Gary -what a gift to have been able to see him -thank you for sharing.
Many years ago I was attending an emerging technology conference at MIT and made arrangements to visit Noam Chomsky on my trip from the San Francisco. I had also contacted John's office at Harvard -my understanding of Economics was largely developed through Professor G…
Gary -what a gift to have been able to see him -thank you for sharing.
Many years ago I was attending an emerging technology conference at MIT and made arrangements to visit Noam Chomsky on my trip from the San Francisco. I had also contacted John's office at Harvard -my understanding of Economics was largely developed through Professor Galbraith's writing and journals. Unfortunately, at the time, his health was in rapid decline and I did not get the opportunity to thank him for his work and writings -intended to improve the quality and dignity of life for all.
Of many books he wrote "The Economics of Innocent Fraud", I consider to be foundational reading (as well as Joel Bakan's "The Corporation, Noam Chomsky's "Miseducation in America" and "Manufacturing Consent", and George Lakoff's "Don't Think of an Elephant". From my perspective they should all be required reading.
Right back atcha George. Seeing Noam Chomsky speak would have been amazing I'm sure.
I've only read a couple of Galbraith's books but I will look for 'The Economics of Fraud" as well as the others you mention.
I agree that college curriculums should include mandatory readings and even AP high school classes.
One of the weed out classes (whether intentional or not) for Engineering students was English I and II. Some of the best engineering students I knew took those classes multiple times before they passed. Maybe include some of those books in with English I & II?
Thanks Gary. And no question that Professor Galbraith’s powerful eloquence would fit in an English curriculum. Interestingly, the best database and application performance people I recruited during my career at Oracle were degreed in Electrical Engineering as opposed to Computer Science or Information Systems. Most couldn’t write a report or spell their way out of a paper bag (and still can’t) however they had supernatural analytical skills when it came to 0’s and 1’s.
I can certainly relate to the writing skills of engineers. One of my college room mates was a EE. He led the team that created the pacemaker for Medtronics to be implanted with someone in need of an MRI. He finally passed English II the quarter he graduated. He too couldn't write a report or spell worth a lick, but he was brilliant. He has multiple patents from his time at other companies as well.
It's been a couple days, George, with Heather yet on break.
In the meantime you say something here -- several good things -- which prompt another in-the-meantime-response from me.
That is, when you list good books, and suggest more might know them -- yes, agreed. But how is it that we simply don't see various others periodically citing these books and doing so in the context that all the more makes them matter to them?
I suggest, George, that the arts of citing others have disappeared. Not only the arts of citing others, but the parallel arts of doing so by transitions that also clarify one's own parallel concerns.
No need to reply, George. Maybe you can do so in some subsequent note you may make on new things Heather may bring up, once she returns from extended break.
Thank you for sharing this Phil. It made me think of commonalities we share as a group or network of people. While we may all have a foundation of varied education we all find LFAA's important. The well-written fact-based (and cited) articles often establishing the connection between U.S. and global events with their historical context. We seek to be well-informed and engaged, two of the three vital pillars of any attempt at meaningful democracy. Aside from a foundation of education we all have a journey through life which has led us here. Our personalities, as well as books, films, and life experiences all contribute to what I hope for all of us is a never-ending quest.
The books I mentioned previously are a handful of material which inspired me (and continues to do so). I worry that just publishing a list of such would not have any real emotional engagement for others. Years ago I organized an event with Charlie Liteky -a war hero and important voice in America's conscience (if we have one as a society). A book on sinister U.S. involvement in the horrific civil war in El Salvador by Charles Clements, a U.S. doctor who recounted his experience as a field medic desperately trying to save lives from the indiscriminate bombs and gunfire, often from U.S. supplied weapons for the right-wing regime responsible for the deaths and torturing of doctors, lawyers, teachers, and people rising against the horror. The work of Naomi Oreskes in publishing "Merchants of Doubt" -important in understanding the generations of the extraction industries destruction of climate and planet while intentionally covering up the damage and catastrophic climate outcomes threatening our world today.
These things (and others) have emotional connections to me, and while others might agree some of my personal experiences and books I've read are important, I'm not sure how to relate the all important emotional context? That's the place where I think many can be moved to join a growing network of people on a quest for life long learning and deeper understandings -which, from my perspective on a vast scale, could eventually lead to a peaceful and collaborative world -instead of one rife with conflict.
Anyway -thank you for a provocative note as we begin the new week.
Gary -what a gift to have been able to see him -thank you for sharing.
Many years ago I was attending an emerging technology conference at MIT and made arrangements to visit Noam Chomsky on my trip from the San Francisco. I had also contacted John's office at Harvard -my understanding of Economics was largely developed through Professor Galbraith's writing and journals. Unfortunately, at the time, his health was in rapid decline and I did not get the opportunity to thank him for his work and writings -intended to improve the quality and dignity of life for all.
Of many books he wrote "The Economics of Innocent Fraud", I consider to be foundational reading (as well as Joel Bakan's "The Corporation, Noam Chomsky's "Miseducation in America" and "Manufacturing Consent", and George Lakoff's "Don't Think of an Elephant". From my perspective they should all be required reading.
Right back atcha George. Seeing Noam Chomsky speak would have been amazing I'm sure.
I've only read a couple of Galbraith's books but I will look for 'The Economics of Fraud" as well as the others you mention.
I agree that college curriculums should include mandatory readings and even AP high school classes.
One of the weed out classes (whether intentional or not) for Engineering students was English I and II. Some of the best engineering students I knew took those classes multiple times before they passed. Maybe include some of those books in with English I & II?
Thanks Gary. And no question that Professor Galbraith’s powerful eloquence would fit in an English curriculum. Interestingly, the best database and application performance people I recruited during my career at Oracle were degreed in Electrical Engineering as opposed to Computer Science or Information Systems. Most couldn’t write a report or spell their way out of a paper bag (and still can’t) however they had supernatural analytical skills when it came to 0’s and 1’s.
I can certainly relate to the writing skills of engineers. One of my college room mates was a EE. He led the team that created the pacemaker for Medtronics to be implanted with someone in need of an MRI. He finally passed English II the quarter he graduated. He too couldn't write a report or spell worth a lick, but he was brilliant. He has multiple patents from his time at other companies as well.
It's been a couple days, George, with Heather yet on break.
In the meantime you say something here -- several good things -- which prompt another in-the-meantime-response from me.
That is, when you list good books, and suggest more might know them -- yes, agreed. But how is it that we simply don't see various others periodically citing these books and doing so in the context that all the more makes them matter to them?
I suggest, George, that the arts of citing others have disappeared. Not only the arts of citing others, but the parallel arts of doing so by transitions that also clarify one's own parallel concerns.
No need to reply, George. Maybe you can do so in some subsequent note you may make on new things Heather may bring up, once she returns from extended break.
Thank you for sharing this Phil. It made me think of commonalities we share as a group or network of people. While we may all have a foundation of varied education we all find LFAA's important. The well-written fact-based (and cited) articles often establishing the connection between U.S. and global events with their historical context. We seek to be well-informed and engaged, two of the three vital pillars of any attempt at meaningful democracy. Aside from a foundation of education we all have a journey through life which has led us here. Our personalities, as well as books, films, and life experiences all contribute to what I hope for all of us is a never-ending quest.
The books I mentioned previously are a handful of material which inspired me (and continues to do so). I worry that just publishing a list of such would not have any real emotional engagement for others. Years ago I organized an event with Charlie Liteky -a war hero and important voice in America's conscience (if we have one as a society). A book on sinister U.S. involvement in the horrific civil war in El Salvador by Charles Clements, a U.S. doctor who recounted his experience as a field medic desperately trying to save lives from the indiscriminate bombs and gunfire, often from U.S. supplied weapons for the right-wing regime responsible for the deaths and torturing of doctors, lawyers, teachers, and people rising against the horror. The work of Naomi Oreskes in publishing "Merchants of Doubt" -important in understanding the generations of the extraction industries destruction of climate and planet while intentionally covering up the damage and catastrophic climate outcomes threatening our world today.
These things (and others) have emotional connections to me, and while others might agree some of my personal experiences and books I've read are important, I'm not sure how to relate the all important emotional context? That's the place where I think many can be moved to join a growing network of people on a quest for life long learning and deeper understandings -which, from my perspective on a vast scale, could eventually lead to a peaceful and collaborative world -instead of one rife with conflict.
Anyway -thank you for a provocative note as we begin the new week.