Month: October 2016

Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future – Ian Goldin

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At a national level, the educational gains from migration vary with the age of the migrant. Those who migrate to the United States as children (before 13) or as young adults (25-29) reap the greatest educational benefits from moving. Immigration between ages 13 and 19 confers a relative disadvantage on migrants, however, because of obstacles with language and integration in schools – which are no easier to overcome in teenage years.

Ian Goldin, together with Geoffrey Cameron and Meera Balarajan, did a fantastic piece of work with this book. The volume is an almost academic analysis, filled with figures and charts, dissecting with great acuity the movements of humans on the planet. Divided into three parts, it covers the past, the present and the future of migration.

exceptional-people
Walking towards a new future

The message is at the end of the book, where migration is portrayed as a short-pain and long-gain strategy. An interesting insight is that people are moving historically less between countries, but further away for the ones that move.

While the book includes some solid references, it fails to see the downside on migration. It is looking at only one side of the coin. Migration indeed brings benefits for both the migrant and the host-state, but what about the drawbacks? This part is not researched, which makes the conclusions looking biased. One of those conclusions is a call for a global leadership that will advance a global migration agenda.

Nonetheless, the book makes a passionate argument for migrants (called “exceptional people”). It looks at the benefits and motives behind immigration, from pre-history to post the World Wars, the present day and the future trends.

A good read, particularly for immigrants and those interested in the subject.

Glory Main – Henry O’Neil

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Both sides possessed weapons that could blow a planet’s atmosphere right off or radiate the place so badly that no one could live there, but the goal of gaining a habitable planet took those weapons off the table. Instead it set the engineers from both sides working on devices that delivered their terrible effect but didn’t permanently alter the ground where they were used.

The tech had become visibly disturbed when he reached the logical conclusion that the limited war calculus would no doubt be dropped the day either side found the enemy’s home planets.

The book is a survival story during the Sim war, a war between humans and similarly-looking aliens. Lieutenant Mortas and three others crash on a desolate planet and fight to survive.

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Survival scifi, could have used more imagination.

The four characters are nicely constructed, the infantryman, the scout, the tech and the psychoanalyst, and their struggle is believable and interesting. While less action-packed than other series, the pace of the story is fast enough to keep the reader engaged. The plot is nicely constructed with many twists and turns. The end is fantastic and unexpected. An original military sci fi overall.

The survival story could have been better developed and more imaginative, but it was interesting enough to keep the reader engaged. The narrative is focusing rather on characters then on the surroundings or the events. Nonetheless, it was a pleasure to follow the four in their fight.

A nice read for the fans of the genre.

The Way of Men – Jack Donovan

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“Honor diversity” is an interesting slogan, because it essentially means “honor everyone and everything”. If everyone is honored equally, and everyone’s way of life is honored equally, honor has no hierarchy, and therefore honor has little value according to the economics of supply and demand. “Honor diversity” doesn’t mean more than “be nice”.
[…]
To honor a man is to acknowledge his accomplishments and recognize that he has attained a higher status within the group.

Jack Donovan presents in a framework of anarcho-primitivism what he sees as masculine values and way of life. It is a challenging book, with some extreme conclusions.

The book is short, but the topic is important. It is kind of an equivalent of extreme feminism, but on the other side of the axis, an extreme masculism, if you like.

On the plus side, the author correctly notes some masculine’s traits: why a simple excuse or shake of hands between men is enough to end a conflict, why men fight for status, why they go their own way sometimes, why men love playing contact games. The Bonobo Masturbation Society chapter is fantastic.

thewayofman
The way of men is the way of the gang – interesting concept.

Some points are very interesting, such as the values of man, the difference between being a good man and being good at being a man, how men talk and act in groups of men. Some research was done and presents some good stories, Romulus and Remus, Gilgamesh; though with insufficient profoundness.

On the negative side, the last chapters are insufficiently refined and the conclusions are misguided and a bit on the extreme. The book could have been so much better, if he would just had the patience to filter more the last chapters.

I don’t think that masculinity is going through a crisis, but there are some major changes, never before experienced by men. We are the first generations not being conscripted into the army, in the entire history of mankind.

Some challenging ideas. It is worthy to read it.

Armor – John Steakley

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Felix took the blaze-rifle, the blazer, from the slot in the long row which had a number to match the one pulsing inside his helmet. He checked it for charge, attached it to his back. Scout suits, much smaller than standard issue, had no blazer capacity built in. Scouts carried rifles used by open-air troops for thirty years. Also, they had fewer blaze-bombs-only nine as opposed to the two dozen the warriors carried. Scouts must be fleet, must be able to realize their much greater potential for speed and agility. And, where warrior suits bore different colors for rank and group, all scouts were black. Flat black. Dull, non-shiny, space black.

The book by John Steakley is a classic military sci-fi, written in 1984. Unlike many other military sci-fis enjoying success, it is a stand alone book, not part of a series. Steakley was working on a second book, when he died in 2010.

armour-loner
Felix is a loner, a hero, a veteran and a broken man.

The story is divided into three parts. In the first part, we find Felix, a scout in the Earth’s military, orbiting Banshee, a hostile planet infested by giants aliens called Ants, very similar in behavior with the Earth’s ones. Against all odds, he survives twenty or so drops on the planet, invasions aimed at eradicating the alien infestation. Felix manages to survive, by allowing a kind of a second personality, the Engine, to take his place during the battle.

The second storyline follows a space pirate called Jack Crow. He strikes a deal with a mutineer captain to infiltrate and subvert a research colony, where he finds Felix’s armour, many years after Felix’s storyline.

The third part, the ending, is moving. It is intensely emotional, when Jack Crow finds the story of Felix,  his loneliness, desperation and hopelessness during the Antwar and his motivations. The closing scenes are heart-wrenching.

The book takes some elements from Starship Troopers, but remains a beautiful narrative, at times melancholic, at times bursting with action. I finished it in the early hours of a morning, but it left me empty and sad. I think a story is good if it touches the reader and this book touched me.

Cronica de Cotroceni – Adriana Saftoiu

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Prima mea zi la capatul a zece ani de colaborare cu Traian Basescu a fost vineri, 30 martie. Dimineata a sunat telefonul. Nu imi era greu sa-mi imaginez cine ar fi putut sa fie. N-am raspuns. In sfirsit, eram libera de contract. Apoi, telefonul a sunat din nou. «Te cauta Presedintele», m-a informat bine cunoscuta voce de la secretariat. «Nu mai lucrez la Cotroceni. Poti sa-i spui ca nu am raspuns la telefon.»

Cum promiteam cu cateva post-uri inainte, scriu in limba in care am citit cartea.

Adriana Saftoiu a fost consilier prezidential si purtator de cuvint al Presedintelui Romaniei, in timpul mandatului lui Traian Basescu. Ca fost purtator de cuvant si fost ziarist, Saftoiu are verva si stil. Am citit cartea intr-o seara, nu puteam sa o las din mana.

Cartea, publicata in 2015, vorbeste in principal de Presedintele la acel moment, dar nu dezvaluie prea multe, majoritatea faptelor sunt deja publice. Totusi confirma o serie de zvonuri, de exemplu relatia Presedintelui cu Elena Udrea. Memoriile incep si se termina cu activitatea Adrianei Saftoiu la Palatul Cotroceni, doar cative ani, dar sunt destul de savuroase si pline de evenimente.

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La Poarta Palatului Cotroceni

Presedintele mi se pare prezentat ca un om furios, frustat, dar determinat; majoritatea lucrurilor sunt improvizatii si se intampla alandala; gastile de mediocri ii imping pe competenti sa plece. Pare destul de gri, insa sa nu uitam ca Romania a intrat in UE, iar ANI si DNA si-au pus bazele in perioada aceia.

Este o lectura usoara, pentru cei vag interesati de politica si o ofera o imagine in timp a Cancelariei Prezidentiale in timpul mandatului lui Traian Basescu.