can read it here. Some dry chapter : skip them.make me a more insightful person
Books about economics and class and poverty: Good
I'm going to make a non-fiction recommendation. Hear me out now. If you don't like horror at all, stop reading. This book isn't strictly horror in my mind, but it very casually uses a lot of horror elements. The Descent by Jeff Long I really enjoyed this book. The basic premise is that there's a whole world of tunnels in the earths crust that we just discovered, including massive complexes underneath the Atlantic and Pacific sea plates, and they are chock full of creepy, dangerous mutated animals. This includes an ancient proto-human culture of pale skinned, dwarfish web toed cannibals that just love to enslave, debase and or kill any human they come across. In my mind it did a good balance between 'realism' and science fiction. I found the setting and characters well fleshed out. I thought they came from very original backgrounds and had good believable motivations for their behavior. I'm not sure what else to say for fear of spoilers.