Freakonomics, The World is Flat, and a the Geneology of Morals

If you have heard of the book and shrugged it off, you should check out Freakonomics by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt. This book is the result of what happens when an economist and a journalist get together and ask why things happen. Why are teachers and sumo wrestlers similar? Did Roe vs. Wade really help lower the crime rate? Does giving your kid the right name actually forcast their life? The book was a very fun read, it is only 200 pages long, and intriguing the whole way. The economist's problem solving and connection making abilities are amazing, as are his abilities to think like cheaters.

The World is Flat, a Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas Friedman is on my bedstand, good bedtime reading for me (I think my wife would kill herself reading an analysis of the factors driving globalisation before bed). It all makes sense, but leaves me asking the question, how does this growth foster justice, not injustice in places like India. Yes opportunities abound in some areas of China, Japan, and India, but he leaves some huge gaps wide open when it comes to justice. The author attempts to stay neutral in his analysis. He seems to have nailed some of the factors contributing to the rapid growth of globalisation, but seems to give a wonderfully republican freek market assessment of its good to the world. One thing is for sure, if Americans don't learn to work hard the 2+ billion people in Asia (primarily China and India) are going to give our economy a workout that may wear us down.

Finally, as I was leaving Indiana, a dear professor emeritus of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Vin Miller, gave me a copy of Friedrich Nietzsche's The Geneology of Morals. This is my first reading of Nietzsche, but I am drawn to his style and am intriguied by his reason. I think I will find myself reading more of him in the future.

A brief update, my wife and I are still unemployed... The world of endless Saturday's can get boring and we find ourselves longing for the structure of work in our days.

And a final note, the flooding of the deep south by the hurrican is tramatic and astounding. The pictures and video have left me speechless more than once as I stare with my mouth agape at the remnants of homes, lives, a unique culture.