How Fascism Works, Jason Stanley

How Fascism Works:  The politics of us and them by Jason Stanley is a book relevant to current politics written by a Yale philosopher.  What a shock I would want to read it.

Started: 9/25/2019
Completed: 9/28/2019
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

A cogent and careful analysis of Fascism in general and an understanding of how current Republican politics are fascist in nature.  Establishing immigrants as a "them" against America as an "us" is a fascist effort.  Describing immigrants as rapists, despite evidence to the contrary, is a fascist tactic that develops a mythic threat to "our" manhood and a threat to the patriarchal family.  Further mythic assaults (e.g. the attack on Christmas) attack "our" culture.  Fascism strives to keep a "pure" culture, sense of family, and, often, race.  Current Republican political arguments are fascist in nature.  A mythical history to which the country is to be restored is also a fascist talking point (e.g. make America great again).  Finally, the fascist politician works to become the soul source of truth so that even current events can be warped to match the Fascist myths.   We should be worried when Lamar Smith (R-TX) says, "Donald Trump is the sole source of truth."

Life 3.0, Max Tegmark

Life 3.0: Being human in the age of artificial intelligence by Max Tegmark was a New York Times best seller that caught my attention.  The audio version was read by Rob Shapiro.

Started: 9/19/2019

Completed: 9/25/2019

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This book provided a fresh look at artificial intelligence for me.  I really thought that the Terminator series was ridiculous.  So does the author of this book.  He demonstrates that it is quite conceivable that a true superintelligence would not need to build killer robots.  Humans could be eliminated (if that was the goal) in much easier ways and argues convincingly that it is likely we wouldn't even know it was happening until it was done.  The question, therefore, is whether (and if so how) a superintelligence can be fostered and developed without this outcome.  The book is worth the read. 

Obergefell et al. v. Hodges, Director, Ohio Department of Health, et al., Supreme Court

Obergefell v Hodges is a case with the opinion written by Justice Kennedy and dissenting opinions from Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, Justice Thomas, and Justice Alito.  This case made same-sex marriage the law of the land in the United States of America.

Started:  6/26/2015
Completed: 9/22/2019
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By:  Nobody


Review:

This is less a review and more a walk-through of the ruling from the Court.

HELD The Fourteenth amendment requires a State to recognize a same-sex marriage that was performed in another State.  The Petitioners in this case were not trying to demean marriage, but to gain the benefits and responsibilities thereof.  Changes to the nature of such things as marriage is consistent with the history of the country and have served to improve such covenants.  The Due Process clause (found in Section 1) of the Fourteenth amendment extends to personal choices inherent in individual dignity and autonomy.  The right to personal choice regarding marriage is inherent in the concept of marriage.  The right to have intimate interactions is inextricably linked to the right to marriage as well.

The court accepted the case on two basic issues:  1) is a State required to allow the marriage between two people of the same sex and 2) is a state required to recognize the marriage licenses of another state.

This is a collection of several cases rolled into one before the Supreme Court.  Obergefell and Arthur were married in Maryland after a 20 year relationship and after Arthur was diagnosed with ALS.  The returned to Ohio and Arthur died.  Obergefell was denied by the state of Ohio being listed as Arthur's spouse on the death certificate.  DeBoer and Rowse have several special needs children, but adoption laws in Michigan do not recognize same sex couples, so only one of the two is the legally recognized parent.  They came to the court seeking a way for them both to be legally the parents of their children.  DeKoe and Kostura were married in New York, but moved to Tennessee after DeKoe returned from deployment to Afghanistan.  Tennessee does not recognize same sex marriage, so their marriage was invalidated every time they crossed the state line.

The Supreme Court has addressed same sex relationships in only a few cases.  In Browers v. Hardwick the court ruled that there was no right to consensual sodomy.  In Romer v. Evans, however the court struck down an amendment to the Colorado constitution that explicitly prevented laws that protected LGBTQ people from discrimination.  The third case was Lawrence v. Texas which reversed Browers v. Hardwick and held that consensual sex could not be criminalized.

In 1993, Hawaii's Supreme Court dismissed a case regarding same sex marriage due to a change in the Hawaiian constitution as the case moved through the court system.  As a result, many concluded that same sex marriage could be allowed (see Baehr v. Miike).  The United State Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act in response.  This act defined marriage on the federal level as heterosexual.  Several states disagreed and provided for same sex marriage within their laws and these laws were upheld by state supreme courts.

The fourteenth amendment has been interpreted by the Supreme Court as a protector of intimate choices (see Eisenstadt v. Baird in which a lecturer provided free vaginal foam as a contraceptive to an unmarried woman and was charged with a crime which was reversed by the Supreme Court).

Marriage, itself, has been addressed by the Supreme Court (most famously in Loving v. Virginia which affirmed a right to interracial marriage).  These cases addressed who was eligible to marry (Zablocki v. Redhail struck down a law that prevented people behind on child support from marrying; Turner v Safley held that inmates could marry).  The Supreme Court, however, has not considered the issue of same sex marriage to be a Federal question in the past (see Baker v. Nelson from Minnesota's Supreme Court, which was rejected by the Supreme Court on appeal), but DOMA changed that.

The court argued that there were four points in its consideration of the case:

1. Marriage is inherently linked to personal choice (the logic is in Loving v. Virginia) and is effectively the height of intimacy.
2. The right to marriage is older than any other right (as argued in Griswold v. Connecticut) including the Bill of Rights.
3. Marriage protects children and the family
4. Marriage is a keystone of social order

The plaintiffs argued that this case was not about including a disenfranchised group in an existing right, but the creation of a new right (same-sex marriage) and that such a thing should be very carefully reviewed in keeping with Washington v. Glucksberg (a case that wanted to establish the physician assisted suicide as a right via the fourteenth amendment and failed).  The Court's opinion held that Loving, for example, did not seek a new "interracial marriage" right and that Turner did not seek a new "inmate marriage" right--rather both asked that the existing marriage right be extended to a disenfranchised class.

The Court also found that the lack of an ability to marry was very harmful to same sex couples, that these harms extended to society as a whole, and that the result was subordination of an entire group (same sex couples).

A curious part of this opinion is that the Court argued that sufficient debate had occurred on this issue to be able to gauge whether same sex marriage was worthy of a decision instead of a call for more intense discussion.  The court cited the number of amicus briefs (among other things) as a way of evaluating whether or not the issue had been intensively discussed.  To my mind, this suggests that important court cases simply need more amicus briefs submitted to the Court.  These briefs should be present from people from different walks of life, with different backgrounds from the plaintiffs whether they are supportive of the plaintiff or the defendant.  

The Court identified that marriage was a fundamental right and that it is the unique role of the Judiciary to protect fundamental rights (which cannot be legislated into or out of existence).  The majority opinion effectively dismissed many of the arguments put forward against marriage on the basis of harms to the institution of marriage, potential for people to change their decision to procreate (a bit bizarre that one), and religion (it is a not a First Amendment right to bar someone else from doing something because you have a religious belief against the practice).

The Court's decision to require that states recognize that people legally married in another state are legally married in their state is quickly asserted as a matter of consistency in the ruling.

Just Six Numbers, Martin Rees

Just Six Numbers:  The deep forces that shape the universe by Martin J. Rees was a book that I picked up from the discount table at a book store (I am listening to a library version narrated by John Curless because vision is a problem at the moment).  I have often heard that physicist tend to ponder why the six basic numbers have the values that they have (to me this seems like wondering what things would be like if photons weighed 10 pounds).  Some philosophers argue that it should be possible for these numbers to be anything if they are to be meaningful.  I don't get either of those, so I picked up this book hoping Baron Rees could explain at least some of it.

Started: 9/16/2019

Completed: 9/19/2019

Recommendation: Mild Recommendation

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

Fairly quickly Rees claims that the particular six numbers are not magic and should be no more surprising than that humans came into being on the particular planet on which we did.  The numbers are the way they are because we live in the universe we do (just as the Earth is where we live because we developed here).

Towards the end, however, Rees argues that this explanation is broadly unsatisfactory.  He uses the example of a man in front of a shooting squad of 50 marksman who, somehow survives unscathed.  It is true that he was not killed (after all his survival demonstrates that), but it is not a terribly satisfactory state and one would desire to investigate to understand why he survived.  To that end, Rees argues in favor of the multiverse (every possible universe with every possible configuration was created, we just happen to live in the one in which we find ourselves--an edge case that allows biological processes).

I did not get from this book what I had hoped, but it is a good book and gives a solid lay understanding of the six numbers that shape the universe.

Fall, Neal Stephenson

Fall; or, A Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson is a sequel to Reamde.

Started:  7/29/2019
Completed: 9/18/2019
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

Clearly Neal Stephenson is spending a lot of time thinking about uploading brains to a virtual environment.  I'm not really thrilled about the creation of the garden from nothingness, but OK, I guess it is important to grab onto something.

The thought of the United States swiftly riding off the rails makes some sense given the current trend.  I guess I am tainted by having recently read "The Handmaid's Tale" and am a little spun out on the religious dystopia.  The thought of all society just going away and living in the cloud seems highly unlikely.

This is a very long book about the recreation of society.  Of course, I love Neal Stephenson, so I listened to the whole thing.  If this is your first Stephenson distopian novel, pick another.  If you liked the last one, then you will probably like this one and it is shorter than whatever you read before.

Adams vs. Jefferson

Adams vs. Jefferson:  The tumultuous election of 1800 by John Ferling fits neatly into my interest in both Adams and Jefferson.  I picked this book up on a mark down table at a brick and mortar book store many years ago and it has languished on my shelves as I have slowly read the books there.  Recently, I have had eye problems and learned about the audio books available from the library.  I was thrilled to see this one and picked it up quickly.

Started: 9/13/2019 (Friday the 13th)

Completed: 9/16/2019

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

bloviate -- talk at length, especially in an inflated or empty way

calumny -- the making of false and defamatory statements about someone in order to damage their reputation; slander

Review:

This book brings to life the background and actions of the election of 1800.  I was aware that the election was decided in the House of Representatives, that Jefferson was the victor, and that Burr felt he had a good chance of winning.  The book sort of glosses over the previous election in which Adams beat Jefferson without going to the House of Representatives.  It seems like the author really likes Jefferson, sees his presidency as the revolution Jefferson claimed it to be, and felt that Burr was a warped personality.

What interested me most was the deadlock in the House.  I was unaware of this and equally unaware of the likelihood that Jefferson had made a deal (which he denied) to break it.  I also had no idea how central to the election South Carolina was and equally so Delaware in the House.  Thus, the almost week long effort to elect a president seems to have come to an end through a deal with Delaware and that was brought to the House largely through the electoral votes of South Carolina (although it seems that the electoral votes of New York might have been equally telling, though less unknown).  It was also fascinating to learn that every elector cast two votes for president (with at least one coming from a different state)--this was resolved by the 14th(?) amendment to the constitution which changed it to one vote making a tie far less likely.

A good book and a decent read.

Incognito, David Eagleman

Incognito:  The secret lives of the brain by David Eagleman is a book written about the brain for the lay reader by a neuroscientist.

Started:  9/9/2019

Completed: 9/13/2019

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This book is pretty darn good and introduces a slew of questions.  Near the end, however, the author looks at judicial proceedings and concludes that a sentencing process which looks at the likelihood of recidivism is the best way to move forward.  The author suggests that the prison sentence should be based on the risk of future criminal activity.  While this may have a lot of meaning from neuropsychology, it is pretty scary to have prison sentences not based on the action that occurred, but based on the risk of that person committing future crimes.  This is a pretty bad thing for the judiciary.  Your genetics determine your sentence.  Or your brain tumor.  Or your exposure to some kind of virus that changes the expression of your genetics.  Or, chillingly, your poverty.

The other side, equally chilling, is that criminal behavior is subject to medical treatment.  Certainly, to an extent, this is true.  One wonders, however, how it is possible to treat an individual based on a sociological statistical analysis.  The implications are pretty scary.  Would criminals be allowed to reproduce and pass on their dangerous genetics (the author frequently notes that the single highest genetic prediction of criminal activity is to have a "Y" chromosome--be male)?  We have seen this attempt at "forward thinking" (considering a current action in terms of likely future outcomes) with sterilization in the 1920s...

The conclusion of the book kind of throws shade at the judicial section.  The author argues that simply looking at the structures of the brain (at whatever level of detail) is probably insufficient to understanding how the brain works.  If that approach is accurate, then the judicial component of the book is woefully misguided.  It is almost as though two different people wrote the book (or there was a lack of "full thinking" in applying the conclusion to the arguments made previously).  Of course, the author would be comfortable with the concept that one actual brain could posit multiple different overlapping and conflicting opinions--what he refers to as a "team of rivals"--as he argues that this is how the brain operates (many different approaches to the same problem rattle around in the brain until a single approach wins).  The downside, however, to his demonstrating one of his basic concepts is that the intent of the book is to elucidate how an understanding of the brain is important, not demonstrate how a brain might appear if the "controls" were peeled back and the seething maelstrom of potential actions were exposed. 

Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik is not a clear a sequel to Uprooted, but may occur in a similar world.

Started: 9/6/2019

Completed: 9/9/2019

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

A wonderful novel that takes a side-ways look at the traditional Rumpelstiltskin.  As usual, stepping into a Novik world is a treat and the characters are rich.  The story line is compelling and this story is told from many different perspectives which enriches the story telling.

The Air We Breathe, Andrea Barrett

The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett is a book that came recommended, but I simply cannot remember who/what made the recommendation.

Started: 9/2/2019

Completed: 9/6/2019

Recommendation: Mild Recommendation

Recomended By: Nobody

Review:

In many ways this reminds me of books from the turn of the century (Anthony Trollope comes to mind).  The nature of entertainment and the richness of formal human interaction.  It seems like a Victorian ideal.  In a consumptive ward.

The book, however, does not resolve the way that a turn of the century novel did and many things are left unanswered as the book closes.  In this case, it is not a problem that things are not tied up.  The book did not have a mounting sense of an impending big end, it seemed like a character study from the start.  The characters do evolve and, in some ways, seems almost like a modern romantic comedy (or, looking the other way, Shakespearean comedy) with the misunderstood feelings that swoop across the novel.  The book also seems to have a societal understanding as the characters are largely reduced to their own society due to illness (vaguely reminiscent of the United States before the first World War and its isolationist policies) and the small society turns on itself in much the same way as the nation did upon entering the war.

This book also quietly examines the love-hate relationship that Americans have with scientists, doctors, and nurses.

I enjoyed this little book while I read it, but I do not expect it to make a lasting impression on me.

Born on a Blue Day, Daniel Tammet

Born on a Blue Day:  Inside the extraordinary mind of an autistic savant by Daniel Tammet

Started:  9/1/2019

Completed: 9/2/2019

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Nikolay

Review:

This was an eye-opening book.  It is interesting to hear from an autistic person directly and not through the medium of someone interpreting what happens in their life.  The savant part was impressive, but the synesthesia and the way it was experienced directly was truly interesting.  This reminded me of Temple Grandin's description of how she came to understand what the animals were feeling at a slaughter house.  Well worth the time to read through this little book.

Throne of Jade, Naomi Novik

Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik is a sequel to His Majesty's Dragon which I enjoyed very much.

Started: 8/26/2019

Completed: 9/1/2019

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

The austerity of English nobles in the 1800s is less on evidence in this book, but the concept of the dragon as part of everyday life in Chinese nobility is addressed.  The book is far less about aerial battles and more about machinations with the Chinese court which is equally enjoyable.  The plots and sub-plots are well executed and the clear move of adding another dragon to the British ranks from China is well established.  Also, the idea of dragons hoarding their wealth is now explained and a mechanism for it in a society which is starkly different from Tolkien established.  The major characters are enriched and a small portion of minor characters meet their ends leaving many ways for the author to go in the next book.  I particularly enjoyed the concept of dragons getting involved in poetry.