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.