2024-03-18 Just finished this morning. What a great little book! Highly recommended for those who: - would like to get some clear and often humorous th2024-03-18 Just finished this morning. What a great little book! Highly recommended for those who: - would like to get some clear and often humorous thinking and writing about subjects such as: The Law, Justice, Government, Violence, Plunder, Trade, Socialism, economics, morality, etc. etc.
- might be amazed and pleased to read an author who explained problems and solutions for society >170 years ago, but which is just as readable and applicable today, as it was then
- would enjoy reading a short book of essays by probably the greatest economic essayist ever
The other 4 essays in the book (besides "The Law" noted below) are:
"That which is seen, and that which is not seen" (60pp) - This chapter motivated and guided Henry Hazlitt in his writing of his best selling book: "Economics in One Lesson."
"The Candlemakers Petition" (4pp) - so cool - dealing with the unfairest competitor of all.
"A Negative Railroad" (4pp) - some ideas/policies are so foolish, it takes a Bastiat to call them out.
"Government" (15pp) - simple rules for what government is/isn't and consequently what it can/can't do and should/should not try to do.
Enjoy.
2024-01-07 Started reading this book today. Wonderful collection of essays by Bastiat that starts out with his most famous work: "The Law" (64 pp.). I've read this essay (which has been published as a short book by several organizations) several times over the past 45 years or so, but not for a quite a while. I believe I have read all the other essays included too, but also not for quite a while. It is very neat to be getting back to this classic statement on such important topics as: What is the Law? A Fatal Tendency of Mankind Plunder - the crucial concept, and just how common and pernicious legal plunder is. How to Identify Legal Plunder - many names Slavery and Tariffs are Plunder Proper function of the Law Fraternity - voluntary vs. forced etc. While the writers, examples and a few of the ideas referred to in the book may not be current, the main ideas are as real, current and imposing on us today as the day Bastiat wrote this essay in 1850. I'm looking forward to savoring (again) the rest of The Law and all the other essays in this short - 156pp book, which include: "That which is seen, and that which is not seen." "The Candlemakers Petition." "A Negative Railroad." "Government"
Hope you have a chance to enjoy and profit from this book too. Our country and the world need so many more people who have read, understand and communicate the ideas in this book very much, to be able to live in a world governed by peace, prosperity, human thriving and justice.
One of the reasons I am reading this book of essays I have previously read by Bastiat is that I am: - the co-director of The Mont Hamilton/Bastiat Society of San Jose area - the co-founder/director of the Bastiat Society of Northern Michigan and - advisor to the organizer of the planned Bastiat Society of Boston area For more information on The Bastiat Society, just do an internet search and you will find plenty of information on it at the website of the organization AIER. Or feel free to message me....more
2023-10-11 I just finished the first story "Ragged Dick" a couple days ago - a rereading for a book club discussion coming up in a few days. Loved it.2023-10-11 I just finished the first story "Ragged Dick" a couple days ago - a rereading for a book club discussion coming up in a few days. Loved it. A few years ago I had first listened to the book and liked it so much I listened 3-4x! See my review on Goodreads of a different (pb?) edition., since there is no Librivox audio edition listed. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... I bought this Kindle book a few days ago so that I would have the actual text, instead of just listening (which I did again anyway on a little car journey a few days ago also.) I chose this edition, since it was cheap and had 10 (out of 70!) of the famous author's top stories - very handy and thrifty.
Wonderful book - highly recommended. Great values promoted in this story: honesty, hard work, perseverance, good humor, charity, respectability, importance of a good education, saving, good habits, self-discipline, positive attitude, good friends and friendship, etc. Luck is acknowledged as helping, but capitalizing on it, and not relying on it, is shown to be the key.
(Reminds me of the quote of a famous attorney in Chicago when asked about his luck in winning trials and becoming generally successful: (paraphrasing from memory - "I somehow seemed to gain more luck in my career the more hours I spent in the law library compared to the golf course.)
Great historical insights on survival (without government welfare mentioned at all). Note the prices for goods/services in the book and compare them to today! Note how easy it is to get a good education at very reasonable cost.
I do see some typos and other glitches in this edition, but they are quite minor, for such a low cost edition, that provides so much value.
2023-Oct - The 2nd story "Fame and Fortune" shows how corrosive and negative envy and an entitled attitude can be to all. This story was a nice continuation of the main characters in Ragged Dick, with more added and nicely varying plot, action and conflicts.
These stories are 160 years old, from when society was VASTLY materially poorer! Think of the possibilities for today, with the same values, and present wealth levels!
We need many more books like this, written about modern situations, issues and settings.
2023 Nov - 3rd story - "Mark the Match Boy" - another good one, with another poor street boy profession highlighted - selling matches. Good reinforcement of positive values and fighting difficulties in circumstances, bad influences, bad values, etc. The economics of the business is quite instructive for the time and in a timeless way too. Wonderful.
2023-12-5? - 4th story - "Rough and Ready" - Rufus' nickname is well deserved - a bit rough around the edges, but basically very, very good, and super dedicated to his little sister and always ready for opportunities to help her, his customers/employers and himself. The benefits of honesty and hard work/dedication to what is right and good, vs. idleness, envy, sloth, vindictiveness, etc. Great lessons. Neat story, as usual. No one is perfect, which is what life is really like. But some people are so down to earth, basically good, that you can really count on them. And facts matter. And good questions to actually reveal fact from fiction is important. Crucial.
2023-12-07 Just finished the 5th story within this book: "Ben, The Luggage Boy" - another wonderfully uplifting story. This one is about Ben, who left home at the age of 10 due to his wanting to be independent of his father, who had wronged him. He finds out how difficult earning one's way in the world can be for someone that young, but survives. He also learns about the importance of doing more than just surviving day-to-day, and some really important things in life. The basic math skills exhibited in all the stories is great. Even though most of the "heroes" of the stories - the young boys - have had very little formal education, they all seem to understand basic math, and regularly calculate earnings/day (or partial day) and whether it is more profitable to do one thing or the other, how much time is needed to work for meals, or a room, or a cigar or a Bowery show.
2023-12-11 6th story - "Rufus and Rose" - Returning to Rufus (Rough and Ready) and his sister Rose, the continued saga, where the thoroughly nasty "step-father," James Martin, returns to wreck havoc, and he gets nastier and more dangerous with the aid of even more sinister conmen, but Rufus is up to the challenge. The problems of overdrinking or smoking are demonstrated well, so moderation or abstention benefits are made pretty clear.
2023-12-11 7th story - "Tattered Tom, or the Story of a Street Arab" - Well, well - this is the story of a young street girl, with only a mean and worthless "granny" to help her survive. She would rather be a boy, so acts similarly to the boys, and can take on any of them, if they are near her size, if she needs to. I loved her attitude, grit, "pluck" and turns of expression. And so does the ship's captain who has come back to the city to see his sister. He takes a liking to this plucky little gal with the boy's nickname (Did you know the expression Tomboy dates back to at least the 1870s?) and sets her up in a seemingly decent situation, vastly better than she endured with "granny." But things don't go as planned and granny reappears for some pretty tense and hopeless situations. But Tom is up to the trying situations, and never gives up, but rather somehow always makes lemonade out of the lemons she is served.
One little quirk was that at one point the captain's sister called Tom by the name Tom said may have been her real name: Jenny. But then later in the book, without any explanation, all of a sudden she is being called Jane. I dunno what happened.
2023-12-18 8th story (only 3 more to go!) "Paul the Peddler" - has a mother and brother, but their husband/father was killed a year or two before the story begins, so Paul (and his family) had a better beginning than most of the other stories' "heroes", but they are living in much tougher straits than they did previously, and he, at only 14 or 15 is the main breadwinner. His "peddling" is his own invention, and it is kind of mini-lottery. But since it does well, and he's honest, he attracts tough (and dishonest) competition, that makes life very difficult.
Side Comment: One of the extra neat things about these Horatio Alger stories is that honest competition is shown to be natural and lauded, and dishonest competition is shown to be semi-rare and bad for everyone - including the perps of course.
Things get sorted out in all the stories with mostly private actions and a minimal amount of government police/courts action, kept to just the basics of justice. No government "regulators" are involved at all, except just one (so far) that stifles honest trade with prohibitively expensive licenses/taxes.
Such a simple, reasonable and accurate description, yet how many books, movies, high school and college classes, TV shows, political speeches or laws have it all backwards these days?
The story continued by plowing some new as well as reinforcing some existing fertile ground. Entrepreneurial thinking, economic calculations, financing a new business and the importance of trust, friendship, high morals and fast, decisive actions. Reputations and the different profit levels/needs of varying businesses (pawn shops vs. big name jewelers in particular), which included hints on discovering fair vs. foul dealing, were all very valuable to this reader, and probably most anyone who reads the story
However, there were several little, somewhat unbelievable, lapses too, which made it less real and much more reliant on luck as a key device.
2023-12-24 The 9th story "Phil the Fidler" - Filippo, the young Italian immigrant was "sold" by his poor father in Italy to a "Padrone" who treats him and the other boys he has "bought" like a slave. They are all forced to work for their living on the streets of NY, fiddling for hand-outs, provided little to eat and required to turn over all their money to the Padrone, to repay the money he gave to their fathers (but not to them). Very tough life. One of Phil's friends dies of exposure, sickness and the resulting ill-treatment. But Phil succeeds by his wits, perseverance, strong character and some luck, of course, though he had his ill-luck too and close-calls, but persevered. Kindness and open-hearts by a couple who were also gravely treated by fate was another warm and fuzzy aspect to the story. Another excellent story.
2023-12-26 The 10th & last story in this book: "Slow and Sure: THE [continuing] STORY OF PAUL HOFFMAN THE YOUNG STREET-MERCHANT. Excellent ending story to this wonderful volume. Paul's rise is by no means a sure thing, but his strong work ethic, seizing of opportunities when they present themselves, attention to his family and friends and even strangers all help him along. Remembering his humble beginnings and treating others with kindness pays off in more than just feeling good about himself. The plucky and dirt poor character Julius is introduced to very good effect. He and Paul both benefit from dealing straight with each other.
2023-12-30 Just received a GREAT compliment on my review and what I think about this book from a dear and very learned friend: "This [book] is what I need to read to [her granddaughter] when she’s a little older!" WOW!!!! YES, indeed. It is going on my list for my reading to our grandkids, if/when we ever have any....more
2024-07-07 Just finished this after a month of struggle with it. The concluding chapter was wonderful and tied together all the disparate and highly d2024-07-07 Just finished this after a month of struggle with it. The concluding chapter was wonderful and tied together all the disparate and highly detailed observations, theory, references, repetitions, etc.
I can certainly see why the book was revolutionary, since it broke scientific biological studies out of the arcane and circular rut in which it had gone into and wasted good talent, time and resources. The endless and mostly pointless research, writing and arguments about essences and variations or hybrids or subspecies of classifications was finally questioned and given a productive alternative paradigm/theory.
It lead to massively more helpful, interesting, and productive focus on related parts, habits, instincts, traits, and production of better traits, habits, characteristics, etc. Just some of the benefits to science and society from following this book's revolutionary ideas:
Better strains of food crops have been able to be developed That means crop yields (seeds produced per acre of land, & per hours of labor expended) have increased massively, allowing for lower prices and more healthy and wealthy individuals.
Livestock quality has increased, lowering the price and raising the quality of the things humans need and use from them: beef, pork, chicken, lamb, fish, leather, wool, etc. etc.
The list of improvements to humanity is almost endless. Yet how many realize that without this book by Darwin, none of those things would have improved nearly so dramatically.
I have more to say about this book, so I hope to come back to explain them.
This was a difficult book to get all the way through. But if you do it, and you understand the last chapter, and how it pulls all the key elements together, I believe that you will be well rewarded....more
2022-06-08 I just saw a good little review of this book and remembered that I had actually read it in high school.
I never figured out the point of thi2022-06-08 I just saw a good little review of this book and remembered that I had actually read it in high school.
I never figured out the point of this 19th century book by the great author of Moby Dick and Billy Budd. Luis's Goodreads review probably points out the right questions.... but still, it is a very strange book, and question - why the heck is the statement "I prefer not to" worth exploring... when nothing/no one could get Bartleby to act?...more
2022-01-26 - I read this in High School, about 50 years ago and have positive memories. However, it introduced me to the philosophical idea of nihilism2022-01-26 - I read this in High School, about 50 years ago and have positive memories. However, it introduced me to the philosophical idea of nihilism, which was good to find out about early, since I was then forewarned of its perniciousness.
The book is a classic and parts have stayed with me... but I can't write more, since most has vanished in my mind....more
2021-12-01 I read the "Works and Days" part of the book, but not the "Theogony" part. 2 Separate works in the same Kindle edition.
Fascinating, but not a2021-12-01 I read the "Works and Days" part of the book, but not the "Theogony" part. 2 Separate works in the same Kindle edition.
Fascinating, but not as long or deep as I thought it would be. This part of the book focuses on domestic/economic/living issues, unlike Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, which dealt more with war. Both dealt with the gods.
Many admonitions on how to lead a good life. Great on the benefits for self and others of Work, vs. idleness.
Some interesting guidelines on farm tips (e.g., when to plant what, based on star positions - time of year) Probably very practical back when it was written, and for many years after too.
Short, readable book.
This Kindle edition was crippled by not having links to the endnotes, which would have been very helpful to easily use while reading.
Translation seemed reasonable, but not stellar....more
2021-06-11 - I read this between 1981 and 1985 and am finally writing this review because I noticed a friend's review (Thanks Jim Henderson!) which wa2021-06-11 - I read this between 1981 and 1985 and am finally writing this review because I noticed a friend's review (Thanks Jim Henderson!) which was excellent. So I recommend his short review highly.
I liked the book, BUT, there were issues. So do not read it uncritically.
2021-07-29 I listened to the Audiovox.org NOT this Audible edition of the book - so take that into account in my review.
This book (volume 1 only) has 2021-07-29 I listened to the Audiovox.org NOT this Audible edition of the book - so take that into account in my review.
This book (volume 1 only) has been on my "To Read" list for almost as long as I have known about it - possibly my High School World History class, freshman year, since it had a very significant section on Rome. I am very glad it stayed on my To Read list and that I finally got around to it.
Fascinating book, for sure. And I believe there are some excellent "lessons" to be learned from this book about Rome, but which may also apply to United States of America, especially the America of recent times. Even though it is about 250 years old, it is still quite "readable" - the style being quite pleasurable to listen to and not archaic. This first volume is another of the great works published in 1776, along with the magnificent "Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith and of course the brilliant "Declaration of Independence." How many people have any idea that all three of these greats came from that auspicious year?
The number one lesson from this first volume of the full volume set - not sure when I will get to the other five, but doing long road trips sure makes it easy and pleasurable - is that having a powerful military accountable to an emperor (president?) and NOT to the civilian Senate/Congress, can literally be a killer. And by "killer" I mean literally of emperors, Senators, empires, civility/civilizations, etc.
There are other lessons and great parts to the book, but I need to find my brief notes taken from the long car ride that made listening possible.
A note on the Librivox edition (NOT Audible) I listened to: The book was narrated by a funky tag-team of volunteers, each reading 2-4 chapters or so, before yielding to the next. Most were not too hot, but there was one truly outstanding British fella who read about 10 chapters or so, just before the ending chapter, read by I believe, an American, who was not bad, but too halting and pedestrian for my taste. A few of the readers tried really hard to do well, but their accents just made it too tough for this listener to follow, understand and enjoy. The various Indian, British and Finnish accents kept me wondering about the spelling of certain emperor's/generals/wives/Senators/etc. names and some other key parts of the book too often. But the Librivox.org price of the audiobook was hard to resist - FREE.
Hopefully I will append this review in the not-too-distant future, when I find my notes, or think of additional comments worthy of adding.
Sampling this classic is highly recommended for any history buff, interested person in Rome, or someone concerned about the stunning loss of liberties in the US these days and threats to their own freedoms....more
2021-03-27 This is a textbook, but WOW, what a text! I read this in the early 90s, about 12-15 years after taking a logic class in college. Kinda stran2021-03-27 This is a textbook, but WOW, what a text! I read this in the early 90s, about 12-15 years after taking a logic class in college. Kinda strange, eh? Especially since I am not a logic or math teacher, or anywhere close to a full time teacher at all.
But I remembered liking my logic class and the text for that very much: Introduction to Logic by Irving M. Copi. However some of the examples in the class seemed a bit too... mainstream, statist/leftist. And the text did not seem quite as well grounded in how essential the logical tools for thinking really were. I don't want to denigrate that book or the class I took in college - compared to the only other philosophy class I took, it was miles ahead and more practical and helpful.
But I had come across the writings, some speeches and debates of the author of this book, David Kelley, and was intrigued by how much more he and possibly this book offered. And gosh, I was not disappointed. If you have any interest in logical thinking, (and who the heck would not?) then I recommend this book, if not to read cover to cover ASAP, but at least to get as a reference work, to use for particular sections when needed.
The prose is excellent, clear, concise, entertaining, relevant and on the money good. I especially like the section on Subjectivist (Copi and some others call them "informal") Fallacies, since those are used so often by so many people to persuade you of good and bad ideas, to buy good and bad products, to support good and bad politicians. Here's the list, since they are so important to know: Subjectivism Appeal to Majority (Ad populum) Appeal to Emotion Appeal to Force (Argumentum ad Baculum) Credibility Appeal to Authority (Ad Verecundiam) Ad Hominem Fallacies of Logical Structure Begging the Question (Circular Argument-Petitio Principii) Post Hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefor because of this) False Alternative Appeal to Ignorance (Argumentum ad Ignorantiam) Non Sequitur
Don't know all these? Well, perhaps you are being fooled by some arguments that are not logical and might want to check them out. For your own good. And for the good of us all.
To understand a solid, fact and logic based argument vs. an ephemeral, fallacious, or even downright evil (or at lease seemingly bad intent) argument, you need the tools in this book....more
2021-03-19 This was one of the books assigned by the "New Left" professor I had for Into to Government class in college (~1974-5). It was a very candi2021-03-19 This was one of the books assigned by the "New Left" professor I had for Into to Government class in college (~1974-5). It was a very candid account of the head of the Tammany Hall "machine" in NY City in the late 1800s, George Washington Plunkitt, who explained the different between "Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft."
I will never forget the professor answering my query toward the end of the class or afterwards as to why he did not assign any good "conservative" or pro-individual liberty books in the class, and with a straight face, he said something like "but I thought I did - Plunkitt of Tammany Hall."
Incredible! He really thought that conservative or pro-individual liberty meant honest or dishonest graft!!!! I was so dumbstruck that I was not able to engage him on the topic.
Of course, all the ideas of the great classical liberals from Montesquieu, Adam Smith, Jefferson, De Tocqueville, Herbert Spencer, Mises, Ayn Rand, Hayek, etc. were no-where to be found in that class.
As to this book, there may be different types of graft, but honest and dishonest don't begin to explain how it is all bad, but part and parcel of how governments that are trying to do things beyond the basic functions of protecting lives and property, dole out their "take."...more
2021-03-17 This was the main and only text for the humanities class I took in college, taught by the school minister, and written by two of his collea2021-03-17 This was the main and only text for the humanities class I took in college, taught by the school minister, and written by two of his colleagues in the religion/humanities dept. I remember generally liking the book, since it summarized and clarified many great philosophers and religious thinkers in the cannon of western thought.
I remember differing in opinion from the authors and teacher, since I was not very religious, but also thinking that the spirit of the text and the class was quite benevolent and really focused on thinking clearly about difficult, big, issues and searching for the truth. Amen to that. The polemics, sarcasm, ad hominem, and general nastiness toward dissenting opinions found so frequently in the social "sciences" (History, sociology, government/political science and even economics) were at a much lower, and hence more civilized level.
I remember doing pretty well in the class, but not liking the final test too well since it got too "nit-picky" as opposed to focusing on an understanding of the big ideas covered in the text and class.
I do recommend this book... even though there are big gaps in ideas covered that with later year's reading I found and would have wished were in this. But the scope of the book is huge and the way it covers the material was very well done....more
2021-03-17 This was one of my textbooks for an intro to computers class I took in college, about 1975. I remember being a little difficult to get into2021-03-17 This was one of my textbooks for an intro to computers class I took in college, about 1975. I remember being a little difficult to get into, but liking the logic and outcomes when I got my brain trained to use and stay in the structure.
We actually did a little programming in class with the teletype terminals hooked up via an audio-modem connected to the "Dartmouth" time-share system. Really dating myself, for sure....more
2022-08-25 Just read the second of a series of two wonderful articles by Dan Sanchez at FEE-dot-org "How a Tiny Minority Can Lead the World Toward Lib2022-08-25 Just read the second of a series of two wonderful articles by Dan Sanchez at FEE-dot-org "How a Tiny Minority Can Lead the World Toward Liberty" that used the ideas of this book by Leonard Read to explain how positive change can and does work. The first article was entitled: "When Meddlers Run Amok."
And here is the brief statement by Read, quoted in both articles, which sums up this book: “Here, then,” Read wrote, “is the key question: What constitutes an influential opinion? In the context of moral, social, economic, and political philosophy, influential opinion stems from or rests upon (1) depth of understanding, (2) strength of conviction, and (3) the power of attractive exposition. These are the ingredients of self-perfection as relating to a set of ideas. Persons who thus improve their understanding, dedication, and exposition are the leaders of men; the rest of us are followers, including the out-front political personalities.”
I highly recommend those recent articles as well as this book, that is the key to them.
2021-01-16 - I read this book (an earlier edition) in the late 70s or early 80s and was very taken by it's lessons. It dealt primarily with the proper methodology of promoting a free (libertarian) society.
Proper premises and methods were key to Read. I fully agree with him on that, and why I am writing this review today, since I recently read a letter on one group's method for moving the country in a more free and just direction and it reminded me of this book.
The main thing I remember, after all these years after reading this book, is that the problem is not a "selling" one - how to sell the ideas of a free society better than the "Know-it-alls" who are constantly putting up government constraints on individuals living their lives in peace. The real problem is how people can learn better to be better examples of the benefits of free societies, shining beacons of the truth, the beauty and excellence of a free and just society.
Encouraging everyone to be the very best self-learner and best example of virtuous and wise living is what Read was most trying to convey.
And on that point, I will stop, for I certainly need to re-read this book, to correct any errors I have already made in this review, after so many years from when I read it. For I really do want to be a good example and just be the best explainer of free markets vs. socialism/authoritarianism/coercive collectivism, etc. I can possibly be.
2020-11-03 Finished this yesterday. The edition I have is a year or two older with a different cover picture, but probably the same text, which seems 2020-11-03 Finished this yesterday. The edition I have is a year or two older with a different cover picture, but probably the same text, which seems quite close to the original novella (with no pics).
See my review of the original novella for what I thought of the text.
I liked the drawings OK, some a bunch and some not so much. I think I prefer the artist's style of the other Graphic Novel edition/publisher, to some extent. But actually, the graphics don't add all that much for me. I focus on the text and ideas.
This edition has very heavy and glossy paper, whereas the other edition has lighter, non-glossy paper. Very different styles. Either are fine with me....more
2020-09-22 (This review is of 1984 only, at least for now.)
"the three slogans of the Party stood out in bold capitals: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY2020-09-22 (This review is of 1984 only, at least for now.)
"the three slogans of the Party stood out in bold capitals: WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH."
This is the defining import of this book to me. The slogans were not only repeated many times in the book, but what they represented was carefully explained many times and ways. Orwell's masterpiece did a fantastic job of showing how corruption of the language (in "Newspeak" words were supposed to mean the exact opposite of what they originally and truly meant) was key to the horror of the total state and every citizen's being controlled by "the party" of "Big Brother."
I first read this book about 50 years ago, when I was in High School. It made a very big impression on me. I learned much about it and from it. Over the years I have been referred to it or myself referred to it literally hundreds of times. Fortunately, it is a classic and still well read. It has so much to offer. It is so prescient in so many ways.
But probably because there were major errors, confusions, an almost total pessimism and lack of any good understanding of what a free society is really based on, that too many people just did not quite get or lost sight of the good and important parts. Our society today is so overrun by the very things that Orwell so graphically warned us about, that I urge you in the strongest terms to read this book (or again, like me, if necessary).
Take the three slogans highlighted above. Orwell calls them part of the "Doublethink" he explains was the crucial strategy of the party/Big Brother to get people to eliminate any real critical thinking and be able to just parrot back anything the party wanted them to believe. The book goes into example after example. But let me suggest a few that are happening in our society today (and for the last 150 years or so), to show you how important Orwell's concept is:
Progressive = those who believe in progress, right? Well, in fact, NO. It means the OPPOSITE to the people who claim that title. "Progressives" for the last 140+ years have believed in and acted on the idea that slavery = freedom, that more government control of our lives somehow equals more freedom. Their program is to slowly, piece by piece (or faster, if they come clean and admit to being Marxists, Bolsheviks, Khmer Rouge, Chavistas, Juche, etc. etc.) put government in control of our lives by taxing, regulating, regimenting - controlling us.
Liberal = those who believe in liberty, right? Well, in fact, for most of them, NO, except in a few select areas. People who have taken over this word in the US (not everywhere in the world, where it actually does still mean pro-liberty policies, to a bit greater extent), want less liberty and more government taxes, schools, controls, regulations, etc. Very similarly to how "progressive" was corrupted the same way - liberal really now means partial slave or at least anti-liberty, in most key areas. They just delude themselves when they think they are getting more liberty with their policies. They always conveniently forget that taxes are compulsory, regulations put you in jail if you don't follow them, that you have less of your freedom the more the government takes from you or tells you what to do.
Antifa = those who are Anti-Fascist, and actually fight fascists, right? Well, in fact NO. They are the ones who act most like the fascists of the 1930s and 40s - using violence to achieve their goals. Not caring about civilized behavior at all. Starting or expanding riots. Disrupting peaceful meetings, so audiences cannot hear speakers, but only the chants/shouting of the "protesters." Guess why I put that word in quotations? Bet you can. Does the term "mostly peaceful" ring a bell? Another lie and type of doublespeak of the mainstream media. Sure, most of the "protesters" may well be "peaceful," for a time. But when they allow and actually support (even if passively) the violent rioters, arsonists, looters, etc. they should be called accomplices, NOT protesters at that point.
So, I have tried to give you just a small taste of how super-relevant Orwell's classic is today. There are so many parts I could highlight to show this. But I trust you get it. Treat yourself - you will not regret it.
So I want to move on to just a little on 1984's deficits and where you can and should go AFTER reading or rereading 1984. First is a great biography of Orwell: "Orwell Your Orwell" by David Ramsay Steele. It is simply indispensable in explaining Orwell 's milieu and his thinking on this and all his other key writings, and life. Orwell's pessimism and pro-socialist confusions (in 1984 and elsewhere) as well as brilliant insights are explained in that book. Don't miss it.
But in addition to Steele's bio of Orwell, one really needs to read at least some key works of Ludwig Mises to understand not just where Orwell went wrong, but the positive case for a better world, a free, peaceful and abundant world and the system of human social cooperation that makes it possible - free markets, otherwise known as capitalism, if you have a clear understanding of that term. To start, I would pick his "Liberalism" (in the original/classical sense). And next I would go to his fairly long, but totally worth it, "Socialism" to eviscerate that scourge of the mind and of the real physical world.
Feel free to check out any of my Goodreads reviews of these books.
Addenda: Perhaps listing some more gems of doublethink terms from 1984's Newspeak might be enticing: Ministry of Truth - Where the main character Winston works changing the historical record to suit the current party/Big Brother needs. Gee, any connection here to what Youtube, Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are doing with dissenting opinion from the mainstream government orthodoxy these days? Memory Hole - where the past evidence is put and taken to be burned - and sooooo close to what is happening today. Ministry of Love - where the torture of citizens is performed - especially in "Room 101." Think Lubyanka Prison. Ministry of Peace - war making part of the government
And how about a few passages I loved that seem so appropriate today: "He was a fattish but active man of paralyzing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms—one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more even than on the Thought Police, the stability of the Party depended."
"so vicious was the boy’s demeanor, that it was not altogether a game.... He spun round just in time to see Mrs. Parsons dragging her son back into the doorway while the boy pocketed a catapult [slingshot]. “Goldstein!” bellowed the boy as the door closed on him. But what most struck Winston was the look of helpless fright on the woman’s grayish face....Another year, two years, and they would be watching her night and day for symptoms of unorthodoxy. Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages..." Any parallels with today's society?
"and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party. On the contrary, they adored the Party and everything connected with it. The songs, the processions, the banners, the hiking, the drilling with dummy rifles, the yelling of slogans, the worship of Big Brother—it was all a sort of glorious game to them. All their ferocity was turned outwards, against the enemies of the State, against foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals. It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children. And with good reason, for hardly a week passed in which the Times did not carry a paragraph describing how some eavesdropping little sneak—“child hero” was the phrase generally used—had overheard some compromising remark and denounced his parents to the Thought Police." Think: Hitler youth, Red Guards, young pioneers, communist youth, present day eco groups, SJW groups ...
"Even the slogans will change. How could you have a slogan like ‘freedom is slavery’ when the concept of freedom has been abolished?" Note: it is freedom that is abolished, not slavery!
"In fact there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.” Note: Anther key point (think PC speak for "orthodoxy") that is happening now too.
“There is a word in Newspeak,” said Syme. “I don’t know whether you know it: duckspeak, to quack like a duck. It is one of those interesting words that have two contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it is abuse; applied to someone you agree with, it is praise.” Unquestionably Syme will be vaporized, Winston thought again. He thought it with a kind of sadness, although well knowing that Syme despised him and slightly disliked him, and was fully capable of denouncing him as a thought-criminal if he saw any reason for doing so. There was something subtly wrong with Syme. There was something that he lacked: discretion, aloofness, a sort of saving stupidity."
I could go on and on. this book has so much to give. But I bet you get the point....more
and immediately downloaded the Kindle edition and put the book at the top of my To Read list.
2020-08-24 - Just finished reading - WOW!!!!!! Super hard to put down. So engrossing. The language was a little tough, after all it is 224 years old. So glad for the quick and easy dictionary functionality of the Kindle reader, which I used often for this book and was handsomely rewarded. But the English is still beautiful and not that difficult. Lots of poetry too, with often very clever and revealing. And sex, galore. Not the crude, modern stuff, but still hot and true. And humorous dialog - loved it, especially in some very unexpected places.
I took a little time to reread the Caroline Breashears article/review of the book, listed above, just a few min. ago, and appreciated it even more - for cluing me into the novel as well as the excellent points she highlighted about the novel, the times, the takeaways and relevance for our times now. Both the article and the novel are HIGHLY recommended.
She does such a better job of telling you about the totally pertinent to our times themes, scenes and characters in the book than I can. I took many notes though, so I may add a few later if/when I have time. But considering all the riots this summer, all the death and destruction of innocents, and the descriptions in the book and article, I urge you to at least check out the article, if not the book too....more
2020-01-06 - I remember reading this in Jr. High or High School and really liking it. Later learned some things about the author that really turned me 2020-01-06 - I remember reading this in Jr. High or High School and really liking it. Later learned some things about the author that really turned me off: - he was a pirate in the SF Bay area, believe it or not - his personal life was pretty sleazy - not nice, not reputable at all to some of my wife's family - he was a socialist Really made me think about what he was trying to do in this and other stories.
But I came to the conclusion that this was still a neat story anyway - especially great for young boy readers in need of real adventure stories....more
Loading...
