BigSkyBears wrote:Started reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Read about 2 chapters and didn't want to finish. Just horrible writing. I'm really disappointed because the story lines would be great to learn about. Maybe I'll try to finish it some other time.
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How's my great good friend Paul Krugman doing?Cap'n Cat wrote:Finally read Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman. We're ****. Conks and climate change deniers are leading us to our grave.
Ivytalk wrote:How's my great good friend Paul Krugman doing?Cap'n Cat wrote:Finally read Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman. We're ****. Conks and climate change deniers are leading us to our grave.
CID, I took your recommendation and picked up this book and couldn't agree more. It's an excellent book and I highly recommend it.CID1990 wrote:I am currently reading "Empire of the Summer Moon" (Quanah Parker and the rise and fall of the Comanches; the most powerful Indian tribe in American history) by SC Gwynne.
I am literally reading this book for the 4th time in 2 months, it is that good.
Sent from my iPad using one stinky pinky.
Don't have one.Cap'n Cat wrote:Ivytalk wrote: How's my great good friend Paul Krugman doing?
Good. Said he's doing your daughter-in-law on the side.
But nice try. 
No, I haven't read it, but the way I see it, if Reagan can like triple or quadruple the defense budget, the US may be able to spend the Soviet Union into defeat. How do you like them apples?Grizalltheway wrote:Thinking of picking up a copy of this:
Has great reviews on Amazon, anyone read it before?
Exactly how many good mathemartians.....err.....mathemagicians.......err........mathematicians does this country need anyway?93henfan wrote:No, I haven't read it, but the way I see it, if Reagan can like triple or quadruple the defense budget, the US may be able to spend the Soviet Union into defeat. How do you like them apples?Grizalltheway wrote:Thinking of picking up a copy of this:
Has great reviews on Amazon, anyone read it before?
Yeah, yeah, sure, the US will neglect its educational system and fall to like 23rd or something in math and get its shorts eaten by China, but at least the white commies will be gone.
Right up there with All Quiet on the Western Front in terms of books that made a lasting impression on me. War history buffs will enjoy it.
Ahh...so how was Nixon portrayed in that book?Ivytalk wrote:Just finished Whittaker Chambers' masterpiece, Witness, about the Alger Hiss case and the author's personal saga as a member and then an ex-member of the Communist Party. 800 pages long, but I ripped right though it.
Am now reading Undefeated by Bill Sloan. It's a detailed chronicle of the ill-fated defense of Bataan and Corregidor in the early days of WWII.
Very positively. Say what you will about Nixon, but he skewered that bastard Hiss on cross-examination.BigSkyBears wrote:Ahh...so how was Nixon portrayed in that book?Ivytalk wrote:Just finished Whittaker Chambers' masterpiece, Witness, about the Alger Hiss case and the author's personal saga as a member and then an ex-member of the Communist Party. 800 pages long, but I ripped right though it.
Am now reading Undefeated by Bill Sloan. It's a detailed chronicle of the ill-fated defense of Bataan and Corregidor in the early days of WWII.
Ahhhh, since you're such a fan of historical fiction, let me make a recommendation. Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove.Cap'n Cat wrote:Finally read Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman. We're fucked. Conks and climate change deniers are leading us to our grave.
I like Nixon. My favorite modern president. I just know some accuse him being crooked even going back to the case.Ivytalk wrote:Very positively. Say what you will about Nixon, but he skewered that bastard Hiss on cross-examination.BigSkyBears wrote:
Ahh...so how was Nixon portrayed in that book?
Do you have cheap immigrant labor in the food processing industry, Cappy?Cap'n Cat wrote:Cap'n Cat works with about 100 Somali Muslims. I'm halfway through the Quran. Fascinating. Makes Christianity look like child's play.
You might want to read Infidel, the autobiography of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, to gain some insight into what Somali Muslims have gone through.Cap'n Cat wrote:Cap'n Cat works with about 100 Somali Muslims. I'm halfway through the Quran. Fascinating. Makes Christianity look like child's play.
The book briefly discusses religion's, specifically Protestant Christianity, role in the West's ascendance.Competition-Ferguson compares China to Europe in 1500. He argues that the Chinese empire remained under an isolationist regime, leading to little competition among polities. Europe, long fragmented, encouraged competition and lead to increased travel to seek meaningful opportunities abroad.
Scientific revolution- Ferguson claims that breakthroughs in science are mostly attributed to European innovations, particularly in weaponry which allowed to military predominance.
Property rights-Ferguson believes that the firm grounding in respect for democracy and property ownership lead to successful economic growth with a government reflective of these ideals.
Modern medicine-The west found vaccinations for smallpox and yellow fever and doubled life expectancies. Many of these vaccinations were disseminated in the colonies and seen as important matters of public health.
Consumer society-In the 18th and 19th Centuries, Britain was a keen example of an all-encompassing spending society, and idea exported to the colonies and also reflective of sweeping popularity of Western clothing.
Work ethic-Ferguson directly attributes hard work to the rise of Protestantism, which stressed hard work, saving, and reading.
According to one scholar from the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences:
“One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world.
“We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had.
“Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system.
“But in the past twenty years, we have realised that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West is so powerful.
“The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.”
You should read Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, if you haven't already.UNI88 wrote:Just finishing up Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson. I read Ferguson's The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World before that and I should have read them in the other order. Both are interesting books and I would definitely recommend them.
Ferguson names 6 "killer apps" that gave the West the edge and allowed it to dominate the globe over the past couple of hundred years.The book briefly discusses religion's, specifically Protestant Christianity, role in the West's ascendance.Competition-Ferguson compares China to Europe in 1500. He argues that the Chinese empire remained under an isolationist regime, leading to little competition among polities. Europe, long fragmented, encouraged competition and lead to increased travel to seek meaningful opportunities abroad.
Scientific revolution- Ferguson claims that breakthroughs in science are mostly attributed to European innovations, particularly in weaponry which allowed to military predominance.
Property rights-Ferguson believes that the firm grounding in respect for democracy and property ownership lead to successful economic growth with a government reflective of these ideals.
Modern medicine-The west found vaccinations for smallpox and yellow fever and doubled life expectancies. Many of these vaccinations were disseminated in the colonies and seen as important matters of public health.
Consumer society-In the 18th and 19th Centuries, Britain was a keen example of an all-encompassing spending society, and idea exported to the colonies and also reflective of sweeping popularity of Western clothing.
Work ethic-Ferguson directly attributes hard work to the rise of Protestantism, which stressed hard work, saving, and reading.According to one scholar from the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences:
“One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world.
“We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had.
“Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system.
“But in the past twenty years, we have realised that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West is so powerful.
“The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.”
Ivytalk wrote:You should read Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, if you haven't already.UNI88 wrote:Just finishing up Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson. I read Ferguson's The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World before that and I should have read them in the other order. Both are interesting books and I would definitely recommend them.
Ferguson names 6 "killer apps" that gave the West the edge and allowed it to dominate the globe over the past couple of hundred years.
The book briefly discusses religion's, specifically Protestant Christianity, role in the West's ascendance.
I'll add that to my list. Ferguson quotes Weber pretty extensively in the sections on work ethic.I'll confess that I HAD to read it my freshman year. Not an easy read, but it beats A Brief History of Time.UNI88 wrote:Ivytalk wrote: You should read Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, if you haven't already.
Ferguson is a pretty good historian. Appears very pompous when he's on TV though.UNI88 wrote:Just finishing up Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson. I read Ferguson's The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World before that and I should have read them in the other order. Both are interesting books and I would definitely recommend them.
Ferguson names 6 "killer apps" that gave the West the edge and allowed it to dominate the globe over the past couple of hundred years.The book briefly discusses religion's, specifically Protestant Christianity, role in the West's ascendance.Competition-Ferguson compares China to Europe in 1500. He argues that the Chinese empire remained under an isolationist regime, leading to little competition among polities. Europe, long fragmented, encouraged competition and lead to increased travel to seek meaningful opportunities abroad.
Scientific revolution- Ferguson claims that breakthroughs in science are mostly attributed to European innovations, particularly in weaponry which allowed to military predominance.
Property rights-Ferguson believes that the firm grounding in respect for democracy and property ownership lead to successful economic growth with a government reflective of these ideals.
Modern medicine-The west found vaccinations for smallpox and yellow fever and doubled life expectancies. Many of these vaccinations were disseminated in the colonies and seen as important matters of public health.
Consumer society-In the 18th and 19th Centuries, Britain was a keen example of an all-encompassing spending society, and idea exported to the colonies and also reflective of sweeping popularity of Western clothing.
Work ethic-Ferguson directly attributes hard work to the rise of Protestantism, which stressed hard work, saving, and reading.According to one scholar from the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences:
“One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world.
“We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had.
“Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system.
“But in the past twenty years, we have realised that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West is so powerful.
“The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.”
I'll move it down the list. My guess is that Ferguson covered many of the key points and I've got a bunch of other books on my list so no rush to get to that one.Ivytalk wrote:I'll confess that I HAD to read it my freshman year. Not an easy read, but it beats A Brief History of Time.UNI88 wrote:
No comments from D, Cap'n or Joe on the Protestant work ethic's role in the success of the West? Maybe that should be another thread rather than dragging a good book club thread into the dirt.UNI88 wrote:The book briefly discusses religion's, specifically Protestant Christianity, role in the West's ascendance.According to one scholar from the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences:
“One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world.
“We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had.
“Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system.
“But in the past twenty years, we have realised that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West is so powerful.
“The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.”
