Posts

Showing posts from November, 2018

Reading 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Yuval Noah Harari has written a thought-provoking and insightful book about the postmodern, post-truth human condition and the considerations we must make as a species if we are to survive and even thrive in the coming decades.  21 Lessons for the 21st Century is filled with erudite, innovative thinking that, to me, seems essential if we are to prepare ourselves for what is coming next. First of all, let’s be clear about the “lessons.”  Harari , a distinguished history professor, does not fill this work with self-help (actually more like global-help) how-to suggestions, although he does offer a few along the way.  The lessons, rather, are like lectures, each chapter simply discussing the aspects and ramifications of humanity’s more pressing challenges along with our fantastic potential.  The result is an accessible, rational, realistic appraisal of where we are going and what we need to be doing to avoid near-future hazards and maximize human possibility. Each chapter is a lesson

Thoughts on the Post-midterm Election Narrative

As I blogged earlier, my take on the 2018 election is that the Democrats did not have the ‘blue wave” they hoped for, Trump remains undiminished, and the Dems need to moderate their narrative if they hope to beat Trump in 2020.  Of course, that is by no means the common narrative as we now look back on the events of November 6.  In this blog post I will look at six articles that represent various perspectives on the mid-term election.   My primary sources here are The New York Times , The Washington Post , National Review , Vox and FiveThirtyEight .   First let’s look at two op-ed pieces with differing views from The Washington Post .  The first article is entitled “ The midterms prove it: Progressive ideas are now mainstream .”  Clearly, this is not my perspective but there are some interesting facts presented here.  “65 percent of the incoming House freshman class embraced some version of Medicare-for-all or expanding Social Security benefits. Almost 80 percent embraced lowering p

The Fall of Gondolin, The End of Tolkien

Image
The three 'Great Tales' of J.R.R. Tolkien, conceived early in his life, are now the final word on his fantasy world of Middle-earth.   As I have mentioned previously , I have been a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings since I was in high school.  I have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy several times throughout my life.  Tolkien was, hands down, the most important fictional writer of the first half of my life.  I bought a first edition of The Silmarillion (1977) at the University of Georgia bookstore when I was a freshman.  I grabbed a first edition of Unfinished Tales in 1980.  The depth and breadth of his work astonished me and, as is my way with most things of interest, I absorbed everything I could about his stories of Middle-earth. By the time The Book of Lost Tales came out (in two volumes, 1983-1984), I was starting to think that Tolkien’s family, and his eldest son, Christopher, in particular, were trying to milk more money out fans and readers

Election 2018: Do You Want To Win in 2020?

Frustration with the Trump presidency was rabid among my Democratic friends before yesterday's mid-term election.  Early last evening, they were hit with existential despair as it gradually became obvious there would be no “Blue Wave .”  The Democrats took control of the House of Representatives.  That was expected, though they may fall short of gaining 30+ seats some progressives hoped for.  The Senate remained Republican with the conservatives even taking a couple of seats away from the Dems.   Among high-profile races Ted Cruz defeated Beto O’Rourke in the Texas senate race.  A clear win for the Trump brand .   It was better news for the Democrats at the level of governor races . Here is probably where they performed their best in 2018.  They managed to flip seven states from red to blue , and won a total of 15 states, surely the strongest showing for what I would call the Blue Ripple.  Still, the Neocons managed outpace them, winning 19 states, with usually liberal Massach