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Pav's 'Grown Up Books' reading list, Part 2
3 years ago
To clarify in advance - I've read most of the books on this list due to interest in the topic or the point of view, not cause i agree with the views of the author. While some books are pretty solid when it comes to information and research, the conclusions drawn are sometimes either too mired in authors world view or absolutely useless. As such, i will poont out authors political leanings and bias, when applicable, and also write my own thoughts about it after summary, as well how much i recommend said book. With that out of the way, lets roll.
'The strange death of Europe' by Douglas Murray
Political leaning: UK conservative (center right)
Bias: concentrates too much on the negative examples that made the news and is extremly lenient to european anti-immigration movements. The book is also european-centric and makes no comments (that i can remember) of immigration in rest of the world.
The book covers the history of the post-WW 2 immigration in western european countries, concentrating on slavic and muslim immigration. It raises the point that the governments failed to address the lack of integration by the newcomers and, to avoid taking responsibility, embraced the idea of multi-culturalism, which turned into prosecution of opposition to mass-immigration, shutting down of dialogue about this issue and to harm of social cohesion, for natives and immigrants alike (parallel societies). It covers the 2016 migrant crisis, how the governments failed, yet again, to address the issue, as well covering several high-profile cases of immigrant crime and terrorism, as well as groups and people pushing against it and prosecution of these. The writer has a rather dry, sarcastic humor that bubbles up every now and then, making the trudge to the rather depressive picture he paints easier.
My thoughts - As a migrant myself, i concur with this book on at least one point - the incentive to avoid integrating into the society and build a parallel one instead is strong, partly because of the attitudes of the immigrants, but also due to the attitudes of the natives, that at times, have a very fluid understanding of what 'integrated' means. While the book offers vast amount of information, spanning immigration history of many countries, the bias makes it almost useless in the end, since lacking the opposing view can only lead to one mindset - immigration bad. While he does refute the usual pro-immigration arguments rather well, it all feels like pining for a pre-globalist society, where immigrants were a rarity, not a normal facet of life. Though, on one point i agree wholeheartedly - governments shat the bed and harmed everyone involved, natives and immigrants alike. Two stars.
'The Madness of Crowds' by Douglas Murray
Political leaning: UK conservative (center right)
Bias: Like with previous title, strong right-wing bias, to the extent that not a single right-wing movement (that have their own brand of tribalism) is discussed, or if mentioned, only in positive light.
This time around, Murray discusses the left-wing political and social movements, the damage caused by their tribalism and noteable examples. It covers feminism, lgbtq+ (mostly trans) and anti-racist, again being mostly European-Centric or purely UK-centric at times. He mostly talks about the impact of these groups on society, like censorship, stifling of debate and free-speech, and cancel-culture. The book is again written in dry, sarcastic tone, that manages rather well as a break from the doom and gloom of the narrative.
My Thoughts - Again, i have the same problem with this book like with the previous one - while the information provided is top-notch, the failure to address the opposing side or to explore how valid the concerns of the left-leaning groups are, just means that theres only one conclusion - left bad. While this book isnt as awful as some other right wing stuff ive read, its really hard to recommend it - the previous book has a lot of info on history that is usefull and, despite the bias, can be used, while in this one, its just one long rant. Not really worth the read, unless ya want to inform yourself how the right wing views the left during the ongoing culture war.
'The strange death of Europe' by Douglas Murray
Political leaning: UK conservative (center right)
Bias: concentrates too much on the negative examples that made the news and is extremly lenient to european anti-immigration movements. The book is also european-centric and makes no comments (that i can remember) of immigration in rest of the world.
The book covers the history of the post-WW 2 immigration in western european countries, concentrating on slavic and muslim immigration. It raises the point that the governments failed to address the lack of integration by the newcomers and, to avoid taking responsibility, embraced the idea of multi-culturalism, which turned into prosecution of opposition to mass-immigration, shutting down of dialogue about this issue and to harm of social cohesion, for natives and immigrants alike (parallel societies). It covers the 2016 migrant crisis, how the governments failed, yet again, to address the issue, as well covering several high-profile cases of immigrant crime and terrorism, as well as groups and people pushing against it and prosecution of these. The writer has a rather dry, sarcastic humor that bubbles up every now and then, making the trudge to the rather depressive picture he paints easier.
My thoughts - As a migrant myself, i concur with this book on at least one point - the incentive to avoid integrating into the society and build a parallel one instead is strong, partly because of the attitudes of the immigrants, but also due to the attitudes of the natives, that at times, have a very fluid understanding of what 'integrated' means. While the book offers vast amount of information, spanning immigration history of many countries, the bias makes it almost useless in the end, since lacking the opposing view can only lead to one mindset - immigration bad. While he does refute the usual pro-immigration arguments rather well, it all feels like pining for a pre-globalist society, where immigrants were a rarity, not a normal facet of life. Though, on one point i agree wholeheartedly - governments shat the bed and harmed everyone involved, natives and immigrants alike. Two stars.
'The Madness of Crowds' by Douglas Murray
Political leaning: UK conservative (center right)
Bias: Like with previous title, strong right-wing bias, to the extent that not a single right-wing movement (that have their own brand of tribalism) is discussed, or if mentioned, only in positive light.
This time around, Murray discusses the left-wing political and social movements, the damage caused by their tribalism and noteable examples. It covers feminism, lgbtq+ (mostly trans) and anti-racist, again being mostly European-Centric or purely UK-centric at times. He mostly talks about the impact of these groups on society, like censorship, stifling of debate and free-speech, and cancel-culture. The book is again written in dry, sarcastic tone, that manages rather well as a break from the doom and gloom of the narrative.
My Thoughts - Again, i have the same problem with this book like with the previous one - while the information provided is top-notch, the failure to address the opposing side or to explore how valid the concerns of the left-leaning groups are, just means that theres only one conclusion - left bad. While this book isnt as awful as some other right wing stuff ive read, its really hard to recommend it - the previous book has a lot of info on history that is usefull and, despite the bias, can be used, while in this one, its just one long rant. Not really worth the read, unless ya want to inform yourself how the right wing views the left during the ongoing culture war.
The former is one of Sowell's trademark tours de force in political theory and economics, and the latter, while not as in-depth, took a humorously oblique look at varied economic systems and pondered as to why they succeeded or failed.