Refugee

Refugee by Alan Gratz

Refugees go full circle in this book that tells the stories of three different refugee families. One is fleeing Nazi Germany, hoping to go to Cuba. A half-century later, another family is fleeing Cuba, hoping to get to Florida. Finally, in 2014, a family is fleeing Syria, hoping to get to Germany. They had connections. A man in the boat fleeing Cuba had been a young police officer in Cuba that had helped prevent the Jews on the ship fleeing Germany from staying in Cuba. The matriarch of family in Germany that took in the refugees from Syria had been a little girl on that ship that tried to go to Cuba. After being denied deboarding in Cuba and the US, they were finally granted asylum in France - only to have the Germans occupy the country shortly thereafter. She was one of the few people in her family to survive the war.

The book brings alive the plight of refugees. They often had good lives previously and would have preferred not to leave. However, circumstances changed, often in the form of war and oppression. They were willing to spend great sums of many and make significant sacrifices in hope of a better life. They may have been professionals before, but now would take whatever they could get. Along the way, they find people that help them as those that will take advantage of them. Some places will take them in, while others will just detain them. It can sometimes be dumb luck that controls the outcome.

The Glass Hotel: A Novel

The Glass Hotel: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel

The novel revolves around the people that are involved in the life of a woman named Vincent. The start centers on her half brother Paul, a drug addict who is struggling with school. He eventually meets up with Vincent and gets a job at the remote hotel where she is bartending. However, shortly after he starts, he agrees to write a very negative message on a window. This brings us to the other major thread. The message was targeting the owner of the hotel, a rich financier named Alkaitis. He meets people at the hotel, including a man in shipping (Leon Prevant) and Vincent. He falls for Vincent and has him become his "wife" (though they are never officially married). She initially enjoys the life of luxury with unlimited spending on his credit card. However, she eventually tires of it. Later the financial empire crumbles in 2008 when it is revealed to be a Ponzi scheme. Alkatis goes to jail. Vincent changes her look and goes off to live on a container ship. She eventually dies when she falls overboard trying to film during a storm. Leon Prevant is called in to investigate the circumstances of her death. He had "retired" from the shipping firm and then lost everything he invested in Alkatis's scheme and was desperate for a gig.

The book moves back and forth in the timeline and bounces around focus, yet it works very well. It all seems to come back to the hotel in remote part of British Columbia.

Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science and Religion

Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science and Religion by Nick Spencer

Science and religion have been much more closely related than many would have us believe. Science had been historically the domain of church leaders. Historical attacks on science by religion were often exaggerated to display their point. Figures like Galileo were attacked or politic as much as actions. The condemnation for going against established orthodoxy would be just as it would be today. The core difference is that in the past church was seen as arbitrar of the truth and holder of the consensus. Today, "leading scientists" hold that same position. Religion has often been fairly fragmented. Even when Catholicism was the religion in Europe, most localities were fairly autonomous with the local authorities being most important. In the Islamic there was not even the equivalent of the pope. After the protestant reformation in Europe there were different religious practices with their own beliefs. The conflict was more often between scientists attached to one faith tradition vs. another than to scientists vs. religion.

Things pivoted over time. Religion at times would use science to explain religious teachings. Later religious teachings would be used to explain science. During the cold war, the USSR was atheist, so the US became extra religious in part to counter it. Even more recent science vs. religion actions such as the Scopes Monkey Trial were really much less about science vs. religion. That angle was primarily brought up in later dramatizations and interpretations.

Religion and science had have their conflicts, yet they have also worked together for advancement. The full separation can be problematic. They each have their expertise and together can help humanity.

Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions

Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace

The book ends with dad's death as he turns into a fish. The rest of the book details various parts of his life. He was a larger-than-life character that had great stories. The experiences were all grounded in the real world, but got exaggerated and carried away. He helped talk down a giant from eating the town. He helped rescue a woman's glass eye from a group of fraternity brothers. In one case, he even bought an entire town. When he found one hidden lot that wouldn't sell to him, he fell in love with the owner. Most of the short book takes place in Alabama. Maybe things are just a little different there.

The Heart

The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal, translated by Sam Taylor

Some suffer a tragic car accident. One has severe brain damage and will not recover. However, his heart and other organs are in good condition. The novel then explores the widespread impact of this heart. The family and friends of the surfer must deal with their grief. There is great need of a heart to help others, but it is important to make sure the loved ones do not have regrets. The novel explores the lives of the many people involved, from the doctors, the "donor" and the "recipient" and everyone related to all of them. It all takes place in the very short period of time. There is much history involved in a final action that happens within the span of a day.

And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Ten people with hidden nefarious pasts are on a remote island. They start dying off. Nobody can identify who the murderer is. Eventually it is down to two people. One woman ends up killing the last guy and then after seeing a gallows hangs herself. A nursery rhyme frames the story as people are knocked off one by one. After they are all dead, we hear from the authorities who have no idea what caused them to kill each other. Finally we hear the conclusion via a message in a bottle. A judge had set everything up to punish the unpunishable. He even faked his on death (via gunshut) early in the process. He then continued managing the deaths. After everyone died, he commited suicide, but staged it to look like the documented death. This is a classical story that I found even better when listened to earlier in dramatized form.

Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas--Not Less

Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas--Not Less by Alex Epstein

Alex Epstein argues that we have a moral obligation to support  fossil fuels in order to have humanity flourish. He argues that while emissions can impact the climate, the damage they cause is overshadowed by the gains humanity receives. Most of the argument to reduce carbon focuses on the harm without looking at the positive. If there were no positives, there would be no justification for using fossil fuels at all now. However, there are positives and we don't have any alternatives that can provide the benefit they provide. There is also confusion on adoption of policies, with some of the best non-carbon energy sources (nuclear and hydro) being attacked, while intermittent sources like solar and wind are subsidized. The climate research framework and reporting is willing to bend the facts to support an anti-fossil fuel agenda. The focus is on harm rather than benefits. Even as weather and climate related deaths have plummeted, reporting declares any incident as being climate change related. There is very little reporting on positive response to increased temperatures. Estimates of negative impact are also significantly underreported. Many advocates are seeking to eliminate any human impact rather than doing what is best for people.

It is easy to see the hyperbole and inconsistencies of climate change. Every heat wave of forest fire is declared to be a symptom of climate change (even if the problem had nothing to do with climate.)  Plastic straws and shopping bags are replaced by paper ones. Electric cars are mandated instead of gas. These are "swap in" solutions that may be a little less convenient, but feel better for the environment - even if they actually require more energy to produce. "Others" are encouraged to skip fossil fuels. We have low flush toilets that may need to be flushed a few times, high efficiency dishwashers that require more handwashing and other "improvements" that have limited value. 

If we really want to reduce energy use, we need to reduce it. The cheats are not going to cut it. We need to allow cities to be built in a way that people can walk instead of drive. We need to be "smaller" and produce less waste. If we are not willing to use less energy, then making changes is just rounding errors. Wind and Solar are "green", but they require disturbing the environment with their placement and the transmission lines needed. They also need backups, which can require moreland and possibly fossil fuel.

The books simple argument is that we should focus on what is best for humanity. With that model, fossil fuels are required. No other fuel is close to providing similar benefits. Others may have some limited benefit, but all have challenges. Things get a bit slow in the middle of the book, before the end presents ways to argue the point. 

Against Democracy

Against Democracy by Jason Brennan

Democracy enables everyone to have a say. This is both a feature and a bug. Everybody has a vote, but not everybody has a clue as to what they are doing. Many frequently vote against their own best interests - often because they don't have any idea how their votes impact them. They would be better off if they did not vote. It is not worth the investment to become more knowledgeable. Encouraging people to become involved and vote generally makes things worse. (As a thought experiment, how would Black activists feel if we could wave a magic wand and make all Black voters vote in all election? ... if it had the side effect of always having them vote for MAGA Republicans?)

The author explores different types of voters. "Hobbits" are uninformed. "Hooligans" are highly partisan and passionate, but generally clueless.  "Vulcans" dispassionately analyze and choose what is best. A nation of Vulcans would produce great results, but alas we have mostly Hobbits and Hooligans. People are often attached to a particular party and favor people that way and will even vote if out of their best interest.

Other systems may provide better results. Epistocracy is a potential system where the most knowledgeable rule. We could provide additional votes for those with more education or who have passed a civics test. Or we could randomly pick from among the people that had shown basic knowledge. (Though there are questions on how the demonstration of knowledge can be made - one proposal is to have that democratically produced. People often have a strong idea of how they should act, they just don't necessarily act that way.)  There are other ways that could also be explored that would be improvements on democracy. Is there a will to adopt anything better?

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies by Jared Diamond

I had read this back when it came out. There have been many that contradicted the argument since then. However, the general research and arguments are still quite convincing. He argues that factors in the natural environment play a big role in the development of cultures. When there is a large connected region across similar climates, the agricultural knowledge can easily be shared. When there are barriers in between, sharing is a much slower process. Some areas had many plants and animals that were ready for domestication, while other places did not. There was one example from polynesia where one culture advanced significantly beyond another after a period of separation. Through history cultures that were more advanced were able to dominate those that were not.

Memoirs of Hadrian

Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar translated by Grace Frick

The Roman emperor Hadrian was a real man. This book contains many accurate events of his life wrapped in a fictional narrative addressed to his successor. This brings the emperor to life in a way that a simple non-fiction work cannot.

Dark Matter: A Novel

Dark Matter: A Novel by Blake Crouch

A middling professor gets abducted and beat up, but not killed. When he comes to, he relies he has been out for some time. The world seems about the same, but some things are different. His house is still his, however, there is no sign of his wife or child. He discovers that he decided to focus on his work instead of getting married. His work led him to some great discoveries and positions at elite universities before going to work for a private company. There he discovered ways of traveling into different realities. However, he had been missing for some time. He realizes it was the him from the future that had abducted him and they had now swapped lives. The book alternates stories of the two lives of the same man, but focuses on the original one. (The version of himself that had abducted him is now living the laid-back family life.) 

The original version of the professor is now treated as insane and involuntary committed, but escapes. He is also chased by members of his company. He teams up with a psychologist and explores alternate realities. One is a Utopian version of Chicago with high-tech L trains. Others are dystopian. The book concludes with many versions of the man encountering each other. What would happen if we could go back and see how things would turn out if we went down different paths? What if a version of us from one path went back to travel down a version of the other?

When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency

When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency by Anna Zivarts

One third of the residents of the US cannot drive. Our transportation infrastructure is built for drivers, thus disenfranchising a huge section of the population. Often the "solution" is to try to provide ways for them to be driven, rather than provide overall mobility. Young children are expected to be driven by their parents. The elderly are expected to be provided for by a caregiver. Undocumented immigrants are offered driver's licenses. Those that are poor are given subsidies. Those with disabilities are given expensive adaptations to support driving or expected to get others to help them.

A better solution would be to steer away from car dependency and allow universal mobility. However, transportation policies that make things a little bit better for drivers make things difficult or impossible for non-drivers. Wide streets with distant crossings make it difficult to cross. This is made worse when there are no sidewalks or safe walking places along the side. Transit systems are often designed by people who don't use them. Schedules and transfer can be difficult, with routes not necessarily going when or where needed. It is treated as generous charity rather than a legitimate means of transit. Sidewalks are often an afterthought. They may be il-maintained or missing altogether. Curb cuts could be missing. Construction may block sections.

This book points out many of the challenges faced by non-drivers. However, it goes a bit to far in the identity politics. Do we really need to focus on the race or ethnicity of non-drivers? It would be better to focus on universal needs rather than narrow the focus to small subgroups. Everyone is young or old at some point in their lives. Many have disabilities or even injuries that limit mobility. Most people have had some time in their lives when it was difficult to make ends meet. These universal experiences could serve as a better point for building this universal coalition. What if we changes the mindset. Instead of accommodating people, we built the infrastructure for them and then accommodated cars? This can enable freedom of mobility for all.

Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI

Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick

This book takes a balanced view of AI. It is here. It can help us do a lot of powerful things. It will also cause a lot of changes. It can succeed at many complex tasks, yet can stumble at seemingly easy tasks. It likes to please, and will "hallucinate" to provide answers we want. We need to stay involved to make sure it doesn't spin out of control. Education and work will change. We still don't know the limits of AI. Maybe it will get much better. Maybe we are near it's limit now. There can also be many negative and positive outcomes. It will require work to be on the good side.

Pachinko

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Pachinko tells the story of multiple generations of a Korean family in the 20th century. There is somewhat of a rags to riches story as they rise from great poverty in Korea to respectability in Japan. However, it is not quite that simple. Koreans were looked down upon by the Japanese in both Japan and Korea. During the occupation, Koreans were treated poorly at home and at Japan. Afterwards, they were still not treated well. They were not Japanese, even though they lived for decades in Japan. As a young girl, Sunja was impregnated by an older married Korean from Japan (Koh Hansu). She didn't want to be a mistress and took up a pastor's offer to marry her. She moved with him to Japan where he had Korean expatriate family. Koh continued to keep an eye on the family and clandestinely helped them out - but the help often ended up being a faustian bargain with negative things happening. (For example, his son with the woman ran off and did well while posing as a Japanese. Once his family found out, he committed suicide.) The story goes through World War II and includes a family member getting harmed by the atomic bombs. The family builds up businesses, including Pachinko parlors. Some later generations are educated in America. However some of the relationships continue to haunt them. The characters lived through key events in modern Korean history as commoners. The characters have roots in Pyongyang, they live through World War II and the Korean War. However, they do not control the events nor have much active participation. They are just trying to live their lives. 

Hunger

Hunger by Knut Hamsun translated by George Egerton

The protagonist of Hunger is a true starving artist. He had a falling out with his landlord and is forced to leave his apartment. He now has no place to live and is just wandering the streets. He has a manuscript he has worked on that he sends to the publisher that he hopes will provide him something. He remembers others that he has helped before. However, he is too prideful to accept handouts from them (or even ask for something in return.) The police send him to a homeless shelter. However, he is too prideful to ask for a meal ticket like the others have. This type of cycle repeats many times. He comes really close to getting food or money, but his pride gets in the way. He doesn't see himself as in need, so is reluctant to take. He even asks for a "dog bone" and tries to chew of the mea (only to throw it back up.)

A society can have many resources available. However, they don't help if people are unwilling to use them. Those that have been able to contribute to society may be the least likely to accept that they are now in a position of need. 

Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America

Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America by Chris Murphy

Chris Murphy is a Democrat and is upset with what Trump has done to the presidency. However, rather than jump into partisan attacks, he looks at the root cause. Trump is able to tap into resentment felt by many in America. The town where people know each other and work together has been replaced by a homogenous culture. People don't have the community and the desire for the common good. People are much more siloed. Community organizations and churches are much less present.

He sees the problems as many "cults". Cult of Profit, Cult of Globalism, Cult of Technology, Cult of Consumption, Cult of Credentialism, Cult of Corruption. Given his political leaning he left out the "Cult of Other" - the look for somebody else (like the government) to solve the problems. He tries very hard to be politically neutral, and for the most part succeeds, though the partisanship does occasionally eek out.

In one section, he stated that he would like for the government not to provide any services dependent on income. He was focussing on "fast lanes", but it would be a great idea for all services. There is a huge application needed to apply for low-income housing or rent assistance. Other resources require regular validation that you are in fact poor. This is demeaning and encourages one to keep income low to maintain benefits. What if we just provided everything to everyone? The administration costs would go down. The negative aspects would go away. It would cost more, but everyone would benefit from it. It is similar to the public library. Wealthy people could just buy the books (and many do.) However, everyone has access to the library regardless of how much they earn. What if we did that with our many other programs? Instead of charging low-income bus riders $1 and everyone else $3, just charge everyone $1. Provide basic health care for everyone. Provide free school lunch for everyone. Eliminate anything that requires you to validate that you are poor to receive some benefit. The rich would need to pay a little more in taxes. The middle class would probably be a wash. Administration costs would go down. There would also be incentive for everyone to make the system better. There would also eliminate the "income penalty". There is more incentive for people to earn more above-board. Alas, things are moving in the opposite direction. Washington even started a "low income toll", where low-income people pay less. This is like butting a band-aid on a broken arm.

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert

Humans of gone to great effort to engineer nature to their designs. While this has often worked well in the short term, the long term is quite a different story. There are many cases of plants or animals that were introduced to help with a local issue, only to have caused even greater issues. People have also built many structures to combat one problem only to have another problem surface. The water control structures in Louisiana have helped prevent floods (when they work). Yet, the floods are what deposited sediment to keep the land.

After discussing the many unintended consequences of engineering the planet, the book pivots to climate change. We have spewed so much carbon into the atmosphere that we are impacting the climate. By some accounts, even if we stop all carbon emissions we are still on a bad path. That leaves reducing carbon in the air as a potential solution. How could that go wrong? The book first explores various carbon sequestering schemes in a positive light. Then puts on the cautious hat. Humanity does not have a good record looking at all the long-term consequences and impacts of the big projects. Alas, we are still continuing down the route. Will switching to electric cars really make a difference when the freeways themselves are impacting ecosystems? Could carbon captures just encourage more bad behavior? Or will it lead to a negative feedback loop in the other direction? Climate change does not have easy solutions.

The Origins of Woke: Civil Rights Law, Corporate America, and the Triumph of Identity Politics

The Origins of Woke: Civil Rights Law, Corporate America, and the Triumph of Identity Politics by Richard Hanania

The origins of woke is a case study in unintended consequences. What started out as civil rights legislation to end Jim Crow segregation in the south ended up encompassing many more "rights" and "identities". Many groups exist only because of the regulations. The many groups lumped together in "Hispanic" have little in common other than the Spanish language. (And even that can be very different.) However, they are combined together into the "Hispanic" classification. New identities have sprung up. Many more people have disabilities. Trial lawyers have become some of the greatest beneficiaries. Should they win against companies, they can collect fees. If they lose, the company cannot collect legal fees. Thus, companies are often willing to settle even somewhat frivolous cases.

Title IX is a bizarre case of unintended consequences on top of others. Original protection for women was added to civil rights legislation an attempt to scuttle it. It stayed. Then later through judicial fiat, equity of roster spots was required in college sports. It did not matter if women wanted to compete or not. (In fact, cheerleading was declared not a sport, despite it being something that women wanted.) A strict equality was enforced and many men's sports were dropped. Interestingly, this was applied to sports, yet not academic or arts programs. (Perhaps they were prescient in guessing how sports would dominate society.)

Judges are not the only ones to expand the definition. There are many executive orders that apply to policies for government contractors. There are no quotas, but many things that might as well be quotas. It is expected that people match their local population that can be even worse than quotas. There is a lot of "good intentions" in much of the policies. However, it has resulted in a whole "human resources" industry that is now dependent on the existing policies. There has been an industry built up around the policies making them difficult to take away without sound heartless. Yet the policies provide more difficult than benefit. The solution is hard to find.

Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World

Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar

It depressing to read about how car parking space took over our cities. Parking sucked livelihood out of cities. Those that sought to play the "suburban" game ended up most bombed out. Most communities adopted very precise parking standards that had no basis in reality. They were pretty much pulled out of thin air and propagated. The end result was massing overproduction of parking that needlessly drives up the price of all real estate. The cost of parking that a car occupies is greater than the cost of of the car. The solution is tough. People get upset when the "free" parking is taken away. However, cost is the best way to regulate supply and demand. Typically when people complain about "no parking" there is plenty of parking available nearby, though it may be more costly or restricted to other users. Parking requirements have become one of the last remaining venues for bigots to fight housing. When parking requirements are fully removed, the market does not demand as much parking. Is there any hope for a future of American cities built for people rather than cars?

The Money Illusion: Market Monetarism, the Great Recession, and the Future of Monetary Policy

The Money Illusion: Market Monetarism, the Great Recession, and the Future of Monetary Policy by Scott Sumner

This book had interesting somewhat counter-intuitive views of the impacts of monetary policy. I didn't fully grasp all the details, but felt it could be a good way to look at things. "Easy" money is a key way that the government can help the economy. However, interest rates are often only a part of this. Often the anticipation of rates can be more critical than the actual rates set themselves. Common explanations we hear of for economic crashes are often side correlations. For instance, housing production had already stalled before the great recession. Some "fixes" may also make matters worse. (Encouraging unions and high wages at the start of the Great Depression likely stalled employment gains and production.) Macroeconomics uses the same terminology as microeconomics to describe something very different. Getting the right policies in place can help keep things humming along well, while the wrong policies can make things worse.

The author is very cautious about his beliefs. While he holds them strongly, he also feels that common culture is not likely to take them up until ready. He also notes that "liberal economics" will almost always "win", though the definition of "liberal economics" is always changing. Could we really keep the economy moving around nicely for a long term? Or would the thought of bubbles and crashes mean they must occur?