The Frankenstein Candidate

Vinay Kolhatkar novel is set in a near future by the US elections of 2020. A multimillionaire, Frank Kenneth Stein, who decides to fund his own presidential campaign breaking with the traditional parties. Quite the opposite of a Donald Trump who has the money but not the brains, Stein has clear and consistent ideas, thus many time conflicting.

With a complex plot full of obscure characters the novel unfolds the worst crises in history due to the games politicians play. A game that they can't stop without burning themselves and therefor are willing to do whatever to keep the wheel spinning.

The democratic presidential candidate, Olivia Allen is facing as rival the Republican Vice-President Quentin Kirby but soon realizes who the real enemy is.

Olivia Allen is a iconic character; beautiful, successful professionally and socially. It is easy to identify with her honest will to improve the system. Her optimism about working hard and fix what needs to be fixed is appealing. It is easy to feel empathy for her struggle between facing these life challenges and saving her personal life. As many of us, she realizes that the task is paramount because it goes against the stakeholders of the system. Olivia's philosophical transformation is encouraging, a hope that if people decide to think and not just hope the system may change.

The Frankenstein Candidate is a work of fiction but also a believable future. If the political system doesn't overhauls itself, which is very improbable, the size of the next crisis can be unthinkable. With the size of national and local debts, the level of monetary emission, the choking regulatory framework, and the irrational obsession with climate change, the future of a world is not shinny. Can the system be changed from within or the chances are nil leaving the only hope on a third contender with clear ideas and the pockets to compete. 

Frank Stein campaigns around the ten commandment of government; "honesty, forbearance, temperance, respect, integrity, kinship, courage, justice, dignity and humanity". This could be a model to measure how good or bad is a proposal since most of the politician promises fail on several of them. Overall these commandments are just traits of humanity.

Nice novel for the times. Now that we have elections in different parts of the world and many are about choosing the least bad.

My rating 4 stars

Omnipotent Government

Ludwin Von Mises wrote Omnipotent Government in 1944 at the last days of WWII. Mises describes the philosophical grounds of the Nazi movement. A book rich in history background and a though provoking plan for the future.

In the first part Mises explains the German Liberalism during the middle of the XIX when the ideas of the classical Liberalism were partially adopted in Germany. According to Mises:

"At about the middle of the nineteenth century those Germans interested in political issues were united in their adherence to liberalism. Yet the German nation did not succeed in shaking off the yoke of absolutism and in establishing democracy and parliamentary government."

Mises explains the history of Germany from the late XVIII to the early XX with a different point of view from the dominant Socialist Historians. Overall he shows how and why a powerful-educated German society fell into Nazism.

"The questions to be answered are not: Why did the bankers and the rich entrepreneurs and capitalists desert liberalism? Why did the professors, the doctors, and the lawyers not erect barricades? We must rather ask: Why did the German nation return to the Reichstag members who did not abolish absolutism? Why was the army, formed for a great part of men who voted the socialist or the Catholic ticket, unconditionally loyal to its commanders? Why could the antiliberal parties, foremost among them the Social Democrats, collect many millions of votes while the groups which remained faithful to the principles of liberalism lost more and more popular support? Why did the millions of socialist voters who indulged in revolutionary babble acquiesce in the rule of princes and courts?"

For Mises the German Liberals were unable to protect the principles and ideas that help them succeed. They saw Socialism and Nazism as temporary setbacks and never recognize the deep roots of Etatism. Soon Etatism armed with a strong military evolved into nationalism.

"As soon as liberalism reached Germany and Italy the problem of the extent of the state and its boundaries was raised. It solution seemed easy. The nation is the community of all people speaking the same language; the state's frontiers should coincide with the linguistic demarcations."

"The principle of nationality is an outcome of the interpretation which people in Central and Eastern Europe, who never fully grasped the meaning of liberal ideas, gave to the principle of self-determination. It is a distortion, not a perfection, of liberal thought."

The nationalism originally define as unity of language evolved  to unity of race. The idea that Germany was the strongest among European nations contrasted with the defeat after WWI and the unacceptable conditions of the Versailles Treaty. It fueled the legend of "the stab in the back" followed by the total failure of the Weimar Republic setting the conditions to the advent of Nazism. The party sold itself as the enemy of the communist to the liberals and as saver of the poor from the bourgeois. But overall a saver of the German Nationalism, nationalism now defined by race with a common enemy, Jews.

Mises' conclusion can be read two ways. Considering the era when The Omnipotent Government was published he recognize the improbability of a liberal world, necessary to discard aggression from other countries, plus the risk of government to close their borders establishing autarkic states and starting aggression against their neighbors to eliminate its dependency. 

"But will all men rightly understand their own interests? What if they do not? This is the weak point in the liberal plea for a free world of peaceful coöperation. The realization of the liberal plan is impossible because—at least for our time—people lack the mental ability to absorb the principles of sound economics. Most men are too dull to follow complicated chains of reasoning. Liberalism failed because the intellectual capacities of the immense majority were insufficient for the task of comprehension."

But sixty years later we can read his conclusion as a kind of prophecy of how humanity is condemned to live with the risk of war supporting strong armies as long as the different flavors of etatism are not replaced by liberalism, where goods and people move freely anywhere in the world.

Is capitalism an all or nothing global condition for peace? Are global coalitions and governments the only defense to totalitarian neighbors?

This book was the subject of the 2015 Socialism Seminar organized by the Center for the Study of Capitalism at Universidad Francisco Marroquin.

My rating 4 out of 5.

Las Tribus Liberales

Las Tribus Liberales es una narrativa de María Blanco (@Godivaciones) sobre su recorrido liberal visto desde diferentes perspectivas. De una manera creativa María utiliza las figuras de la mitología griega para describir las ideas de la libertad en el mundo actual.

Como sabiamente aclara al inicio "es una perspectiva personal, hablo más de quien conozco más y de quien más me gusta a mí... Mi pretensión no es ser exhaustiva sino dar mi punto de vista honestamente y con toda humildad."

En efecto el libro es casi una conversación con la autora que descubre las bases del liberalismo, las disputas entre liberales, las críticas a los liberales, y en general las esperanza que algún día el ciudadano entienda las diferencias de la libertad individual sobre los chantajes estatistas e irracionales.

El libro se divide en cuatro partes cada una identificada con iconos de la mitología griega. La primera parte, Atenas, explica la origen histórica del liberalismo y sus diferentes variantes. Evolución tanto en el entorno puramente académico como en grupos de pensamiento y sus partidarios.

La segunda parte dedicada a Eris descubre la lucha política entre diferentes actores, muchos de ellos que toman elementos liberales a conveniencia. María critica la defensa pragmática del liberalismo porque primero que nada no tiene un fundamento de ideas sólidas que trasciendan las circunstancias del momento, y por otro lado la realidad desnuda los esfuerzos pragmáticos porque lejos de ganar terreno se ha perdido a costa de la credibilidad de las ideas.

"Están firmemente convencidos de que es mejor ceder a las políticas socialistas a cambio de aplicar alguna medida liberal. En lo que ha derivado esta idea que, en principio, puede parecer sensata, es que se ha cedido tanto a las medidas socialistas a cambio de un tímido soplo de liberalismo en algún aspecto menor, que el remedio ha sido peor que la enfermedad y el mal realizado se ha multiplicado. Por un lado no hay verdaderas medidas políticas liberales, y por otro, de tanto mentar el supuesto liberalismo, la gente de la calle lo identifica con ese híbrido burdo y dañino."

Posteriormente entra a abordar la relación de los liberales con el ciudadano. En esta parte María es crítica de las discusiones académicas, rebuscadas e insensatas. Para la gente en la calle, el debate liberal pasa a ser un espectáculo de gente rara. Para mientras se entregan a las arbitrariedades de los gobiernos.

"Esta creación de una realidad por parte de los medios tiene como resultado la formación de una masa de población conformista e incapacitada, como un niño, un menor de edad que ha de estar representado por un adulto. Así también, nuestra sociedad está tutelada por el Estado."

Finalmente María baja al reino de Hades y rebate algunas de la criticas más comunes, pero no por ello sustentadas, al liberalismo. Desde el favoritismo de los ricos, la liberación de las drogas, el trabajo infantil, y más. Una a una expone los argumentos de los críticos y presenta una defensa basada en principios, distanciada de pragmatismos que no son extraños en otros liberales. 

En resumen, el libro es una texto para la gente que está en medio de este universo caótico de las ideas; entre escuelas, autores, políticos y esperanzas. La gente al final busca vivir mejor, ojalá aportes como este logre que cada día sean más los que entiendan que solo la defensa de la libertad individual provee los medios para ello.

Resistencia no violenta a regímenes autoritarios de base democrática

El juez Ricardo Rojas (@rmrojas58) nos trae "Resistencia no violenta a regímenes autoritarios de base democrática", un libro oportuno ante las múltiples y crecientes manifestaciones de rechazo de los ciudadanos hacia sus gobiernos (Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, Brasil, México, Argentina, etc.) 

El juez Rojas construye sobre la tesis de Gene Sharp sobre cómo funcionan las revoluciones no violentas frente a dictaduras. Existen muchas similitudes entre regímenes netamente autoritarios (producto de dictadores, golpes de estado o guerras) y aquellos que se disfrazan por haber llegado al poder por la vía democrática.

Uno de los primeros puntos que aborda Ricardo es cuestionar la legitimidad de todo gobierno que surge de un proceso democrático.

"es importante investigar de qué se está hablando cuando se utiliza este vocablo [democracia], pues dentro de sus tantos significados se esconden formas de gobierno autoritarias."

Los gobernantes electos con aspiraciones autoritarias traicionan a sus electores y olvidan que son simples empleados. En lugar de cumplir con las funciones definidas por la ley, creen que recibieron un cheque en blanco para violar los derechos de las personas en nombre de su misma defensa. 

La democracia no es una panacea y dentro del sistema republicano juega un rol que no debe ser deificado. 

"la idea de una democracia directa, del 'Pueblo' tomando decisiones por sí mismo respecto de los asuntos públicos, es tan romántica como impracticable"

Las medidas no violentas son mecanismos para contener los abusos de los gobiernos sobre los derechos individuales y no tanto para el derrocamiento de los mismos. Es así que Ricardo sugiere prevenir que los gobernantes puedan acumular poder y llegar a abusar del mismo. Para ello nos recuerda la importancia de cuidar los principios republicanos básicos como el respeto a la constitución, la independencia de poderes, el fortalecimiento de instituciones, la libertad de prensa, la descentralización del poder, y el control electoral, entre otros.

A diferencia de muchos casos tradicionales de totalitarismo la adhesión es más compleja en los casos analizados por el juez Rojas. Por ejemplo a la oposición se le critica como opositores de la democracia y la voluntad de la mayoría. Amén de estas reacciones, la organización de sistemas de resistencia es posible aún cuando el origen del poder hayan sido elecciones.

En la última parte Ricardo abarca los requerimientos organizacionales y de planificación para que los esfuerzos no se dispersen o se esfumen producto del cansancio y el conformismo. Con una buena estrategia la aplicación de algunas de los casi 200 prácticas no violentas de resistencia de Sharp se hace de forma ordenada y con objetivos claros, lo que les da mayor fuerza y efectividad. 

Como complemento el libro del juez Rojas incluye el texto "De la dictadura a la democracia. Un sistema conceptual para la Liberación" de Gene Sharp.

Indiscutiblemente el aporte de Ricardo es relevante. Cuando la presentación del libro es censurada y acusada de promover el desorden se puede apreciar su valor. Como dijo Winston Churchill "¿Tienes enemigos? Bien. Eso significa que has defendido algo, alguna vez en tu vida."

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Unleash Your Inner Company

As times turn harder more and more people are considering starting their own businesses, Unleash Your Inner Company is a timely contribution and a required read for those serious about it.

In Unleash your Inner Company the successful entrepreneur John Chisholm (@johndchisholm) shares his experience to all those who want to be entrepreneurs as well.

John's book is easy to read, fun to follow and provides very useful training. He lays out a 10 step process to think, organize and make your ideas coherent. Beginning from the more simple but fundamental question of what you love and what you are good for, up to creating a full strategy with pricing, differentiation, escalation, financials, etc. The road map works like a blueprint, to build from the ground up, from the basics to the complex. In addition to the framework itself, John takes the reader by the hand clarifying his ideas with examples (some from his personal experience, others are made up yet very concise), suggesting exercises to put the concepts into practice, and FAQ's sections that expand each step further. At the end of each step a short recap becomes a cheat sheet of lessons learned.

In addition to his model, John introduces basic but powerful economic concepts to the entrepreneur. Sort of a reality check for the entrepreneur to be aware of non-business related challenges. Among these ideas we find the importance of institutions to create the environment for ideas to flourish, the damaging effects of centrally controlled regulations on innovation, and the ethics of entrepreneurship as a value creating endeavor.

In the last sections of the book, John adds some useful tools such as 101 accounting, and the relationship of his 10-step model and the popular Business Model Canvas.

John explains that he took the challenge of writing this book after he presented at TEDxUFM in 2011. It is a satisfaction to see an idea materialize. Bellow is an interview given during his visit to Universidad Francisco Marroquin for the event.

My rating 5 stars

Creative Schools

Sir Ken Robinson is one of the leading authorities in Education Reform. His TED talk about how schools kill creativity has been seen more than 30 million times becoming the most -viewed speaker on TED.com. His previous books are also best sellers and though provoking.

In Creative Schools, he makes a thorough diagnosis of the Education Crisis in the world and builds from success stories a proposal for School reform. 

Beginning with the needs of the world as the Industrial Revolution spanned attracting unskilled workers from the countryside to fulfill the jobs, to governments taking control all over the world, centrally planned educational systems are the norm today. 

Wherever you look, education is high on the agenda of governments around the globe. 

These days, governments scrutinize each other's education systems as earnestly as their defense policies.

On-going efforts to improve the system have failed again and again because they are more of the same without addressing the core of the problem. According to Robinson one of these key premises is that education is more than a linear system with simple causal relationships. 

The principle of linearity works well for manufacturing; it doesn't for people.

I said that education is best seen not as an industrial system but as an organic one. More specifically. it is what is know as a "complex, adaptive system"

The importance of education is indisputable yet Sir Ken Robinson makes it explicit to support his opinion about curriculum, assessment (evaluation), teachers and schools, kids and families.

The aims of education are to enable students to understand the world around them and the talents within them so that they can become fulfilled individuals and active compassionate citizens.

The four basic purposes of education: economic, cultural, social and personal

A Hayekian explanation to how the system actually works builds on multiple success stories. Diverse cases that go from his own experience, to Sergio Juárez Correa in Mexico, to Eric Mazur in Harvard, to Salman Khan and Khan Academy, to Sugata Mitra and the School in the Cloud, to Logan LaPlante and homeschooling, to cases in New Zealand, Argentina, and more, give hope to the feasibility of change. 

All living systems have a tendency to develop new characteristics in response to changing circumstances. They may have "emergent features," through "the interaction of small elements forming together to make a larger one. In education, there's an abundance of emergent features right now that are changing the context in which schools work and the cultures within them.

Robinson believes in local solutions; the subtitle of the book is The grassroots revolution that's transforming Education, Nonetheless he equals private initiatives with market solutions (commercial ventures are just one kind, many are non-profit or small local projects) and still hopes that policymakers will be able to lead the revolution. 

In some respects, mass education is, and always was, a process of social engineering. Sometimes the political intentions have been benign and sometimes not. 

Yet his invitation is to take a leading role in changing the status quo. We need multiple projects not just a substitute. Trying different alternatives may offer multiple solutions to the diverse needs of the people while helping future generations thrive in their live.

The revolution I'm advocating is based on different principles from those of the standard movement. It is based on a belief in the value of the individual, the right to self-determination, our potential to evolve and live a fulfilled life, and the importance of civic responsibility and respect for others.

Politicians and bureaucrats are interest groups who will not surrender power easily. Robinson's proposal is more pragmatic involving them in the solution and may be closer to achieve something than more radical solutions. I'm skeptical of anything that has government behind its name but hope that with Sir Ken Robinson's influence some changes will start to occur. 

My rating 4 stars.

Zen in the Martial Arts

This short book by Joe Hyams is a recollection of stories in his journey as martial artist. Hyams was a Hollywood reporter and writer who started in martial arts in his 30'. He had the opportunity to learn Kempo, Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun, Hapkido, Aikido, from big masters like Bruce Lee, Ed Parker, Bong Soo Han, and Jim Lau.  

Zen in the Martial Arts is not a book about Martial Arts nor a book about Zen philosophy is a story of self discovery, and how their application can help control ones mind to achieve great results in life.

"this is a book from which readers may learn to apply the principles of Zen, as reflected in the martial arts, to their lives and thus open up a potential source of inner strength they may never have dreamt they possessed."

I stumble upon Hyams book looking for a quote by Bruce Lee who was one of the his master teachers. 

"You will never learn anything new unless your are ready to accept yourself with your limitations. You must accept the fact that you are capable, in some directions and limited in others, and you must develop your capabilities"

A conclusion of Zen in the Martial Arts is that you don't need Martial Arts to understand and appreciate Zen teachings about mind and self control, yet not because you practice Martial Arts you will learn Zen. Anyone can master the techniques yet just those willing to think, feel and appreciate the tradition will grasp the millennial teaching of the masters.

"it is possible to master the physical techniques of the martial arts without understanding or absorbing the spiritual and philosophical basis of the arts. On the other hand, it is also possible to apply the spiritual precepts of Zen in the martial arts without involving oneself in the arts."

Powerful inspiring pearls of wisdom like "Seize life at the moment", but not deep in philosophy.

After finishing the book I felt a urge to return to my practice with a different mindset.

My rating 3 stars.

Tao Te Ching

Lao Tsu (also know as Lao Tse or Laozi) was a Chinese philosopher during the 6th Century B.C. Despite some controversy over his existence, his contribution to the Chinese and World Philosophy is undeniable.

The Tao Te Ching, also know as Daodejin, is a book of 81 chapters organized in two books. The name approximate translation is "The Classic of the Virtuous Way". Next to the Bible it is the most translated work of literature. Tao Te Ching is not free of polemic. It is know from copies and chronicles of later writers, and biographers, who tell different stories or arrange the chapters differently. There is even a relevant debate about his influence over Confucius.  Nonetheless this book is a masterpiece of world literature. 

Valuable teachings from The Tao Te Ching are relevant personally, as well as for governments and leaders.

Personally I found lessons of austerity and frugality very though provoking.

But I have three precious things which I prize and hold fast. The first is gentleness; the second is economy; and the third is shrinking from taking precedence of others.

It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry it when it is full. If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness. When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe. When wealth and honours lead to arrogancy, this brings its evil on itself. When the work is done, and one's name is becoming distinguished, to withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven.

The highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying, without striving (to the contrary), the low place which all men dislike. Hence (its way) is near to (that of) the Tao.

The analogy with water was popularized by Bruce Lee

Another area of wisdom refers to how the world works and evolves. Similar to much later teachings of Michael Polanyi, F.A. Hayek or the different schools of System Dynamics, Lao Tzu explains the value of spontaneous order when he explains that the Tao precedes even the Gods because the constant is change.

The Tao that can be described is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. 

The work is done, but how no one can see; 'Tis this that makes the power not cease to be.

Movement is a necessary condition for change. Let movement go on, and the condition of rest will gradually arise.

However the key lessons relates to government are as relevant today as in the Ancient times. No wonder why Murray Rothbard considered Lao Tzu the first

libertarian. 

Governing a great state is like cooking small fish. 

Therefore a sage has said, 'I will do nothing (of purpose), and the people will be transformed of themselves; I will be fond of keeping still, and the people will of themselves become correct. I will take no trouble about it, and the people will of themselves become rich; I will manifest no ambition, and the people will of themselves attain to the primitive simplicity.'

Therefore he who would administer the kingdom, honouring it as he honours his own person, may be employed to govern it, and he who would administer it with the love which he bears to his own person may be entrusted with it.

The people suffer from famine because of the multitude of taxes consumed by their superiors. It is through this that they suffer famine. The people are difficult to govern because of the (excessive) agency of their superiors (in governing them). It is through this that they are difficult to govern.

The sage does not accumulate (for himself). The more that he expends for others, the more does he possess of his own; the more that he gives to others, the more does he have himself.

A book worth reading and discussion in a Socratic Dialogue.

My rating four stars.

Symposium room at
Universidad Francisco Marroquín

Fundamentos de la Moral (The foundations of Morality)

The Foundation of Morality (Spanish edition) is a work on Ethics by Henry Hazlitt, better know by his book Economics in One Lesson. This book is a critique to different Ethics schools and the proposal of his system called Cooperatism.

Hazlitt analyses different areas of human life as well as moral schools usually contrasting opposing theories with his personal contribution. His key point is that cooperation is the solution that preserves the interests of the individual and flourishes the society. For Hazlitt cooperation achieves the best for the individual, hence it is in his own interest to cooperate with others. 

social cooperation is the common means by which we all forward each other's purposes as an indirect means of forwarding our own, and help each other to achieve our individual and separate goals and to "maximize" our individual values

Since Hazlitt aims the benefits in terms of the long run, his system gives priority to general rules and not ad-hoc solutions to specific instances. The idea is to judge an action based on its effects in the future. He does not pretend to foresee detail consequences but again general benefits for the individual and the society. The creation of the moral code is rational process that is adaptive and evolutionary following Frederick A. Hayek.

It is no less silly, and far more dangerous, to try to do the same with established moral codes which, like languages, are the product of immemorial social evolution. The improvement or perfection of moral codes, like the improvement or perfection of languages, is to be achieved by piecemeal reforms.

Hazlitt's theory is a form of utilitarianism, indeed some people frame it into rules-utilitarianism of David Hume, the British Utilitarianist he most admires. As utilitarianist, Hazlitt defines morality based on the results.

Is the moral philosophy advocated in these pages "utilitarian" or not? In the sense that all rules of conduct must be judged by their tendency to lead to desirable rather than undesirable social results, any rational ethics whatever must be utilitarian

However he distances from other forms of utilitarianism specially that of Jeremy Bentham because they preserve the apparent dichotomy between the individual and society. Hazlitt's system bridges the distance through Social Cooperation, a concept develop at large by his teacher and friend Ludwing Von Mises.

In brief, each of us, in pursuing his self-interest, finds that he can do it most effectively through social cooperation. The belief that there is a basic conflict between the interests of the individual and the interests of society is untenable. Society is only another name for the combination of individuals for purposeful cooperation.

He makes a lot of parallels between Economics and Morality because the subject of both sciences is the Human Action.

It is commonly assumed that there is little relation between the ethical and the economic point of view, or between Ethics and Economics. But they are, in fact, intimately related. Both are concerned with human action, human conduct, human decision, human choice.

In ethics we are dealing with human action, with human purposes, with human wishes and desires, with human choices and preferences, with the conscious use of means to attain chosen ends. Ethics is not a branch of physics, and the methods appropriate to it are not the experimental, statistical, and empiric methods appropriate to physics. Ethics is sui generic, with methods peculiarly its own. But it is, among other things, based on "praxeology," 

Economics is concerned with the actual valuations that people make; ethics with the valuations they would make if they always had benevolence and foresight and wisdom. It is the function of the ethical philosopher to determine what some of these valuations would be.

Another subject that Hazlitt addresses is the limits of responsibility and duty. He disagrees with the universal view of an universal responsibility to humanity. For him ones responsibility is limited to those closer to oneself. However he sees that in the degree that we all act ethically the circles of responsibility intersect and expand, reaching the whole humanity. This point of view again builds on economics and limited resources. Trying to fix all humanity problems is overwhelming because none has the capacity to do it. However social cooperation is a multiplier of human interactions. By acting morally one gets the personal benefits (a more desired situation than before), helps others do the same, raises the average of standard of morality, and expands the circles of influence.

For the best way to promote this maximum general happiness may be for each individual to cooperate with, and perform his duties toward, his immediate family, neighbors, and associates.

Hazlitt critique to flaw moral theories that support Socialistic systems and his support to freedom and a Capitalism are as relevant today as they were almost a century ago. Despite he was a self-taught economist and philosopher his contribution is no less important than his academic peers. This is a book I need to read again and dig deeper to get all its wisdom. Additional readings of the works he builds on and critiques is also required to appreciate his full value.

My rating 5 out of 5 stars.

Anthem

Anthem is a short dystropian book by Ayn Rand written in 1937-38, during a break from writing "The Fountainhead", portraits a world so lost into a Collectivist utopia that the world "I" has disappeared from  language.

Probably Rand wrote this book as a warning after seeing the deterioration of the foundation of the American Society (Constitution) after the first term of Franklin Roosevelth. According to Amity Shlaes in her book "The Forgotten Man" in the 20's a group of intellectuals, artists, and businessmen became enchanted by the Soviet Revolution. People like Rex Tugwell, Paul Douglas and Sturart Chase among others who were influential in the conceptualization and execution of "The New Deal". The reelection of Roosevelth and the popular support to his recovery programs seemed to be a trigger for Rand to halt Fountainhead and write Anthem. 

The novel describes a restless hero who slowly has rebelled against a systems that decides everything for the people in the name of the will "of our brothers, The State". Although the description of this world is fiction, it is also a grotesque representation of realities and wishes of actual intellectuals and politicians. In Rand's time it was the Soviets and the Nazis, today we know of countries like North Korea where the State chooses even your hair style. The educational systems in most of the countries serve the needs of society and not the individual. Defenders, such as Free Range Kids, of the right of parents to raise their children against the intervention of the state (i.e. Child Protective Services) We read about philosophers like Adam Swift who advocate for removing children from their parents because parenthood is accidental and children belong to society, or news reporter Melissa Harris-Perry who defended the same idea in public TV.

Overall the hero free himself from the oppression of the system and along his beloved partner start a new settlement that defies the City.

"And the day will come when I shall break all the chains of the earth, and raze the cities of the enslaved, and my home will become the capital of the world where each man will be free to exist for his own sake."

Rand explains how the individual broke the slavery chains from gods, from kings, from race but ended surrendering to the collective, to the WE. Overall all forms of dominance people have suffer are to other people. Defiant contenders overtaking incumbents.

"Freedom he ask, from what? There is nothing to take a man's freedom away from him, save other men. To be free, a man must be free of his brothers. That is freedom. That and nothing else."

Some issues can raise philosophical debate under Rand's Objectivism. For instance the hero reverse engineer a light bulb, isn't it a violation of Intellectual Property that she advocates? The hero builds a new city based on the individual, yet he is the one leading and deciding who comes in and who stays out. His voice is triumphant but also authoritarian. He doesn't address how it would become sustainable, Can such authority based on the I be even more dangerous when people surrender their will to think?

In the age of dystropias like Hunger Games, Gone, The Maze Runner, The Giver, Divergent, etc Anthem can be a quick read for teens and young adults to make them think about how far can collectivist minds can go.

Yet some more "meat" in the novel would have made it more appealing. Despite the 6.2 million sold copies I wonder if a longer more elaborated plot would make it more appealing.

My rating 4 out of 5 stars.

Get some headspace

I first learned about Andy Puddicombe through a conference by Dan Harris at Google (see bellow) where he explains as a regular guy his journey from an skeptic to a meditation and mindfulness promoter. Dan's businessmen style was very different from the stereotype of the 60's psychedelic hippy. I have considered meditation for quite a while but never take the initiative.

My first approach was to try Headspace app in my phone. A 10-minute 10-day introduction ended up being promising. Since I like to dig into the theory and the story of the author, I found "Get some Headspace" very appealing.

In his book, Andy Puddicombe, explains how he left his life in California to become a Buddhist Monk, a trip that is less unusual than I thought, but popularized by Steve Jobs biographers. Contrary to extreme cases, some as radical as Michael Roach and Ian Thorson, Andy's priorities are the day to day lives.

Andy Poodicombe's goal for the book is "demystify meditation and make it accessible and relevant to as many people as possible".

I found Headspace very interesting, indeed Andy's learning struggle didn't deter me from going on. The book supplements the app by giving a thorough explanation of the rationale and history behind Andy's model. For a Frontal-Left like me he supports his teaching with extensive research about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness. He synthesized years of training and practice in a technique that is suited for people in modern settings who can't (are not willing to) step back and regroup.

The second part of Get Some Headspace is a more in depth explanation of the "Take-10" program. It touches base on how the benefits of meditation affect other areas of life, like work, sleep, food, relationships, etc.

Finally a summary of some clinical cases exemplify the power but paced process of change through mindfulness.

Overall Get Some Headspace is about being in peace with ones thoughts and emotions. contrary to common believes , meditation is not about a clearing the mind, or silencing thoughts. Meditation is about the skill needed to step aside without getting involved.

I'm not sure how far I will get, at least this time I feel I found a mentor to accompany me on this quest.

Parenting in the Age of Attention Snatchers

Lucy Jo Palladino's book, Parenting in the Age of Attention Snatchers: A Step-by-Step Guide to Balancing Your Child's Use of Technology is a timely contribution to parenting in the 21st Century. An update version of the classical Marshmallow Experiment, the technology devices of today are magnets to the Involuntary Attention of kids and teens (and adults). 

Palladino complements the traditional research about willpower with modern results in neuroscience. The limbic (primitive) system arm wrestling with the modern man's prefrontal cortex that develops during puberty and adolescence.  

As a parent struggling with two kids of this age Palladino's work seems like a great tool (yet to put into practice). It gives perspective and ideas on how to help the children learn how to get the advantage of technology while they learn to self control, to use their Voluntary Attention. As Palladino says "Your child's ability to use an off button is quite possibly the most important technological competency she can learn". 

For parents the book has two gifts. First it emphasizes the importance of the relationship between parents and children. Nothing is more important than a good relationship among them and many times our effort to reduce the abuse of electronics ends up deteriorating the relationship. Second it puts the finger on the responsibility of the parents. Often we feel offended by the responses from our kids without acknowledging our contribution to the problem. Beginning with using e-nannies to giving a bad example with our own habits and not being able to separate the action from the agent. 

The seven step guide begins with an parent autoevaluation and as it goes helps us focus on priorities, changes of midsets, challenges, and results. Even though Palladino takes the parent back in the arena, it  reduces the stress of the job by clearing expectations and giving tools to kindly cope with the frustration of setbacks while patiently celebrate the results.

As adults we have a great deal to offer our kids. Since our mental abilities are fully developed Palladino suggest for instance asking the right questions and providing the metacognition necessary to understand the big picture and long term implications of our actions.

Additional resources like the American Academy of Pediatrics Media Life  Plan recommendations and references to more in depth studies enhance the toolkit provided by the book. 

Technology is part of our lives, having the tools to focus and use them wisely is a challenge for all, but specially for kids who are learning to use their prefrontal cortex. In the past attention snatchers were less exuberant but the plain mind-wondering has always existed. Our evolutionary drag is a challenge for modern world, and electronics are just a new struggle field. Parenting in the Age of Attention Snatchers is a workbook to help our kids be successful adults and us happy parents.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars.

Future Perfect

Since I found out about Steven Johnson in his TED talk about Where good ideas come from I started reading his work. His book about the TED talk is great and his recent show in PBS "How we got to now" is great. I had great expectations about Future Perfect. His core ideas are very interesting especially the value of networks (part of his work on how ideas come up) and how what is know as "peer-economy" is invigorating the power of networks.

However I found disappointing his misrepresentation of many "libertarian" ideas and the Austrian School of Economics. As many other political camps there are multiple flavors and variations however Johnson personifies it in a "scarecrow fallacy". His ideas of Peer-Progressive are closer to many libertarian thinkers than what he is willing to admit. One of the key authors of libertarianism is Murray Rothbard who in his book For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, defines libertarianism in terms completely different from Johnson's misconception.

Some concepts that are misrepresented in Future Perfect are.

The Market itself. For Johnson the market is only about commercial transaction, however as Ludwing Von Mises defines it in his book Human Action, "The market is not a place, a thing, or a collective entity. The market is a process, actuated by the interplay of the actions of the various individuals cooperating under the division of labor. The forces determining the — continually changing — state of the market are the value judgments of these individuals and their actions as directed by these value judgments". What Johnson see as a market failures (peer to peer) are actually pure market transactions, people make value judgments to enter freely into these transactions. In a market individuals exchange values by values, money is just a mean to barter not the end in itself. Johnson mistakenly considered a non-monetary transaction a non-market exchange. There are no such thing as market failures because only people make mistakes. The idea of perfect markets are not part of the Austrian Tradition.

Role of Government. He as many libertarians are skeptical about big government and big corporations. What Johnson misses is that many times big corporations are the result of cronyism, a mercantilist protection of the incumbents by the governments, not capitalism and markets. On the flip side, he shows some examples of great achievements in the realm of government (i.e. ARPANet) but misses the fact that these developments were indeed exceptional given the nature of governments; power and control, force. The Lagrand Star model is what governments do best. Common Core, Obamacare, etc. are in the nature of Government. In the name of equality of results, governments try to eliminate diversity by evening out the differences by enforcing redistribution of wealth. The problem of campaign funding is caused by the epidemic growth of governments. If government plays a bigger and bigger role in the economy and the lives of the people, who doesn't want to fight for a piece of the pie? Libertarians reject any form of initiation of force and therefore are suspicious (from minarchism to anarchism) of any government intervention since its main tool is the use of force against individuals. Diversity is what makes social interaction rich, and all we need is sound institutions that provide common rules to everybody. We are not equal in the Net, as Johnson implies. Indeed, as he also points out, few people make lots of money from YouTube videos. What is even indeed are the rules of the game, we all play under the same rules and some succeed and some not.

The other subject that Johnson falls short is his understanding of the ideas of Frederick Hayek. When Hayek talked about the role of prices in his essay The use of knowledge in society he was explaining how they are a spontaneous solution to the problem of knowledge in society as a counterargument against socialistic ideas of central planners of the economy. If Johnson goes further in Hayek's ideas he would find that in Law, Legislation and Liberty he explains the difference of a Taxis, an order created by men, and Cosmos, an order that emerged spontaneously without the direction of anyone in specific. The problem of knowledge is superior than prices, the later are just one of the solutions that have emerge from human interaction. What Johnson value of peer networks is exactly what Hayek explained in these concepts. 

Hayek didn't have a theory of the firm as Johnson attributes when he talks about big corporations. To understand a theory of the firm in the Austrian tradition check Ronald Coase Nature of the Firm essay and later contributions by other authors. Coase was puzzled by the same problem as Johnson. Why firms are inside centrally planned but interact in a spontaneous order? What defines the size of the firm? The examples presented by Johnson are instances of the same question. Why Whole Foods is more decentralize than WalMart?

Recent developments in peer-to-peer and shared economy are celebrated by libertarians (see Jeffrey Tucker book Bit by Bit: How P2P Is Freeing the World.) Companies like AirBNB or Uber that face opposition from the incumbents like medallion holders of taxi services and hotels, or the rejection from car dealers about Tesla's direct sales business model, are just some notorious examples of disruptive initiative that are changing the market process as Kickstarter does. These are not a market failure, but market expansions and shifts. Libertarians support with enthusiasm these pioneers as well as Bitcoins and other challenges of the State Force, while empowering the people.

In summary, Johnson book adds to the new era of entrepreneurship where networks and collaboration are giving form to new markets and new institutions. His ideas could be more powerful if he reconciliates his political framework with the Classical Liberal tradition and departs from the Progressives who see the government as an active player in the betterment of society.

Leading with Soul

Leading with Soul is a short book that combines the story of a successful businessman, Steve Camden, and his spiritual coach, Maria, with ideas about meaning and leadership. The combination makes the book entertaining while leaving a clear message.

I got this book as a Christmas present and the day I started reading it I learned about a good friend, a mentor, almost a father, who passed away while I was on Holiday vacations. It made me think about the meaning of life and the purpose of our endless rush.

We have discussed about living a life of meaning but this book made me realized that it is not the same to talk about it, as an spectator in the audience, than taking the time to explore ones soul and find what really gives meaning to life.

Building on Joseph Cambell's hero journey Bolman and Deal present a similar journey to find ones meaning of life. They suggest that we all have four gifts to give: Authorship that comes from the pride of having done something;  Love, compassion and concern for others; Power as the capacity to make a difference, if power corrupts lack of power crushes the soul; and Significance, as the meaning but also the importance. By using this four gifts leaders can drive their organizations to higher levels of performance but more than results to another dimension of social interaction.

Leading with Soul was a timely read, a good book for the beginning of the year, a good book to accept the lost of a good friend, a good book to step down from the sideline and jump in the arena.

The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure

In his book "The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure" John A Allison shares his story in BB&T as well as his recent experience leading CATO Institute. What is different about Allison book and other business biographies is the philosophical foundation.

Allison shares a coherent and clearly defines philosophical framework that ruled his journey in BB&T, in CATO and in his own life. Comprised of twelve values the system is sound enough to guide people's actions and solve conflicts. Allison suggests that the current crisis is the result of a weak value system that has allowed the system to divert from the Founders vision. If America wants to recover its dynamism, and leadership people have to demand from their government officials to be principle centered and less pragmatic.

Allison presents a broad range of business areas, from finance to people management. From growth by M&A or organic to process management. In each the narrative is similar, an explanation of what they did, what challenges they faced and how sticking to its principles paid off in the long run.

His undeniable success leading BB&T from a $4.5Billion in assets bank to $135Billion gives Allison the moral background to suggest that following a similar philosophical framework could result in the return to the founding principles of the USA; Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

The book doesn't have a  narrative that flows, at times it is easy to loose focus because the pace is monotonous, yet the message is strong enough to get back on track.

More on Allison and his career in an interview with Stephen Hicks in Kaizen.