Seeking new books -- or novelty in general -- is quite a vice. One can not praise the rereading of books, enough; especially if the book 'sort of' worked for you the first time around, while many years have passed, with changes in the world or in yourself.
For instance, many years ago I read "The March of Folly", by Barbara Tuchman. She wrote: "To qualify as folly for this inquiry, the policy adopted must [...] have been perceived as counterproductive in its own time, not merely by hindsight."
You'd think that European statesmen bumbling into World War One would be her best example, but it was not included in this book perhaps because of her more famous book, "The Guns of August."
She made examples of the Trojans accepting the gift of a wooden horse from the Greeks; Renaissance popes provoking the secession of protestants; Britain losing its American colonies; and the American debacle in Viet Nam.
If she were writing this book today, maybe she would include the voluntary de-industrialization of Germany, and the unnecessary expansion of NATO. Or the continued piling up of trillions of dollars of debt by the US government.
But the top prize goes to the Trumpanyahu regime's war against Iran, especially after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz and destroyed America's vassal states on the west shore of the Persian Gulf; Ansar Allah (the Houthis) has closed the Red Sea; oil and other things keep getting scarce and expensive; the Republicans in Congress see their fortunes sinking in the upcoming election; the Republican voting base keeps getting more frustrated; and Trump's poll numbers keep sinking.
This mess has been going on for six months now and appears to be getting worse. Never in my lifetime have I seen such an example of folly, recognized by most people at the time, march onward and onward.
Comments