Novel set in contemporary India about a guy from a lower caste trying to achieve upward mobility in the new and highly corrupt democratic/capitalist society. Really funny first person narrator and learned some shit about a different culture/place which I always enjoy in a novel.
Talks about the false dichotomy of regulation vs. small government distracting people from the fact that small government/free market is used as a euphemism for regulation that favors the wealthy. The concentration of wealth leads to political power for the wealthy, which leads to greater concentrations of wealth, which leads to even more political power, etc. He was secretary of labor under Clinton but is very critical of him and talks about how campaign finance rules have left both democrats and republicans subservient to the wealthy, and corporations love when we argue over social issues to distract us from economic ones. Uses data to document the decline of the middle class that began around 1980 and concludes that every other time similar circumstances had occurred in America we have altered policy by taxing the wealthy, increasing collective bargaining power, etc. to save capitalism opposed to trying to destroy it and replace it with communism or something, and that we're overdue for similar changes again.
Those both sound interesting. Especially the 2nd one.
I suck at reviewing books so I'm going to just copy and paste
Written after Hamsun's return from an ill-fated tour of America, Hunger is loosely based on the author's own impoverished life before his breakthrough in 1890. Set in late 19th-century Kristiania, the novel recounts the adventures of a starving young man whose sense of reality is giving way to a delusionary existence on the darker side of a modern metropolis. While he vainly tries to maintain an outer shell of respectability, his mental and physical decay are recounted in detail. His ordeal, enhanced by his inability or unwillingness to pursue a professional career, which he deems unfit for someone of his abilities, is pictured in a series of encounters which Hamsun himself described as 'a series of analyses.'
This is one of the most popular books in prison. I traded 10 bucks of commissary to a brother for my copy.
"Greene and Elffers have created an heir to Machiavelli's Prince, espousing principles such as, everyone wants more power; emotions, including love, are detrimental; deceit and manipulation are life's paramount tools. Anyone striving for psychological health will be put off at the start, but the authors counter, saying "honesty is indeed a power strategy," and "genuinely innocent people may still be playing for power." Amoral or immoral, this compendium aims to guide those who embrace power as a ruthless game, and will entertain the rest. Elffers's layout (he is identified as the co-conceiver and designer in the press release) is stylish, with short epigrams set in red at the margins. Each law, with such allusive titles as "Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy," "Get Others to Do the Work for You, But Always Take the Credit," "Conceal Your Intentions," is demonstrated in four ways: using it correctly, failing to use it, key aspects of the law and when not to use it. Illustrations are drawn from the courts of modern and ancient Europe, Africa and Asia, and devious strategies culled from well-known personae: Machiavelli, Talleyrand, Bismarck, Catherine the Great, Mao, Kissinger, Haile Selassie, Lola Montes and various con artists of our century."
This is about ancient Chinese spirituality. If you're interested in Taoism you should enjoy this.