HISTORY – Page 5 – REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE

CULTURAL CONFLICT

How could America expect to occupy Iraq for a mere 8 years and 8 months and resolve cultural differences? It could not and did not.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Iraq War

Author: John Keegan

Narrated By: Simon Vance

John Keegan (Author, 1934-2012, English historian, lecturer, and journalist died at age 78. A recognized authority on warfare.)

John Keegan reflects on the history of Iraq with an analysis of the rise and fall of Saddam Hussein. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1922, British control of Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul led to the formation of Iraq by the League of Nations under the supervision of the British. Great Britain offered nation-state independence to Iraq in 1932. Keegan explains early Iraqi leaders failed to centralize control of the newly formed country of Iraq. He argues that failure allowed an authoritarian, unscrupulous, and brutal leader named Saddam Hussein to take control of the country from Ahmed Hassan al-Baker in 1979. Saddam used fear, violence, and murder to eliminate rivals to create a cult of personality that made him look strong and defiant in the eyes of his countrymen and the world.

Saddam Hussein (1937-2006)

Keegan argues Saddam instinctively combined his brutality with the pragmatism of “might makes right” to take control of Iraq’s fragmented leadership. Not since Hitler, Keegan suggests, has a leader managed to combine tyranny with fear to take command of a nation. Saddam magnified regional instability and created international disorder with ruthless brutality, reinforced by a military that chose to follow him out of fear and reward that is gathered from rapine.

Keegan explains Saddam maintains his position through force but ultimately loses it because of his brutal rule, lies, and poor judgement. Saddam dramatically murders or tortures political rivals to create fear among Iraqi citizens and military henchmen who fear his rath. He initiates a war with Iran in 1980 with the intent of toppling the Shah because he viewed him as a threat to his regime. His plan was to install the Ayatollah Khomeini which seems counter intuitive in view of Khomeini’s religious zealotry; particular considering Saddam’s earlier offer to assassinate him while he lived as an exile in Iraq. Keegan implies Saddam’s decision to support Khomeini as Iran’s leader is similar to the lie Saddam creates about Kuwait slant-drilling into Iraqi oil fields to steal billions in oil. One doubts he ever intended to promote Khomeini to rule Iran. As history shows, the majority of the international community did not believe Saddam’s lie about oil theft and were opposed to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. A disastrous and unresolved eight-year war was fought with Iran and eventually Saddam lost any significant support for occupation of Kuwait.

Saddam rules Iraq for nearly 24 years. One wonders how he ruled as long as he did, just as many Americans wonder how Trump could be re-elected by a majority of American voters.

Considering Saddam’s poor judgement in regard to Khomeini’s power and his belief that Iraq could take over another country without international opposition shows how deluded a dictator can be. Keegan suggests Saddam made too many miscalculations. First among them is the weaknesses he created by presuming that fear of him among his own military force would maintain support of Iraq’s 400,000 soldiers. Saddam is essentially abandoned by his military leaders when Iraq is confronted by an international force to oppose Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait (73% were American soldiers but 34 other countries participated). Not surprisingly, bridges were not destroyed by Saddam’s military as they retreated, and Saddam’s military leaders abandoned their posts.

Keegan explains Saddam’s fall came from a collapse of the illusions, fears, and myths that surrounding his rise to power.

One wonders if the same may happen in Iran in the 21st century. It seems dependent on Iranian people deciding on whether the governance Khomeini insists upon is illusory and the fear Khomeini’s ordered murders, incarcerations, and beliefs have alienated enough Iranian citizens. Because Iran’s governance may be more about religious belief and integrity rather than arbitrary rule, one becomes skeptical. Iran may remain as it is but with a new religious ruler.

Keegan tries to explain America’s mistakes in Iraq without being too partisan.

Keegan offers a clear understanding of Saddam’s rule of Iraq. America made many mistakes because of not understanding the culture of Iraq and presumed their culture would accept Americanization. Tribalism scented with religion exists in Iraq. Without engaging that reality, America could not constructively influence change. The dismantling of Iraq’s military negatively impacted a critical infrastructure that understood the indigenous culture and may have aided American influence in Iraq. By ignoring the dignity of the Iraqi people and the importance of tribe loyalties and religious beliefs, America stubbled through years of destructive occupation. Other authors have noted how tribalism influenced how Iraqi informers had their own agendas for accusing Iraqi tribes of fomenting conflict. Iraq unraveled into insurgency and chaos from which it is still trying to recover.

It has taken nearly a quarter of a century for American government to begin healing the relationship between Indians and 1776 settlers of this country. The possibility of changing Iraqi society in a less than 10 years seems unlikely and, for that matter, inappropriate. Cultural difference is not a disease.

Change is difficult and nearly impossible when cultural differences are not clearly understood and taken into account when a foreign country occupies a native country’s territory. How could America expect to occupy Iraq for a mere 8 years and 8 months and resolve cultural differences? It could not and did not.

GOTHIC TALE

The climax of “Modern Gothic” is where myth enters Moreno-Carcia’s story. The fundamental truths of colonization are revealed in her creative story while its denouement is an entertaining explosion of imagination.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Mexican Gothic

Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Narrated By: Frankie Corzo

Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Author, Mexican/Canadian novelist, editor and publisher.)

Moreno-Garcia’s “Mexican Gothic” is a chilling story of colonization, eugenics, ecological contamination, mystical beliefs, and control of society by men. The author chooses the name of Doyle as an English family that exploits the Mexico’ silver mining industry in earlier centuries. A dynasty is created by generations of Doyle’s. They created a colonial manor called “High Place” from which to rule a crumbling empire. As colonizers they capitalize on Mexico’s silver deposits by exploiting native Mexicans’ land and labor to grow their mining operation. The wealth of local citizens is lost to the English foreigners who keep wages low to increase the wealth of the Doyle family.

**Over generations, the Doyle men married local women that were related to each other. A common practice of royalty before the twentieth century.**

They wished to maintain the genetic purity of the Doyle bloodline by having future Doyles marry genetic descendants of Mexican women that had been their wives. This is not greatly different than the experience of royal marriages in European cultures. The consequence of that marriage tradition is that recessive genetic mutations become more prominent in offspring. Children were more susceptible to diseases like cystic fibrosis and had higher incidents of developmental and cognitive disorders. This is one of many threads of meaning in “Mexican Gothic” because one of these descendants becomes a murderer of Doyle family members and the current Doyle generation seems socially dysfunctional. Added to that dysfunction is the Doyle family’s diminishing wealth.

An arranged marriage is a lynch pin to the story.

The heroine, Noemi, is the daughter of a wealthy Mexican family. She is sent to investigate a letter that was received by her father from a young woman that marries a Doyle. She is a cousin of Noemi’s. The marriage is arranged in part because of her father, and he feels something is wrong and wants Noemi to visit the Doyle family to find what the mysterious letter means. Soon after Noemi arrives, she begins to have hallucinatory dreams. Listener/readers find the hallucinations are because of spores that are in the bedroom of the deteriorating Doyle house. A clever thread of meaning in Moreno-Garcia’s story is ecological contamination that comes from colonization. As one nation colonizes another, it inevitably brings different plants and animals that are not indigenous to the country they are colonizing. The author notes a fungus is growing in the Doyle household that may have come from the original colonizers.

The penultimate theme in “Modern Gothic” is the creation of myths that compound the horrific events that occur in the Doyle house.

From the history of murders in the Doyle household, to hallucinatory dreams, to incestuous relationships, to the gloom and doom of the story, to a myth about the age of the Doyle patriarch, Moreno-Garcia offers a climax to her story that vivifies reader/listener’s imagination. The climax of “Modern Gothic” is where myth enters Moreno-Carcia’s story. The fundamental truths of colonization are revealed in her creative story while its denouement is an entertaining explosion of imagination.

DANGER WILL ROBINSON

Trump’s push to hugely increase government debt at the expense of the poor and middle class, along with a tariff war, look to some like paths toward an economic Armageddon.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

On Tyranny (Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century)

Author: Timothy Snyder

Narrated By: Timothy Snyder

Timothy Snyder (Author, graduated from Brown University with a degree in history and political science, received a Doctor of Philosophy in modern history from the University of Oxford.)

“On Tyranny” makes one research Timothy Snyder’s education because of his allusion to the rise of Hitler and America’s rising authoritarianism in the 21st century. His short book “On Tyranny” is disconcerting. He infers Trump’s presidency is an early sign of American democracy’s deterioration. He recounts the rise of German complacency when Hitler came to power and Nazi’ support for victimization of Jews and invasion of Poland are the beginning of a plan to reorganize spheres of influence in Europe.

Snyder’s observation is undoubtedly to create a sense of moral urgency on the part of American listener/readers to do more than just observe what is happening in America. Not that it is about Jewish discrimination but about American government rounding up and deporting alleged illegal immigrants without due process and sending them to prisons in other countries. Snyder is a scholar who specialized in Eastern European totalitarianism which suggests he knows something about the precursors of authoritarianism.

It seems the comparison of Trump to Hitler is hyperbolic when one considers the dire financial condition of Germany in the late 1920s. However, Trump’s push to hugely increase government debt at the expense of the poor and middle class, along with a tariff war, look to some like paths toward an economic Armageddon. If the economy falters, would America fall into Germany’s past? One doubts that will happen, but with a President who believes his own lies and Americans who accept them gives listener/readers of “On Tyranny” a chill. The power of Snyder’s argument gains some credibility.

It seems with the history of the United States, federal government checks and balances, and the limited tenure of elected Presidents, a Nazification of America seems unlikely. However, the danger is there because Trump has strong support from his party and many Americans who voted for him who choose to ignore his lies.

ANARCHY

In reading/listening to Chomsky some will conclude he is wrong about there ever being a nation-state that will be successfully governed as an Anarchy because of the nature of human beings.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

On Anarchisn

Author: Noam Chomsky, Nathan Schneider

Narrated By: Eric Jason Martin

When one thinks of a political system called Anarchism, the first thing that comes to mind is a vision of rampant disorganization where there is no sense of direction or social cohesion.

Noam Chomsky is a polarizing figure who is admired as an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist who fiercely criticizes U.S. and Israeli foreign policy. He views Israel as a client state of the U.S. that relies on authoritarianism to manage their countries roles in the world. He notes America’s interventions in Vietnam, Central America, Iraq, and Afghanistan as evidence of America’s failure as a democracy. He views Israeli foreign policy in regard to Gaza as infected with hypocrisy and violence with a narrow view of territorial expansion. He feels both America and Israel are driven by strategic and economic interests, not by the idealism of democracy.

Chomsky is a fierce critic of capitalism and imperialism because both marginalize citizens’ freedom of thought and action.

Chomsky’s view is that anarcho-syndicalism is a better form of government where power is decentralized and citizens can and should collectively manage their own affairs through direct democracy and cooperative organizations. He argues for participatory democracy by voluntary associations that are freely formed into cooperative communities. There should be no centralized authority with all workplaces and production controlled by the workers themselves. He believes in libertarian socialism because he sees it as the most humane and rational extension of Enlightenment ideals in society. Any authority exercised by a government entity in a libertarian socialist country, in Chomsky’s opinion, is the most humane and rational extension of the ideals of the Enlightenment.

The Age of Enlightenment or sometimes called the Age of Reason was a movement in the late 17th century that extended into the 19th century.

It emphasized the power of reason, science, and individual liberty as the tools for the reform of society. The tools of reason, science, and liberty were believed to be the natural rights of humanity, and the possibility of improving society through education and reform based on science.

Francisco Franco (Spain’s dictator 1939-1975.)

Chomsky argues those tools were engaged by Spanish revolutionaries during Franco’s dictatorship in Spain. Chomsky notes workers took control of factories and farms in Catalonia and Aragon that were run collectively and democratically by workers. He believes voluntary cooperation thrived. He believes the anarchist movement grew through three generations based on education and considered organization of Spanish interest groups. However, Franco’s forces with the help of England, Germany, and Italy defeated the movement.

Republican factions fought against Franco’s government in the 1930s.

Chomsky believes revolutionaries against Franco were practical visionaries that showed how anarchy could be a legitimate and superior way of governing a nation.

Surprisingly, there are several examples besides Spain’s revolution that were collectivist organizations that could be classified as anarchies. From 1918-1921, the free territory of Ukraine was led by Nestor Makhno during Russia’s Civil War. It was ended by Russian communism after its ascension in 1917. Modern communes were set up in Mexico’s Zapatista territories with autonomous zones that had collective farming and indigenous self-rule. Of course, in ancient times there were hunter-gatherer societies that shared norms, and governance through consensus decision-making and resource sharing. However, there is a history of atrocity, failure, and disruption by governing bodies that have tried Anarchy. Spain’s effort fell apart in 1939. Freetown Christiania in Denmark, in a neighborhood in Copenhagen has struggled with Anarchy since 1971. A number of legal battles have been fought over commercial ownership and control. By some measures, the kibbutz movement in Israel has been successful. However, even Chomsky notes friction comes within kibbutz communities over disagreement with elected leaders. Research shows that some kibbutzim are privatizing and paying differential wages for communal services. Collectivism is becoming harder to maintain.

Chomsky is considered by some to be the most important intellectual alive today. He is highly respected for theories on the understanding of language based on modern cognitive science.

Chomsky has shaped how we think of human capabilities. He is famous for his dissents which are naturally about government control and media manipulation. He was against the Vietnam war and opposed Israeli occupation because of his libertarian socialism, a form of anarchy or a collective that is purely democratically determined. He is reported to be an excellent lecturer and capable of going toe to toe with experts in linguistics, philosophy, political science, and education. His opinions have global reach with translations in many languages.

In reading/listening to Chomsky some will conclude he is wrong about there ever being a nation-state that will be successfully governed as an Anarchy because of the nature of human beings. Whether one believes in Hobbes’ view of selfish humans, Rousseau’s belief in people being corrupted by society, Kant’s belief in rationality, or Sartre’s belief in human choices and actions, there will always be dominant personalities who will victimize those whom they commune. Human nature as defined by Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant, Sartre, and other brilliant philosophers infer there will always be miscreate leaders that will destroy egalitarianism, the foundational principle of anarchy. Human nature, as it exists today, is unlikely to change.

EQUALITY

Discrimination is certainly based on the color of one’s skin but also on gender, ethnicity, and income inequality. Those nations that embrace equality of opportunity for all will be the leaders of the future in the age of technology

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Caste (The Origins of Our Discontent)

Author: Isabel Wilkerson

Narrated By: Robin Miles

Isabel Wilkerson (Author, American journalist, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in journalism in 1994 while serving as the Chicago Bureau Chief for the NYTimes.)

Isabel Wilkerson has written a provocative book about what she characterizes as a rigid social hierarchy in America that undermines the ideals of democracy. Wilkerson weaves her personal life and the history of black experience with the sociological failings in America’s treatment of race. She notes the past and present truth of white America’s unequal treatment of its citizens based on race. However, her characterization of America’s discrimination as a caste system and its comparison to India’s and Nazi Germany’s governments is hyperbolic. Nevertheless, it creates a sense of urgency for those who believe in the ideal of human equality. It is difficult, if not impossible, to compare other nation’s inequality with America’s effort and present-day failure to fulfill the ideals of democracy.

The timeliness of Wilkerson’s book seems appropriate in relation to the backward steps being taken by Donald Trump.

Some Americans feel threatened by demographic change that will make white citizens less than 50% of America’s population by 2045. In theory, no one should care if all people are treated equally. What history shows is that the ideals of equality have never been achieved in America or in any other country with a dominant race and/or ethnicity.

Trump’s effort to return America to its past is interpreted by some as a return to industrial production.

America’s return to industrialization is a false flag that will not make America Great. Reindustrialization and keeping America white is a fool’s errand based on demography and the age of technology. Trump’s desire for power, adulation, and loyalty have little to do with prejudice but everything to do with appealing to the worst fears of middle-class America. Trump is willing to use whatever dog whistle is required to satisfy his desire for power and prestige. He understands the fears of the middle class and where American power lays. Power and money are the driving forces of capitalism. Middle class American’s buying power has stagnated or fallen since the 1970s despite the increasing wealth of the top 10% of American citizens. The middle class of America is something Trump appealed to in his re-election for a second term because of their disproportionate loss of income and the rising wealth of America’s business leaders. The irony is that Trump is one of the beneficiaries of that income gap between the very rich and the working-class.

Income disparity trend in the U.S. through 2015.

Wilkerson is right in the sense that America’s real objective should be to ensure equality of all. She is arguing we should have a greater sense of urgency in achieving equality. Equal treatment for all is a formula that can maintain America’s position as an economic, military, and political hegemon. American industrial hegemony is yesterday’s goal. Technological advancement is today’s goal. To achieve today’s goals, equal treatment of all becomes essential in technology because intelligence, innovation, and persistence does not lie in any one race, sex, or creed.

America is class conscious but not in the same way as either India’s or Nazi Germany’s histories.

Wilkerson notes a caste system can be built around ethnicity, religion, language, or gender but race discrimination is what she has personally experienced and underlays much of her comparisons of American history with India and Nazi Germany. Equality of opportunity is key to continued growth of human beings and national economies in the age of technology. In the short term, one may see an autocratic country like China become an economic and military hegemon, but maintenance of that success is dependent on equality of opportunity for all, not just those in power.

One can sympathize with the author’s view of discrimination but her comparison of America to India and Nazi Germany misses too much of what unequal treatment in America is based upon.

LANGUAGE

Spinney makes some interesting points that may or may not be the principal origin and evolution of language difference. Her ideas seem plausible, just as Newton’s physics seemed entirely correct until Einstein proved otherwise.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Proto (How One Language Went Global)

Author: Laura Spinney

Narrated By: Emma Spurgin-Hussey

Laura Spinney (British science journalist, novelist, and non-fiction writer.)

Laura Spinney has written a challenging book for non-linguistic learners. Her book, “Proto”, focuses on a single ancient language she calls Proto-Indo European (PIE) that is said to have spread across the world to form half of the world’s spoken languages. She is not suggesting a new origin theory but argues languages around the world are synthesized by language structure and use. She suggests genetics, human cooperative effort, and recurring mythological beliefs are the basis of adopted languages.

A contrast between the way Spinney’s theory of the spread of a language and others is that it is based on wide use of peoples’ words in daily activity rather than a dictation by leaders who exercise control over a gathered group of people.

Spinney’s historical view for language development is in a people’s events of the day, repeated word use, and changing mythological stories that cultivate and spread a language. The language grows, changes, and spreads based on wider adoption by those who are communicating daily experiences to others. As inventions like horseback riding and wheeled transport show their value to an individual, its descriptions spread new words to one person that grows to many in that culture who communicate its value to others.

As one reads/listens to Spinney’s story, the reasons for differences in language appear based on the timing of ancient cultures growth when one area of the world is populated longer than another.

Every populated area creates their own mythologies. Mythologies are different because they are created by local events, burial rituals, and the desire to explain the “not understood” to others. Additionally, people live in environmentally different areas of the world. A native American has no reason to precisely or creatively describe snow whereas an Eskimo who deals with snow on a daily basis uses more precise and creative words to describe snow’s characteristics and its effect on their lives.

Whether true or not, this is an interesting hypothesis on the growth of language.

PIE, of course, is only one family of languages but her idea of its spread seems applicable to other equally important languages. As in all stories of ancient cultures, there is misrepresentation or misunderstanding because of not being there as languages are formed. Spinney acknowledges the fragmentary evidence of her theory which makes her conclusions tentative, if not suspect. Human nature is to relate facts that make sense of one’s own beliefs and may not accurately recall or report actual experience because of research bias. Power of leaders is diminished or discounted by Spinney’s theory of the spread of language.

Spinney believes PIE originated among the Yamnaya people, north of the Black Sea in what is now eastern Ukraine and southern Russia.

From there it spread westward into Europe, southward into Antolia, eastward into Central and South Asia, and into the Tarim Basin in western China. She believes PIE expansion is primarily because of technological innovations like the wheel and domestication of horses. This is interesting because it suggests the spread of language did not come from conflicts among warring regions but the utility of new technological discoveries.

Will today’s technology bring nations together or reinforce the silos of our differences?

INNOVATION

Steven Johnson notes how innovations and societal change does not come from a singular genius. Innovation and social change come from a confluence of geniuses, managers, and consumers.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

How We Got to Now (Six Innovations That Made the Modern World)

Author: Steven Johnson

Narrated By: George Newbern

Steven Johnson (Author, journalist)

Steven Johnson has written a moderately interesting book about innovation. He writes of six discoveries that came from the experience of everyday life. Glass, temperature, sound, health, time, and light are taken for granted in the 21st century. What Johnson explains is how these six elements were the basis of extraordinary human innovation and change in society.

Barovier Art Deco Murano glass pendant.

Glass has been around for centuries with the earliest found in Ancient Egypt. The heat of desert sands created glass in the form of beads that became jewelry in pre-Christian times. As the world industrialized, glass gathered new uses. Glass became mirrors to reflect human images, lenses for glasses, windows, and structural components of buildings. From the art of 15th-century to Leeuwenhoek’s creation of microscopes to Galileo’s telescopes to strengthening and lightening of high-rise construction materials to invention of fiber-optic cables, glass changed society.

Willis Carrier (1876-1950, designed the first modern air conditioning system in 1902.)

The benefit of cold temperatures helped preserve food and led to wider exploration of the world to avoid the cold. In warmer climates, experience of food preservation and human shelter from heat incentivized society to invent refrigeration for food and air conditioning for buildings. Public health and food safety improved with refrigeration. The cold preserved blood for future medical use and food for later consumption. The value of extreme cold led to cryogenics that aided fertility treatments by freezing sperm, eggs, and embryos for long term biological storage.

Heddy Lamarr (1914-2000, Hollywood star who patented a radio signal device that could change frequencies for secret messages during WWII.)

Johnson explains how sound innovation led to everything from the phonograph to sonar to coded messages during the war years. During WWII, secret communications between military strategists were critical. The often-recalled code breaking story of Alan Turing and the Enigma machine was a breakthrough for Allies to read German secrets. Interestingly, the famous actress, Heddy Lamarr patented a radio signal device for Allied powers’ secret communications.

As cities formed and people congregated in closer proximity, innovations in sanitation, water, and air purification grew to improve public health.

Johnson notes how light innovation grew from candles to light bulbs to lasers that changed the way humans can communicate and live after dark. Thomas Edison and the invention of the light bulb required the management skill of many to spread light around the world.

Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

An innovator’s timing makes a difference because the lack of a consumer can delay change like it did with Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace in their 1837 concept of a general-purpose computer.

Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Bryon, becomes the first computer software programmer in history. This was nearly 100 years before computer programing became important.

To improve human productivity, time became important. Precise timekeeping improved productivity, navigation, industrialization, and global coordination.

Johnson notes how innovations and societal change does not come from a singular genius. Innovation and social change come from a confluence of geniuses, managers, and consumers. He suggests Barovier, Leeuwenhoek, Galilei, Tudor, Carrier, and Lamarr were geniuses in their innovative ideas about glass, cold, and sound but it is a confluence of ideas, accidents, collaborations, and market desire that made them successful. The same may be said of Edison with light, Jobs with computers, and Musk with electric vehicles.

THEORY & TRUTH

Without a doubt, Einstein was the premier scientist of the 20th century just as Newton was of the 17th. Though their characters were quite different, their thoughts and contributions to the physics of life on earth and in the universe remain world changing.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Perfect Theory (A Century of Geniuses and the Battle over General Relativity)

Author: Pedro G. Ferreira

Narrated By: Sean Runnette

Pedro Ferreira (Anglo-Portuguese cosmologist, professor at the University of Oxford with expertise as theoretical cosmologist and astrophysicist.)

“The Perfect Theory” is a history of physics that revolves around Albert Einstein’s brilliant discoveries in the early 20th century. Einstein believed in general relativity that included gravity and acceleration which he argued is caused by the curvature of spacetime. Einstein implies the equality of mass and energy is a precursor to the proof of general relativity. Ferreira argues that post twentieth century physics’ theories have only contrasted and expanded Einstein’s first discovery of the equivalence of energy and mass, which is a part of a “…Perfect Theory”. Einstein’s theory seems perfect in the sense that it is a foundational theory from which most discoveries about physics have been based. This seems hyperbolic with the experimental proof of Quantum Dynamics (a science theory describing the behavior of particles at atomic and subatomic scales), but the idea of a Quantum world seems only a tentative expansion, rather than refutation of Einstein’s “…Perfect Theory”.

What Ferreira shows is how Einstein‘s general theory of relativity shaped modern theories of cosmology.

Though Einstein believed the universe was an eternal existence, that never expanded or contracted, he had to create a cosmological constant to make that theory work. He began moving away from that belief in the 1930s. Edwin Hubble’s theory of an expanding universe led to the “Big Bang Theory” that turned what Einstein suggested was a vindication of his discomfort with the idea of arbitrarily devising a cosmological constant to make his vision of the universe work. (Interestingly, Einstein remained skeptical of the Big Bang model of the universe’s creation when its expansion was proven.) Edwin Hubble proved through observation and calculation that the universe was expanding rather than static. Later science discovery of “dark energy” is thought to be the engine for expansion which ironically revives the theory of Einstein’s cosmological constant.

Edwin Hubble (1889-1953, American astronomer.)

John Wheeler and Roger Penrose in the 1960s confirmed the existence of black holes based on Einstein’s concept of regions of the universe that would have such strong gravity pull that nothing could escape its attractive force. The belief that nothing could escape was challenged by Stephen Hawking who argued that black holes emit radiation and eventually evaporate. Nevertheless, it is Einstein’s early work that initiated further investigation and theory modification.

John Wheeler (1911-2008, American Physicist)

Einstein predicted gravitational waves that were not confirmed until 2015 by LIGO’s (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) detection. Einstein had predicted gravitational wave existence in 1916 but was uncertain whether they were physically real or just mathematical affects based on his thought experiments about massive accelerating objects, like orbiting planets.

LIGO (Located @ Hanford in the Tri-Cities of Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco in Washington State.)

Ferreira’s book explains how important Einstein’s legacy is in today’s understanding of the Universe, its creation, and possible future.

The most significant curve ball thrown at Einstein’s “…Perfect Theory” of the universe is Quantum Mechanics. Though he grudgingly acknowledged the experimental proof of Quantum Entanglement, he remained skeptical of quantum mechanics and its philosophical implications. The proven predictions of quantum mechanics shake the foundation of what Einstein believed about the universe. Quantum mechanics suggests the universe’s existence, whether it began with a Big Bang or not, is a matter of probability, not predictable certainty. Einstein’s theories were based on a belief in a clockwork universe–where cause and effect would explain everything about the physics of existence.

Though Einstein did not believe in a personal God, he believed in order, harmony, and rationality in a world that has a cause for every effect.

Twenty first century physics’ research owes more to Einstein than any other scientist in history. It is not that Einstein was or is infallible, but his theories are the foundation of physics research. His idea of a static universe may have been wrong, but the story of dark energy makes one wonder if his cosmological constant might have been right. Einstein was skeptical of the Big Bang theory as the origin of the universe despite it being the belief of most scientists today. Though he resisted quantum mechanics unpredictability, he acknowledged its experimental proofs with the caveat that there is an undiscovered law that will return predictability to the physics’ world. What Pedro Ferreira credibly argues is that Albert Einstein provided “The Perfect Theory” to explore truth and falsehood of the physics of the universe.

MADNESS

Whether one is of a particular gender, good looking, unattractive, fat, thin, so on and so on, is superfluous. What is not different is we are all human. Murray infers that if leaders can keep humanness in mind, equality is the only thing that matters.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Madness of Crowds (Gender, Race and Identity)

Author: Douglas Murray

Narrated By: Douglas Murray

Douglas Murray (Author, Bristish political commentator, cultural critic, and journalist.)

All humans deserve equal treatment, rights, and opportunities. No known form of government achieves that ideal. Douglas Murray shows liberal and social democracies show concern about equality, while other forms of government don’t seem to care. What Murray argues is that western nations and educational institutions are not doing enough and what they are doing is maddeningly ineffectual.

Initially, Murray writes about gay rights which are not top of mind for many listener/readers.

However, the point is that sexual preference is a human right that harkens back to the age of ancient Mesopotamia (2000 BCE) and Greece (300 BCE). Mesopotamian law treated marriage as a legal contract. Men were allowed to have secondary wives or concubines with legal codes regulating inheritance rights. Women then, as now, were treated unequally. In Mesopotamia, marriage was tied to economic, social, and legal agreements to ensure social stability through male control. Interestingly, women had some legal rights in Mesopotamia while Greece was more patriarchal with limited legal independence for women. Mesopotamia artwork shows same-sex relationships existed, but contractual agreements in marriage were only for heterosexual relations.

In Plato’s time, legal codes in marriage were less important but social stability and male domination remained in both jurisdictions.

Ancient Greek history shows same-sex relationships were widely accepted but without any legal recognition like that required in heterosexual marriages. Same sex relationships go back to the beginnings of pictographic and written history. So, why is there so much Sturm and Drang about same sex relationships?

American democracy began a civil war in 1865 over the issue of slavery.

American democracy began a civil war in 1865 over the issue of slavery, passed the 14th Amendment in 1868 to provide equal protection for all, passed a Civil Rights Act in 1964 prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, and the Marriage Equality Act in 2015. Despite all of this history, in 2025, America continues to discriminate against same sex relationships and often violates the aforementioned laws. If a male or female wishes to have sex with a consenting person of the same sex, why should any American care? America has fought and died over equal rights for all Americans. It is maddening to keep reading about Democracies continuing violation of equal rights.

Murray offers numerous examples of protest in western society that reinforce his argument about the madness of crowds.

He reflects on Ivy League colleges like Yale and a small liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington where a crowd of students caused resignations of their professors. In 2015, a Yale faculty member questioned the university’s stance on culturally sensitive Halloween costumes. A crowd of students accused the faculty of failing to create a “safe space” because their professor raised the issue of identity as culturally insensitive. He and his wife who were professors at Yale chose to resign. In 2017, a professor objected to a campus event at Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington. White students and faculty were asked to leave for a day to highlight racial issues. The student protest against the professor for a “day off” event became a threat to his safety. He resigned. Murray’s point is that public discourse is increasingly driven by emotional reactions rather than reasoned debate.

Murray touches on the negative consequence of technology on the growing “…Madness of Crowds”. More than ever, the reach and size of crowds who object to human equality can spread social chaos. America experienced the power of technology with the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The re-election of Donald Trump is a harbinger of a future where the emotion of crowds who have the right to vote is magnified by media paid for by the richest people in America.

Murray touches on the negative consequence of technology on the growing "...Madness of Crowds". More than ever, the reach and size of crowds who object to human equality can spread social chaos. America experienced the power of technology with the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Emotions of crowd-think distort the difficult and personal trials of people with gender dysphoria.

The myth of Tiresias embodies the truth that humans are different but equal.

Tiresias is a figure in Greek mythology that was punished by Hera, the wife of Zeus, to be turned into a woman after he struck two mating snakes. He remained a woman for seven years when he was changed back into a man by Zeus. Zeus and Hera debated on whether experience of sex as a man or woman was more pleasurable. Tiresias agreed with Zeus who believed women experienced greater pleasure and Hera struck him blind for siding with Zeus. The debate goes on with Murray noting it occurs in crowd emotion that refuses to deal with the facts of gender dysphoria. One thinks of the many people that struggle with gender identity and how difficult it must be to live life with one’s own confusion, let alone the stupidity of people’s emotional reactions.

And then there is the issue of race.

Nearly 50% of the world is classified as Caucasoid with the remainder of three racial categories being no more than 33.5%. Unique physical characteristics of race are hair color and texture, facial features, average height, eye color, blood type, and skin color. Of course, there are differences beyond these features within each racial group. Whether one is of a particular gender, good looking, unattractive, fat, thin, so on and so on, is superfluous. What is not different is we are all human. Murray infers that if leaders can keep humanness in mind, equality is the only thing that matters.

UNITED

Many of Gibbon’s noted reasons for the Roman Empire’s decline are mitigated by the brilliance of the founders of the American Constitution and the “balance of power” principle that created three branches of government. With a balance of power, neither a President, a Congress, or a Court is likely to endorse dictatorship.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Volume 1)

Author: Edward Gibbon

Narrated By: Bernard Mayes

Edward Gibbon (Author, 1737-1794, Englishman who received degrees from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford.)

Gibbon has an interesting background that seemed suited to admittance to the clergy when he became a symbol of militant agnosticism, even though he was more sophist than militant. This first volume of “The…Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” made him famous.

Volume 1 of Gibbon’s history of the Roman Empire is interesting for its relevance to modern day nation-state leadership.

One is inclined to compare the tumultuous leadership of the Roman Empire to the history of one’s own country. There are parallels between good and bad leaders of the Roman Empire and the potential for collapse of today’s nation-states. Thinking of America, even a non-historian knows of leaders like Washington, Lincoln, and the Roosevelts who are considered by most historians and political scientists as great leaders. They managed American crises and had greater overall impact on America’s future than most other Presidents. Of course, America has also had its duds which can only be considered long after their tenure by historians who mitigate subjectivity.

America’s President Washington might be favorably compared to Rome’s first emperor, Augustus. Both exemplified leadership that could bring together disparate interests with a vision of what their nations could achieve in the world in which they lived. Of course, Augustus ruled for over 40 years while Washington led America for only 8. Augustus established an empire while Washington established a singular nation-state. However, both created a period of peace and stability during their terms of leadership.

Augustus transitioned Rome from a Republic to an Empire while Washington helped establish the U.S. government by presiding over debates on a constitution that defined the presidency and a system of government’ checks and balances.

Augustus stabilized Rome during years of civil war while Washington led the U.S. through the post-Revolutionary War with Great Britain. Both Augustus and Washington commanded militaries that assured peace within their countries. Washington took command of the Continental Army throughout the war with Great Britain. He organized and trained the troops who had little formal military training. He retreated when necessary and took calculated risks while forging foreign alliances to win American independence from the British. Both Augustus and Washington influenced the economics of taxation to support the administration of government. Though their tenures were quite different, each warranted a system for leadership succession.

Like the great achievements of Augustus in forging an empire, many of Washington’s methods for establishing an independent government have been modified by future leaders. American leadership changes every four to eight years. Surprisingly, despite some long reigning emperors of Rome like Augustus, the average reign is only 5 to 7 years. America’s new Presidents, like Rome’s often acted in ways that would not have been acceptable to their predecessors. Gibbon explains how different emperors shaped the Roman empire through inheritance, military coups, and political maneuvering. Some emperors were assassinated within months of their ascension. American Presidents have been assassinated but inheritance of leadership came from elections, not the power of the military or a leader’s wealth.

The power of a Roman emperor could ignore the Roman Senate and its citizens with the military might at their beckon call.

Successive Roman emperors and American presidents changed the way their governments functioned. The power of a Roman emperor could ignore the Roman Senate and its citizens with the power of the military. In contrast an American President’s government policy changes require a level of cooperation from congress, the judiciary, and the will of the people to make fundamental changes in governance. Gibbon’s history shows Roman emperors handled crises with the power of their position but the same may be argued for America if one considers Lincoln’s actions to preserve the Union with a Civil War. Both emperors and presidents used propaganda, public display, and association with religion to preserve their public image and legitimacy.

The Roman Empire and the destruction of Carthage.

Gibbon’s history of the Roman Empire in Volume 1 contrasts the good and bad that occur during the growth and survival of the Empire. There are numerous examples of horrific times for the Empire’s citizens. However, the Roman Empire lasted for 1,500 years despite what he called the loss of civic virtue, the rise of religion, military decay, economic strain, and barbarian invasion. Many of Gibbon’s noted reasons for the Roman Empire’s decline are mitigated by the brilliance of the founders of the American Constitution and the “balance of power” principle that created three branches of government. With a balance of power, neither a President, a Congress, or a Court is likely to endorse dictatorship.

A part of Gibbon’s first volume addresses the conflict between the Roman legions and what are loosely described as the barbarians. Barbarians were the non-Romans of that time.

They were the Germanic tribes of Goths, Vandals, Franks, and Alemanni. There were the Celts of Gaul and Britain, the Huns of Central Asia, the Parthians and Sassanids of the Persian empires, and the Slaves and Bulgars that arrived at the end of the Roman Empire. The distinction between a Roman soldier and a Barbarian is somewhat obscure. Though the Romans were more highly trained and operated within a structured military hierarchy, they exhibited some of the unruliness of the Barbarians who fought in loose tribal warbands. Roman’ equipment and armor were more standardized than the weapons of the Barbarians. Though some might argue the Romans had citizenship and status, they succumbed to mercenary actions just as the Barbarians often did in their tribal communities. A significant difference between the Roman soldier and Barbarians was discipline in battle. Roman soldiers fought in tight formations while the Barbarians fought with hit-and-run tactics. The interesting thought one has about that difference is the mistakes of America in Vietnam and what many consider a defeat by Ho Chi Minh’s hit-and-run tactics.

Map of the United States of America with state names.

America declared independence in 1776 which means it has lasted for 249 years. There seems little reason to believe America cannot survive more years, i.e. presuming global warming, nuclear war, virus creation, or some other unimagined catastrophic event destroys human life.

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