Book Review: The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism

 The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism by Daniel Bell

The beginning of the book echoed some of my thoughts about the inadequacy of economics. The founders of economics, like Adam Smith, held the production of wealth to be an end in itself, rather than a means to lead a civilized life.

The book begins by noting that the three realms of a society, namely, the economy, the polity, and the culture, are ruled by principles that may not be acting in unison. For the economy, efficiency; for the polity, equality; and

for the culture, self-realization (or self-gratification) could be the primary driving force. There always can be a mismatch, making social conflicts, a permanent feature of our society. 

Accordingly, as the book puts it, shifts in economic and political power happen, more due to changes in the power of national states, than due to variation in social systems like communism or capitalism. After such an introduction, part 1 of the book starts examining the cultural contradictions of capitalism. How, culture, for a society, a group, or a person, is a continual process of sustaining an identity, and happens to be the primary player of concern, anywhere. How it's sway into the modern times leads to a dichotomy. 'Modernism must always struggle but never quite triumph, and then, after a time, must struggle in order not to triumph'. (No wonder, there is always an urge to belittle the new, while extolling the virtues of everything old, and the huge power, culture wields, should be seen in this light)

Just as in the economy, where growth changes discretionary income, in the cultural arena,  expansion of knowledge widens the permissive nature of social atmosphere, popularizing discretionary elements in behavior. 

In Part II, Dilemma of Polity, the book goes on to examine the political contradictions derive from the fact that the original liberal society has now become an interdependent economy that must stipulate collective goals. Where, each new generation need to start afresh, discard the past, and redesign institutions anew. And there will be success, the book concludes, if the power of knowledge coexist with the knowledge of its limits. 

I liked this interesting take on the flow of changes that continue to change the flow of our imagination.

Book Review: The Emotional Side of Money

 The Emotional Side of Money by Tari K Vickery is a book about financial wellness, and it is in four parts. Focus of Part I is on a friendly relationship with money that controls it too. How to overcome the fear around money, and discover one's power over it. Part II looks at specific issues, and the influence those have over the identities and emotions that effectively make us at any time. Like financial stress, the need to steer an optimum path, or financial equality in a relationship. Part III is all about our families, and all that can happen to wealth. How ideas in this regard, like a sense of value, gets carried forward silently to subsequent generations, grossly affecting the flow of wealth, status, and lifestyle. And Part IV is a summary and a revision of the considerations and commitments, the book would have sparked so far.
This interesting work presents a dynamic approach to the whole gamut of wealth, financial peace, and well-being. Suggesting new ways, it proposes clear steps for nurturing a healthier, more constructive relationship with your money. Bulleted lists of salient elements make it easy to retain or follow its approach.

Book Review: The End Of History and The Last Man

The End Of History and The Last Man by Francis Fukuyama. This book begins with questions. Is there a direction to the history of mankind? And if there is, to what end is it moving? And where are we now, in relation to that "end of history"?

The book proposes that while all forms of government showed grave defects that led to their eventual collapse that brought another style of governance, liberal democracy, free from such fundamental internal contradictions shall continue, and be the last form of government. This will have an effect on our history too, where, by not having a big movement that give rise to great events, it will only be random occurrences that stand to get recorded as history.

The book is in five parts, Part I traces human journey from a brute to the civilized one who chose to go to the moon, noting that every step can also be associated with a significant change in the condition of the world. Like, the pessimism prevalent among the thinkers of the eighteenth century gave way to the optimism of the nineteenth. Or, all the strong states of the early times were taken over by liberal arrangements. Part II discusses human nature, telling how, human effort can triumph over the constraints, and with real-life examples, describes the shape it continued to acquire while meeting the external and internal challenges of the past. Come to part III, and the discussion turns abstract. How, in a liberal democracy, the desire for recognition can take other forms, such as religion and nationalism, potent ones of these days. Taking examples from empires of the past, describes the shapes it continued to acquire while meeting external or internal challenges. Part IV is a critical examination of liberal democracy's claims to be the most rational, and thus the longest lasting. How social edifices like apartheid arose, and how it progressed, and how, economic forces can lead to an integrated world market and obliterate national boundaries. Part V, the last part, is about the last man, one who need not work, and need not fight. Who, nurtured by liberal democracy, stands to have an entirely different path to take. A path that is under the sway of inequalities of political and economical spheres.

This book mentions about two powerful forces at work to shape human history, "the logic of modern science" and "the struggle for recognition'. The first one drives men to fulfill an ever-expanding horizon of desires through a rational economic process; and the second drives him to write its history. Human condition becoming better, struggle for recognition is on the wane, and soon, there will be nothing left of that drive. What else is left to happen but the end of history, unless modern science does something to stop it?

Book Review: IDEOLOGY AND CIVILITY:

IDEOLOGY AND CIVILITY: By EDWARD SHILS 
This book is trying to show, how ideology invaded public life, paralyzed the free dialectic of intellectual life, and in politics, constricted or broke the flexible consensus necessary for an orderly state. Movements like Italian Fascism, German National Socialism, and Russian Bolshevism, begins its journey from such cicumstances, the book says.
Ideology attracts people in their childhood, but to which adults are practically immune, who constantly is on the lookout for something new. There seems to be no fresh alternative to ideology, both to absorb all their devotion, and inflame their capacity for faith and their aspirations toward perfection. A conservative revival is on, though moderate. The crucial element that propels all this, as the book says, is the creation of a class of intellectuals no longer dependent exclusively on patronage or inheritance. People with sensibility, intelligence, and imagination much beyond the standards and requirements of everyday life. Such people found solace in ideology, and fresh thoughts constantly occur.
New ideas, and the clash of those, kept coming, leading to the birth of civil societies that kept enriching itself. Much of the earlier ideals seem slowly to be yielding to the rising tide of civility, an essential need of a healthy society of these days. And the book concludes by asking this question - won't the preponderance of civility bring the age of ideology to an end? 
I liked the book a lot. It narrates the role played by differing ideologies, while pointing out the part played by the killer of ideologies - civility. Ideology propels growth, growth brings civility, and civility puts and end to ideology by accommodating all of it - Lenz's law of ideology? 
As I mentioned in my books, ideology originated from our need to fill 'gaps' that existed in social transactions of the early times. (An Idea is an aggregate of the bits and pieces of thoughts we use for filling voids!) As time go by, much of the 'gaps' are being filled by the inventions, discoveries, or the accompanying social changes, we constantly witness. Ideology will have no role to play, if civility triumphs. And it can very well be so, if the the fruits of modern science reaches all corners of the world.

Book Review: Identity-Based Mass Violence

 'Identity-Based Mass Violence in Urban Contexts' by Rachel Locke et al., is a part of Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology that showcases the work of

contemporary scholars of victimological research.

The book addresses challenges, like missed opportunities that could have led to valuable insights, insufficient investment in preventing large-scale harm, or systemic use of identity-based violence as a tool of power, while analyzing the propensity to resort to violence along identity lines. After a good look at its composition, the book exposes the nuts and bolts of its destructive elements and a wide canvas of vandalism that accompany. Next chapter is about identifying and quantifying all these, which is followed by a peep into the dynamics of violence from the most trivial to the most terrible, with Casa de Luz (House of Light), a collective house in Mexico, in focus. Study of violence in other parts of the world features next, like Jerusalem, London, or Phoenix, to be followed by a narrative about urban mechanisms of armed violence and its peculiarities. The book now tries to show, how art can be used as a tool for transforming all this, and also as a result, regulate the social and political environment. How we can re-purpose urban growth, and how education needs to be fine-tuned to stop gender-based violence.

This is a thorough study, dissecting the many sides of violence and locating its prime suspect in the severe empathy gap, the world faces today. As the book concludes, rather than manipulating unruly public behavior to each one's chosen end, we need to appreciate each such instance as a specific act of resistance.

Book Review: Radical Doubt

 Radical Doubt by Dr Bidhan L Parmar is a book that prepares one for tackling hard choices and to get equipped to handle the issues that arise. How to train one's perception, thinking, feeling, and free will.
In Parts I and II, the book analyses the challenges, and the defense one can build by thoughtful application of the skills, one already has. Making good use of analogies like mental maps and brain GPS, it tells us how to tackle situations and make decisions, where, rules and outcomes, conflict. Part III is about overcoming obstacles, something essential for maintaining a steady path of success. How one can shape cooperation to desired end, and also the associated things like reputation, advantage, or dispute.
Finally, in Part IV, the book goes on to examine the pitfalls waiting, if the analysis or the actions are to falter. How it can end up self-sabotaging both learning and preparation, taking one to “analysis paralysis.” 
Who will not be bowled over by a book which tells "the next time you experience doubt, turn it into your rocket fuel, not your roadblock". Many tools are provided for applying the principles or methods suggested in the book, and the good collection of notes can come handy in its actual use.