MOST INTERESTING ESSAYS 12/4/25: THEORY & TRUTH, MEMORY & INTELLIGENCE, PSYCHIATRY, WRITING, EGYPT IN 2019, LIVE OR DIE, GARDEN OF EDEN, SOCIAL DYSFUNCTION, DEATH ROW, RIGHT & WRONG, FRANTZ FANON, TRUTHINESS, CONSPIRACY, LIBERALITY, LIFE IS LIQUID, BECOMING god-LIKE, TIPPING POINT, VANISHING WORLD
The immense downside of an unpredictive future is the many setbacks that will occur because of inept political leadership. Science is not an answer. It is only a tool for understanding.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
Science in the 20th Century (A Social-Intellectual Survey)
By: The Great Courses
Narrated By:Steven L. Goldman
Professor Steven L. Goldman.
Goldman’s review of 2oth century science identifies the fundamental change that has occurred in today’s perception of reality. One wonders if Albert Einstein was wrong about the predictability of science. Even at the end of Einstein’s life, he believed quantum mechanics was just a step in scientific research and not a basis for the truth of reality. Einstein insisted there was an undiscovered law about the nature of reality that would return life to predictability. The details of Goldman’s “Science in the 20th Century” infers otherwise.
Unpredictability of life’s existence is reinforced by Professor Goldman’s summary of scientific discoveries.
What is true of physics in the world, seems true for all the sciences. Whether reviewing the physical, biological, algorithmic, social, or applied sciences, unpredictability exists. Every science seems as unpredictable for the same reason as noted in the science of the quantum world. One cannot identity both position and momentum of an atomic particle at the same time. By the same measure, popularly elected representatives or authoritarian dictatorships cannot be measured by their position and direction of action. One can see a leader’s position but not measure their direction until the direction is past. Who would have thought Hitler would be the instigator of WWII? World leaders today are just as unpredictable. Citizens cannot measure leader’s positions and direction in advance. Citizens can only see one or the other at a specific point in time–never both position and direction at the same time.
What Goldman’s history of science implies is that if we live in a world of quantum mechanics, all life is, always has been, and always will be, unpredictable.
The solace in this possible truth is that, though there is still immense societal conflict and inequality in the world, science has improved society.
Technology has improved communication, transportation and daily life.
Vaccines, antibiotics, and surgical operations have drastically improved helath and life expectancy.
The world population has become more literate and has greater access to education than ever before.
Equality and justice show some progress in human rights, gender equality and social inclusion.
Enviornmental awareness has improved to combat climate change which has led to renewal energy innovations and conservation initiatives.
The world has increased connectivity to improve cultural exchange, economic collaboration and shared global interests.
Science is not an answer. It is only a tool for understanding.
The immense downside of an unpredictive future is the many setbacks that will occur because of inept political leadership. From the perspective of quantum mechanics, one hopes leadership means do not justify humanity’s end.
There is enough abundance in the world to create opportunity for all, but Ernaux’s history implies people must change their ways.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
The Years
By: Annie Ernaux
Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
Annie Ernaux (Author, French writer, 2022 Nobel Prize winner, born in 1940.)
Annie Ernaux offers a perspective on history from the experience of her life as a French woman in the mid 20th to 21st century. Though born before the beginning of World War II, Ernaux matures as a young woman in the 1950s. A striking difference between the history of this time is the difference between Algeria’s drive for independence and American’s mistakes in Vietnam. French Algeria is less understood in American memories than its troubled history in Vietnam. Aside from misunderstanding France’s Algerian experience, the social changes Ernaux’s notes are similar to many Americans’ experiences in Vietnam.
Eisenhower’s, Kennedy’s, and Johnson’s leadership in the Vietnam war seem, in some respects, similar to Ernaux’s memory of Charles de Gaulle’s leadership in Algeria.
Eisenhower and Kennedy were veterans of war who became leaders of their countries. Though Eisenhower and Kennedy believed Vietnam was a threat as a communist Domino, de Gaulle believed Algeria was a threat to France’s right to colonize. These famous nationalist leaders were wrong. Southeast Asian countries had a right to choose their own form of government, and Algeria had a right to choose self-government.
Though Annie Ernaux was born just before 1946, she matured during great changes in the world.
Her experience of post-war reconstruction, the rise of consumerism, women’s rights, sexual liberation, social class differentiation, and societal norms changed in America, France, and most nations of the world.
George Marshall was Secretary of State from 1947 to 49 and headed the Marshall Plan to reconstruct Europe after the war.
America played a great part in the financial reconstruction of Europe, Japan, and Germany after the end of WWII. America’s goal was to prevent future conflicts, promote economic recovery, and counter the influence of communism, but in that process, America influenced social norms throughout the world. Some of the influences created clear lines of opposition between communism, socialism, and capitalism. However, all economic systems influenced societal change. Whether communist, socialist, or capitalist there were changes in normative social values. Societies increased consumerism, instituted policies for equal rights to some degree, and made class distinctions based on money, or its equivalent, i.e., power. In capitalist and socialist societies, social position became more about money and the power of its influence. In communist societies, it was more about power and the influence of money. Political differences remained sharply divided in ways that influenced social norms, but the general direction was similar. Communism, socialism, capitalism, and all its derivations focused on consumerism, women’s rights, and class differences that changed the world during Annie Ernaux’s “…Years” of life.
American President Harry Truman led the U.S. from 1945 to 1953.Emperor Hirohito next to MacArthur was emperor of Japan from 1926-1989. Mao was China’s leader from 1924 to 1953. Stalin led Russia from 1943 to 1976.Charles de Gaulle effectively led France from 1944 to 1959 with the last ten years as France’s President.
Feckless leaders, deluded authoritarians, and a few truly service-oriented leaders rose in every system of government, including American, English, Japanese, Chinese, French, Russian, and other nations. The main differences lay in leader’s longevity, and their economic policies. Leaders of China and Russia having fewer leadership changes between 1946 and 2006 than most nations were largely authoritarian. There were 6 leadership changes in China and 9 in the Soviet Union. Only 1 of 6 in China and only 1 of 9 in the Soviet Union leaned toward capitalism.
From 1946 to 2006, there were 11 presidents in America, 13 prime ministers in England, 32 prime ministers in Japan, and 6 presidents in France. All of these democratic nations exclusively leaned toward capitalism.
However, Ernaux’s history infers every nation shows social norms changing in similar ways. Even China and Russia show changes in consumerism, women’s rights, sexual liberation, and class differentiation. Unquestionably, the societal changes did not change to the same degree, but they were similar. Maladies of society are common in all forms of government, only the degree of change in societal norms is different. All nations have more or less consumer opportunities, more or less human equality, all have class distinctions, but normative change is a work in progress, not an end but a beginning process.
Annie Ernaux in earlier years of her life.
Ernaux’s trip down memory lane is interesting but not particularly revelatory. Her remembrance of the past is helpful because she shows how social change evolved in both good and bad ways in her own life. Consumerism seems on the edge of being out of control with money and wealth being the “sine qua non” of the good life. Without money, life seemed not worth living to some. Ernaux suggests America has become an arrogant example of wealth and privilege that diminishes civility. Ernaux is not suggesting she is above the fray of wealth as privilege and reveals her own character flaws by noting affairs with younger men in what seems a wasted attempt to reclaim youth. She implies a prejudice against Arabs and Africans who she believes wrongly consider themselves as French. She infers they are not French because they are not white Christians, even if they are born in France.
One comes away from “The Years” with a feeling that societies of the world are at a crossroad.
Wealth should not be the measure of one’s social value and privilege. Inequality is a sin against humanity. Prejudice is the cause of much of the world’s conflict. Immigration is a misunderstood value of societal comity. Tolerance of all religious beliefs has been an unresolvable puzzle but a desirable societal goal. There is enough abundance in the world to create opportunity for all, but Ernaux’s history implies people must change their ways.
Only with education and understanding of the past can society or the individual change their future.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
Cowboy Apocalypse (Religion and the Myth of the Vigilante Messiah)
By: Rachel Wagner
Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
Rachel Wagner (Author, professor of religion and philosophy at Ithaca College in Ithaca New York.)
Rachel Wagner has written a highly personal book about American gun culture that will resonate with some and appall others. As an academic philosopher and professor of religion, Wagner analyzes gun violence and sexism and how belief in “might makes right” is deeply ingrained in American character.
There are so many stories of death and injury from gun violence in America that one becomes numbed by Wagner’s apocalyptic story.
We were living in Las Vegas when 59 people were killed, and 527 were injured by one gunman in a hotel room less than 3 miles from our home. When one looks at statistics of children murdered in school rooms since 2010, a solution for gun violence should be urgent, but it appears not.
Rise in school shootings between 2010 and 2o19.
Wagner argues gun violence in the U.S. is viewed by much of the public as a belief in the myth of the “good guy with a gun” that is embedded in the history of America and reinforced by fictional stories, books, television, and the movies. She argues detective fiction like “The Big Sleep”, TV series like “Have Gun Will Travel”, and movies like “Die Hard” have lone heroes who defeat dastardly villains.
Think Alan Ladd in “Shane” or John Wayne in any of his westerns, and one believes gun-toting man-gods keep the world safe.
Wagner shows how malleable society is and why the gun lobby is rewarded and sustained by the myth of the “good guy with a gun”. Wagner argues gun-toting Americans have become gods in their own mind. What they really are is examples to potential killers of school children and unsuspecting tourists.
HAVE GUN WILL TRAVELDIE HARD
Wagner believes American gun obsession has wheedled its way into a religious narrative based on Christian apocalypticism and romanticization of American history. She notes the myths of armed vigilantes who are seen as saviors who can reset society when it goes astray. This myth seeps into American cultural shibboleths of white supremacy and patriarchal dominance that pervade video games, movies, and novels.
Wagner argues sexual and racial inequality are exacerbated by America’s gun culture. Wagner notes an experience in her personal life and her education in religion show how “might makes right” has been, and still is, a danger to society.
Wagner argues America needs to look in the mirror and quit glorifying firearms and vigilante justice. She suggests the January 6th attack on the capitol shows how widespread belief in vigilante justice is in America.
January 6, 2021, insurrection when a mob of supporters of then-President Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol.
The philosophical and religious beliefs of the author are made clear in her final chapters. Only with education and understanding of the past can society or the individual change their future.
Unless homelessness is addressed with affordable housing, America’s future looks bleak. A land of have and have-nots will grow to crush American prosperity.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
Abundance
By: Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson
Narrated by: The Authors
Ezra Klein (American political commentator and “NYT’ journalist.) Derek Thompson (American podcaster and journalist @ “The Atlantic”.)
These two young Americans offer an insightful view of politics and American government in the 21st century.
Donald TrumpKamela Harris
Klein or Thompson could have voted for either Trump or Harris in America’s last election. Their book argues American government is both a boon and bane for citizen “Abundance” in the 21st century. They note America has contradictory economic policies that have created great abundance among Americans while exacerbating inequality. Evidence for their opinion is growing homelessness, an immigration crisis, loss of manufacturing jobs, and government’s failure to creatively adjust public policies to provide solutions.
Those who have shared in the abundance of America have voted for candidates to preserve their privileges.
The authors note homelessness is a function of affordable housing that is denied by government policies that regulate zoning and construction requirements. Government policies make affordable housing too costly to build and impossible to locate because of zoning restrictions. The number of people living on the street is a self-inflicted American tragedy. Some of the homeless are young, some are old, some have mental or physical problems, and others are victims of drugs or their own weaknesses. What they have in common is unaffordable housing.
Historically, immigration has been a great boon to American economic growth.
Klien and Thompson note restrictive immigration policies have created obstacles for workers needed for manufacturing in key industries like agriculture, auto industry assembly, housing construction, and clean energy infrastructure. Rather than wasting money on building walls and deporting workers, the authors advocate immigration reform that meets the needs of American business. One can imply the authors meaning is that to “Make America Great Again” requires immigrants willing to work in agricultural and manufacturing jobs. The end of the baby boom requires help from immigrants to meet the needs of increased manufacturing and construction in the United States.
Some believe what Trump is doing is good for the American economy in the long run.
The criticism is that in the short run, the economy may collapse. Tariffs being used as a ham-fisted way of negotiating fair international trade is a fool’s errand. America needs labor and material in the short run to achieve equal and greater prosperity than it had in the 1970s. Added manufacturing will aid American prosperity, but it will be surpassed in the long run by automation. It is the automation race America needs to win or compete with to remain a world leader. Competing in that race depends on education, and scientific research. The irony is that Trump is firing government employees who have responsibility for public education, research, and funding that have been the engines of America’s prosperity.
The government employees discharged by the Trump administration to solely reduce costs is short sighted.
In the 1980s, 60% of basic research in the U.S. was funded by the government. In 2022 that funding dropped to 40%. Advances in semiconductors, global positions systems, biotechnology, and aeronautics were government-funded discoveries in the 1980s. American government-funded scientific research gave America the internet, GPS technology, mass production of penicillin, Space exploration, human genome project discoveries, and renewable energy innovations. The Department of Health and Human Services has lost 20,000 employees, the Department of Education 1,300, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 800, and the National Institutes of Health 1,200. One wonders how many of these employees may have been on the edge of scientific discoveries that could change the world.
The truth of “Abundance” is that America has caused many negative ecological impacts and aggravated the gap between rich and poor.
Klein and Thompson have written a provocative book. However, the truth of “Abundance” in America has caused many negative ecological impacts and aggravated the gap between rich and poor. Looking only to abundance does not address either social inequality or the environment. The NIMBY (not in my back yard) resistance to affordable housing aggravates inequality and increases homelessness. Unquestionably, higher density housing impacts the environment.
Klein and Thompson fail to address the increased power of corporations in America.
The 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission gave corporations the power to spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns. The influence of corporations on elections has disproportionate power in the election of government policy makers. That decision by the Court is a distortion of one person, one voter’s influence on public policy.
Aristotle emphasized the importance of “All things in moderation”. NIMBY communities must open their minds and hearts to homelessness and moderate their resistance to neighborhood accommodation. Government agencies must supervise and service higher density housing impacts wherever they are built and after they are completed.
Unless homelessness is addressed with affordable housing, America’s future looks bleak. A land of have and have-nots will grow to crush American prosperity.
In light of Donald Trump’s disruption of government employment, one wonders what foreign and domestic conspiracies are being missed?
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
The Looming Tower (Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11)
By: Lawrence Wright
Edited By: Alan Sklar
Lawrence Wright (Author, writer and journalist.)
Lawrence Wright won the Pulitzer Prize for his meticulous research and writing on the origin of Al-Qaeda and its lead up to the 9/11 attack on America. “The Looming Tower” is not a popular audiobook for some Americans. It tells listener/readers of America’s intelligence failure in the early 21st century. A militant Muslim religious organization is created in the Middle East with intent and successful execution of an attack on the United States in 2o01.
Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966, Egyptian Author, Educator, Islamic Theorist, Poet, former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood.)
A name not well known by most Americans is Sayyid Qutb (pronounced koo-tube), a Muslim religious believer and scholar. Wright suggests Qutb laid the groundwork for Islamist extremism in a religious organization called the Brotherhood. Though Qutb was raised in Egypt and gained his education at a Cairo teacher’s school called Dar al-‘Ulum, he spent two years at the University of Northern Colorado between 1948 and 1950. Wright argues Qutb’s experience in America shaped his views of Western society and, in particular, America. He believed and wrote that the moral and cultural nature of non-Islamic society was decadent. Wright suggests Qutb warranted violence against the West because his experience in Colorado showed Western culture corrupted Islamic values.
The World Trade Center collapse killed 2,753 civilians, firefighters, and law enforcement officers.
In The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright suggests the primary motivation for 9/11 stemmed from ideological and cultural grievances rooted in extremist interpretations of Islam. Osama bin-Laden is shown to have adopted beliefs that were the same as those of Qutb, i.e. the belief that all who were not adherent to the Muslim religion were infidels and subject to damnation in this life and in their life after death. Wright emphasizes the influence of figures like Sayyid Qutb, who’s disdain for Western values and culture laid the philosophical groundwork for jihadist movements. Qutb, and subsequent al-Qaeda leaders like Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, believed that Western influences were corrupting Islamic society and threatening Muslim values and beliefs.
Osama bin-Laden is estimated to have inherited $25 million to $30 million dollars from his father Mohammed bin Laden when he died. Osama chose to use his wealth to destroy American cultural and religious symbols he believed were contrary to Muslim beliefs.
The book outlines how bin Laden and his network were driven by anti-Western ideology to oppose U.S. foreign policies in the Middle East. Al Qaeda wished to assert power by attacking symbolic targets. The 9/11 attacks were meant to provoke a dramatic response from the U.S. and further polarize the world along ideological lines, feeding into their long-term vision of a global jihad. Wright meticulously explores how these motivations were cultivated over decades. “The Looming Tower” is a compelling and deeply researched account of the events leading up to 9/11 in 2001.
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1941-1989, father of global jihad, a Palestinian-Jordanian’ Islamist jihadist and theologian, is killed in a car bomb, along with his 2 sons, in Peshawar, Pakistan.)
Osama bin-Laden’s father was a billionaire construction magnet in Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden, and the many heirs of his father, enabled his many children to live lives in luxury if they chose. Osama chose to use his wealth to destroy American cultural and religious symbols he believed were contrary to Muslim beliefs. Abdullah Azzam was often referred to as the “father of global jihad,” Azzam was a mentor to bin Laden and played a significant role in shaping his ideology. He encouraged bin Laden to channel his resources into the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union. The irony of bin Laden’s choice is that he was an incompetent military leader but an effective promoter and steward of jihad, the effort to live a righteous life, avoid sin and uphold the principles of Islam. A further irony is that bin Laden’s murder of innocents seems a sin of the highest degree.
Osama bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011, during a U.S. military operation called Operation Neptune Spear.
The mission was carried out by SEAL Team Six, a special operations unit of the U.S. Navy, at bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This was eleven years after the world trade center, Pentagon, and flight 93 crash. The Trade Center collapse killed 2,753 civilians, firefighters, and law enforcement officers. The Pentagon attack killed 184 military and civilian personnel. Flight 93 resulted in 40 passenger and crew deaths. In a complex web of influence and support, “The Looming Tower” emphasizes the attacks were the result of al-Qaeda’s planning and execution by followers of Osama bin Laden.
Wright notes Ayman al-Zawahiri became Bin Laden’s second-in-command and a key strategist for al-Qaeda. Zawahiri takes control of al-Qaeda after bin Laden’s death.
Ayman al-Zawahiri’s background in Egyptian Islamic Jihad and his partnership with bin Laden were pivotal in the group’s evolution. Ayman al-Zawahiri became the leader of al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden was killed. An American operation that killed al-Zawahiri in 2022 was carried out by the CIA that targeted him on the balcony of a safe house in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Wright notes that bin Laden received financial support from members of the Saudi elite during the early stages of his jihadist activities, though this relationship soured over time.
Jamal al-Fadl was an al-Qaeda operative who helped establish the organization’s financial infrastructure. He later defected and provided critical intelligence to the U.S. about al-Qaeda’s operations. Many individuals and entities played pivotal roles in enabling bin Laden’s vision and the expansion of al-Qaeda. Wright’s book delves deeply into their motivations and actions. It’s a fascinating, albeit chilling, exploration of history.
John P. O’Neillwas an FBI counter-terrorism expert who tirelessly pursued bin Laden.
John P. O’Neillwas an FBI counter-terrorism expert who tirelessly pursued bin Laden. Tragically, O’Neill died in the 9/11 attack while serving as head of security at the World Trade Center. The FBI had gathered significant domestic intelligence on al-Qaeda operatives within the United States, including their movements and activities. However, the CIA, focused on foreign intelligence. They withheld crucial information about al-Qaeda’s overseas operations and connections because foreign intelligence was their exclusive responsibility. This lack of coordination with the FBI (limited to domestic terrorism), and rivalry between the agencies, meant that neither had a complete picture of the threat. The CIA had knowledge of al-Qaeda members Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi who were two team members for the attacks on 9/11. Because of a lack of cooperation between agencies, the FBI did not know they should be tracking these individuals. They became key players in hijacking American Airlines Flight 77 which plowed into the Pentagon.
In The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright emphasizes the significance of John O’Neill, an FBI counterterrorism expert, as one of the most important figures who recognized the threat posed by Osama bin Laden. O’Neill was deeply committed to tracking al-Qaeda and warned about its intentions, but his efforts were often hindered by interagency conflicts and bureaucratic obstacles. Wright portrays O’Neill as a passionate and prescient individual who understood the gravity of al Qaeda’s threat long before many others did.
In The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright highlights the CIA’s Alec Station, who tracked Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. This unit was led by Michael Scheuer, a CIA analyst who played a pivotal role in gathering intelligence on bin Laden during the 1990s. Alec Station was instrumental in understanding al-Qaeda’s operations, though the book criticizes the interagency conflicts that hindered surveillance effectiveness. Wright paints a vivid picture of the challenges faced by intelligence agencies in the lead-up to 9/11.
Michael Scheuer, a CIA analyst who played a pivotal role in gathering intelligence on bin Laden during the 1990s.
On the CIA side, Michael Scheuer, who led Alec Station (the CIA’s unit that was monitoring bin Laden), played a role in identifying the danger. However, Wright notes the lack of collaboration between the FBI and CIA, ultimately undermined their ability to prevent the attacks. The book paints a vivid picture of the challenges faced in navigating institutional rivalries while trying to protect the nation. Wright’s narrative is both compelling and sobering.
“The Looming Tower” highlights how some individuals connected to al-Qaeda faced legal consequences. For example, figures like Ali Mohamed, a former U.S. Army sergeant turned al-Qaeda operative, was prosecuted for his role in supporting terrorism. Mohamed provided critical intelligence and training to al-Qaeda and was eventually arrested and convicted in the U.S.
In light of Donald Trump’s disruption of government employment, one wonders what foreign and domestic conspiracies are being missed?
George Faludy suggests the most popular books written by Erasmus were “The Praise of Folly” and “Colloquies” which are similar in that they offer humorous and insightful stories of the human condition. One leaves Faludy’s biography of “Erasmus” with the thought that these two should be read, particularly because of the time in which we live today.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
ERASMUS
By: George Faludy
György Bernát József Leimdörfer aka George Faludy (1910-2006) Author, Hungarian poet and translator.
George Faludy’s biography of Erasmus was published in 1970. A few years ago, I purchased a paperback edition of Faludy’s book because of an interest in a 16th century “man of the cloth” (an ordained Catholic priest) who became a devotee of Francesco Petraca (better known as Petrarch who is considered the father of humanism). Erasmus was born in 1466 and died in 1536. He believed in the value, dignity, and potential of human beings. Petrarch had been dead for a hundred years when Erasmus became a proponent of humanism at a time when Catholic’ Indulgences were challenged by Martin Luther. Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses led to a schism in the church leading to the establishment of Protestantism.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses led to a schism in the church leading to the establishment of Protestantism.
It is hard to imagine how Erasmus managed to become a leader in reforming the Catholic Church with his humanist beliefs. Erasmus walks a fine line between the schism fomented by Martin Luther and his belief in reform. Erasmus wrote the famous work “The Praise of Folly” that was a satirical critique of societal and ecclesiastical practices of the Catholic church without joining the movement started by Luther. On the one hand, Erasmus agreed with Luther on the importance of faith and the perfidy of “indulgences” sold by the Church. Indulgences were to raise money with alleged religious guaranties for a Catholic’s admittance to heaven. On the other, Erasmus insisted on faith in God and reform, not abandonment of the Catholic church. Erasmus’s academic and scholarly review and interpretation of religious texts convinced him that the Church only needed reform, not schism.
Faludy carefully explains the tumultuous relationship between Erasmus and Luther that at times seemed to break but survived their fundamental disagreement on reform versus schism.
Erasmus acknowledged many misrepresentations of religious text with an unwavering belief in the divinity of their origin. As one who is skeptical about the divinity of religious texts, it is encouraging to read of this highly respected scholar’s belief in their truth. Faludy’s biography of Erasmus may not change an agnostic’s mind about God, but it will give one pause because of Erasmus’s reported research of original religious works in Greek, Latin, and other languages, i.e., a skill beyond most peoples’ capabilities.
Faludy does not write of Erasmus as a saintly person but as a well-educated and diligent scholar.
A surprising note by Faludy is that Erasmus suffered from syphilis which suggests something less than perfection in Erasmus’s character. However, Faludy’s note is not corroborated by any other information known to this reviewer.
Faludy suggested the most popular books written by Erasmus were “The Praise of Folly” and “Colloquies” which are similar in that they offer humorous and insightful stories of the human condition. One leaves Faludy’s biography of “Erasmus” with the thought that these two should be read, particularly because of the time in which we live today.
Government is not a business for profit and should not be solely measured by its cost. America will survive the catastrophic mistakes being made by President Trump but American citizens, and the welfare of the world will suffer for years to come.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
Who is Government (The Untold Story of Public Service)
By: Michael Lewis, Casey Cep, Dave Eggers, John Lanchester, Geraldine Brooks, Sarah Vowell, and Kamau Bell
Edited By: Michael Lewis
The stories of these writers are a tribute to those who have chosen careers in American government. Having personally earned a master’s degree in public administration, worked as a local government manager, then as a manager of a private business division, and finally, as a personal business owner, I have an opinion about President Trump. My experience is based on three different types of employment. All were rewarding experiences but in fundamentally different ways.
DONALD TRUMPELON MUSK
The writers of “Who is Government” show how ignorant business creators and managers like Donald Trump and Elon Musk are in discounting the contribution of employees of government organizations. Private corporations do not survive without profit to its owners. Public organizations do not survive without service to the public.
Profit is simple to measure. Public service is measurable but more abstract and difficult to quantify.
One can choose, like Musk did with Twitter, to reduce costs by firing employees. That may improve profitability but at a cost that may hurt or destroy the future of a business. In the case of Twitter, the company lost much of their advertising revenue because an unsupervised public forum could spread false and defamatory information that embarrasses advertisers who were protected by Twitter’ employees that were fired. No analysis was done by Musk about Twitter information’ controls provided by employees. The new entity, “X”, seems to have assuaged some advertisers’ concerns because they have started to use Musk’s new company. The point is that if Musk had taken more time to evaluate what fired employees were doing, he may have retained many of the advertisers who left the forum.
Trump’s employment of Musk to decimate the government employee workforce is following the same foolish path that was taken with Twitter.
No analysis of employee contributions is made. The goal is only to reduce government’ cost regardless of employee’ contribution to public need or service. The consequences have likely reduced health and welfare of American citizens; not to mention harm done to incomes of thousands of government employees’ families.
GEORGE WASHINGTONHARRY TRUMANJIMMY CARTERGEORGE WALKER BUSH (43RD PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES)
With exceptions of George Washington, Harry Truman, Carter, and the two Bush presidents, the worst former businessman that became President was Herbert Hoover who served as President before the greatest depression in America’s history. With Trump as President, one has to wonder whether he is leading America and the world toward its second great depression.
HERBERT HOOVER (31ST PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.)
“Who is Government” illustrates how government employees have contributed to the health and welfare of America. They are unknown and viewed by people like Trump and Musk as just a cost, without benefit to the public. How many science, medical, veteran, and welfare services are being decimated by their narrow vision of government management?
Government is not a business for profit and should not be solely measured by its cost. America will survive the catastrophic mistakes being made by President Trump but American citizens, and the welfare of the world will suffer for years to come.
Murakami is one of the great writers of modern times. In “after the quake”, Murakami reduces the great and horrid loss of the many to the feelings of the “one”
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
“after the quake”
By: Haruki Murakami
Narrated By: Rupert Degas, Teresa Gallagher, Adam Sims
Haruki Murakami offers a series of short stories in “after the quake” that remind one of the frailties of human beings. Humans lie, steal, cheat and war against each in ways that exceed natural disasters. Murakami’s short stories are funny, sad, and insightful views of humanity that show we often foment our own disasters.
Each short story revolves around the social implications of the Kobe’ earthquake. Murakami cleverly weaves his stories to reflect on events that change one’s direction in life. The events can be as great as an earthquake, a war, or a singular lost love. The first is nature’s way; the second and third are humans’ way.
Human relationships are as unpredictable and destructive as natural disasters. The human’ Lushan rebellion in 8th century China is estimated to have killed 13 million people, the Mongol invasion in the 13th and 14th century 20 to 60 million, the Taiping rebellion in mid-19th century China 20-30 million, and two world wars in the 20th century at 83-107 million. This is without noting China’s famine that killed millions because of Mao’s mistakes in the Great Leap Forward, Stalin’s repression in Russia, and today’s wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Natural disasters are horrendous events, but human nature has murdered more than earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, and other natural disasters.
The cataclysmic events of nature affect the many, but Murakami shows scale means nothing in respect to the effect it has on the “one”. He cleverly shows how singular events can overwhelm one relationship as portentously as natural or man-made disasters can overwhelm all relationships.
Murakami is one of the great writers of modern times. In “after the quake”, Murakami reduces the great and horrid loss of the many to the feelings of the “one”. His stories show that a personal loss of an imaginary friend or a real love is as catastrophic to the one as a natural disaster or war is to the many.
Harmony and pragmatism undoubtedly remain important characteristics of Chinese society. Time will tell whether societal harmony can be maintained by an increasingly authoritarian leader.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
The Chinese Looking Glass (The most illuminating book yet written on China and her enigmatic people.)
By: Dennis Bloodworth
Dennis Bloodworth (1919-2005) Author, journalist, British writer at The Observer, first British journalist allowed to visit China in 1955.
“The Chinese Looking Glass” is a whirlwind journey across the vast history of China by the first British writer allowed to visit China in 1955. It is a primer for a general understanding of China that was originally published in 1966 and updated in 1980. The author’s marriage to Liang Ching Ping adds credibility to his view of Chinese culture.
One reads Bloodworth’s book and is somewhat overwhelmed by its breadth. So many generations of Chinese culture are too much to cover in a 400+page book.
The author manages to give a broad understanding of a Chinese worldview that is shaped by Confucian and Taoist history, a collective identity that often conflicts with the Western culture of individualism. He notes Chinese traditions are based on filial piety (meaning duties, respect and devotion of children to their parents). Bloodworth notes, through many generations of Chinese culture, behavior and decision-making there is a focus on social harmony. Both Confucianism and Taoism play significant roles in shaping Chinese society.
Bloodworth notes Confucianism and Taoism shape Chinese society.
Piety, respect for hierarchy, education, and a focus on societal harmony were philosophical foundations of Chinese governance. Piety led governance toward strict rules and centralized authority. Historical figures like Confucius, Laozi, and Sun Tzu influenced Chinese culture and thought. The spiritual tradition of Buddhism reinforced the teaching of these cultural influencers. Buddhism emphasizes the suffering of life is caused by desire, and attachment. Buddhist teaching is that desire and attachment must be replaced by understanding and rejection of both through meditation and mindfulness.
Because democracy focuses on individual rights and freedoms, the ideals of collective harmony, hierarchical structure, and centralize authority make communism a better fit for Chinese culture.
Mao Zedong (1893-1976)
Mao unified China after decades of war and instability. Bloodworth suggests Mao Zedong had a nuanced impact on China.
However, Mao’s centralized power resulted in big economic mistakes like the famine of the Great Leap Forward that caused misleading food production reports meant to please the government when production was much less than what was needed to sustain life for Chinese citizens. With famine, the Cultural Revolution is unleashed, and China’s growth and stability were set back. Bloodworth had observed China’s governing always included pragmatism and adaptability to their drive for cultural harmony.
Though Bloodworth mentions Deng Xiaoping in the last chapters of his expanded edition of “The Chinese Looking Glass”, he does not foresee the opening of the Chinese economy and its rapid economic expansion.
The pragmatic realization that collectivization of farming led to misleading information about production compelled Deng to open agricultural production to a more market-driven incentive to preserve social stability. Deng was an authoritarian as is evidenced by his decision on the Tienanmen Square crises.
Though Bloodworth did not live to see the next iteration of China’s leadership, an element of recidivism enters with Xi’s control of the government.
Harmony and pragmatism undoubtedly remain important characteristics of Chinese society. Time will tell whether societal harmony can be maintained by an increasingly authoritarian leader.
One wonders if Abdulrazak Gurnah is proffering an opinion about race relations in the world or just leaving a lifeline for those disappointed by relationship failures.
Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog
Admiring Silence
By: Abdulerazak Gurnah
Narrated By: Unnamed person from Zanzibar
Abdulerazak Gurnah (Author, Tanzanian-born British novelist and academic, moved to the UK in 1960.)
A little context for “Admiring Silence” will help understand Abdulerazak Gurnah’s interesting and troubling story. Gurnah received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2021. “Admiring Silence” is the latest book published by Gurnah in 2020. He had written four earlier books: Memory of Departure (1987), Paradise (1994), By the Sea (2001), and Desertion (2005).
“Admiring Silence” is not a biography but an interesting story about a long-term relationship of a Black emigrant and a white woman who meet in Zanzibar (an island archipelago off the coast of Tanzania) and move to London. The two had met in a Zanzibar’ restaurant where they both worked. The Black emigrant leaves his native country with his restaurant mate.
Gurnah describes the two as lovers who are struggling restaurant workers who wish to improve their lives through higher education. An opportunity to attend a university leads the two to decide to emigrate to London because of their similar academic ambition. The two are enrolled at a university and both become teachers in England. Gurnah sets a table for understanding what life is like for an unwed mixed-race couple in mid-twentieth century England.
Their life together is complicated by the birth of a daughter and the father’s decision to visit his homeland when he is in his forties.
No one in Zanzibar knows he has a teenage daughter with an unmarried white woman he lives with in England. His mother wishes to fix him up with a future Black Muslim wife. The interest one has grows with the circumstances of Gurnah’s imaginative story.
What is it like to be in a racially mixed marriage in 1960s England?
How does a mixed-race child feel about her life in a predominantly white country?
What does a Black family think about their son having a mixed-race family?
Having lived together for 20 years and had a child, why haven’t they married?
How does the relationship between different races affect the feelings of a couple that chooses not to marry but have a child born to them?
Is Gurnah’s story representative enough to give one the answers?
The first question is largely unanswered. The last question is impossible to answer but the other four imply Gurnah’s opinion. Marriage is always a work in progress whether it is of a mixed-race couple or not. However, there is a distinction based on race when it comes to a man’s and woman’s personal relationship because of the dimension of racism. Every couple chooses to work through differences and become more or less committed to staying together but two people of different races face discrimination associated with racism, unequal treatment, and economic inequality existing in a country’s dominant racial profile.
Gurnah does not address how a mixed-race child deals with life in a predominantly white country, but one can imagine it depends in part on how distinctive a difference is in the color of their skin in relation to the dominate racial profile.
In terms of the daughter’s relationship with her parents, one presumes it is likely the same parent/child conflicts of all families. Some fathers are more distant than others just as some mothers range from helicopter to equally distant parents.
That these two lovers who have been together for so long without getting married, after their daughter is born, seems like a flashing yellow light, a cautionary notice of something is about to change.
When the father’s mother writes from Zanzibar to have him visit after being away for so long, flashes a yellow light that eventually turns red. He returns for a visit to Zanzibar at the encouragement of his partner. The partner’s encouragement seems disingenuous, i.e. more like a desire for a relationship break than a supportive gesture. The last chapters confirm that suspicion. A break-up occurs soon after the father returns. There is a brief father/daughter reconciliation, but the daughter also decides to separate from her father.
An interesting point is made by Gurnah about a Muslim Black person leaving a poverty-stricken country of his birth to a country of wealth and a different culture.
It is the wish of his Zanzibar’ family for the father to return to help with the disarray and economic disparity of his home country; as well as marry a local Black Muslim girl who wishes to become a doctor. The presumption is that if one leaves their poor country to become prosperous in a wealthy country, they have some magical power to help their poverty-stricken home-countries. It is of little concern to the family about his committed relationship to another but more about what his life is like in his newly adopted country and what he can offer to his homeland from what he has learned. The Muslim girl the mother wishes him to marry is twenty years old. Her son is in his 40s. Tt appears the primary reason for such a marriage is to help the young woman become a doctor. In the end, the son recognizes this is not practical but clearly understandable considering the poverty in Zanzibar.
Gurnah cleverly injects a conversation with a Nigerian Muslim woman on his plane ride back to London before his white lover’s rejection of their relationship.
The Nigerian woman has been divorced from her English husband for several years. It was an emotionally difficult divorce for her. A mix-up on a missing passport allows the father to find contact information for the divorcee. One wonders if Gurnah is proffering an opinion about race relations in the world or just leaving a lifeline for those disappointed by relationship failures.
REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE 