On Reading

Originally posted at WNE on 10/25/07

My "reading" section on the right hand side of this site sat dormant for a very long time. This wasn't because of a lackadaisical effort on my part to update, there was just nothing to update. I hadn't been reading. Well that has changed now that I read three books in the last three weeks, well listened to actually. That is neither here nor there though, literature has penetrated my brain in one form of media or another in the past three weeks and I think I should share.

The Tipping Point
This is the kind of book I want to read to people or at least give them as a present so they feel obligated to read it. Rarely do I find nonfiction reading so fascinating, but the tipping point holds up on all ends. The basic concept looks at the three types of catalyst that are present in every epidemic. Epidemic can of course mean disease, but it also encompasses everything from fashion trends reaching critical mass to crime rate reversal. It is not very long, but it left me thinking and talking about its premise and concepts weeks after I completed it.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
I started this book in the middle of the summer and fell behind in completing it as other books peaked my interest. This should not be a commentary on this books pacing however, I am just a huge WoW lore geek and I stop everything when a new book comes out. Back to Confessions of an E.H.M. though.

The book puts a grim twist on the United States in the 70's and 80's that I want to take with a grain of salt, but even recent events make me think are valid. The view from thirty thousand feet has private engineering and economic firms working as consultants in third world countries in unison with the world bank and American contractors. The private firms convince the third world countries that they are on the edge of an economic boom and they will will need the systems to support said boom in place before it occurs. The countries borrow from the world bank to pay the American contractors to build their new systems. The boom never comes and the country is now indebted to the World Bank (which is essentially the United States) so they now can be manipulated (UN votes and the like). If the country won't play ball the US government sends in the CIA or goes to war. Great reading even if it makes me a little scared. If only half of the stories are true it still makes me question United States foreign policy.

If any family or friend reading would like either of these on CD please let me know. If I don't know you and you are reading this I would suggest you drop a few dollars at Audible.com or grab them off Amazon.