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Essential Reading in 2023

Revisado: 05-02-23

I've been searching for a book like this for years now. The New Puritans brings evidence, reasoning, and sincere journalism to the analysis of Wokism and Social Justice, building the case that we are not witnessing a mere political movement but the birth of a new religion. The book makes abundantly clear that invoking religious terminology to explore this ideology is not for analogy sake, but to honestly probe the matter for what it is: a faith-based belief system making unfalsifiable claims about the world, supported only by emotional manipulation and enforced conformity to theological dogma.

The case is made that identifying this ideology as religion is not mere semantics, but has real-world implications for how companies, universities, and governments form and implement policies around it and how we are to best understand its modes of action and spread. The New Puritans explores the many pitfalls we've already seen in getting this wrong, and how liberal values - the foundations of civil society as we know it - are being eroded by a movement amassing power through exploiting our better natures as citizens of free and tolerant societies.

The New Puritans equips the reader with the necessary tools to identify when the religion of Critical Social Justice is being pushed as discerned from legitimate issues of equality and justice; and provides a measured, realistic roadmap for regular people caught up in it to push back against this outrageous, puritanical movement.

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Identifies Real Problems & Solutions, but Biased.

Revisado: 12-11-22

While I'm fully on board with the goals of the author in modernizing the way we cast ballots to foster meaningful representation through multiple parties and more diversity of thought in a more civil politics; this book got unnecessarily political. I knew going in that the author, Drutman, leaned left but had hoped that his passion for this reform would have him put all that aside to compose this message for all Americans - that there's at least one policy position we can and must agree on. Apparently, and to the detriment of his cause in my estimation, he couldn't help himself.

This bias isn't necessarily ever-present; Drutman does faithfully lay out the case using phrases that could reasonably apply to either side of a partisan duopoly, but he falls short of his unifying message notably when it comes to giving examples. For instance: two party systems make each side become more extreme in opposition to the other; here's an example of how Newt Gingrich did that with a Republican majority. They make primaries less accountable; here's an example of the Republicans nominating an actual holocaust denier. They prevent good policy from being passed; here's an example of how Republicans fought the ACA (Obamacare).

He's extends this error further in analysing the causes for partisan identify and political alignment. For instance, he states as a matter of fact that when economic issues are most present, the largest voting block being the poor and middle class will align with parties that will alleviate inequality through redistributive policies; particularly, that when poor and middle class people vote against such policies, they are voting against their economic well-being and instead for some other kind of value such as cultural identity. Basically, the author assumes his assessment of policies and their effects is correct, and notably in favor of the left.

Sure, many of his examples criticizing the right are valid, and his analysis taken for what it is meant to achieve gets the point across; but I'm certain that conservative readers could think of just as many examples of egregious Democrat behavior and thus feel attacked by the message given the very divide this book is trying to address; or that classical liberal readers might recall how policies purportedly meant to favor a particular group, class, or cause have the exact opposite effect, and question whether the author is sincere.

If you're speaking to a divided America, it's absolutely essential that any line that could be interpreted as favoring one side or the other be immediately countered or couched in mollifying language to neutralize bias. You'd think he'd have multiple partisan proofreaders just for this purpose because indeed he's calling attention to a bad system for everyone, regardless of their politics; but I'll go further to emphasize that if anyone needs to be convinced we have a bad system that legitimately needs an upgrade, naturally it's going to be conservatives who tend to think America does most if not everything the best already, not modern leftists in their tendency to reactively think everything American needs reform.

Alas, it's as though the purpose of the book is to explain how two-party dominance in American politics makes it harder to pursue leftist causes specifically; that Americans in general are harmed under the prevailing system because the right, in particular, has enjoyed too much partisan power. Its cheap shots at conservative and libertarian principles imply that improving elections for everyone is a call to action for exactly one side, defying what should be the goal of the book: to unify Americans against one objectively bad feature of our political system toward some kind of improvement that would truly allow us to sort out the issues ourselves.

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Just look at the science!

Revisado: 07-16-22

Unsettled cuts through the fugue of ideology, politics and media hyperbole to get right down to the facts on what we currently know about climatic systems, human effects, and the challenges in improving our knowledge. How governments respond to claims about climate catastrophe could cause humanitarian catastrophes of our own making, so preserving scientific integrity on this matter is critical, which is precisely what Unsettled does brilliantly.

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The World Needs to Know This!

Revisado: 07-14-22

Environmentalists: this book will make your cause more effective by examining the counterproductive - and even environmentally destructive - aspects of the movement.

Everyone else: this book will help you examine political green doctrines more critically and be better informed on the realities of energy, environment and our future.

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Truly a Moral Case for Human Progress

Revisado: 07-12-22

Hearing him out is an absolute must for anyone with even an inkling of concern about the future of humanity. I came back to this book after reading his more recent book Fossil Future, which I highly recommend as well. The Moral Case doesn't just deny climate change and say drill baby drill; what it does is reframe the whole argument in terms of comparing the potential dangers of using fossil fuels to the very real catastrophe it would be if, as so many activists and politicians are pushing, we abandoned this most important source of life-giving energy.

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Possibly the Most Important Book of the Century

Revisado: 07-11-22

Fossil Future might just be, and no exaggeration, the most important book of the 21st century. Access to energy determines how long we live, how well we live, and how much of our lives we can devote to the pursuit of the happiness rather than mere subsistence. It's no small thing to trifle with, and Epstein explores its nuances with brilliant accessibility. Billions of human lives are at stake on the question of fossil fuels and the future of energy. How much does human prosperity mean to you?

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An Intense Journey from Desperation to Freedom

Revisado: 03-16-21

Not just an autobiographical tear-jerker, In Order to Live explores a young woman's literal, emotional and spiritual journey from the tyranny of the mind instilled by the North Korean regime to finally grasping what it means to be a free and full person.

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A Study on Trump Derangement Syndrome

Revisado: 03-13-21

Almost none of the popular criticism of President Trump had anything to do with policy, but rather was about the man himself. The snowballing hatred was an absolutely baffling phenomenon, but this book helps clarify its origins and motivations. Resistance goes on to reveal the comparatively baseless nature of the outrage and explores the implications and dangers of how far it went.

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A Tough-Love, Fact-Based, Must-Read

Revisado: 03-11-21

Candace Owens makes a compelling case for black Americans to take back their agency from the political establishment that only ever makes unfulfilled promises to keep farming votes from the aptly-dubbed "Democrat plantation". While her critics may cry bigotry or accuse her of treason to her race, the truth is that every passage in this book exudes her love and respect for the black community, their past achievements, and what can be, if only they refuse to be someone else's charge and instead take responsibility for the freedoms they enjoy in America.

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Brilliantly well explained and necessary!

Revisado: 01-20-21

End the Fed covers a critical political and economic issue facing not just America, but the entire world. Contemporary banking is a complicated topic, but this book does an exceptional job of explaining how the nuts and bolts fit together and why the current system is such a grave threat to average Americans' long term economic well being. It doesn't delve into clandestine conspiracies, but sticks to the story we all can and should know, exploring the history, function and logical implications of central banking.

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