REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE

TERROR

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’Neill was an FBI counter-terrorism expert who tirelessly pursued bin Laden.

John P. O’Neill was 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?

MOZART

This review does not do justice to Swafford’s excellent history of Mozart. One of the most revelatory and entertaining parts of Swafford’s history is the bawdy, funny, and clever poetry that Wolfgang’s letters reveal about his personality. Genius takes many forms.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Mozart (The Reign of Love)

By: Jan Swafford

Edited By: Tim Cambell

Jan Swafford (Author, American composer, lecturer and writer.)

Jan Swafford has written a magnificent biography that diminishes and reinforces the comedic/tragic/brilliant characterization of Mozart in the film Amadeus. By any measure, Mozart is shown by Swafford to be a funny and brilliant musician while widely considered by musicologists as one of the greatest composers of all time.

Tom Hulse as Mozart in the movie “Amadeus”.

Vaguely remembering the film, the comedy enacted by Tom Hulce was hilarious, but Swafford shows how truly remarkable Mozart was as a violin and piano musician who began at the age of seven to tour Europe with his eleven-year-old sister, and their father, in 1762. The film is entertaining but misses the immense talent of this family’ trio in his book “Mozart”.

Maria Anna Mozart (1751-1829) Sister of Wolfgang Mozart was a highly talented musician who played piano and toured with Wolfgang when he was 7 and she was 11.

Though Maria Anna Mozart may not have been a genius like her brother, Swafford explains she was a piano prodigy as a result of her father’s guidance as a music teacher. Leopold Mozart may have been a helicopter father who dominated his children’s lives but his contribution to their success is made clear by Swafford.

Leopold Mozart (1719-1787, father of Wolfgang and Maria Anna Mozart.)

Though Leopold Mozart is criticized by some as an over controller of his son’s life, it seems unlikely that Wolfgang Mozart would have become such a great musician and composer without his father. Wolfgang came to revile his father’s control of the family’s income that is largely a result of his daughter’s and son’s talents. Swafford shows how instrumental Leopold was in creating Mozart’s legendary abilities. Leopold was a great teacher who adjusted his teaching methods to the innate interests of his son and daughter. His daughter’s precocity did not reach the level of her brother’s success, but one wonders how much of her fame and ability is related to societal misogyny?

This remarkable history of the Mozart family makes one wonder what makes the difference between geniuses like da Vinci, Newton, Einstein, Dickinson and others and those of us who are ordinary. One presumes it is a combination of genetic disposition, education, and luck. All of these circumstances are presumed and revealed by Swafford in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s life.

Swafford notes two women in Wolfgang’s life that were important. They were sisters. In 1777, Wolfgang sent a letter to his father about Aloysia Weber (on the left) and the possibility of her traveling with him to Paris. Aloysia is alleged to have rejected his advances, but Wolfgang’s father wrote a letter that vociferously objected to his son’s dalliance with the Weber’ daughters. Leopold implies Aloysia was a gold-digger and would ruin Wolfgang’s career. One may interpret the letter as more of a concern with Leopold’s son’s ability to raise money for the family, i.e. not the scandal of her travelling with Wolfgang. In any case, Wolfgang marries Constanze Weber (on the right), the younger sister, in 1782. It has been characterized as a marriage filled with love and mutual support.

Swafford explains why Wolfgang leaves Salzburg for Vienna, Austria in 1781.

Mozart felt his music was undervalued and constrained by the archbishop he worked for in Salzburg. To the disappointment of his father, Wolfgang moves to Vienna to pursue his career. His father’s disappointment was both financial and social. Because Leopold had been a guiding force in Wolfang’s life and career, not to mention the wealth he brought the Mozart family, his move to Vienna became a break from his father’s influence. They continued to correspond, but the familial and financial bond were broken with growing hostility felt by Leopold toward his son.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791 died at the age of 35.)

Wolfgang lives until 1791. His exact cause of death is unknown, but he had endured many illnesses in his 35 years of life. There is speculation that it was a recurrence of rheumatic fever or complications of strep throat. Some suggest it may even have been poisoning. The reality of that time is that the average life expectancy in the 18th century was 25 to 40 years of age. Some certainly lived to 50 or 60 but they lived most of their lives within a wealthy or privileged group. Wolfgang had some wealth in his last years of life, but not without a great deal of hard work as a master musician, composer and son of a near-do-well father.

One of the most revelatory and entertaining parts of Swafford’s history is the bawdy, funny, and clever rhymes that Wolfgang’s letters reveal about his personality. Two examples: “Oh my dear little cousin, I send you a thousand kisses, And if you don’t like them, Send them back with your wishes.” or “To every good friend I send my greet feet; addio nitwit. Love true true true until the grave, if I live that long and do behave.”

As noted in an earlier audio book review of Professor Robert Greenberg’s lectures on classical music the innovations of great composers were greatly enhanced by audio supplements.

This review does not do justice to Swafford’s excellent history of Mozart. Swafford’s audio book would be hugely improved for lay listeners with audio examples of Mozart’s noted contributions to classical music.

ERASMUS

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.

SERVICE & PROFIT

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.

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.

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?

LIFE’S LOTTERY

The randomness of life and what we make of it is the most important theme of Weston’s insightful memoir about being “Alive”.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Alive (The Richness and Brevity of Existence)

By: Gabriel Weston

Narrated By: Gabriel Weston

Gabriel Weston (Author, English surgeon, television presenter.)

Gabriel Weston’s “Alive” is an intimate, blunt, and enlightening explanation of her experience as a woman, surgeon, mother, and member of the human race. For some, Weston’s story contains more information than one is prepared to take.

It begins with a self-effacing assessment of her early education in liberal arts where she achieved an MA in English. However, she decides to go to medical school in London where she qualifies as a physician in 2000. Her very personal memoir explains a great deal about being educated as a physician but more about being a woman.

Some reader/listeners will be put off by Weston’s blunt explanation of the human body. However, some will find much of what she writes as revelatory.

Weston explains what it means to be human and a woman who becomes a mother of twins at the age of forty, with two younger children.

It is hard to imagine a younger person who is uninterested in science, technology, engineering, or math, who receives an MA in English, would be interested in becoming a surgeon.

However, Weston chooses to become a doctor and graduates from a London medical school in 2000. She briefly explains her journey in “Alive” by reflecting on her classes in body dissection to explain the details of the human body and differences in sexual anatomy. Some will choose to leave her story, but others (if they stick with it) will be enlightened and surprised by her observations and opinions.

Weston notes the equivalent of the male penis is a woman’s clitoris. This is an interesting observation that most would be unlikely to publicly discuss or write about.

Presumably, Weston is making this point to show there is a great deal of similarity between men and women. However, she notes a significant difference. Menstruation is a sluffing process where the uterus sheds a layer of bedding material that exits the body through the vagina, i.e., something unique to women. The purpose of menstruation is to prepare the body for possible pregnancy by providing a thickening to the uterus that supports fertilization. That thickening is removed (sluffed off) approximately once per month. As is often noted, only women give birth, a singular difference between the sexes.

**Weston goes on to explain her experience of birthing twins.**

The two girls come late in her adult life. They are delivered in a caesarian operation. Children are born in amniotic sacs. This is likely a surprise to most men because birth of a baby is thought of as a delivery with a squirming body through the birth canal rather than a body within an amniotic sac. However, Weston notes the second twin is delivered within its amniotic sac which suggests she is a fraternal, rather than identical twin.

Syria’s use of nerve gas to murder their own citizens.

Weston’s story moderates in future chapters with notes about nerve gases used by governments to suffocate their own people as well as perceived foreign enemies. The point she makes is that oxygen deprivation in the 21st century and beyond is increasing with rising pollution on earth. She notes oxygen deprivation is the same suffocation caused when governments used lethal gases to kill their own citizens as perceived enemies. The obvious inference is today’s denial of earth’s environmental degradation risks the lives of all oxygen dependent lives.

Weston is an example of a working mother who succeeds in England despite the world’s history of misogyny.

Some women become a success despite the many obstacles they face. Weston symbolizes human grit and determination in the face of sexual inequality of opportunity but, as a human being, she is subject to the physical limitations of every life. She mentions during the course of her story a heart murmur that is caused by a defective heart valve. The last chapters of her book explain Weston is on a transplant list.

The randomness of life and what we make of it is the most important theme of Weston’s insightful memoir about being “Alive”.

HUMAN NATURE

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

The Kobe, Japan earthquake struck on January 17, 1995, at 5:46 AM. It killed 6,400 people and injured more than 40,000. Approximately 300,000 residents were displaced with over 240,000 homes, buildings, highways, and rail lines damaged with estimated repair cost of $200 billion in 1995. (The Kobe earthquake was actually less damaging than Japan’s 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami that killed over 18,000 people. Over 123,000 homes were destroyed. The estimated cost of that disaster was $220 billion dollars.)

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.

CHINA

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.

TODAY’S SYMPHONY

One will never listen to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 without thinking of Greenberg’s lecture that reflects on a troubled time in the world that bodes well for the future but awakens fears of the present.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.

Great Courses-How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition (A Cultural History)

By: Robert Greenberg

Narrated By: Professor Greenberg

Robert Greenberg (Great Courses Professor, historian, composer, pianist, speaker, and author.)

This 25-hour audiobook is daunting and cannot be completed in one listen. It should not be rushed through because of its relevance to our 21st century world. Without doubt, Greenberg’s lectures give pride of place to Mozart as the greatest classical composer in history. This is not to diminish the huge contribution of other composers, but Greenberg seems particularly appreciative of Mozart. “How to Listen to and Understand Great Music” is an educational tour de force.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Greenberg argues Mozart as one of the greatest composers of all time.

Greenberg’s analysis of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 reminds one of today’s American governance. This symphony was composed several years after the French revolution, but it is presented by Greenberg as a summation of the terrible times created by the revolution. Listening to Greenberg’s dissection of this masterpiece, one may see what is happening in America today is similar but not as violent as the political revolution of 1789. To this audiobook reviewer, Trump is a less intellectual Robespierre playing a role in a milder reification of the Reigh of Terror. Trump is a skilled orator but unprincipled and poorly suited for reinforcement of the ideals of the American Constitution.

Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) A key figure in the French Revolution of 1789.

Greenberg’s lectures about Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 gives one hope that these next four years will only be the beginning of the threatening opening motif of “da-da-da-daah” that is like a knock on the door to a scene of destruction. Greenberg’s analysis of Beethoven’s famous symphony reminds this listener of Trump’s actions that are disrupting American governance. America seems at a moment of profound change.

A generation from now, one suspects Trump will be remembered as the Robespierre of America.

BLACK & WHITE

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.

THE WHITE HEGEMON

Muslim Palestinians, like the Indians of America and the Jews of Israel, believe they have the same rights to the lands of their ancestors. In history, that seems to have never been true for any indigenous or displaced culture.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

By: Omar El Akkad

Narrated By: Omar El Akkad

Omar El Akkad (Author, lives in Oregon, winner of the 2021 Giller Prize. Became a Egyptian Canadian citizen and now lives in Oregon.)

Omar El Akkad expresses the frustration of being an American citizen of an ethnicity and race that has little power as a minority in today’s world. He writes of life being out of one’s control. Akkad’s story is partly about his family’s life as they leave Egypt for Canada, and then America. However, his primary purpose is to write of the atrocity of the Palestinian/Israeli war. On the one hand it is a terrifying example of the domestic trials of his father and family in moving from Egypt to America. On the other, it is a heartbreaking review of slaughtered innocents in Gaza.

Ironically, the phrase “from God’s mouth to our ears” comes from a Jewish and Arabic religious expression.

Contrary to Omar El Akkad’s book title, the history of white society suggests the belief that “One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” will likely never come. The title of Akkad’s book is about how leadership in America and Israel has failed. As Lord Acton said in the 19th century “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. President Trump, former President Biden, and Benjamin Netanyahu are proving Acton’s observation.

Social and cultural differences have always roiled world history.

Jews believe they have the right to live in peace in Israel because of their culture and the history of their settlement in the land of their forefathers. Muslim Palestinians, like the Indians of America and the Jews of Israel, believe they have the same rights to the lands of their ancestors. In history, that seems to have never been true for any indigenous or displaced culture.

The slaughter of Indians, enslavement of minorities by white America, and the slaughter of innocent Muslims by Netanyahu and his followers are all reprehensible examples of the misuse of government power. This is not to say Hamas is not guilty of crimes against humanity, but their evil acts do not warrant evil reactions. The power of Israel is being used for evil, not the return of peace.

Netanyahu’s refusal to settle with Hamas over unjustly murdered, imprisoned, and abused hostages does not justify the killing of Palestinian innocents in Gaza. The power of Netanyahu’s military actions and Trump’s support for taking Gaza land from the Palestinians is evil and unjust. That evil and injustice must be replaced with a negotiated settlement that releases Hamas’ hostages and returns Gaza to the Palestinian people. Humanity cannot wait until “…Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This”. Power lies in the hands of Israel’s leaders to negotiate a settlement.

The common denominator of the war in Gaza is the power being held by white people who refuse to believe all human beings are equal. It is partly a religious issue, but it is a human issue aggravated by religious difference and the self-interests of people of different races and cultures. The white world hegemon needs to come to its senses because at some point in the future, “being white” will not be where the power rests. Power will shift to other races and cultures just as Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Mongols, Chinese Dynasties, and Islamic Caliphates once changed the course of history.

Omar El Akkad pleads for peace and human equality in One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. From El Akkad’s words, the white hegemon should hear and obey.

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