Review of book:
Politics by Aristotle[1] From memory, Ayn Rand praises Aristotle on many points, though says his politics is not his greatest strength. Nevertheless, he did have something to say on the subject. I'm giving here some of the abstracts I got from it. I think Plato must have influenced the shape of Aristotle's politics, because Aristotle seems quite concerned with the state as an entity rather than the individual, though individualistic elements also can be found. I found it very interesting that he gives guidance on how to achieve a stable state, and many of the tips are valid to this day. For example, he thinks the most stable system should have a strong middle class, and the rulers should be the ones in the middle class, not the poor or the rich, and he gives good arguments for this position. It also seems the cycle-time for a society back then was much shorter than today, and states as he describes them were much smaller, usually 1 000 to 10 000 people. I think this allowed for more rapid experimentation than what we have today. On immigration; they were facing the same issues back then as we do today, and his position on the causes and effects is clear, I would summarize it thus; when immigrants come in, they bring their own culture, and the state will not survive. Aristotle also goes into equality and states that as the middle class is eroded away, the state collapses. People have been struggling for very long to find a better way to organize society. It is a difficult problem that has still to this day not been solved satisfactory. I think objectivism is a required precursor to having an amazing society. Overall I found it very interesting, and I learnt a lot about what struggles people have been through to get us to where we are today. 5 of 5 stars. Summary can be found on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_(Aristotle) ==== References: ==== [1] Aristotle, “Politics,” 330BC. [Online]. Available: https://librivox.org/politics-by-aristotle/ .
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Review of book:
Richard of Jamestown: A Story of the Virginia Colony by James Otis This was an enjoyable story about Jamestown early 1600's. It's historical fiction, but it was still worth listening to if you're particularly interested. Most of the details seemed to be aligned with history I've heard before. Particularly interesting was it that the gentlemen, people of higher social status, were so hostile to work. These ventures a few hundred years ago were quite collectivistic. For example, people were expected to work for the common good, not for their own profit. This was in my judgment a big reason why there were so much starvation, people didn't have the proper incentives to work. Instead of incentives, they tried to use force to get people to work. Thus, it should be much easier with better understanding today to get better results. Eventually they moved towards more individualistic way of structuring society, and then it worked better. The great savior was of course the tobacco which they sold to London. The picture in this book is the same as from history and other books; there were quite a few bad people that almost destroyed the settlements. Overall a short and fun book. 4 of 5 stars Review of book:
Bradford's History of the Plymouth Settlement, 1608-1650 This book gives a firsthand history of what happened in the settlement of Plymouth. This colony was of utmost importance in what later became the USA, so it's highly recommended listening for anyone who is interested in settling new territory. It takes away the mystique from starting over, and turns building a new society into actionable to-do checkpoints. Of particular interest was what problems they faced. The biggest problems in starting the colony was financial. They had severe problems with participation in different ways; people who promised to invest, participate etc. pulled out at the worst time. They were eventually capable to pull together a voyage that could limp across the Atlantic, where the real problems started. I'm sure you know the problems of the colonies, I won't go into those. Back in London they had accountants trying to manage the financial dealings between London and the colony, and there was a lot of trouble with fraud, theft, piracy etc. One complaint they had in Plymouth was that quite a few bad people was sent from England to Plymouth. They wanted people who worked hard, but instead they got quite a few criminals. Another point that was interesting was that as the amount of immigration picked up, the value of the property of the first settlers skyrocketed. The first settlers could sell especially animals for a large premium to the new settlers. Of the people who didn't die the first year, many of the settlers became quite old. My guess is that this would come from seeing themselves having risen so far; from being religious outcast in Europe to becoming dominant denomination in a new continent, and also financially from rags to riches. I can imagine it must have given them a great sense of pride. I would this effect of long and good life to be much stronger if we can do the same in our life-time, because in objectivism pride is a virtue, and the potential life-extension technologies that can be invented might further increase happiness and length of life. Perhaps half the book is about trading accounts, showing how important the economy was to them. It shows that new societies have been built before, and they started out as a collectivist community, in other words on very bad premises. The work and rewards was collectivized at first, but was changed over time to get people to actually do some work. Religion was very important, but they were still able to have enough sense to do work required to build a society. We'd start with much better premises, and then improve from there, so it should be easier today than for them. Overall I loved the book, it's probably a book I will listen to again. You can get the full book in the link, or by downloading the Librivox app. https://librivox.org/bradfords-history-of-the-plymouth-settlement-by-william-bradford/ |