A personal note. A sunny Saturday afternoon. A beautiful view of Downtown LA, looking South East towards USC. Shouting, screaming, breaking glass… I don’t think it was THAT bad. I HOPE it wasn’t that bad. But the breaking of glass and the screams were certainly loud enough to shake me. I know it’s only anecdotal, … More Are we listening?
The 4th Turning by Strauss and Howe is the best book I’ve read in recent time. Using a combination of demographics, economics and sociology, the authors analyse American history through generations. Rather than the orthodox approach, looking at history through the eye of the leaders, they pinpoint the influence of key events on each generation. … More “History never repeats but it rhymes” – 4th Turning Crisis Preparation
The Cave Story from Plato’s Republic within Andrew Sullivan’s “The Conservative Soul” beautifully captured a few concepts I’ve been grappling with. I’d like to share the allegory and end with a few reflections. Paraphrasing Sullivan: “Human existence is like being in an underground cave with light streaming in across the width of the cave. Most … More Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Since university days, Aristotle’s description of virtue as the middle path between two extremes struck me as a wonderfully simple yet nuanced approach to ethics. I jumped at the chance to buy this old green book at Emmarentia Dam in Joburg a few years ago. ZAR20 for insights which have lasted thousands of years 🙂 … More Aristotle: on Education
I really enjoy the intersection that Sam Harris navigates between rational science and spiritual discovery. I’m not religious but I value my religious upbringing and principles I was taught in my formative years. I refuse to align with the anti-religion atheist types like Hitchens and Dawkins. I actually think there is a lot of truth … More Book Review: Waking Up, Sam Harris
The Israel-Palestine conflict has intrigued me for years. Despite my interest, I had never really engaged in it. The topic is so fractious and divisive that I was scared to dip my toes into this fiery den. A couple of months ago I saw Alan Dershowitz’s book on a friend’s table. He wasn’t reading it … More The Case for Israel – Alan Dershowitz
What a beautifully constructed story. Chinua Achebe is able to characterise such incredibly strong emotions in a book of merely 150 pages. He tells a complete emotional story of colonialism without attempting to touch on any historical facts. I can understand why Things Fall Apart is lauded as a modern classic. The story starts slowly … More Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The first few chapters of Hoppe’s “A Theory of Capitalism and Socialism” were absolute gold – some of the clearest political philosophy I’ve read. The explanation of the spectrum between conservative and revolutionary socialists was particularly enlightening and has changed the way I think about political parties. I now appreciate that most socialists are actually … More Book Review: A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism by Hans Herman Hoppe
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