Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

An interesting read, recommended by someone I spent time with at the Army War College earlier this year.

Goodreads link to Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century.

I have mixed feelings about it as I had initially expected a view of perhaps a bit of "here's what I see for the future" and how we should approach and think about the changes we will confront going forward.

There is some of that. There is also some fairly broad assertions and generalizations.  Perhaps the part I found of most value was the chapter on terrorism and how we don't think rationally about terror attacks versus car accidents and other events that are much more likely to cause us harm from a statistical standpoint. I was aware of this, but he does a good job of pointing out governmental and societal impacts- how it impacts decision making, resource allocation, messaging and communications, etc.

What at times drove me to distraction were his attacks on religion and nationalism.  He espouses secularism, but defines it in a way that as I did a little more digging, sounded more like secular humanism, not secularism. In his view, the benefits and positive aspects of religions of all kinds are far outweighed by all the negative aspects, and spends considerable time covering the sins of religion. I don't dispute many of those reviews. While he acknowledges elements of religion that are good, he really de-emphasizes them relative to those problems.

Defining secularism as a focus on reducing suffering of all kinds, rather than as simply the separation of church and state (without taking a position on the value of one, or all, religions) was the part that caused me to reflect. What is it about secularism that allows it to claim reduction suffering as a goal, but religions cannot? I'm not a secularism scholar, so my thinking here is not very mature, and wikipedia did not move me forward in this regard, with suffering not mentioned once on that page.

I agree generally with his critiques of nationalism. I am perfectly content to sing the praises of my country, salute the flag, and given my military duties, die and order others into dangerous activity in defense of my country. The danger comes when nationalism turns from "I love my country," to "my country is better than any other country" and therefore a human being from my country is more important and valuable than a human being from any other country.  In Yuval's mind, this is an awareness of a global need to reduce suffering, an awareness which comes from rejection of the many lies of religion and nationalism. For me, this idea that we are all equally valuable brothers and sisters came from my faith and upbringing, the same faith that he criticizes as a fiction. Further, while nations are not always consistent in their collective behavior, there are some that do more than pay lip service to the reduction of suffering.  So there's that.

And I don't think he fully acknowledges there are governments of countries that deny even the existence of human rights and differentiate those governments from countries/governments that do acknowledge and espouse, albeit imperfectly human rights and similar values.

I feel like he conflates technology, social science and artificial intelligence. Many algorithms, which he points to as the future sources of control in society, are devised and revised by people, not machines. I don't think of those necessarily as artificial intelligence at all. And many algorithms and advertising campaigns draw from social science, developed by humans, not machines.  To go back to his earlier arguments about the sins of religion and nationalism, math and science are being exploited in algorithms and advertising, not necessarily religion and nationalism- or that they are being used one in service of another. I would point towards power and money being the motivating factors for much of the damage being done today, and religion and nationalism are simply the fronts for those with malevolent intent.

Interesting to me how much of an influence Disney has been in his life. I just think of the company as in investment, the current owner of the Star Wars franchise, and the company that forces me to pay large sums of money to create memories for my family standing in line in the Florida heat for things I don't find amusing in the least bit personally.  I did make my family pay last time, however, singing at the top of my lungs, slightly off-key and off time at the Frozen sing along, drawing concerned glances from the Disney characters up on stage, and red faces from the family. Serves 'em right for making me come along.

A few quotes that I found relevant and timely as we view a recent impeachment and the seeming complete abandonment of any efforts to tell the truth by Republican leaders:

p. 242: from Joseph Goebbels, "A lie told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth."- in the words of the Washington Post, we call this the "bottomless Pinocchio" with some prominent figures being multiple time recipients of this esteemed award.

From my psychology training at the Master's and Doctorate level, I remember courses in social psychology in which research was shared that over time people forget the source of what is said, and as they do so, they also tend to think less critically about the content of the message, such that they forget the liar and that it is even a lie.  "People are saying" can be used to mask the fact that the individual saying it is, in fact, those "people" for example.

Again from p 242, from Mein Kampf, "The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly- it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over." Yes, that is Hitler.

A couple of pages later, p. 244: "In fact, false stories have an intrinsic advantage over the truth when it comes to uniting people.  If you want to gauge group loyalty, requiring people to believe an absurdity is a far better test than asking them to believe the truth."

Back to the religion and secularism considerations, p. 303: "In itself, the universe is only a meaningless hodge-podge of atoms." In the authors telling, again, p. 303, "I give meaning to the universe." The meaning he assigns suggests a constructivist viewpoint, but I'm not sure it entitles the argument that one assigned meaning is to be privileged over another, and not sure that secularism entitles that argument either.

Interesting to think about and I appreciated the recommendation to read it.

The Imperial Presidency, Drift and The Infinity War

As I think of friends in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan and others who are no longer with us, I occasionally come across articles and/or books that resonate with personal observations.

Spending last year at the Army War College, was able to think about the nature and character of war, and reflect from time to time on that nature/character question relative to Iraq, Afghanistan and now Syria and our involvement. A recent article in the WaPo (free online subscription for us military types!) wrote about our "Infinity War".

And that reminded me of another War College experience, reading Rachel Maddow's "Drift", and then our reading group (and spouses!) getting to meet and talk with her in NYC. For someone not in the military and for whom the military is not a primary focus, she did an extraordinary job of articulating some concerns about the political-military-industrial complex and how the military activity (and military spending) has somehow become separate from the rest of society (the recent WaPo series of articles they are calling "the Afghanistan Papers" is perhaps a counterpoint).  She also showed a tremendous amount of respect to our War College group, having prepared for our meeting by learning a bit about each of us before we met. She admitted it can be a bit intimidating meeting with military officers given that she took on writing on the military despite not having a deep military background, so that preparation was not just respect but her wanting to be prepared from a sense of showing she does her homework.

She and others have pointed things out such as the frequent use of the military without going through steps designed Constitutionally to limit the use of the military- like declaring war (last time? 1942). Now, we have "authorized use of military force," but even that is open to debate about what exactly that authorizes- conditions, terms, magnitude, purpose, etc.

The use of the military is tied in some respects to the desired application of military power by the Commander in Chief, and both the left and the right have accused sitting presidents of abusing that power (including current impeachment proceedings). As I studied the problem over the past year at War College, I came to see the increasing power of the President not just as a power grab by the executive branch, but also as a function of a Congress that has been willing to cede power. That willingness in my estimation is partly inadvertent or unconscious, other times is has been cowardice or cold political calculation that the President, not Congress, would bear the burden for things going wrong. But it is by no means a new phenomenon, and I recommend the following to those who argue that Congress is too powerful as it fights back against the powers of the executive branch- Paul Starobin's article back in 2006 and Schlesinger's "The Imperial Presidency" from 1973.

Admiring those who have served- Veteran's Day related thoughts

Was blessed to attend a Charlotte Veterans Network/ Charlotte Bridge Home luncheon last Weds, 15 Nov. This is a monthly event that provides the veteran community in Charlotte a chance to get together. Saw some old friends and visited with others that I was getting to know.

They usually have a guest speaker, and this month was one that left quite an impression. MSG Cedric King spoke with us. He shared some inspirational thoughts, acknowledged the challenges he faced as he recovered from devastating injuries from an IED. He shared scriptures that came to mind as he reflected on the blessings in his life and encouraged us all to keep pushing forward.

I wrote down just a few of the quotes that I enjoyed from his presentation.

"Life is happening for us."
"Bad things happen to good people to make them great."
"Running was an exercise in failure." (learning to run after losing his legs)

I am proud to count myself as a service member and proud of fellow service members like MSG King. Those like him have dealt with much more than I have had to even contemplate, and I applaud their grit and resilience in the face of daunting obstacles.

Duty, Memoirs of a Secretary at War, by Robert M. Gates

Haven't finished yet (Oct 31, 2019), but as we have a vote on impeachment procedures in the House, I mourn for an America that seems to in some ways have lost its way. When I'm more optimistic, I believe we'll come through this, but even then, I wonder how much work and time it will take to recover from the damage being done.

A quote from the Gates text, which is itself a quote from a speech Secretary Gates gave- commencement address at the Naval Academy, May 25, 2007:

     "Today I want to encourage you always to remember the importance of two pillars of our freedom under the Constitution- the Congress and the press. Both surely try our patience from time to time, but they are the surest guarantees of the liberty of the American people. The Congress is a coequal branch of government that under the Constitution raises armies and provides for navies. Members of both parties now serving in Congress have long been supporters of the Department of Defense, and of our men and women in uniform. As officers, you will have a responsibility to communicate to those below you that the American military must be nonpolitical and recognize the obligation we owe the Congress to be honest and true in our reporting to them. Especially if it involves admitting mistakes or problems.

     The same is true with the press, in my view a critically important guarantor of our freedom. When it identifies a problem... the response of senior leaders should be to find out if the allegations are true... and if so, say so, and then act to remedy the problem. If untrue, then be able to document that fact. The press is not the enemy, and to treat is as such is self-defeating." (pp. 90-91)

Well said, Secretary Gates!

*********************

Indistractable, by Nir Eyal

So Nir has his own website to complement the book and the book has a very hands-on kind of feel to it. Ironically, I would be distracted from reading while I'd go check out stuff he'd suggested, or take actions such as those suggested (deleting apps that have no value and/or take up time and headspace).

I enjoyed the read, even if I didn't agree with everything Nir had to say- especially around motivations, but not a big deal on the disagreements. It reminded me of a good course I took while at Lowe's corporate a number of years ago called "Take Back Your Life", which primarily focused on maximizing your use of productivity tools in Microsoft Office- especially calendar, email, chat, etc, but Eyal's book is adapted to a world now where we are always connected via smartphones, which was not the case when I was taking the Microsoft course.

3.94 out of 5 on Goodreads

While authors using self-disclosure often works for me in connecting with the material, in this case every once in a while I'd find myself judging him, thinking, "man, this guy gets distracted way too easily." I then tell myself I must just be one of an older generation, because I am more than happy, when I want to unplug, to do just that. I have always been happy to go find a quiet place to work away from my desk if the desk is where I get interrupted. My phone's "do not disturb" button is almost always on, unless I am expecting some important communication to come through.

As I write this, Christine points out to me we're in a tornado watch. How about that? I missed that. I don't know that I'm always indistractable, as much as oblivious, but I find joy sometimes in either of those states!

Pay Any Price, by James Risen

Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War, by James Risen

Got a 4.09 out of 5 rating on Goodreads.

This was an interesting one in that I spent a good deal of the time I was reading checking in with myself. There was a bit of a "conspiracy" tone at times, and so I was asking how much of it I should take at face value, how it fit with my experiences in the military.

Part of the internal dialogue was thinking about "war" and how declaring a fairly abstract war on terror has impacted the use of the military and other instruments of national security. For example, with all of the current controversy about removing a relatively small number of troops from northern Syria (which I personally think is a mistake), were they participating in a "war", or when you have special operators doing very targeted work against a non-state actor, can you call that war? What are the implications for legal and financial pieces? Congress has right to declare war, but hasn't exercised that Constitutionally-designated power since 1942, and it is argued by some that declaring war is no longer a useful convention. As part of a set of thoughts about Congress over time yielding more and more power to the chief executive, it could be argued that the use of military force in modern settings doesn't necessarily conform to what the founding fathers intended, and updates are needed.

Another internal dialogue was the whistleblower components of the text. I mentioned the conspiracy focus of the book, and Risen covers whistleblowers that tried to make noise and effect change both within government entities and those that broke the rules and went outside the system. As a journalist, he sees himself as a whistleblower, rather than a person reporting on the whistleblowers, and articulates how the government has targeted him.  With the current news cycle about a whistleblower reporting a national security issue with using the government's money and power to push Ukraine to provide negative information about a political rival, this book from 2014 remains timely. In today's case, I find it shameful that government officials are going after the whistleblower, as it appears the whistleblower followed all the rules. The primary arguments within the complaint have in many cases been supported and the only disproven pieces are minor details. Seeking to reveal the whistleblower's identity is problematic to me in two ways:
1. the rhetoric and political environment are so heated that he or she is at real risk of physical harm, doxxing, and other acts by those opposed to the findings
2. the focus on the whistleblower is in many ways a distraction from the problems laid out in the complaint- some argue that the complaint isn't valid if it comes from a partisan.  Well, that is what investigation of a complaint is for- to validate the complaint or to dismiss it. If a crime is committed, the crime is the issue, even if the key witness has a shady background (not saying that is the case here).
But how should I feel about whistleblowers that clearly break the rules and take classified information and release it publicly?  On first blush, easily it is wrong. On second thought, I have often been frustrated by the overclassification of material that simply doesn't need to be classified, which is part of the complaint for the Ukraine whistleblower. Bad behavior, that is not classified for national security reasons, should not be classified simply to hide inconvenient, inappropriate or even illegal behavior. I have never had to deal with this issue personally, thankfully. I have had to deal with folks working from desktops where they simply didn't want to switch from classified to unclassified in their communications, and I was in a situation and location where I had more limited or challenging access to the required resources/facilities. This has been more of a higher headquarters / lower headquarters (or even field) problem than anything else, however.
What Risen tackles is more fraught with peril- values of the U.S. about individual privacy versus national security, conflicts of interest within and across government agencies and private entities with financial stakes, and similar problems. 

I don't think there are any easy answers on this. I don't think any one individual can play "savior" and fix these sticky problems for us, contrary to some proclamations by senior leaders with delusions of grandeur (beware anyone who bellows "I alone can fix it").  Nor do I think the problems will ever be completely solved. But I do believe we can do better, and that it must be done by well-meaning leaders across government, industry (defense, technology, etc) and other domains such as education, getting past our frustrating political divides.

My year of learning at the Army War College brought clearly to my understanding how fragile and yet robust our experiment in democracy has been.  There was really nothing like it before when one factors in the environment and historical context, and there's no guarantee it endures. It is up to us to take action to preserve the essence of it while making necessary updates, such as Lincoln's decision to resolve the slavery question left unanswered originally, and other civil rights progress made since then.

Rule of law, individual freedoms, property rights, balance of power across legislative, executive and judicial branches with competing interests and checks. A fascinating and glorious experiment. I fear we are tossing the whole thing into the bunsen burner.

Worth Dying For, by Rorke Denver and Ellis Henican

A good quick read of "a Navy SEAL's call to a Nation".

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27221344-worth-dying-for?from_search=true

I would recommend this for tactical level leadership. I would not recommend it for strategic level leadership or policy decision-making. 

I admire Rorke Denver's dedication, drive and optimism as well as the service he has provided to our country. We wouldn't necessarily agree on all political points, but I am proud to have had the opportunity to serve, in much less intense conditions, the same country he has served.

Leadership in Turbulent Times, by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Enjoyed this read and a good reminder that turbulent times have existed well before our current state.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38657386-leadership

Profiles of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson gave me a better perspective on each of them and they stand in marked contrast to one specific other example.

As I think about my strong feelings about the honor and integrity or lack thereof by certain leaders I question if I am too critical. As I read of each of these leaders, though, I don't think I am. Even as their (the 4 leaders profiled) drive and ambition, or work styles or positions could lead to some people hating them or burnout among team members, there was a humanity and desire to serve all of America and serve in America's best interests that is not apparent in a more current example. While each of them had their ambition and ego, Kearns Goodwin provided so many examples of where they put country first, ahead of self or party. One specific example being Lincoln's resolve to work as the Civil War wound down on bringing the South back into the fold with a softer touch rather than giving them a rough response to what could be argued treasonous acts against the union of the United States. He didn't refer to them as enemies or traitors, as some now refer to fellow citizens in our current discourse.

It reminds me of some Mattis quotes and commentary:

"When you’re going to a gunfight, bring all your friends with guns,” he writes. “Having fought many times in coalitions, I believe that we need every ally we can bring to the fight.....I have never been on a crowded battlefield, and there is always room for those who want to be there alongside us.”

Mr. Mattis also expresses, in blunt terms, his concern that the current, divisive political climate is harming the country. “What concerns me most as a military man is not our external adversaries; it is our internal divisiveness,” he writes. “We are dividing into hostile tribes cheering against each other, fueled by emotion and a mutual disdain that jeopardizes our future, instead of rediscovering our common ground and finding solutions.”

He adds: “We all know that we’re better than our current politics.”

******************

Unfortunately, we are not following Melania's plea to "be best", and mixing up, both internally and outside of the U.S., who our friends and enemies are.

The Complete Far Side: Vol 3, Gary Larson

Great memories in reading through this one, and now I want to check out Vols 1-2, shout out to the Mooresville Public Library for providing my last few reads.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50323.The_Complete_Far_Side_1980_1994

Part of the good memories was thinking back to my first years as a grad student/junior military officer in the Army Reserve.  My fellow soldiers and officers at Fort Meade would bring in Far Side comics that they thought applied well to me as a nerdy grad student. Always great to have a personal brand...

They may have started with the Midvale School for the Gifted cartoon, so perhaps not so complimentary, but I always enjoyed the contributions and laughs.

Rick Wilson's "Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real about the Worst President Ever"

In my confirmation bias reading tour, this is a complementary piece to Amanda Carpenter's book I addressed last week. This one is by far more vulgar and profane, but like the other, published by a Republican, not by Democrats, so not an attack from the left.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/39312362-everything-trump-touches-dies

Some of those reviews point out his attacks on Trump apologists and supporters, and I agree much of that is over the top. Attacks on people's sexual experience or lack thereof are of no real value or import in addressing the challenges of today's current executive branch environment, and in that sense one could argue is part of the problem.

Does a good job pointing out differences between nationalism and conservatism. I've always been a bit confused by folks calling non-Trump conservatives RINOs, when it makes more sense to me to label Trump a RINO given his positions on many social, economic and policy positions.

Amanda Carpenter's "Gaslighting America: Why We Love it When Trump Lies to Us"

This is clearly one of those "confirmation bias" reading selections. 

Others rated this one more highly than I would:
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/35068841-gaslighting-america

I guess I was hoping for some insights that were not readily apparent and covered frequently. Of course, much of what he does is so obvious, the most recent example being #Sharpiegate #SharpieTrump.

What she could have covered about what this gaslighting is doing now is distracting from more important things the administration is doing, relative to a whole laundry list of important issues: the use or misuse of funds, immigration and the wall, environmental protections, trade wars, and so on.

The most interesting part of the book- by far- for me:
I wonder if her coverage of the Cruz- Politifact dust up on pages 121-122 was done with a recognition that she and Cruz were engaging in one of Trump's favorite moves. Say something incendiary or on the edge, and when called on it, say it is a joke.... and then go back to "but here are the facts" and indicating it wasn't a joke, after all. Come on, Amanda, was Death to America Day a joke or not?  When she goes to Breitbart News to defend their humor, well, she's using Breitbart News, well-known for... well, not for a strong reliance on facts, anyway.

I don't love it when powerful people lie to me. I find it odd that people argue they don't look for morality and integrity in their leaders, they just want someone who gets stuff done. If the person has no integrity, can you trust that they'll get it done, or will they just use a sharpie to do what has been termed in certain cultures as "pencil-whipping"?  Or using the platform to encourage people to attend their golf clubs, resorts and hotels? When someone in politics says "believe me," I immediately want to run the other way.

And I get less upset by the liar as much as those who enable, support and defend the liar.

Niall Ferguson's "The Ascent of Money, A Financial History of the World"

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. 

Some others like it and others not so much.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2714607-the-ascent-of-money

Two parts that stood out to me from my 27+ years off and on in the military, and especially prominent after last year at the War College and in certain special projects:

1. We studied some history of war during that year and even classical war literature- Thucydides and those way back types- acknowledge that war is an expensive proposition. If you want to fight one, behind the question of "can I fight and win" is the question of "can I (or my country) pay to make it happen?" While not a particularly prominent piece of this book, it does get addressed and added to my thoughts about it.

2. With a paperback version printed in 2009, it had some thoughts and analysis about what had recently happened (financial crisis, MBS and CDOs, bailouts of large financial institutions), but what I found even more interesting were comments and analysis musing about the future. Specifically, questions about "what would it be like if the U.S. and China, rather than cooperating as the two largest economic powers, started competing as adversaries or enemies." And here we are, a couple of days after the latest round of tariff increases/levies, with businesses and consumers negotiating the uncertainties of the "easy to win" trade war.

The Only Three Questions that Still Count, Ken Fisher, Lara Hoffmans, Jennifer Chou

Finished this one yesterday. Enjoyed learning more about Ken Fisher and how he has used data and analysis to go after some of the myths of Wall Street. Always good to be taught to think critically, whether that be about money or otherwise. And good to be reminded of the need to be cautious and humble in the market as well.

I picked up this book after getting a pitch from Fisher Investments as they'd like to manage as much of our portfolio as I will let them. A challenge, though, for me to give control to someone else as I've not been pleased with previous financial advisers, and I also enjoy the game as I try to learn and practice good investor behavior. I really enjoy learning about all the behavioral economics and psychological bias information in an investing framework. Some of my best work is simply doing nothing, as opposed to being reactive. I can sometimes be super skilled at doing nothing.

Military memories, cycles and family points of intersection

Spent this week at Fort Benning in Georgia doing some consulting for an Army group. Within an hour or so of coming on post, I went to refill the gas tank from the drive and ended up passing right by the barracks, the drop towers and the running track that were a part of my Airborne training more than 25 years ago, the last time I was at Fort Benning.

Got me thinking of the cycles and how things seem to come full circle when it comes to the military.

This past year was able to research a bit about my lineage in the military, with  aTucker serving in the Massachusetts Militia before the Revolutionary War and another Tucker losing a limb serving during the Civil War.

Grandpa Lehman spent some time at Ft. Lee, VA back during WWII era, when it was Camp Lee as an officer trainee. We used to go there during my pre-teen and teen years to watch fireworks every July 4th- I remember following the Yankee's Dave Righetti throwing a no-hitter one of those years- I see it was 1983 as I do a quick online search. And I would be back at Ft. Lee in 1995 going through Quartermaster Officer Basic myself as a 2nd Lieutenant.

My dad, Robin, had a substantially shorter military career than I have had, but we had plenty to discuss in common before his passing. He served as a behavioral medicine specialist (probably getting the title wrong), going through training at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio. As he recalled his experience there, I was able to determine that we walked the same halls at the top of the hill, where I did training as a private studying to become a medical lab technician in 1992. It was so hot, and I was glad I was not suffering in that heat as much as the combat medics in much tougher training down the hill.

He also served a stint at Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas. I had a short stay there in preparation for and then out processing after my Balkans tour in 2015-2016. Pretty warm place there, too! While there the first time, I took a picture of a couple of signs and buildings set aside for the Japanese Self Defense Forces (both Ground and Air).  It was of interest to me as I recalled Japanese SDF support during my Iraq tour as they provided air transportation during my (much longer than) 4 day pass to Qatar, and my son, Nathan was at the time serving his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Kobe Japan mission.

Japan was also a military connection with my father, unfortunately after his passing. He served a bit of time working in Okinawa. I yet been to Okinawa, but did get to meet with the JSDF and USARJ forces during a trip to Tokyo earlier this year as part of a larger study about USARPAC posture in the INDOPACOM region.

Steven Greenhouse- The Big Squeeze, Tough times for the American Worker

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3192448-the-big-squeeze

Finished this one last week. Took a while as this is not light reading. 11 years after it came out, you can see how that feeling of the workers being exploited continues to be used by politicians on both the right and the left.

I have held plenty of those tough types of jobs, and have been blessed to move past them and into better circumstances. I recognize fully that I've "won the lottery" in terms of the circumstances into which I was born. Those circumstances enabled educational and work opportunities that many do not enjoy.

As I have prospered financially, I am now in position to vote regularly as a shareholder on executive compensation packages for many companies. As one voice in the wilderness, I have consistently voted against most of those packages in these non-binding votes, unless I am aware that the executives/and or company have particularly enlightened approaches to their own pay or in working with their rank and file employees.

The problems described by Greenhouse are linked to the increasing wealth disparity in the United States. Listened to an interesting NPR Planet Money podcast this week featuring a controversial (to other rich folk) billionaire/many multimillionaire type who has been crusading for wealth taxes to address this inequality before the reckoning that he thinks is otherwise unavoidable as the poor revolt with pitchforks.

The civil-military divide- an anecdote

So a side hobby of mine is personal financial management. Was attending the local chapter's meeting for the American Association of Individual Investors yesterday. Got another blatant reminder of how some of us simply live in a different world than others.

The invited presenter started off his presentation asking what was happening in 2007. I started thinking about what was happening in my life. I was deployed to Iraq during "the surge" that may be seen as contributing to a period of relative stability in Iraq. It was a challenging time there, as a number of helicopters had been shot out of the sky, and the surge was part of a broader effort to get things under control. I lost 3 contractors- 2 to IEDs that July and one, a local national, a bit later, to a mafia-style hit by other Iraqis who wanted to get in on his business.

Binksy and I prep for a brief walkabout June 2007

The reminder of the different world for civilians hit right then. He said "Nothing. Nothing was happening in 2007. There were no wars going on, no major events."

Granted, the markets were in the quiet before the storm as credit default swaps and garbage mortgage backed securities had yet to become common parlance in the public arena. So, what was going on from a military standpoint might not have been seen as relevant for an investment advisor.

But there were definitely wars going on in both Iraq and Afghanistan. And as I return from Army War College I have friends who are still deploying to the CENTCOM region and Afghanistan in particular.

We are still at war.

Some have forgotten September 11, 2001. For others, it was the beginning of personal involvement in armed conflict that continues to today. We have soldiers deploying who weren't even born then.

Bastille Day!

30 years ago, I went to France on a 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  A lot of hard work and great experiences. One of the more "tourist-like" experiences was the opportunity to watch a coordinated fireworks show at the old walled city on the hill in Carcassone on Bastille Day- probably in 1991 if I remember my timing right. Just a cool thing. I told myself I needed to get back there some time and do it again with my spouse. Well, missed it again this year, but life is good and I believe we'll get the opportunity some time!

Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks it is a cool deal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbG0SM0BsKo

American Lion, Andrew Jackson in the White House, by Jon Meacham

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3147367-american-lion

Read it, enjoyed it enough to entertain reading more Meacham work.

Felt like it found a nice balance between singing his praises and acknowledging some of the contradictions/problems or even sins, such as policies and actions relative to native Americans and slaves.

Does a nice job of telling a personal story of the man, those around him, and also helping give a sense of America in this era. In particular, gave me more insights into the South Carolina politics of the day which pointed towards the Civil War.

Plenty of lessons for today's leaders about character, selflessness, respect for women and children. Admirable not just for his work as President, but successful military career, came from humble beginnings as well. Just as today, robust dialogue about the role of the President having more power than was necessarily intended by the founding fathers/framers of the Constitution.

Mind over Money by Claudia Hammond

Mind over Money by Claudia Hammond

Having been trained for many years in psychology, then switching over to what academics sometimes refer to as "the dark side" working in the corporate world, I have enjoyed the blending of the two worlds in behavioral economics.

This book covers some of the various ways we think about money. My only quibble with it is that the author goes from research studies to specific recommendations, which comes off as a bit jarring to me. Studies are typically more circumspect, with qualifications such as, "in general" and "under certain circumstances" people tend to do x or y, but rarely would they suggest those findings as blanket behavioral recommendations. They might go with, "under similar circumstance, you may consider doing x or y, to obtain a desired result" but one can see the limitations or qualifiers in that statement that seemed absent in Hammond's text.

I am curious, now, to read this English author's previous work treating how we think about time, also an interesting topic for me.  We can always make more money, but we can't make more time, so in that sense it is even more valuable. Like money, we have many odd and sometimes fascinating biases and heuristics about time.

Michael Lewis- Moneyball, Liar's Poker, The Big Short- is a funny and scary writer at the same time

Enjoyed reading another of his books, Boomerang, Travels in the New Third World.

A couple of specific quotes that rang true based on some observations from training this past year and the past 2-3 years of watching our national political discourse:

1. He notes a sign outside of a Greek bank (the Marfin Bank) that was part of what he described as a sad shrine. The sign had a warning that I think is timely today, even for a Republic:  "with a quote from the ancient orator Isocrates: 'Democracy destroys itself because it abuses its right to freedom and equality. Because it teaches its citizens to consider audacity as a right, lawlessness as a freedom, abrasive speech as equality, and anarchy as progress.'" (pg. 81)

2. Towards the end of the book he describes a conversation with Dr. Peter Whybrow (pg. 203-206), in which they discuss some of his arguments from his book American Mania, "human beings are neurologically ill-designed to be modern Americans" because we're wired for scarcity, but now live in a world of relative abundance and haven't made the adjustment. The quote that stood out to me:
"What happens when a society loses its ability to self-regulate, and insists on sacrificing its long-term self-interest for short-term rewards? How does the story end? 'We could regulate ourselves if we chose to think about it,' Whybrow says, 'But it does not appear that is what we are going to do.'" (pg. 205).

Perhaps rather than timely- maybe more timeless- observations about democracy and human nature.

Recently read and enjoyed as I cap off a year at the Army War College

Flight of the Avenger, George Bush at War, by Joe Hyams

This one reminded me of a time when we didn't try to tear everyone down- or maybe a time when I just wasn't aware of the tendency to criticize and vilify those with different political opinions. While the future President surely had faults as all do, the author clearly was weaving a tale of an honorable man serving in the military during WWII. I am thankful for all those who chose to serve then, as I am thankful for all those who choose to serve now and consider it an honor and blessing to serve alongside them. We mourn those who gave the final full measure of devotion and we work to honor them with our continued service.

As I finished up at the Army War College over the past few months, I got to do quite a bit of work with a research team looking at the INDOPACOM region and proposing some arguments for how the Army should be postured in 2028 and beyond. As part of that, got to study the potential threats- what should we be postured to do and why. With that, got to learn quite a bit more than I had previously about China. Earlier War College material introduced me to the Thucydides trap argument, and I more recently worked through one of the more aggressive U.S. perspectives about the CCP's plans and intentions which gave me much to think about:

The Hundred-Year Marathon, China's Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower, by Michael Pillsbury, a paperback edition, 2016 with a new afterword.

The question I have in my head is whether the U.S. as a whole will feel a need to compete and try to retain as much power as possible, and if so, exactly how the U.S. will go about it relative to the DIME- instruments of national power- diplomatic, information, military and economic. We made some recommendations for the Army relative to what it should be ready to do in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility, but I don't at this point see an overall strategy, like there was relative to Russia after NSC 68, albeit an "M" heavy strategy.

It was an honor and pleasure to learn at the Army War College over the past year. Great to make acquaintance and build friendships with wonderful peer students, faculty, staff and beyond. Great to have the opportunity to slow down and focus on learning, and I fully recognize that not many are afforded such a blessing. I feel for those who are having to complete the same military education requirement in the distance education format.W