John M Bryant

Open, honest

Revisado: 02-06-25

Panoramic view of western political philosophy. Great thinker perspective, primarily, shifting to topical for the 20th century.

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Magnificent performance of an overwhelming argument

Revisado: 02-10-24

James Cameron Stewart is simply magnificent, tackling a wide range of languages, difficult names, and complex sentences with grace. Israel lays out not only his thesis, but why his critics are wrong.

In short, the enlightenment split into radical and moderate factions. The radical wing failed, but has reformed as postmodernism. A valuable correction to arguments like those in Cynical Theories and similar works.

The links are clear - you can see “modern” complaints about inequality in quotes from the 1600s.

Missing is any link to the impact the discovery of the Americas and native political organizations on European thought. This is unfortunate, as idealized versions likely influenced the arguments in Europe.

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I’m sympathetic to his outrage, and his facts re: exploitation are correct, but…

Revisado: 11-02-23

…if you’re going to solve the problem, you need to understand it. Marxism has fallen out of favor because it fails to correctly explain the situation. Fundamentally, the “global capitalist elite” do not exist as a class. The term describes that which forms as human beings make decisions to further their own interests relative to others. Thus it is an emergent property, not a conspiracy. Treating it as a conspiracy leads to the sorts of idiotic conclusions presented here. Parenti and other Marxists desperately want a “them” for “us” to attack. But as he shows, even in the hands of “Marxists,” events drive decisions that lead to the same perverse results pursued by the “global capitalist elite”.
Narrator was fantastic. But there’s no saving the content.

Purchased this one thinking it dealt with fascism…that’s maybe the first 10%, and his strongest, though still weak case. The rest is just apology for Marxism.

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Maura history of recent state department developments

Revisado: 09-24-23

Really shitty offers personal history. Way too much time on his relationship with Richard Holbrook. Not nearly enough time on the actual subject of the book - diplomacy around the world and American’s relative decline.

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Lightweight, personal impressions of three countries

Revisado: 06-20-23

Fairly enjoyable, but this is not a serious examination of the situation in East Asia. It is a well-written travelogue and personal impressions, and many of the anecdotes are well-presented and provide an interesting perspective.

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Required reading!

Revisado: 02-20-23

Stunning summation of Western thought and just pervasive Christian theology is within it. Magnificent performance as well.

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If you lived through this…

Revisado: 02-01-23

…then there’s nothing new here. But the real reasons for the low score are the author’s bias and failure to comprehend the failure of neoliberalism to deliver on the promise of liberalism. He labels right-wing conservatives as “neo-liberal” when they are anything but “liberal.” Neoliberalism failed to deliver because liberalism is another idealism- a beautiful utopia that cannot be achieved. Also fails to note the security considerations behind the rise of n-l, which it also failed to cure, because it cannot. See von Moses “Liberalism” and anything by Zeihan for details.

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A classic, but…

Revisado: 10-18-22

…simply argues that “scientists” are human, with all the foibles thereof. Also misleading- “revolutions” implies rapid change, when the argument clearly indicates that change happens gradually, tentatively, and is accepted slowly. Appeals to science skeptics who want to challenge authority of science. Too bad for them that the author recognizes that science changes because the new ideas work better than the old.

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Essential reading on civil/military relations

Revisado: 10-18-22

Critically important study and argument of one of history’s most innovative and judicious generals. Only thing marring there book is it’s overly argumentative style - Liddell Hart loves Scorpio & wants you to know why his detractors are wrong. So it reads more like a lawyer’s argument than a careful study. Sorry, but you will also need to read more to get a balanced picture.

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Justifying Catholic approach

Revisado: 06-20-22

No mention of non-western approaches, or truly objective anthropological compilations. Just using western philosophical history to justify Catholic approach to ideological issues.

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