September 2020 Book Recap
No five star reads, but several that I haven’t stopped thinking about. Equal parts sobering and alarming, Yale philosopher Jason Stanley lays out the ten pillars of fascist politics analyzing the language and beliefs that divide “us” from “them.” A timely, yet chilling read so close to the election.
Thought to Ponder:
“In book 8 of Plato’s Republic, Socrates argues that people are not naturally led to self-governance but rather seek a strong leader to follow. Democracy, by permitting freedom of speech, opens the door for a demagogue to exploit the people’s need for a strongman; the strongman will use this freedom to prey on the people's resentments and fears. Once the strongman seizes power, he will end democracy, replacing it with tyranny. In short, book 8 of The Republic argues that democracy is a self-undermining system whose very ideals lead to its own demise.”
— Jason Stanley, *How Fascism Works*
📚⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World* by Jack Weatherford (NF) // [History; biography: “In 25 years, the Mongol army subjugated more lands and people than the Romans had conquered in 400 years … Whether measured by the total number of people defeated, the sum of the countries annexed, or by the total area occupied, Genghis Khan conquered more than twice as much as any other man in history.”]
*How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them* by Jason Stanley (NF) // [Politics; history: Key takeaway—Nations don't have to be fascist to suffer from fascist politics.]
*Why We're Polarized* by Ezra Klein (NF) // [Politics; history: “So here, then, is the last fifty years of American politics summarized: we became more consistent in the party we vote for not because we came to like our party more—indeed, we’ve come to like the parties we vote for less—but because we came to dislike the opposing party more. Even as hope and change sputter, fear and loathing proceed.”]
*The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)* by Seth Godin (NF) // [Business; psychology: Quick and powerful little 80-pager; will revisit.]
*Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries #5)* by Martha Wells (F) // [Sci-fi; adventure: Sarcastic sentient murder machine programmed for destruction strikes again—very fun space romp.]
📚⭐️⭐️⭐️
*Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope* by Mark Manson (NF) // [Psychology; philosophy: TBH, I HATED Manson’s other book, TSAoNGAF. There is nothing ground breaking here, but it was the fluffy easy read I needed amidst darker reads.]
*Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order* by Noam Chomsky (NF) // [Politics; economics: A (dated) collection of essays critiquing neoliberalism, or "capitalism with the gloves off.”]
*The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates* by Wes Moore (NF) // [Biography; sociology: A meditation on the impact of choices.]
