I am bedridden and read just about every waking moment, so I appreciate most book recommendations - especially when they come from someone I like and admire. I don't read much non-fiction because it's too depressing, but I will take a look at your suggestions anyway - after all, I DO spend the first 3 to 5 hours of my day reading the news, and nothing in book form can be worse than that.
What I have trouble believing is that YOU have time to read!
Elly Griffiths is one of my favorite authors. I have only read one of Donna Leon's books and I found the main characters rather boring. There was far too much talk about the food they ate! But as so many people love the series, I will try again! My absolute favorite author of current fiction is John Connelly, the Charlie Parker series. I have to order his books sent from Ireland or England because they aren't released in the US until a month or two later!
Yesterday I read the Becky Chalmers "monk and robot" duology. I don't have words for how wonderful and thought-provoking they are. They ask: What do you (humans) need? By the end of the story I was thinking: I need more good books.... and both understanding and forgiveness.
Sorry to hear about your situation Paula! (Consider picking up 'Diary of a Reluctant Dreamer: Undocumented Vignettes from a Pre-American Life' - which is a graphic novel - for a short read that is truly uplifting! Also, if humor is more your thing, check out one of the books written by Tom Papa - his work has been featured on NPR & he is very funny!)
I, too, spend much of my life in repose due to chronic conditions. I consume a lot of non-fiction via the news, but i try to balance it with art and beauty. Kind of like the suffragettes "Bread and Roses" idea. Heather Cox Richardson's letters help me digest the news, but never inspire despair. Some other good reading I've found:
Books that gave me focus away from politics. Any books by Margaret Renkl. Travels of William Bartram, Natures Garden by Nellie Blanchard, News of the World, 1491, 1492 and 1493 ( 3 books) by Charles G Mann, All Gods Dangers by Theodore Rosengarten, Blues by John Hersey, Sermons from the National Cathedral by Lloyd, Across America and Asia by Ralph Pumpbelly. Best wishes.
You must have some interesting stories to tell Paula. Regarding fiction, my husband and I have read all of Donna Leon's books and look forward to another soon. Some of her sentences re people as they relate, are so very well woven I must re read and ponder.
The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. An adventure in learning with many perspectives and wonderful research. Not only have I learned Black history but I have learned about myself and my own education. I have really enjoyed both and She is a wonderful voice of amity in truth.
Haven’t read Caste yet, but will. Warmth should be required HS reading. It teaches a history few know (I didn’t) in a beautiful, painful, thought-provoking way. Best read I’ve had so far this year.
I know this is a weird choice for summer reading but here’s mine: Hitler by Volker Ullrich (vol. 1-Ascent). It’s riveting. Guess what? German right-wing leaders saw him as a buffoon—someone they could use to advance their aims. Sound familiar?
"A Castle in the Forest" Norman Mailer's last novel focuses on Hitler's childhood. There were supposed to be 2 more installments, but NM didn't live to finish it. Very interesting theory on the "dirty secret" in Hitler's ancestry.
Thanks David and given your interest in Hitler, you might be interested in "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson who goes into depth re Hitlers interest and use of the American playbook re slavery to develop their system and his book Mein Kampf.
They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency, written by Malcom Nance, expert on terrorism, extremism and insurgency and 34 year veteran of the U.S. intelligence community's Combating Terrorism program. Think January 6th was scary? Take a look how far the tentacles of the Trump White House went to infiltrate and corrupt American democracy from the high courts to legislatures, the military, schools, local governments, and your next door neighbor.
Regarding your personal qualms about aging and conclusion that you’re not being ageist, I strongly, strongly recommend your reading the important new book, "Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long & Well You will Live" [https://becca-levy.com/the-book/] (William Morrow/Harper Collins). Unlike other books on aging well, Yale epidemiologist Becca Levy, PhD., backs up everything with over 30 years of research on how negative age messaging unique to US culture is killing people years before their natural time and harming Americans in multiple ways as ageist attituded infect every system from health care to housing to employment discrimination.
Becca observes, “Some politicians, economists and journalists are wringing their hands over what they call ‘the silver tsunami,’ but they’re missing the point. The fact that so many people are getting to experience old age, and doing so in better health, is one of society’s greatest achievements. It’s also an extraordinary opportunity to rethink what it means to grow old.” It’s a compact book, a very readable 200+ pages, but building on her academic work of decades.
Dr. Reich, I’ve spent 50 years working on this subject watching ageism remain as one of the last acceptable bias in American culture. In 1993, I cofounded the Journalists Network on Generations, which I run, putting out our monthly newsletter www.GBONews.org (Generations Beat Online). (I was a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging, appointed by Nick Retsinas of HUD, and Still work with both of Pres. Clinton’s Assistant Secretaries of Aging, Fernando Torres-Gil and Jeanette Takamura.)
So, I read your piece, beginning, “Is Biden too old? [https://tinyurl.com/2s8b25hn] Personal thoughts about whether he should run again,” with a long sigh of disappointment because, for once, and at length, you didn’t substantiate your conclusion that he shouldn’t. Your negative finding seems based entirely on speculation of how he might fare into his mid-80s. Even there, you allow that given his relative health, despite diminished fizz, suggest he may be fine. (and Paxlovid willing). I've long admired you, but on this one you're wrong -- and adopting an ageist attitude.
Thanks Paul, for today’s comment and for your 50 years of thoughtful important work. I’m 85 and play tennis five days a week (one of my fellow players is 92), so I have confidence in Biden continuing his presidency if electable. My concern is that Joe, like my friend (RIP) and former presidential candidate Paul Simon (who refused to give up bow ties and plastic rimmed glasses for a charisma makeover), will not have enough appeal to the essential Gen-Z voter block to win in 2024. I’m all for your comments about ageism, but not willing to give up the stance that a young whippersnapper like Beto might have the charisma to be a tRump-beater in 2024, and could be successfully paired with a mature VP appealing to the Boomer voters. What do you have to say about the 80 year olds being able to appeal to the 20 year olds AT THIS TIME IN HISTORY at the presidential vote-getting level? - Bruce
Many thanks for your thoughtful reply. To your good question, I have two words -- "Bernie Sanders." and, a tad younger, Elizabeth Warren. Both consistently drew young people the largest Dem crowds in the tens of thousands. And they did so with with ideas and "plans" that went to the heart of people's struggles. (Their political fates is for another discussion, one I'd mainly like to hear from Dr. Reich, including the fates of their ideas.) And I remember Paul Simon and his bow ties as a mainstay of that time's news. I always suspected that he may have been a model for Orville Redenbacher, a most successful product. Messaged well, "old fashioned" can have great appeal to the young when presented honestly, like popcorn. I'd love to hear more about your friendship with him.
Paul Kleyman, I couldn't agree more with your comments. As much as I thought I understood about rampant ageism, now that I'm trying to contend with it, I see it's even more widespread, demoralizing, and damaging than I'd expected -- and that it comes not only from younger people but from our own age group, as well. Ageism creates a monumental waste of ability and experience that this country can't afford to waste. To the many older people who've been brainwashed by ageism into contending that our generation has messed things up so that it's time to give younger people their turn, I say that your words convey a different message. Younger people will certainly agree with you, because like the pilots unions that I've mentioned, they want the power, and they want it now, but the fact that your words are recognizing that we've made mistakes says that you've learned from those errors -- that experience has taught lessons that could be used, if only self-interested ageism hadn't both put up barriers and convinced you that you're too decrepit to use your experience-based wisdom.
The messages of ageism can be so subtle that we don't even see them. I wrote here about one pilot union's younger leaders sending hate mail to older pilots out of their self-serving eagerness to take over senior, higher-paying positions. The language in their messages was brutal, to the point of wishing senior pilots early death. Those younger union leaders have long been fighting to keep low age limits on airline pilot jobs. Just a few days ago, someone here sent me a statement by APA, the American Airlines pilot union, protesting Lindsey Graham's attempts, during the current pilot shortage, to sponsor a bill raising the pilot age limit. The comments were the same old self-serving rubbish that anyone with "inside" knowledge could invalidate. But as always, the unions rely on using alleged "safety issues" to scare the public as well as rule makers. Unions are supposed to serve their dues-paying, working members. Senior pilots pay the highest dues. How does it serve senior union members to have younger union leaders fighting to prevent them from being able to work for a few more years, should they choose and be able to pass their every-6-month FAA physicals, stringent simulator checks, and tough knowledge exams -- especially at airlines where management has terminated pensions and slashed pay? As usual, "follow the money". Who gets the money if senior pilots are forced to retire? The ploy succeeds because a lot of the energy in pilot unions comes from vocal, younger pilot-reps. (Apparently, older pilots have seen the futility of playing union politics and quit volunteering -- which is an anti-ageism mistake) Because the driving factor is not safety but greed and ageism, I wanted to write to Lindsey Graham to show him how APA'S arguments are about ageism, not safety, but...helping Lindsey Graham (!)...and more to the point, who would I be helping by working to increase the pilot age limit now? Not my peers or myself -- we're past the proposed 3-year extension age. I would be helping the previously younger but now senior pilots who sent those nasty letters to my senior peers, fighting to perpetrate ageism and take our jobs. That's a quirky thing about ageism -- after a point, to try to stem it, one may have to help those who used ageism to harm one. I despise ageism so much that I may try. But my point is, that's one example where ageism is masquerading as safety. Ageism wears many faces, many subtle, undetectable, and hard to fight. We've even, to my utter disappointment and dismay, read it here. And so it prevails and wastes an enormous, badly needed natural resource: the wisdom of experience. It also wastes human potential and human lives and causes premature death. Despite my best efforts to fight it, I feel it withering and wasting me. It's doing that for many others as well. Even reading that post here destroyed a segment of energy and hope.
First, Mo, I'm so sorry you're about your personal despair, but the situation with the pilots is an important one -- not new to me, except for your details -- that needs to be exposed, hopefully through some enterprising journalism. In the 2000s, when the forced retirement age for pilots was 60, unlike European and other countries had raised it to 65, I learned about the curious union opposition from none other than Hugh Downs. Hugh, who was a polymath besides being a great broadcaster, had among many accomplishments, received a certificate in geriatric medicine from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. But he was also a private pilot well into his 80s. He explained to me that the common reason given for age limits, reaction times down to hundredths of a second, might make sense for race-car drivers, but not for commercial pilots, who have more time to maneuver -- and engage their knowledge and experience. (Not long after, Sully became a hero by landing his airliner on the Hudson safely for all, not long before he was to turn 60 and be compelled to retire.) The age was eventually raised to 65, as you know. But why the union opposition? Hugh told me pretty much what you discuss here -- that the union wanted to expand it lucrative membership in part but pushing out older members, and their higher salaries, to make room for younger ones, two of whom (more or less) the airlines could bring on for the price of one seasoned flyer. FYI -- that's also been the pattern in newsrooms, often costing news organizations their more knowledgeable reporters and editors. Your account of younger pilots attacking the older ones is dismaying, but not entirely surprising, given the economic incentives. You may be interested to know though, that there's been an international movement via AARP, the World Economic Forum, over 100 corporations and others to promote age-diversity in the workplace. That may not include airlines (and the union) in the near term, but the lack of younger workers, even pre-pandemic, is forcing many industries to design more flexible, age friendly plans, for recruiting and retaining older workers, along with all of the institutional knowledge and professional skill they'd otherwise take with them. The current Fortune Magazine has a piece on this, but there are other sources under "age diverse workplace."
Paul, I admired Hugh Downs and knew he was a pilot, but I had no idea about the other expertise that you mention. Fascinating. He was right about reaction times being a less relevant issue, although I don't recall, as a younger pilot, having noticed slower reaction times among older pilots. If anything, they'd react more quickly because they had more experience and knowledge to help them in accurately identifying problems. Also, pilots are taught NOT, in most situations, to react quickly but to take time to assess, consult checklists, and communicate. Among reams of flight manual pages and emergency checklists, for maximum safety, there are very few immediate-action memory items.
Experience, however, is a major asset. Pilots often encounter new challenges. Experience helps in finding better solutions. All of the union arguments against raising pilot age limits are inconsequential beside the benefits of experience. That's not to say that some pilots shouldn't be retired -- some of them before mandatory retirement age. Constant medical and performance evaluations could identify such individuals, but I think that doesn't often happen exactly because specific age limits exist. The only place I might disagree with what you write involves the idea that airlines can save money by retiring senior pilots. That concept is more applicable in other types of workplaces. With pilot union contracts, however, as soon as a B747 Captain, for example, retires, another pilot takes that position at the same, contractually agreed upon pay. No savings. That trickles down and applies for any pilot with, at my former airline, at least 12 years of seniority. Prior to 12 years, there can be some difference, but a good deal of that difference is eaten up by the added training costs. So even the monetary argument against raising or abolishing pilot age limits doesn't make great sense. Forced retirement may save a bit, but compared to accidents and incidents caused by inexperience, how much it may save undoubtedly isn't known. There clearly is no reason for union's throwing their highest-paying members "under the bus" except for the self-interest of younger pilots, typically union representatives and the widespread forces of U.S. ageism. .
Thank you for the comments and information. Comforting, at the least, and hope-inspiring for future "seniors." As for me, I've just submitted yet another job application. This job is pilot ground-school instructor for an airline (not my former employer.) Minimum requirements include high school diploma and no aviation experience whatsoever. In addition to pilot, I've been a pilot instructor and spent years developing pilot training courses as well as ATC training for the FAA. I'm not rusty. In my own business,
I currently develop non-aviation interactive online training. Of course, as always, the employer professes not to practice age discrimination, but applicants must state their high scool or college graduation date. Bets cheerfully taken as to whether my application receives a reply.
Thanks so much for your detailed explanation. My interview on this with Hugh and the resulting article were maybe 15 years ago, and that particle of my memory is buried in my files, somewhere near the Ark of Covenant, thank you, Indiana Jones. But i do recall him questioning the union's motives around cost advantages they claimed. Be well, Mo (is it?).
I will go down this learning path you’re suggesting to the Secretary. Interesting tease I might say.
The Secretary was one of the very few members of the Clinton cabinet for which I had any respect, but Trump broke him.
I don’t think age is Reich’s problem at all and I agree he didn’t make the case against a Biden election bid in ‘24.
Setting aside his legitimacy for the moment, the case against Joe Biden is 100% policies and staff. “Good policy makes good politics.”, and the policy prescriptions of the last 18 months are a failure beyond absurdity and bordering on lunacy.
If they’re just bad at policy, the voter should be able to correct these wrongs. However, there are some very bright minds in the White House, so one is left to examine the criminal potential if outright subversion, espionage and sabotage by the ruling junta.
Joe Biden, on his own behalf and by his own record has almost always been completely wrong on policy.
If he is mentally diminished by whatever cause, and I believe he is, he is being abused by those in his family and the criminal junta members surrounding him.
He could well be a victim of blackmail. He could be a victim of elder abuse or abuse of the disabled. Only his abusers know the truth.
The apparent infirmities displayed daily by the sock puppet are being exploited for political and illicit financial gain...or the exploitation extends to a deliberate destruction of the Republic.
You disagree with his policy... of attempting to coalesce & work with Senator Joe Manchin - or just of his policy of continuing to push forward while the senator holds the administration's agenda (and the country) hostage?
So many people talk about what they're personally doing to stop climate change. You can add solar panels, recycle, drive an electric car, and conserve water. All of those are good and will put less carbon in the air. That just slows down climate change. But none will REVERSE it.
There is only one way to do so. Read Glen Merzer’s book, FOOD IS CLIMATE. He makes it clear that the only way to save the planet is by ending animal agriculture. Not only would that stop adding massive amounts of methane to the atmosphere (120 times as bad as CO2), but land used to support animal agriculture can be reforested. This removes CO2 from the atmosphere and sequesters it in the trees and the ground. The goal of adding a trillion more trees to the planet can be achieved by returning land used by animal agriculture back to its original state.
To think that farmers don't know the basics of what sustains them is frightening, but then the same goes for Politicians of any Government and nation........so between all of you, you can construct the systemic, endemic and operational paths needed to repair and restore all issues from the ground up, because that's what it will take.
I saw that during the 2020 Prez campaign, and I went to a local Cory Booker event to hand him a note saying his then-ladyfriend's documentary could be an edge for him to reach states the Dems ignore, before the Iowa caucuses. School curriculums could encourage farm families to become carbon sequestration eco-champions! The former Newark mayor & I had a brief, memorable chat, and he knew the street where my grandparents raised my mom's family. But, he didn't work with my suggestion...
Hi Michael. I was pleased to see someone else on this forum concerned about ending Animal Ag. fwiw, I just saw a list of interesting movies at an upcoming Mindful Eating Film & Food Festival, and thought you might like some of them, including: Meet the People Getting Paid to Kill Our Planet. (Interestingly, but not surprising to me, Bernie Sanders is briefly listed among politicians getting donations from BigAg.)
Thanks. I will certainly watch that video. But I have no expectations that any elected politician will be part of the solution. It will only be those individuals who are truly interested in doing their part to save the planet who will make a difference. I’m sure you’re familiar with this quote from Margaret Mead:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
The real problem is that fewer people today rely on scientists than have in the past. If they only understood the connection between the environmental damage and animal farming, then their minds could be opened. But they need to see immediate results of their actions, not something that takes any longer. It is baffling why anyone wouldn’t want to help.
I’m old enough that the results of my actions won’t impact me during my lifetime. I’m doing it for future generations. If the majority cared about others (like their own grandchildren) then they would at least watch videos like Cowspiracy and Forks Over Knives. Glen Merzer’s interview (26 minutes) about saving the planet can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckMvxXF20FI. But the truth is that most people are so addicted to what they eat that it’s so easy for them to fall for the marketing ploys of Big Ag. People have no idea they’re being conned out of their health. It just takes some open-minded people, but sadly, those people are becoming extinct.
It's not just politicians. Most NGOs that try to position themselves as environmental organizations realize they'll lose members if they ask members to reduce their meat- & dairy- and egg-addiction. Few will even venture as far as suggesting factory farming has to end, and members should consume the more-expensive so-called free range products
I loved Gessen's book. Also everything I can find by Timothy Snyder, especially On Tyranny (pithy!) and The Road to Unfreedom, illuminating about the mythologies underlying the rise and propulsion of East European regimes. Similar to the latter but a much lighter read is Nothing Is True and Everything is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia (Peter Pomerantsev), a head-shaking treatment of popular culture in Russia today. Google Books describes it as "a journey into the glittering, surreal heart of 21st-century Russia: into the lives of oligarchs convinced they are messiahs, professional killers with the souls of artists, Bohemian theater directors turned Kremlin puppet-masters, supermodel sects, post-modern dictators, and playboy revolutionaries."
The 'Tao Te Ching' recommendation is great - but there are, surely, many translations (one by 'Red Pine' proved to be quite accessible - but I've seen another in graphic novel format that was just as good!)...
I read Overstory and really loved it (am a diehard tree peron.) Am now reading Margaret Atwood's " Burning Questions, Essays and Occasional Pieces 2004 to 2021"
Excellent nightstand choices, Robert. The Overstory is the only book on your list that I've already read. I found it deep, poignant, beautifully written and eye opening.
Based on other responders' input, I want to read Other Suns and Caste. A book I loved from other readers' lists is A Gentleman in Moscow.
I did not appreciate The Overstory because I found it required too much suspension of disbelief, because I found it lengthy and tedious, and because I reported on and knew some of the Oregon timber wars players, and they resent this book deeply for what they say is romanticizing and trivializing their lives. Like the civil war in the USA today, or like the endless conflict between Palestine and Israel, each side says it will relinquish its version of reality only when Death takes it from their clenched fist.
I found the Ministry for the Future accurate if a slog to get through. Quite accurate.
The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring (by Richard Preston -- yes, the prolific fiction writer) is an amazing chronicle of tree people in redwood country -- and of the trees themselves, especially the canopy biome.
I agree that Ministry for the Future was laborious, but on balance I think it pays off on several levels.
I'm reading your book, 'The System'! Just finished some Grisham pulp that I always love. Gotta balance my reading from sober reality to the escapist. ;- )
Howard Zinn should be required reading for every high school student in this country! It’s time we teach our children the whole truth! Our country would be better if they were taught the truth rather than the propaganda which we were all taught in order to make us want to fight in wars without asking what we are trying to really accomplish! America has been involved in some type of war for 230 years in the 246 years since we first began! Eisenhower who as a man with personal war experience warned us in 1959 about the dangers of the industrial war machine, but unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears!
It has been and will continue to be. Just try to request a copy/spread sheet of ALL Department of Defense's expenditures, list of contractors and subcontractors, what thei contracts are for/how much they cost. Crickets.
When I was a kid they taught civics to us all, as well as home ec for the girls. I think all students should have both classes required for every student. Most boys went all the way through school without knowing how to cook or set up a budget once they are out on their own! In my school you were required to take typing until you could type 30 words a minute before you could take wood-shop or metal-shop. I found ways to cheat on my reading comprehension test so I wouldn’t have to take remedial reading. In hind sight I should have been forced to take reading. I still only read 25-30 pages an hour and my grammar and spelling have plagued me for the 50 years since I left school! They also need to instill ethics and morality that doesn’t involve any religion! I don’t care which religion, that should be taught by your church and not involve any tax dollars! In fact, I think all churches should have to pay taxes just like we do!
I just finished Dirt Road Revival - loved it. It followed up Jane Kleeb’s “Harvest the Vote.” Both have big lessons well beyond the shorthand of “urban-rural divide.”
To acknowledge Frank Lee’s sentient advice, I’m enjoying revisiting Geraldine Brooks’ “Caleb’s Crossing” and Peter Wohlleben’s “Hidden Life of Trees.” I am looking forward to diving into Lucas Bessire’s “Running Out — In Search of Water on the High Plains” after that.
I am bedridden and read just about every waking moment, so I appreciate most book recommendations - especially when they come from someone I like and admire. I don't read much non-fiction because it's too depressing, but I will take a look at your suggestions anyway - after all, I DO spend the first 3 to 5 hours of my day reading the news, and nothing in book form can be worse than that.
What I have trouble believing is that YOU have time to read!
Try this
How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World Kindle Edition
by Chris Turner (Author)
A Canadian Author who has traveled the world looking for the positive
Non fiction, but not depressing. And I agree, about nonfiction. I take a break from neoliberalism, Climate change, politics.
I you like mysteries, say so and I will send you some Authors
I try to read 3 books a week myself
Sure, I love mysteries!
Mysteries
Donna Leon, Commissario Guido Brunetti the best
Andrea Camilleri, Inspector Montalbano
Martin Walker, Bruno, Chief of Police
Jean-Luc Bannalec, Death in Brittany +
Elly Griffiths' Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries
Elly Griffiths is one of my favorite authors. I have only read one of Donna Leon's books and I found the main characters rather boring. There was far too much talk about the food they ate! But as so many people love the series, I will try again! My absolute favorite author of current fiction is John Connelly, the Charlie Parker series. I have to order his books sent from Ireland or England because they aren't released in the US until a month or two later!
Yesterday I read the Becky Chalmers "monk and robot" duology. I don't have words for how wonderful and thought-provoking they are. They ask: What do you (humans) need? By the end of the story I was thinking: I need more good books.... and both understanding and forgiveness.
Agreed Dave. My husband and I have read all of Leon's and eagerly await the next.
Sorry to hear about your situation Paula! (Consider picking up 'Diary of a Reluctant Dreamer: Undocumented Vignettes from a Pre-American Life' - which is a graphic novel - for a short read that is truly uplifting! Also, if humor is more your thing, check out one of the books written by Tom Papa - his work has been featured on NPR & he is very funny!)
Hi Paula,
I, too, spend much of my life in repose due to chronic conditions. I consume a lot of non-fiction via the news, but i try to balance it with art and beauty. Kind of like the suffragettes "Bread and Roses" idea. Heather Cox Richardson's letters help me digest the news, but never inspire despair. Some other good reading I've found:
Rebecca Solnit Hope in the Dark & Orwell's Roses
Barry Lopez Horizon
Sarah Smarsh Heartland
Margaret Renkl Graceland at Last
anything by Patrick Radden Keefe
Heather McGhee The Sum of Us
Isabel Wilkerson Caste
Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall Trilogies
EVERYTHING by Barbara Kingsolver & Toni Morrison
Wishing you well.
Thank you Amy. Solnit I have yet to read but have her Recollections of My Nonexistence on my stack and found her through Lopez.
Books that gave me focus away from politics. Any books by Margaret Renkl. Travels of William Bartram, Natures Garden by Nellie Blanchard, News of the World, 1491, 1492 and 1493 ( 3 books) by Charles G Mann, All Gods Dangers by Theodore Rosengarten, Blues by John Hersey, Sermons from the National Cathedral by Lloyd, Across America and Asia by Ralph Pumpbelly. Best wishes.
You must have some interesting stories to tell Paula. Regarding fiction, my husband and I have read all of Donna Leon's books and look forward to another soon. Some of her sentences re people as they relate, are so very well woven I must re read and ponder.
Just thought of u while reading of course. George Monbiot " Out of the Wreckage, A New Politics for an Age of Crisis. Fairly heavy reading
The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. An adventure in learning with many perspectives and wonderful research. Not only have I learned Black history but I have learned about myself and my own education. I have really enjoyed both and She is a wonderful voice of amity in truth.
Follow on with Prof. Carol Anderson’s brilliant “The Second” — you won’t be sorry.
Haven’t read Caste yet, but will. Warmth should be required HS reading. It teaches a history few know (I didn’t) in a beautiful, painful, thought-provoking way. Best read I’ve had so far this year.
Totally Agree!!
I very much enjoyed The Warmth of Other Suns it taught me a lot as a semi-woke old white guy.
Me too Ken. But semi-woke old white woman. Loved your entry.
Agreed Lynda. Both Wilkerson books enhanced my education.
I know this is a weird choice for summer reading but here’s mine: Hitler by Volker Ullrich (vol. 1-Ascent). It’s riveting. Guess what? German right-wing leaders saw him as a buffoon—someone they could use to advance their aims. Sound familiar?
"A Castle in the Forest" Norman Mailer's last novel focuses on Hitler's childhood. There were supposed to be 2 more installments, but NM didn't live to finish it. Very interesting theory on the "dirty secret" in Hitler's ancestry.
Thanks David and given your interest in Hitler, you might be interested in "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson who goes into depth re Hitlers interest and use of the American playbook re slavery to develop their system and his book Mein Kampf.
Hi Betty, Thanks for this. Caste is on my reading list this summer. Now I'll definitely get to it.
David
They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency, written by Malcom Nance, expert on terrorism, extremism and insurgency and 34 year veteran of the U.S. intelligence community's Combating Terrorism program. Think January 6th was scary? Take a look how far the tentacles of the Trump White House went to infiltrate and corrupt American democracy from the high courts to legislatures, the military, schools, local governments, and your next door neighbor.
In my queue! Thank you.
Regarding your personal qualms about aging and conclusion that you’re not being ageist, I strongly, strongly recommend your reading the important new book, "Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long & Well You will Live" [https://becca-levy.com/the-book/] (William Morrow/Harper Collins). Unlike other books on aging well, Yale epidemiologist Becca Levy, PhD., backs up everything with over 30 years of research on how negative age messaging unique to US culture is killing people years before their natural time and harming Americans in multiple ways as ageist attituded infect every system from health care to housing to employment discrimination.
Becca observes, “Some politicians, economists and journalists are wringing their hands over what they call ‘the silver tsunami,’ but they’re missing the point. The fact that so many people are getting to experience old age, and doing so in better health, is one of society’s greatest achievements. It’s also an extraordinary opportunity to rethink what it means to grow old.” It’s a compact book, a very readable 200+ pages, but building on her academic work of decades.
Dr. Reich, I’ve spent 50 years working on this subject watching ageism remain as one of the last acceptable bias in American culture. In 1993, I cofounded the Journalists Network on Generations, which I run, putting out our monthly newsletter www.GBONews.org (Generations Beat Online). (I was a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging, appointed by Nick Retsinas of HUD, and Still work with both of Pres. Clinton’s Assistant Secretaries of Aging, Fernando Torres-Gil and Jeanette Takamura.)
So, I read your piece, beginning, “Is Biden too old? [https://tinyurl.com/2s8b25hn] Personal thoughts about whether he should run again,” with a long sigh of disappointment because, for once, and at length, you didn’t substantiate your conclusion that he shouldn’t. Your negative finding seems based entirely on speculation of how he might fare into his mid-80s. Even there, you allow that given his relative health, despite diminished fizz, suggest he may be fine. (and Paxlovid willing). I've long admired you, but on this one you're wrong -- and adopting an ageist attitude.
Thanks Paul, for today’s comment and for your 50 years of thoughtful important work. I’m 85 and play tennis five days a week (one of my fellow players is 92), so I have confidence in Biden continuing his presidency if electable. My concern is that Joe, like my friend (RIP) and former presidential candidate Paul Simon (who refused to give up bow ties and plastic rimmed glasses for a charisma makeover), will not have enough appeal to the essential Gen-Z voter block to win in 2024. I’m all for your comments about ageism, but not willing to give up the stance that a young whippersnapper like Beto might have the charisma to be a tRump-beater in 2024, and could be successfully paired with a mature VP appealing to the Boomer voters. What do you have to say about the 80 year olds being able to appeal to the 20 year olds AT THIS TIME IN HISTORY at the presidential vote-getting level? - Bruce
Many thanks for your thoughtful reply. To your good question, I have two words -- "Bernie Sanders." and, a tad younger, Elizabeth Warren. Both consistently drew young people the largest Dem crowds in the tens of thousands. And they did so with with ideas and "plans" that went to the heart of people's struggles. (Their political fates is for another discussion, one I'd mainly like to hear from Dr. Reich, including the fates of their ideas.) And I remember Paul Simon and his bow ties as a mainstay of that time's news. I always suspected that he may have been a model for Orville Redenbacher, a most successful product. Messaged well, "old fashioned" can have great appeal to the young when presented honestly, like popcorn. I'd love to hear more about your friendship with him.
Thanks Paul. Enjoyed your entry. I am a very active 86 year old so may be the matriarch here. :-)
Dear Paul Kleyman,
As a 77 year old, I appreciated your post about Breaking the Age Code, a book I plan on reading soon!
I'm right there with you at 77 -- actually one year and a week older than that very good and capable 76 year old, Bob Reich.
Paul Kleyman, I couldn't agree more with your comments. As much as I thought I understood about rampant ageism, now that I'm trying to contend with it, I see it's even more widespread, demoralizing, and damaging than I'd expected -- and that it comes not only from younger people but from our own age group, as well. Ageism creates a monumental waste of ability and experience that this country can't afford to waste. To the many older people who've been brainwashed by ageism into contending that our generation has messed things up so that it's time to give younger people their turn, I say that your words convey a different message. Younger people will certainly agree with you, because like the pilots unions that I've mentioned, they want the power, and they want it now, but the fact that your words are recognizing that we've made mistakes says that you've learned from those errors -- that experience has taught lessons that could be used, if only self-interested ageism hadn't both put up barriers and convinced you that you're too decrepit to use your experience-based wisdom.
The messages of ageism can be so subtle that we don't even see them. I wrote here about one pilot union's younger leaders sending hate mail to older pilots out of their self-serving eagerness to take over senior, higher-paying positions. The language in their messages was brutal, to the point of wishing senior pilots early death. Those younger union leaders have long been fighting to keep low age limits on airline pilot jobs. Just a few days ago, someone here sent me a statement by APA, the American Airlines pilot union, protesting Lindsey Graham's attempts, during the current pilot shortage, to sponsor a bill raising the pilot age limit. The comments were the same old self-serving rubbish that anyone with "inside" knowledge could invalidate. But as always, the unions rely on using alleged "safety issues" to scare the public as well as rule makers. Unions are supposed to serve their dues-paying, working members. Senior pilots pay the highest dues. How does it serve senior union members to have younger union leaders fighting to prevent them from being able to work for a few more years, should they choose and be able to pass their every-6-month FAA physicals, stringent simulator checks, and tough knowledge exams -- especially at airlines where management has terminated pensions and slashed pay? As usual, "follow the money". Who gets the money if senior pilots are forced to retire? The ploy succeeds because a lot of the energy in pilot unions comes from vocal, younger pilot-reps. (Apparently, older pilots have seen the futility of playing union politics and quit volunteering -- which is an anti-ageism mistake) Because the driving factor is not safety but greed and ageism, I wanted to write to Lindsey Graham to show him how APA'S arguments are about ageism, not safety, but...helping Lindsey Graham (!)...and more to the point, who would I be helping by working to increase the pilot age limit now? Not my peers or myself -- we're past the proposed 3-year extension age. I would be helping the previously younger but now senior pilots who sent those nasty letters to my senior peers, fighting to perpetrate ageism and take our jobs. That's a quirky thing about ageism -- after a point, to try to stem it, one may have to help those who used ageism to harm one. I despise ageism so much that I may try. But my point is, that's one example where ageism is masquerading as safety. Ageism wears many faces, many subtle, undetectable, and hard to fight. We've even, to my utter disappointment and dismay, read it here. And so it prevails and wastes an enormous, badly needed natural resource: the wisdom of experience. It also wastes human potential and human lives and causes premature death. Despite my best efforts to fight it, I feel it withering and wasting me. It's doing that for many others as well. Even reading that post here destroyed a segment of energy and hope.
First, Mo, I'm so sorry you're about your personal despair, but the situation with the pilots is an important one -- not new to me, except for your details -- that needs to be exposed, hopefully through some enterprising journalism. In the 2000s, when the forced retirement age for pilots was 60, unlike European and other countries had raised it to 65, I learned about the curious union opposition from none other than Hugh Downs. Hugh, who was a polymath besides being a great broadcaster, had among many accomplishments, received a certificate in geriatric medicine from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. But he was also a private pilot well into his 80s. He explained to me that the common reason given for age limits, reaction times down to hundredths of a second, might make sense for race-car drivers, but not for commercial pilots, who have more time to maneuver -- and engage their knowledge and experience. (Not long after, Sully became a hero by landing his airliner on the Hudson safely for all, not long before he was to turn 60 and be compelled to retire.) The age was eventually raised to 65, as you know. But why the union opposition? Hugh told me pretty much what you discuss here -- that the union wanted to expand it lucrative membership in part but pushing out older members, and their higher salaries, to make room for younger ones, two of whom (more or less) the airlines could bring on for the price of one seasoned flyer. FYI -- that's also been the pattern in newsrooms, often costing news organizations their more knowledgeable reporters and editors. Your account of younger pilots attacking the older ones is dismaying, but not entirely surprising, given the economic incentives. You may be interested to know though, that there's been an international movement via AARP, the World Economic Forum, over 100 corporations and others to promote age-diversity in the workplace. That may not include airlines (and the union) in the near term, but the lack of younger workers, even pre-pandemic, is forcing many industries to design more flexible, age friendly plans, for recruiting and retaining older workers, along with all of the institutional knowledge and professional skill they'd otherwise take with them. The current Fortune Magazine has a piece on this, but there are other sources under "age diverse workplace."
Paul, I admired Hugh Downs and knew he was a pilot, but I had no idea about the other expertise that you mention. Fascinating. He was right about reaction times being a less relevant issue, although I don't recall, as a younger pilot, having noticed slower reaction times among older pilots. If anything, they'd react more quickly because they had more experience and knowledge to help them in accurately identifying problems. Also, pilots are taught NOT, in most situations, to react quickly but to take time to assess, consult checklists, and communicate. Among reams of flight manual pages and emergency checklists, for maximum safety, there are very few immediate-action memory items.
Experience, however, is a major asset. Pilots often encounter new challenges. Experience helps in finding better solutions. All of the union arguments against raising pilot age limits are inconsequential beside the benefits of experience. That's not to say that some pilots shouldn't be retired -- some of them before mandatory retirement age. Constant medical and performance evaluations could identify such individuals, but I think that doesn't often happen exactly because specific age limits exist. The only place I might disagree with what you write involves the idea that airlines can save money by retiring senior pilots. That concept is more applicable in other types of workplaces. With pilot union contracts, however, as soon as a B747 Captain, for example, retires, another pilot takes that position at the same, contractually agreed upon pay. No savings. That trickles down and applies for any pilot with, at my former airline, at least 12 years of seniority. Prior to 12 years, there can be some difference, but a good deal of that difference is eaten up by the added training costs. So even the monetary argument against raising or abolishing pilot age limits doesn't make great sense. Forced retirement may save a bit, but compared to accidents and incidents caused by inexperience, how much it may save undoubtedly isn't known. There clearly is no reason for union's throwing their highest-paying members "under the bus" except for the self-interest of younger pilots, typically union representatives and the widespread forces of U.S. ageism. .
Thank you for the comments and information. Comforting, at the least, and hope-inspiring for future "seniors." As for me, I've just submitted yet another job application. This job is pilot ground-school instructor for an airline (not my former employer.) Minimum requirements include high school diploma and no aviation experience whatsoever. In addition to pilot, I've been a pilot instructor and spent years developing pilot training courses as well as ATC training for the FAA. I'm not rusty. In my own business,
I currently develop non-aviation interactive online training. Of course, as always, the employer professes not to practice age discrimination, but applicants must state their high scool or college graduation date. Bets cheerfully taken as to whether my application receives a reply.
Thanks so much for your detailed explanation. My interview on this with Hugh and the resulting article were maybe 15 years ago, and that particle of my memory is buried in my files, somewhere near the Ark of Covenant, thank you, Indiana Jones. But i do recall him questioning the union's motives around cost advantages they claimed. Be well, Mo (is it?).
Paul...
I will go down this learning path you’re suggesting to the Secretary. Interesting tease I might say.
The Secretary was one of the very few members of the Clinton cabinet for which I had any respect, but Trump broke him.
I don’t think age is Reich’s problem at all and I agree he didn’t make the case against a Biden election bid in ‘24.
Setting aside his legitimacy for the moment, the case against Joe Biden is 100% policies and staff. “Good policy makes good politics.”, and the policy prescriptions of the last 18 months are a failure beyond absurdity and bordering on lunacy.
If they’re just bad at policy, the voter should be able to correct these wrongs. However, there are some very bright minds in the White House, so one is left to examine the criminal potential if outright subversion, espionage and sabotage by the ruling junta.
Joe Biden, on his own behalf and by his own record has almost always been completely wrong on policy.
If he is mentally diminished by whatever cause, and I believe he is, he is being abused by those in his family and the criminal junta members surrounding him.
He could well be a victim of blackmail. He could be a victim of elder abuse or abuse of the disabled. Only his abusers know the truth.
The apparent infirmities displayed daily by the sock puppet are being exploited for political and illicit financial gain...or the exploitation extends to a deliberate destruction of the Republic.
You disagree with his policy... of attempting to coalesce & work with Senator Joe Manchin - or just of his policy of continuing to push forward while the senator holds the administration's agenda (and the country) hostage?
Thank you for the link, I finally got around to checking Amazon and found I could read it for free with my Kindle Unlimited membership!
Thank ypu.
So many people talk about what they're personally doing to stop climate change. You can add solar panels, recycle, drive an electric car, and conserve water. All of those are good and will put less carbon in the air. That just slows down climate change. But none will REVERSE it.
There is only one way to do so. Read Glen Merzer’s book, FOOD IS CLIMATE. He makes it clear that the only way to save the planet is by ending animal agriculture. Not only would that stop adding massive amounts of methane to the atmosphere (120 times as bad as CO2), but land used to support animal agriculture can be reforested. This removes CO2 from the atmosphere and sequesters it in the trees and the ground. The goal of adding a trillion more trees to the planet can be achieved by returning land used by animal agriculture back to its original state.
Exactly!
Here's something that's maybe of interest to you and all which I found on Netflix, Kiss the Ground https://www.netflix.com/watch/81321999? in praise of soil, trees and plants.......it's practical, common sense which has been left behind in most knowledge banks of humans. I have been voicing my concerns for years about Soil rehabilitation and saw a story of Natural sequence farming by Peter Andrews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4OBcRHX1Bc; https://www.peterandrewsoam.com/about.html
To think that farmers don't know the basics of what sustains them is frightening, but then the same goes for Politicians of any Government and nation........so between all of you, you can construct the systemic, endemic and operational paths needed to repair and restore all issues from the ground up, because that's what it will take.
Thanks, Heather. Woody Harrelson's Kiss the Ground documentary was good. Another good movie was Rosario Dawson's The Need to Grow: https://www.earthconsciouslife.org/theneedtogrow
I saw that during the 2020 Prez campaign, and I went to a local Cory Booker event to hand him a note saying his then-ladyfriend's documentary could be an edge for him to reach states the Dems ignore, before the Iowa caucuses. School curriculums could encourage farm families to become carbon sequestration eco-champions! The former Newark mayor & I had a brief, memorable chat, and he knew the street where my grandparents raised my mom's family. But, he didn't work with my suggestion...
More's the pity, as its going to take lots of energy and manual labor to get that done....
Hi Michael. I was pleased to see someone else on this forum concerned about ending Animal Ag. fwiw, I just saw a list of interesting movies at an upcoming Mindful Eating Film & Food Festival, and thought you might like some of them, including: Meet the People Getting Paid to Kill Our Planet. (Interestingly, but not surprising to me, Bernie Sanders is briefly listed among politicians getting donations from BigAg.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOcLyyVyb6o
Thanks. I will certainly watch that video. But I have no expectations that any elected politician will be part of the solution. It will only be those individuals who are truly interested in doing their part to save the planet who will make a difference. I’m sure you’re familiar with this quote from Margaret Mead:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
The real problem is that fewer people today rely on scientists than have in the past. If they only understood the connection between the environmental damage and animal farming, then their minds could be opened. But they need to see immediate results of their actions, not something that takes any longer. It is baffling why anyone wouldn’t want to help.
I’m old enough that the results of my actions won’t impact me during my lifetime. I’m doing it for future generations. If the majority cared about others (like their own grandchildren) then they would at least watch videos like Cowspiracy and Forks Over Knives. Glen Merzer’s interview (26 minutes) about saving the planet can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckMvxXF20FI. But the truth is that most people are so addicted to what they eat that it’s so easy for them to fall for the marketing ploys of Big Ag. People have no idea they’re being conned out of their health. It just takes some open-minded people, but sadly, those people are becoming extinct.
It's not just politicians. Most NGOs that try to position themselves as environmental organizations realize they'll lose members if they ask members to reduce their meat- & dairy- and egg-addiction. Few will even venture as far as suggesting factory farming has to end, and members should consume the more-expensive so-called free range products
Here's a few more resources for those who are seeking ways for better health for themselves and the Planet........25 of them in fact
https://www.culinarynutrition.com/best-food-documentaries-to-watch/
Wow, this is a great list. Thanks so much Robert. I'm reading Masha Gessen's Surviving Autocracy.
I loved Gessen's book. Also everything I can find by Timothy Snyder, especially On Tyranny (pithy!) and The Road to Unfreedom, illuminating about the mythologies underlying the rise and propulsion of East European regimes. Similar to the latter but a much lighter read is Nothing Is True and Everything is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia (Peter Pomerantsev), a head-shaking treatment of popular culture in Russia today. Google Books describes it as "a journey into the glittering, surreal heart of 21st-century Russia: into the lives of oligarchs convinced they are messiahs, professional killers with the souls of artists, Bohemian theater directors turned Kremlin puppet-masters, supermodel sects, post-modern dictators, and playboy revolutionaries."
I’ve found rereading the following to be most uplifting.
“Common Sense” by Thomas Paine
The Declaration of Independence
The Constitution of the United States
“Liberty” by John S Mills
“Sovereign Duty” by KrisAnne Hall, JD
“Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tzu
“Liberty and Tyranny” by Mark Levin
The 'Tao Te Ching' recommendation is great - but there are, surely, many translations (one by 'Red Pine' proved to be quite accessible - but I've seen another in graphic novel format that was just as good!)...
Lao Tzu and Mark Levin next to each other???
Sure, why not?
The Blowout : Rachel Maddow
I read Overstory and really loved it (am a diehard tree peron.) Am now reading Margaret Atwood's " Burning Questions, Essays and Occasional Pieces 2004 to 2021"
Kristine, Margaret Atwood's trilogy that begins with "Oryx & Crake" is really good.
Excellent nightstand choices, Robert. The Overstory is the only book on your list that I've already read. I found it deep, poignant, beautifully written and eye opening.
Based on other responders' input, I want to read Other Suns and Caste. A book I loved from other readers' lists is A Gentleman in Moscow.
I did not appreciate The Overstory because I found it required too much suspension of disbelief, because I found it lengthy and tedious, and because I reported on and knew some of the Oregon timber wars players, and they resent this book deeply for what they say is romanticizing and trivializing their lives. Like the civil war in the USA today, or like the endless conflict between Palestine and Israel, each side says it will relinquish its version of reality only when Death takes it from their clenched fist.
I found the Ministry for the Future accurate if a slog to get through. Quite accurate.
Dirt Road Revival is Must Read stuff.
The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring (by Richard Preston -- yes, the prolific fiction writer) is an amazing chronicle of tree people in redwood country -- and of the trees themselves, especially the canopy biome.
I agree that Ministry for the Future was laborious, but on balance I think it pays off on several levels.
I'm reading your book, 'The System'! Just finished some Grisham pulp that I always love. Gotta balance my reading from sober reality to the escapist. ;- )
The System is an important read, imo. I won't tell you how it ends. ;)
Thanks for not spoiling though I suspect not well.
And that’s the point at which we must activate as engaged citizens.
Today, I learned of a new Centrist party called Forward. Trying to transcend the partisan Red/Blue, Win/Lose duopolistic BS mistaken for governance.
Howard Zinn should be required reading for every high school student in this country! It’s time we teach our children the whole truth! Our country would be better if they were taught the truth rather than the propaganda which we were all taught in order to make us want to fight in wars without asking what we are trying to really accomplish! America has been involved in some type of war for 230 years in the 246 years since we first began! Eisenhower who as a man with personal war experience warned us in 1959 about the dangers of the industrial war machine, but unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears!
War is good business (gag)
I wish more people would understand that!
It has been and will continue to be. Just try to request a copy/spread sheet of ALL Department of Defense's expenditures, list of contractors and subcontractors, what thei contracts are for/how much they cost. Crickets.
TOTALLY agree, history and civics are NOT being taught properly since 1980...
When I was a kid they taught civics to us all, as well as home ec for the girls. I think all students should have both classes required for every student. Most boys went all the way through school without knowing how to cook or set up a budget once they are out on their own! In my school you were required to take typing until you could type 30 words a minute before you could take wood-shop or metal-shop. I found ways to cheat on my reading comprehension test so I wouldn’t have to take remedial reading. In hind sight I should have been forced to take reading. I still only read 25-30 pages an hour and my grammar and spelling have plagued me for the 50 years since I left school! They also need to instill ethics and morality that doesn’t involve any religion! I don’t care which religion, that should be taught by your church and not involve any tax dollars! In fact, I think all churches should have to pay taxes just like we do!
Depends on who teaches it (anyone can learn!)...
was speaking generally not specifically...
Likewise!
Just reread of "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr.
I just finished Dirt Road Revival - loved it. It followed up Jane Kleeb’s “Harvest the Vote.” Both have big lessons well beyond the shorthand of “urban-rural divide.”
To acknowledge Frank Lee’s sentient advice, I’m enjoying revisiting Geraldine Brooks’ “Caleb’s Crossing” and Peter Wohlleben’s “Hidden Life of Trees.” I am looking forward to diving into Lucas Bessire’s “Running Out — In Search of Water on the High Plains” after that.