Saturday, September 15, 2007
'They ended up with neither'
In his new book, Alan Greenspan correctly bemoans the power-for-power's-sake philosophy that the White House and Congressional Republicans seized upon in the years leading up to 2006. Greenspan: "They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose." ... Speaking of Greenspan, he's mentioned a lot in this article about the 50th anniversary of the publication of Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged.' I didn't know he was once a Rand groupie. I was briefly a Rand groupie. Rand's celebration of individualism is inspiring. 'Atlas Shrugged' still serves as an important counter-balance to the philosophy of collectivism. But as a governing philosophy, Rand's brand of individualism isn't realistic. It's too idealistic. ..
Now that I'm on book-post roll, I was getting excited about 'The Great Upheaval' -- until I read the second half of the review. Talk about a last-sentence slam. ... The review mentions the 25 turbulent years of war that engulfed Europe following the French Revolution. That made me think of a book I recently finished and didn't plan to mention here: 'The War for All the Oceans.' It makes the best use of journals, letters and diaries that I've read in a book in long time. Hard-core history buffs will enjoy it. ...
In his new book, Alan Greenspan correctly bemoans the power-for-power's-sake philosophy that the White House and Congressional Republicans seized upon in the years leading up to 2006. Greenspan: "They swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose." ... Speaking of Greenspan, he's mentioned a lot in this article about the 50th anniversary of the publication of Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged.' I didn't know he was once a Rand groupie. I was briefly a Rand groupie. Rand's celebration of individualism is inspiring. 'Atlas Shrugged' still serves as an important counter-balance to the philosophy of collectivism. But as a governing philosophy, Rand's brand of individualism isn't realistic. It's too idealistic. ..
Now that I'm on book-post roll, I was getting excited about 'The Great Upheaval' -- until I read the second half of the review. Talk about a last-sentence slam. ... The review mentions the 25 turbulent years of war that engulfed Europe following the French Revolution. That made me think of a book I recently finished and didn't plan to mention here: 'The War for All the Oceans.' It makes the best use of journals, letters and diaries that I've read in a book in long time. Hard-core history buffs will enjoy it. ...
