After finishing nine books in July I didn’t finish my first August book until the 15th. And then I finished two more books in just over a week. I think I’m doing just fine.
After the Fall – Ben Rhodes
The latest book by former Obama staffer Rhodes, this one is about the current state of the world, how we got here, and where we could be headed. It’s not an uplifting book, nor one that will give you reason to be hopeful that things are going to get better.
Rhodes uses the examples of Hungary, Russia, China, and then the US to show how right wing, nationalistic, authoritarianism has begun to replace traditional liberal democracy across the world. He argues that this wave is largely the result of four major events and how the US reacted to each one: the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the 9/11/01 attacks, the 2007 economic meltdown, and the election of Obama in November 2008.
The fall of the Wall left the US as the sole remaining superpower. We acted as though because we had “won” the Cold War, everyone would get on the same page as us and the world would turn into one big, happy family all with the same ideals, systems of government, and goals. That created resentment most notably in Russia, and led to the rise of Putin. The Sept 11 attacks began our epic of Forever Wars that cost the US any moral high ground when other countries made advances on independent nations. The 2007 financial crisis spooked the entire world, and gave credibility to those who thought the American economic model was flawed and hopelessly unfair. Finally, the election of Obama galvanized the far right in the US, moving them from the fringe to control of the Republican Party, upsetting the decades-old balance of power in America, and leading us both to the election of our disgraced former president and the emergence of white, christian nationalism as the primary ideology of the American right.
Yuck.
I’m sure any conservatives that are able to read this with even half an open mind will dismiss Rhodes’ arguments quickly. They will probably call him an American-hating liberal and move on.
However, even if you disagree with his conclusions I think there’s a very important point within his arguments: all political decisions, regardless of who makes them, come with long-term consequences that often get ignored because of short-term political benefits. It is difficult for elected officials to think beyond the next election when forming policy, let alone 10–15–20 years down the road. Presidents Bush and Clinton weren’t thinking about how Boris Yeltsin’s corruption would unleash a system of oligarchs, create a wildly unfair new economy, and give a large swath of the Russian population the impression that the US was gloating about our Cold War win rather than guiding them into the world of liberal democracies. Both presidents were both focused on taking credit for the end of the Evil Empire and translating the Peace Dividend into a redistribution of the federal budget away from defense.
Books like this often come with a closing chapter on how we can divert the train before it crashes. Rhodes has little sunny optimism to balance his assessment of the world. Unfortunately, I think that’s the proper final judgement of where we are at. When the party that has rigged the American electoral system to give them a measure of power out-of-proportion with the number of votes they receive, and that party has embraced despots like Putin and Hungary’s Viktor Orban, it’s hard to believe that we are either going to help these countries get through their own cycles of authoritarian leadership, let alone avoid one of our own.
Razorblade Tears – SA Cosby
My brother-in-books Sir David suggested Cosby’s work to me. In this novel, two men from very different backgrounds join forces to investigate the deaths of their sons, who were a married couple.
Ike Randolph is an ex-con who, after spending some time in prison, has carved out a new life as a legitimate business owner. Buddy Lee is a slightly less-accomplished criminal, but still lived that life and remains on the fringes of society as his alcoholism prevents him from ever getting on the straight and narrow path. Ike is Black, Buddy white. Neither accepted their son’s sexual orientation while they were alive, and struggle to come to grips with the ramifications of that after their deaths.
Their journey to find the killers of their sons – the police have no leads and have let the case go cold – also turns into a journey of discovery, as Ike and Buddy learn about each other, about parts of society they knew nothing about, and begin to open their eyes to different worlds.
This book is very violent, getting close to Charlie Huston territory. The villains are perfectly hatable. You pretty much know where the story is headed and how it will end. It is a satisfying journey that shouldn’t take too long, making for a solid summer read.
Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography – Laurie Woolever
This, in many ways, serves as a companion piece to the Road Runner film, as many of the same people are interviewed. It evokes pretty much the same mix of emotions as the movie.