HISTORY – Page 15 – REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE

HOSTAGE

Over 230 human beings remain political hostages in this unpredictable world.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

In the Shadows (True Stories of High-Stakes Negotiations to Free Americans Captured Abroad)

By: Mickey Bergman, Ellis Henican

Narrated By: Assaf Cohen, Mickey Bergman

Mickey Bergman tells a fascinating personal story about his life as a political hostage negotiator. He and a mysterious Lebanese friend he names “George” met at Georgetown University and became interested in political hostage negotiations. A precipitating event that led to their early friendship is the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by a Palestinian Hamas faction in Lebanon. As a former Jewish military soldier, Bergman became friends with “George”, a Lebanese Muslim student at George Washington University. With similar beliefs about the unfairness and human tragedy of hostage taking for political purpose, they become partners in the release of the Israeli soldier from Hamas.

As a reminder of the of the October 7, 2023, kidnaping of over 100 Jewish hostages by Hamas, Israel has occupied Gaza and murdered an estimated 4o,000 Palestinians.

In the kidnaping of one Israeli soldier, Bergman explains that murder or kidnapping of 1 Israeli is viewed by some in the government and Israeli citizens as not 1–but six million and 1 atrocities.

A singular kidnaping, let alone the October 7th Hamas attack, gave warrant to some in Israel’s government to wage occupation and war on Gaza.

(This reasoning gives a sense of the current state of the Gaza war but also explains why hostage negotiation is such a complicated and lengthy process that can as easily end in failure as success.)

From Bergman’s friendship with “George”, he gathers interest in the pursuit of peace, regardless of social, religious, economic, or political difference. As a twenty something graduate, Bergman receives a call from the Clinton Global Initiative to join their organization after graduation. CGI was formed by former President Clinton and his family in 2005. Its stated purpose was to devise and implement solutions to world challenges like climate change, health equity, world economic growth, and peace among nations. It gave Bergman his first thoughts about what would become his mission in life, i.e., the liberation of hostages unjustly held by factions of countries or governments for political rather than criminal infraction. “In the Shadows” explains how suited Bergman is for the life he chooses. Raised in Israel, highly educated, experienced as a soldier, from a stable and loving family, Bergman understands the grief and joy of families dealing with and hoping for their mothers, fathers, sons or daughters release from a foreign prison.

Formed in 2005 to address world problems.

Bergman’s early experience as a go-between for the release of the Israeli soldier, with the help of his Lebanese friend from college, show how important non-governmental citizens can be in freeing political prisoners. Bergman and his friend’s families have important indirect contacts at high levels in the Israeli and Lebanese governments. The two young graduates create back-channel contacts to Jewish and Lebanese governments that eventually get Hamas to release the Israeli soldier. They found it a slow, tedious process of give and take allowing political points to be made by factions and governments while providing an opportunity to free a hostage who was only doing his government ordered job.

Bergman is everyman who wishes to be the best he can be within their natural gifts of birth, education, and experience.

Bergman is drawn into the circle of Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico who formed the Richard Center in 2011. Bergman learns how to become a more effective hostage negotiator. Richardson’s methodology in negotiation is a post-graduate course in effective international negotiation.

The Richard Center was formed in 2011 to focus on promoting international peace and dialogue; particularly to negotiate hostage and prisoner releases. The Richard Center continues its work today.

Bill Richardson (1947-2023, died at age 75, a former Governor of New Mexico, 9th US Secretary of Energy, US Ambassador to the UN, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for New Mexico.)

Richardson’s rules of negotiation:

Never close the door to your contacts.
Deflect attention from yourself with the people you take with you when you negotiate.
As leader of a mission, observe reactions of your opposing audience to associates’ arguments, i.e. the same arguments you discussed with your associates before the meeting.
Present a final pitch for hostage release based on what you have learned from the audiences’ reactions to your support staff’s arguments.

Richardson is shown by Bergman to be a master of negotiation and a great teacher of the art. You will not always win the argument, but you will have used the most persuasive details based on seeing and hearing the oppositions’ reactions to associates’ arguments.

Brittany Griner (released in Russia 2022)

“In the Shadows” tells the hostage stories of Brittney Griner, Danny Fenster, Otto Warmbier, Trevor Reed, Paul Whelan, and Kenneth Bae.

Bergman does a great job of explaining how difficult, dangerous, and often unsuccessful hostage negotiations can be. The release of Griner is heartwarming. The death of Warmbier is heart breaking. The delay of Paul Whelan’s release is frustrating and indicative of the complexity of hostage negotiation.

The many stories Bergman tells are interspersed with hardship in his own life that show how human and vulnerable we are despite our intelligence, experience, and education. Over 230 human beings remain political hostages in this unpredictable world. Though Governor Richardson recently died, Bergman carries on with the Richardson Center for Global Engagement.

PUTIN & UKRAINE

Without checks and balances, autocratic beliefs inevitably lead to conflict and mutually assured destruction, Donald Trump notwithstanding.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

From Cold War to Hot Peace (An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia)

By: Michael McFaul

Narrated By: L. J. Ganser

Michael McFaul (Author, American academic and diplomat, ambassador to Russia 2012-2014, former Professor of International Studies at Stanford.)

Not since George Kennan’s brief time as Ambassador to Russia in 1952 has an American ambassador been denied access to Russia. Michael McFaul became the second in 2016. McFaul joins the pre- and post-Obama election to become Obama’s ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2o14. McFaul writes this book to explain his experience in the Obama administration, his understanding of Russia, and his tenure as Ambassador to Russia.

Interestingly, Condoleezza Rice recommends McFaul should join Obama because she was sure he, rather than McCain, would become the next President of the United States.

McFaul follows Rice’s recommendation and joins Obama’s campaign. Mcfaul’s grasp of Russian foreign affairs is insightful and relevant based on his personal experience. McFaul lived in Russia for a period of time when Gorbachev and Yeltsin attempted to liberalize Russia’s autocratic government. McFaul’s time living in Russia, his understanding of Russian language, and his study of Russian history at Stanford make his opinion in “From Cold War to Hot Peace” important.

Gorbachev’ biography shows he experienced the autocratic rule of Stalin’s U.S.S.R. as a young boy and found the courage to open the door to citizen’ freedom.

Mikhail Gorbachev was 22 when Stalin died. His ideal was to maintain the U.S.S.R. but with a system of government that rejected totalitarianism while freeing its citizens to improve their way of life. However, the shock of newfound freedom appeared an economic change too difficult and unfairly remunerative for the U.S.S.R. to survive as one hegemon.

A fundamental ingredient of independence is freedom.

When countries controlled by the U.S.S.R. were offered freedom, they looked to forms of democracy rather than autocracy. Gorbachev’s inability to accelerate economic growth to improve the lives of his country’s citizens doomed his goal to create a freer society within the U.S.S.R. Compounding his failure, Boris Yeltsin usurps Gorbachev’s power by arguing he has a better way of accelerating Russia’s economy to keep the U.S.S.R. together.

Boris Yeltsin talked the talk of democratic government but because of his inability to coopt the underlying authoritarian habits of former KGB operatives, he lost control of the government.

Yeltsin’s rise undermined the influence of Gorbachev, encouraged the departure of U.S.S.R.’ member countries, and gave an opening to Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer. The KGB changed to the FSB in 1991 (along with Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service) to become the right and left hand of Putin’s power and influence in the new Russia.

Fifteen countries leave the U.S.S.R. in 1991.

Estonia: August 20, 1991
Latvia: August 21, 1991
Lithuania: March 11, 1990
Armenia: September 21, 1991
Azerbaijan: October 18, 1991
Belarus: August 25, 1991
Georgia: April 9, 1991
Kazakhstan: December 16, 1991
Kyrgyzstan: August 31, 1991
Moldova: August 27, 1991
Russia: December 12, 1991
Tajikistan: September 9, 1991
Turkmenistan: October 27, 1991
Ukraine: August 24, 1991
Uzbekistan: September 1, 1991

Gorbachev effectively ended the cold war, but McFaul argues the cold war turned into a “…Hot Peace”. Gorbachev was the last leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. His effort to democratize Russia fails even though he fully champions Valdimir Putin to become president of Russia in 2000.

Putin took control of Russia as Prime Minister under Yeltsin in 1999. He later effectively became President of Russia for life.

McFall explains Obama became President of the United States in 2o09. Obama revised America’s relationship with Russia with what became known as the U.S./Russia “Reset” policy.

Obama’s “Reset” policy had some early positive effects. The relationship between America and Russia arguably improved despite their significant political differences. When they disagreed, they agreed to disagree. There were halting steps toward nuclear bomb limitation and greater cooperation on America’s actions in Afghanistan when the Taliban had shown support for Osama bin Laden after 9/11.

Putin rose to the presidency in 2011 and has remained effectively in control of Russia since 1999. Though not argued by McFaul, Putin’s intimate understanding of Russia’s secret service has given him the power to exercise dictatorial control over Russia. The history of U.S.S.R. since the 1917 revolution has been maintained by a secret service used to jail, torture, and murder any opposition to leadership of Russia. Today, that autocratic leader is Putin. There seems little reason to believe kleptocratic control of a massive secret service apparatus will be overcome without revolution. Every Russian knows of the threat the secret service has to any opposition to Putin who controls and has an intimate relationship and understanding of the organizational capabilities of the former KGB.

Gorbachev’s legacy is hope for a better form of government in Russia. Change is possible just as Gorbachev’s history as the secretary of the Communist Party from 1985 to 1991 proved.

One is inclined to believe change will come to Russia from a disaffected communist party leader who rises in the party and taps discontented Russians looking for change. If all one’s life is lived and raised in Russia, a Russian born change-agent like Gorbachev may, once again, be born

As one completes McFaul’s book, the threat of masculine blindness in world leaders is made clear. Leadership entails a power that corrupts leaders who think they know what is best for their citizens. Autocracies concentrate that power in singular human beings. Without checks and balances, autocratic beliefs inevitably lead to conflict and mutually assured destruction, Donald Trump notwithstanding.

DEMOCRACY’S IMPERFECTION

There are many reasons why America continues to prosper despite elections of inept political leaders.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

America’s Deadliest Election (The Cautionary Tale of the Most Violent Election in American History)

By: Dana Bash, David Fisher

Narrated By: Dana Bash

Dana Bash is an American journalist and news anchor for CNN. David Fisher is an accomplished author who has written twenty New York Times bestsellers.

“America’s Deadliest Election” reaches back to 1868 in Louisiana to tell the story of Henry C. Warmoth who was elected governor and later, a Congressional representative of Louisiana. Warmoth’s election in Louisiana reminds one of Donald Trump’s election in 2017. Warmoth manages to become the 23rd Governor of Louisiana in 1868. His election at the young age of 26 made him one of the youngest governors in U.S. history. Of course, age is not the reason one might compare Trump’s election to Warmoth’s, but it is Warmoth’s unrestrained rhetoric and purposeful lies that got him elected.

Henry C. Warmoth (1842-1931, died at age 89. He was the Reconstruction governor of Louisiana and later Louisian State Representative.)

In Louisiana a large unrepresented minority were black Americans. Warmoth’s term ended with allegations of corruption and dishonesty but his rhetoric for disenfranchised blacks gave him the governorship and later a position as Louisian State Representative in congress. His political career extended through 10 years of Civil War Reconstruction and corruption.

Depiction of a US Army Officer Meeting with African Americans in Louisiana after the Emancipation Proclamation.

As a wealthy American, Trump and many rich business leaders and industrialists believe lower taxes and less government regulation improves opportunity and raises the living standards of the poor. Many wealthy Americans believe John F. Kennedy’s 1963 line that “a rising tide lifts all boats”. History shows a different picture, i.e. with lower taxes, the rich got richer, the middle class remained middle class, and the poor increased. America is nearing the point where it will have its first trillionaires while this richest country in the world has an increasing number of poor and a burgeoning homeless crisis.

In modern times, Trump’s rhetoric disingenuously appeals to blue-collar workers but with an underlying appeal to the rich who believe in “trickle down” economics.

Freedom allows American citizens to lie as well as tell the truth. The problem with truth is “truth is in the eye of the beholder” or what Timothy Leary called a human’s “reality tunnel”. Warmoth and Trump had their own “reality tunnels” with the objective of getting them elected. Their objective is to gain power, money, or prestige. Both Warmoth and Trump are willing to lie to themselves and others to gain their objective.

In American democracy, freedom is the holy grail of its success.

As pointed out in “The Economist” earlier this week, Democracy is messy. Democracies like France, Great Britain, and the European Union are struggling to find their way in the 21st century. Representative government is difficult because voters cannot know if candidates for office are telling a follower only what they want to hear or if what is said is what the candidate believes. Additionally, voters cannot be sure an elected person is capable or willing to walk the talk after their election.

Recent Presidential elections in America before Biden replaces Trump.

Many Blacks had never been able to vote but Warmoth (a former Union Civil War’ veteran) became instrumental in supporting the 15th amendment that prohibited states from denying the vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. For the first time in America, Blacks could vote. Naturally, Blacks voted for Warmoth despite his reputation for corruption. However, Warmoth’s support and actions create a split between his Republican followers and slavery proponent Democrats that remind listeners of today’s political party intransigence.

An irony of the story of Governor Warmoth is that he is clearly a scofflaw, but his lawlessness helped bring black Americans into the electoral process.

Warmoth was a criminal. He speculated in state bond and treasury notes which were a conflict of interest for a governor. He profited from a partnership given by a newspaper that had a contract for state printing. Warmoth created what was called the “State Returning Board” that had the authority to discard legitimate votes to keep Louisiana Republicans in power. One might suggest President Trump had similar conflicts of interest.

The authors explain what made Warmoth a crook. It was for the reward of money and power.

Inept and unethical practices are mitigated by the foresight of the framers of the Constitution. The acts of legislators since the beginning of America’s creation have bent the arc of history toward freedom and equality. Balance of power between branches of government, election of honest and ethical leaders, media that exposes political rhetoric for its understanding of truth and lies have helped Americans to live free and prosper. America is blessed with natural resources that have made America become a great Democratic success.

There are many reasons why American Democracy continues to prosper despite elections of inept and unethical political leaders.

The last chapters of Bash’s and Fisher’s book show what can happen when there is a sharp split between Democrats and Republicans that roils the American democratic process. What this history shows is that we have been at this crossroad before, and America pulled itself together. Warmoth was not the ideal representative of American Democracy, but he played a part in history that began the movement for Black freedom in the South and their right to vote.

Trump reminds one of Warmoth’s history. One hopes the split between political parties will be mended by the election of a President that can heal the vituperative factionalism of the Democratic and Republican parties in 2025.

AI TRANSITION

The potential of AI is akin to the Industrial Revolution, yet it could surpass it significantly if managed correctly by humans.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The AI-Savvy Leader (Nine Ways to Take Back Control and Make AI Work)

By: David De Cremer

Narrated By: David Marantz

David De Cremer (Author, Belgian born professor at Northeastern University in Boston, and behavioral scientist with academic studies in economics and psychology.)

“The AI-Savvy Leader” should be required reading for every organization investing in artificial intelligence for performance improvement. From government to business, to eleemosynary organizations, De Cremer offers a guide for organizational transition from physical labor to labor-saving benefits of AI.

AI offers the working world the opportunity to increase their productivity without the mind-numbing physical labor of assembly lines and administrative scut work.

Like assembly line production implemented by Ford and work report filing and writing during the industrial revolution, AI offers an opportunity to increase productivity without the mind-numbing physical labor of assembly line work and after-work’ analysis reports. With AI, more time is provided to workers to think and do what can be done to be more productive.

Arguably, AI is similar to the industrial revolutions transition to assembly line work. Assembly line work improved over time by changes that made it more productive. Why would one think that AI is any different? It is just another tool for improving productivity. The concern is that AI means less labor will be required and that workers will lose their jobs. De Cremer notes loss of employment is one of the greatest concerns of employees working for an organization transitioning to AI. Too many times organizations are looking at reducing costs with AI rather than increasing productivity.

The solution identified by De Cremer is to make AI transition human centered.

His point is that organizations need to understand the human impact of AI on employees’ work process. AI should not only be viewed as a cost-cutting process but as a process of reducing repetitive work for labor to make added contributions to an organization’s goals. AI does not guarantee continued employment, but reduced manual labor offers time and incentive to improve organization productivity through employee’ cooperation rather than opposition. AI is mistakenly viewed as an enemy of labor when, in fact, it is a liberator of labor that provides time to do more than tighten bolts on an auto body frame.

AI is not a panacea for labor and can be a threat just like industrialization was to many craftsmen.

But, like craftsman that went to work for industries, today’s labor will join organizations that have successfully transitioned to AI with a human-centered rather than cost-reduction mentality. Labor productivity is only a part of what any AI transition provides an organization. What is often discounted is customer service because labor is consumed by repetitive work. If AI improves labor productivity, more time can be provided to an organization’s customers.

When AI is properly human centered, the customer can be offered more personal attention by fellow human beings employed by an AI organization.

Too many organizations are using AI to respond to customer complaints. Human-centered AI becomes a win-win opportunity because labor is not consumed by production and has the time to understand customer unhappiness with service or product. AI does not think like a human. AI only responds based on the memory of what AI has been programmed to recall. With human handling of customer complaints, problems are more clearly understood. Opportunity for customer satisfaction is improved.

De Creamer acknowledges AI has introduced much closer monitoring of worker performance and carries some of the same mind-numbing work introduced in assembly line manufacturing.

De Creamer suggests negative consequences of AI should be dealt with directly with employees when AI becomes a problem. Part of a human-centered AI organization’s responsibility is allowing employees to take breaks during their workday without being penalized for slackening production. Repetitive tasks have always been a drain on productivity, but it has to be recognized and responded to in the light of overall productivity of an organization.

AI, like the industrial revolution, is shown as a great opportunity for human beings.

De Creamer suggests AI is not and will never be human. To De Creamer AI is a recallable knowledge accumulator and is only a programmed tool of human minds, not a replacement for human thought and understanding. The potential of AI is akin to the Industrial Revolution, yet it could surpass it significantly if managed correctly by humans.

BACKYARD COLONIZATION

Adoption of the English language and the presence of military bases from Liverpool, England to the Northern Mariana Islands seem to “…Hide an American Empire”.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

How to Hide an Empire (A History of the Greater United States)

By: Daniel Immerwahr

Narrated By: Luis Moreno

Daniel Immerwahr (Author, American historian, professor and associate department chair of history at Northwestern University.)

Daniel Immerwahr offers an interesting perspective on American History in “How to Hide an Empire”. Today’s Americans do not think of America as an empire because of its anti-colonial criticism of other countries. In the 21st century, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa are arguably part of America because of their cultural/social relationship. The U.S. actually owned the Philippines when America purchased it from Spain in 1898. The Philippines did not gain independence until July 4, 1946. At that time, America’s population was approximately 141 million. The Philippines and American territories in 1946 were nearly 20 million or approximately 14% of America’s total population. The official language for government, education, and business in the Philippines and America’s territories became English. (Puerto Rico’s domestic language remains Spanish, while Guam and American Samoa still teach their native’ languages.) Immerwahr’s inference is America is an empire in many ways, if not in name.

One might take Immerwahr’s history as a criticism. He implies the ownership of island territories has been a history of occupation, inuring more to the benefit of American needs and wants than local populations.

Immerwahr argues the financial wealth of the Philippines was used to build local roads and cities to benefit American commerce with little consideration for the personal needs of the indigenous. Undoubtedly, there is some truth in that opinion, but one realizes jobs were created for local people that offered some benefit to indigenous families. Americans managed road improvements and city developments that certainly aided Philippines’ economic growth after independence.

Location of the Philippines in relation to the U.S.

Philippine’ city and road development is a tribute to American architect and planner Daniel Burnham. The road improvements managed by William Forbes and Francis Harrison stimulated economic growth and connected remote communities. One is inclined to believe that indigenous peoples are as much benefited as damaged by America’s “empire” categorization in the use of Philippine resources to build new roads and cities. These improvements were a great accomplishment and monument to American architects and road builders, but the end benefit inured to the Philippines as much, if not more, than what is characterized as an American Empire.

Ringworm infection. The infection causes a pallor in facial appearance and fatigue in those who contract it.

Immerwahr goes on to explain how public health initiatives were begun during its empire building in the Philippines. One of the notable American doctors that began treating ringworm among the indigenous was Victor Heiser, the Director of Health from 1905 to 1915 in the Philippines. Ringworm had been identified as a fungal infection in the 1840s. It came from ringworms that penetrated the feet of children not wearing shoes who stepped in contaminated soil from human feces. The infection caused a pallor in facial appearance and fatigue in those who contracted it. American doctors trained Filipino medical professionals on how to identify, prevent, and treat the infection.

Japanese internment camp.

World War II brought out some of the worst and best in Americans.

In Alaska, Aleut village inhabitants were relocated for the alleged purpose of protection. They were housed in unclean, nearly uninhabitable, facilities in the interior of Alaska. Some of the Aleut’s abandoned houses were occupied by the military and many Aleutians were not allowed to return for years after the end of the war. And of course, as most know, the rounding up and incarceration of Japanese in camps in the continental U.S. is well documented. These are actions of a country acting like an omnipresent, omniscient empire. The bombing at Pearl Harbor reinforces a view of America as an empire. Nearly 3o% of the Hawaii’s population was of Japanese heritage. Many Americans, not to mention President Franklin Roosevelt, acted badly in respect to American born Japanese in Hawaii and the continental United States. Like an emperor, Roosevelt ordered the incarceration of American born Japanese citizens.

Just as there were native American heroes, there were Japanese American heroes in WWII. Private First Class Sadao Munemori was shot in the belly, left leg, and lost an arm while attacking and destroying 3 machine gun nests in Italy.

When Japan took control of the Philippines in 1941, some Japanese residents joined the Japanese army. However, the Filipino people began an intense guerrilla war that eventually led to the return of General MacArthur to liberate the islands in 1944. Immerwahr reminds reader/listeners of the valor of American Japanese’ soldiers who risked their lives during the war. He tells the story of Private First Class Sadao Munemori who was shot in the belly, left leg, and lost an arm while attacking and destroying 3 machine gun nests in Italy. He survived and was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Despite Immerwahr’s detailed argument of America as a hidden empire, he does not suggest or imply America supports colonization.

The most convincing evidence of Immerwahr’s belief is in America’s trip to the moon and the government’s statement that the moon belongs to no one, despite the mission’s planted American flag.

In the end, Immerwahr explains how American military bases on islands around the world reinforces effective colonization of foreign cultures by America. Widespread adoption of the English language and the presence of military bases on islands from Liverpool, England to the Northern Mariana Islands and beyond suggests America functions as an empire but not as an intended colonizer.

CLICKS

Just as McCulloch’s history shows how the internet changed yesterday, it seems A.I. will change the future.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

How the Internet Happened (From Netscape to the iPhone)

By: Brian McCullough

Narrated By: Timothy Pabon

Brian McCullough (Author, CEO of Resume Writers.com, entrepreneur.)

A book about the beginning of the internet is such old news, one is inclined to put this book aside. The internet was born in the 1960s and only became recognizable in the 1980s. However, even in 2024, it is interesting to hear about early users who became rich just by organizing information on an easily accessible and free media platform.

Like this blog, it is rewarding to write something that others are interested in reading.

The exercise of book reviews is a reward to one’s education and an ego boost for a writer from an audiences’ clicks. Brian McCullough tells the story of the founders of YAHOO, Jerry Yang and David Filo who were in college and became fascinated by the World Wide Web because of information it offered with clicks on a computer board. This was in the 1990s. Though there were many websites to choose from, they were disorganized and difficult to find if you were looking for specific information. Yang and Filo began organizing the websites by their offered information. YAHOO’S founders were looking for information of interest to them, and presumed others would like to know how they could use a keyboard to find information they might need or want.

Jerry Yang and David Filo were fascinated by what could be found on the internet.

They spent hours, days, weeks, months that grew into years organizing website addresses so others could find what was interesting to them. In these early years, making money was not their primary objective. They did not use their site to advertise products for income. They felt clicks were their reward and that clicks would be lost if advertisers were allowed to use their site. They chose to have users pay a fee to become members of their site. Their use and organization of the internet became an obsession for them and followers steadily increased. Their click numbers and users rose into the millions and advertisers were again knocking at their door. They resisted until they realized their idea could be worth something more than their interest in learning, gathering, and organizing knowledge. They relented, allowed advertising, and the clicks to their site kept on rising. YAHOO went public. The rest is history.

McCulloch goes on to describe the rise and fall of companies that capitalize on the internet.

The companies ranged from behemoth companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Ebay that rocketed to the stratosphere while Priceline.com, Netscape, Pets.com, Webvan and others plunged into the abyss. This is not to say today’s behemoths will continue to dominate the market or that some new company will replace their success with even greater appeal. A.I., like the internet, may be a killer discovery that makes or breaks today’s behemoths into tomorrow’s also-rans or hangers-on.

McCulloch’s history is interesting because it explains how winners understood the future better than losers understood the present.

It’s fascinating to find Apple’s Jobs resisted creation of the iPhone but employees worked secretly to refine the idea and Jobs eventually agreed. McCulloch also reveals the monopolistic nature of today’s winners and the threat they present to the future. Killer ideas of today’s tech companies capitalize on the internet’s information ubiquity, and how it can be organized to offer product to the world at a competitive price.

A.I. is a new idea that organizes information on its own with consequences to the public that are yet to be realized. Just as McCulloch’s history shows how the internet changed yesterday, it seems A.I. will change the future.

RULE BY THE ONE

With rule by the one there are no checks and balances which threatens war and discounts peace.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Autocracy, Inc. (The Dictators Who Want to Run the World)

By: Anne Applebaum

Narrated By: Anne Applebaum

Anne Applebaum (Author, journalist, historian, wrote Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction with “Gulag: A History” Also wrote “Red Famine”, both of which have been reviewed in this blog.)

“Autocracy, Inc.” infers there are two forms of government in the world, one is autocratic, the other democratic. Applebaum shows autocracies are often venal and kleptocratic. One might agree, but immorality and greed are a part of human nature in every form of government. This is not something Applebaum denies, but all forms of government have experienced excesses of wealth and power that have led to autocracy. What Applebaum argues is that autocracy is more threatening today than at any time in history.

The prestige of national leaders is by definition power.

As the British Lord Acton noted in 1887–“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Both democratic and autocratic leaders are subject to Acton’s aphorism. This is not to say Applebaum’s argument is not important, but no form of government, including democracy, has been found to fairly regulate the faults of human nature.

What Applebaum makes clear is that autocracy magnifies the faults of human nature because in countries like China, North Korea, Myanmar, Russia, parts of Africa, and similar autocracies, there are no checks and balances.

Imprisonment, torture, and murder for challenges to leadership are condoned, and commonplace. Applebaum’s added dimension is that many autocratic nations have begun aligning themselves to split the world between the lands of the relatively free and the chained.

Applebaum offers many examples of imprisonment, torture, and murder in autocratic countries. Some of the most famous are Navalny in Russia, the Nobel Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo in China, Jang Song-thaek, the second most powerful leader in North Korea, and of course, Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar. However, what makes Applebaum’s history terrifying is the calculated and cooperative effort by aligned autocracies to subvert freedoms offered in America and other democratic countries.

The author argues many autocratic leaders have become so powerful that no fellow countryman, regardless of their location, is safe from incarceration or assassination.

Assassination of Kim Jon Un’s brother.

Vladimir Putin is believed to have ordered the assassination of a number of Russian citizens around the world. Autocracies use the tools of State to directly or indirectly threaten or assassinate dissidents anywhere in the world.

Facial recognition in China.

The advance of Artificial Intelligence has magnified the strength of autocratic rule with tools of surveillance, assassination, and indoctrination that reach around the world. Applebaum argues the line between democracies and autocracies is hardening to the point of irreconcilable difference, leading to wars between states and territories like Syria, Ukraine, Sudan, and Gaza.

Democracy has its problems which includes dalliance with autocracy, but rule by the one where there are no checks and balances threatens war and discounts peace.

ABOUT LIFE

“2666” is a well written book by an author who has read and understood more about society than many who have lived long lives in America.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“2666”

By: Roberto Bolaño

Narrated By: John Lee, Armando Duran, G. Valmont Thomas, Scott Brick, Grover Gardner

Roberto Bolaño (Author, 1953-2003, died at the age of 50, Chilean novelist, short-story writer, poet and essayist.)

“2666” is a journey around the world. One begins the journey as though one is sinking into inescapable quicksand. Roberto Bolaño dazzles one’s imagination. Its granular mix of western society captures one’s imagination. The book’s narrators trap “2666” listeners in a story of modern times.

Bolaño infers sex is an equal opportunity exploiter.

He suggests communism and socialism are distortions of Marxism and shows capitalism as a form of enslavement. Women’s societal inequality extends to physical abuse in many societies and, at an extreme, to murder. Bolaño’s many characters illustrate the way in which he believes these are societal truths.

The first part of Bolaño’s story tells of three highly educated people who travel for business and pleasure based on their professions and desires.

They are academics steeped in literature who lecture on poetry, philosophy, and great writers. They meet in different areas of Europe as a trinity of lovers, two men and one woman that form an emotional and sexual threesome. The woman appears the more dominant of the three with the two men abandoned for a time because of a younger lover in the woman’s life. The two men continue to travel together and apart but pursue a licentious life with women, some of which are paid for their sexual favors. The author seems to explain sexual desire is characteristic of all human beings, both male and female. Human desire can be exploitive, companionable, and/or a way to make a living.

Bolaño’s travels extend to Mexico and the United States after his literary journey through Europe.

He shows every form of government, whether communist, socialist, or capitalist fails to treat its citizens equally. He infers Marxist theory may hold an ideal of equality but suggests communism, socialism, and capitalism only distort the ideal of a classless society. Materialism, the struggle for recognition, and the value of labor are chimeras, i.e., wished for ends that are illusory in every known form of government.

Bolaño’s trek to Mexico reveals its poverty and the hard life of a country of the rich and many poor.

He focuses on a notorious record of women being murdered in Mexico by an unknown killer and rapist who may be one man or two. The grim view of Mexico dwells on the investigation of these horrific crimes. In the process, the listener is told about prison life in Mexico, a probable killer of the women and another that may still be on the loose. The murders of women continue. An FBI agent from America is involved in the investigation. This is a hard section of the book because of its repeated explanation of crimes against women, but it offers a view of Mexico’s poverty and the unfair, unequal treatment of women and others in the world.

The last chapters of Bolaño’s work are a flash back to WWII and Germany’s attack of Russia after Stalin’s mistaken alliance.

There are flashes of brilliance in this flashback, but the length of the novel begins to wear thin. “2666” is a well written book by an author who has read and understood more about society than many who have lived long lives in America, a land of opportunity with many of the faults noted in Europe and North America.

THE BALTICS

Traveling to other countries is more interesting because of what writers of fiction and history have to say.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“The Dogs of Riga” A Kurt Wallander Mystery

By: Henning Mankell, Laurie Thompson-translation

Narrated By: Dick Hill

Henning Georg Mankell (1948-2015, deceased Swedish author, social critic, and playwriter.)

We are planning a trip to the Baltics in October of 2024. As in previous trips, this blog has been used to memorialize former travel experiences and this American’s view of other countries. Prior to traveling, some books are recommended by tour guides as introductions to other cultures. “The Dogs of Riga” and “The Lilac Girls” are two that offer some information about the Baltics. “The Lilac Girls” is a history of incarcerated women at Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany during WWII. The Nazis were researching the efficacy of drug treatment and prosthesis for injured soldiers by amputating arms and legs of imprisoned women to study regeneration of bone and the utility of prosthesis for lost arms or legs. Many of these young women were from the Baltics, though the largest number came from Poland.

Having heard of Henning Mankell’s mysteries (of which there are many), Kurt Wallander is a reoccurring character as an investigative Swedish detective.

The relevance of “The Dogs of Riga” is in the transition that was occurring when Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia achieved independence from the U.S.S.R. The Baltics had been a part of and controlled by the U.S.S.R. since 1940. Mankell’s book was first published in 1992, one year after the 1991′ dissolution of the U.S.S.R.

Riga Technical University (Engineering Center in the Baltics)

It is interesting to find in “The Dogs of Riga” that Wallander’s daughter chooses to go to Riga for her college education which makes one wonder why Riga would be chosen. Is it because of the quality of education or just to be further away from family? In any case, the reason these books are recommended is to give some perspective to new visitors of other countries. An interesting observation one makes about “The Dogs of Riga” is a sense of resentment from the Latvians about Russia and their former domination of the Baltic States.

Season 3, Episode 2 of “The Dogs of Riga” on Masterpiece Theater.

Going back to the story, two Russians were shot in the heart, and set adrift on a raft in Swedish waters. Autopsy shows the Russians were well dressed indicating wealth. It was found they had high concentrations of amphetamine in their bodies. In investigating the murders, Wallander finds they came from Riga, the capitol of Latvia. An officer from Latvia goes to Sweden to talk to Wallander. After the visiting officer returns to Riga, he is murdered and Wallander is asked to come to Riga to investigate his death.

With the opening of Latvia to the western world, freedom from communist controls is a mixed blessing.

Mankell begins to tell listener/readers something about Latvia and its suspicion of Russian residents in their country. Along with more freedom to pursue economic growth is the rise of a drug trade and criminal activity. Mankell’s story infers illegal activity is exacerbated by Russians who resent Latvia’s independence from the U.S.S.R. However, with greater freedom comes crime as well as improved economic opportunity. One reserves judgement about whether Russians are the primary cause of drug activity in Latvia because breaking the law is characteristic of all nationalities under all forms of government. The characterization of Russians as the cause of the illegal drug trade in Riga is possible. However, it is the same question one must ask themselves about America and the origins, causes, and persistence of its drug trade.

Freedom entails the pursuit of what one wants out of life. Money, power or prestige are goals of most (if not all) human beings.

However, those goals need to be based on equal opportunity. This is not to say those goals should include criminal activity, but only education offers a chance for all to understand the difference between right and wrong. When equal educational opportunity is available to every person in the world, they may pursue what they think is in their interests. This, of course, is not a world that exists or can exist because personal interest is not the same for everyone.

Getting back to Mankell’s story, Latvia is challenged by its new freedom from the U.S.S.R. The suspicion of Russians is undoubtedly a truth about Latvian culture based on Latvia’s former life as a part of the U.S.S.R. Whether Russians are the criminal master minds of the drug trade is not the point. The point is that human nature requires a reason for everything that happens in a culture. The bad experience of repression by the U.S.S.R. may make Latvians suspicious of every Russian in Latvia. It is similar to Trump’s vilification of immigrants and how that ignorance resonates with some Americans.

Mankell and the author of “The Lilac Girls” are worth reading or listening to if you plan a trip to the Balkans. Traveling to other countries is more interesting because of what writers of fiction and history have to say.

TURN EVERY PAGE

Caro’s facts do not prove truth, but they do reveal the means and consequence of political power and influence in American Democracy.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

“Working”

By: Robert A. Caro

Narrated By: Robert A. Caro

Robert Allan Caro (Author, journalist, winner of 2 Pulitzer Prizes in Biography and many other coveted literature awards.)

Every non-fiction writer can appreciate this erudite and entertaining audiobook, personally written and read by Robert Caro. Caro explains what “Working” means to a non-fiction writer. Caro artfully explains why and how researching, interviewing, and writing a biography is a revelatory experience.

In “Working”, Caro focuses on his two Pulitzer Prize winning books, “The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York” and “Master of the Senate”, one of his four books about Lyndon Johnson. Both biographies are about political power in America.

Robert Moses (1888-1981) was an American urban planner and public official in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid-20th century.

Moses (among many titles) was the New York City Parks Commissioner and Chairman of the Triborough Bridge Tunnel Authority. His political power and influence are detailed in Caro’s book, “The Power Broker”. Though Moses was never elected to political office, he arguably shaped the infrastructure of New York City as much, if not more, than any elected person in New York. “Working” explains how a reporter from a small Long Island’ newspaper manages to write “The Power Broker” and become one of America’s most famous biographers.

After graduating from Princeton with a B.S. degree, Caro is hired by the Long Island, New York’ newspaper, “Newsday”.

Caro explains he had been a writer for many years as a young boy and college student before getting a scut-work job at “Newsday”. He tells of a breakthrough report he writes that gets attention from the editor of the paper. He is given advice by the editor who recognizes the quality of his writing. The advice is that when writing a piece for the public, be sure of your facts by “turning every page”. Caro takes that advice and explains how it became a mantra, a repeated aid, in his writing.

Caro explains how he and his wife work to “turn every page” in researching the Moses and Johnson biographies.

Even though one may have read Caro’s two Pulitzer Prize winning’ books, “Working” offers a nearly perfect introduction to his biographies of Moses and Johnson that are, to the extent humanly possible, researched by “turning every page”. Caro is hard on himself for taking years to research and write his biographic books. It is a financial hardship for his family, particularly before his first success with “The Power Broker”. They sell their house in Long Island to support his book research. After that first success, the financial insecurity is offset by grants and the support of literary agents. “Turning every page” is a laborious process but it assures and reinforces the facts revealed in his biographies.

Caro explains how he and his wife meticulously researched public documents to confirm facts that corroborate the victimization of some New Yorkers by monied interests that gave Moses the political power to destroy low-income neighborhoods for new thoroughfares through the New York City area.

With the construction of over 600 miles of road many residents, renters and homeowners, were evicted from their homes. Most were left to fend for themselves.

Caro and his wife were willing to disrupt their lives and neighborhood relationships to pursue his obsession with verification of facts. Caro explains that he needed to move to Texas to understand what it was like for Lyndon Johnson to be raised in the Texas Hill Country. He could not just visit because local Texans would not talk to him with the candor he sought to understand where Lyndon Johnson came from. Many revelations are in his book about Johnson that could not have been corroborated without interviews with people who knew the Johnson family.

Caro and his wife move to Austin, Texas to be near the Texas Hill Country to research and understand the society in which Lyndon Johnson is raised.

Many insights are a result of the move. Experiencing the loneliness of the Texas Hill country because of its sparse population helped Caro understand Johnson’s need to be bigger than life. Interviewing Johnson’s brother reveals the tensions that existed between Lyndon and his father. Johnson’s father was heir to the original Johnson ranch that was lost because of the soils’ unproductivity. It had too much caliche, a clay content that would not support a cash crop. When Johnson’s father repurchased the ranch after its loss by the family, he failed to understand the land could not provide enough income to pay its mortgage. The ranch is lost to the bank again. The relationship between Lyndon and his father deteriorated as Lyndon grew older because of Lyndon’s disappointment with his father’s ineptitude and domineering personality. Ironically, Caro notes it is a personality that Lyndon is heir to and for which he is criticized. On the other hand, Caro explains it is also a personality characteristic that makes Lyndon one of the greatest masters of the Senate. No Senate leader since Johnson has as successfully led the Senate in passing government legislation.

Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr. (Lyndon Johnsons’ father. 1877-1937.)

Lyndon’s brother implies Lyndon’s conflicts with his father became part of his drive to be more successful than his father.

Caro infers Johnson and Moses were forces of nature. Both were political power users that understood how to use it to get their way. Obviously political power can be used for ill or good. One can argue New York City open spaces and parks were a great benefit to the city. On the other hand, many people were displaced to provide those open spaces. The Civil Rights Act passed during the Johnson administration benefited millions of minorities in America. On the other hand, an estimated 2,000,000 Vietnamese were killed, 58,000 American soldiers died, and another 288,000 Americans were wounded and/or disabled. How many Vietnamese, and Cambodians were wounded or disabled and how many are still being hurt by leftover landmines?

Caro offers a great service to the public in his writing about political power in American Democracy. Democracy is not a perfect political system, and Caro reveals where that imperfection lies by “turning every page”. Caro’s facts do not prove truth, but they do reveal the means and consequence of political power and influence in American Democracy.

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