Influential Books

I was reading some columns today and noticed two "Top 10 Books to Give Others" lists. I like the idea so I thought I'd make my own. My criteria, they can't just be books I like, but rather influential books that I believe share profound truth. I suppose this could be considered a list of books that reflect my beliefs, values, and world view.

1. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

In this, his finest book I believe, Lewis strips away the fluff and gets down to the meat of what Christianity is about according to the Bible. Along with new believers, many people who have been Christians for years could benefit from it.

2. Tie - Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell and Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlett

Covering essentially the same material (though Sowell is more of a monetarist while Hazlett was purely of the Austrian school) these books are indispensable in understanding the root cause of many of our nations economic woes. Both are written for the layman and are make the complex concepts easy for anyone to grasp. I personally prefer Hazlett's book as it's a classic though Sowell's uses modern vernacular as it was written just a few years ago as opposed to in the '30s like Hazlett's and may be easier for the modern reader to digest.

3. The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman

I read this book after 10 years of marriage and it opened my eyes to a whole new world of intimacy with my wife. I plan on gifting this book to the happy couple at every wedding I attend henceforth.

4. America's Great Depression by Murray Rothbard

Explains what caused the great depression (large scale malinvestment due to artificially easy credit, in case you were wondering) and how the government intervention of Hoover and Roosevelt in the economy made it immeasurably worse. Something about not knowing history and repeating it comes to mind...

5. The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayak

Hayak's classic deconstruction of central planning is more relevant in America today than ever before. Hayak shows that central planning inevitably leads to socialism or its cousin fascism, neither of which are compatible with liberty.

I'm going to cap my list at five books in order to avoid diluting it. If I had an unlimited budget I would buy hundreds of copies of these books, bundle them together and hand them out on all occasions.

Rebellion, Normal for Kids, Painful for Parents

A good friend of mine recently confided in me that his two children are currently in a rebellious state of mind. One of them is grown so his role in that situation is but to pray, worry, and advise as opportunities arise. The other is prepubescent and he therefore has a much more active role in responding to this child's rebellion. This got me to thinking about my own children and the plight of parents everywhere. How to effectively deal with your children when they rebel, act out, test boundaries, etc.?

My own children are still quite young and as such easily managed. A stern look usually brings them in line. I do however see on the horizon a time when this will not be so. Due to the age difference between them there will come a time when my house is home to a 17 year old, 15 year old, and two 10 year olds. I dread this. How does one prepare for such a time? Other than doing your best to instill godly morals in your children and copious amounts of prayer, the answer is you don't.

As stated, my own children are yet quite young, so my first hand experience is limited to myself and observations of my peers. Seeing as how that is a small sample size any conclusions drawn are obviously quite unscientific, but draw them I must. My conclusion is this: Rebellion is to be expected. It is normal and more or less unavoidable. Adolescent children will push their parents in an attempt to discover their limits and test their boundaries, while young adults will almost invariably lose their minds and partake in all kinds of asinine behavior in an attempt at self discovery, and out of a desire to experience the world now that the proverbial leash has been removed.

I myself completely lost my mind after I joined the Army at age 20. I drank to much, partied to hard, wasted ungodly amounts of money, and acted horribly towards the young ladies who entered my life. The irony is, even as I did these things, I still believed in the moral values instilled in me in my youth, and if asked why I was acting so contrary to them had no answer. I knew what I was doing was wrong, just as when I act sinfully today I know it's wrong, at the time I just didn't care. I was young and invincible, and felt that there would be time to straighten my life out. For the time I just wanted to have fun and do what I wanted to do consequences be damned.

Like most people I eventually figured out that that was an empty life and there was no fulfillment or joy in licentiousness. I moved on, grew up, and started acting like an adult. This is not to say I haven't made numerous mistakes since this debauched period in my life, Lord knows I have and I thank both God and my wife for their seemingly bottomless well of forgiveness, but I have long since quit thinking of weekends as an audition for The Real World replete with drunken, anti-social behavior.

I guess where I'm going with this stream of consciousness drivel is here. My friend need not worry to much. The behavior of his children is normal. I did it, he did it, our wives did it, and all of us turned out more or less alright. God is good and we must trust him in all things especially when it comes to our children. That doesn't mean we have to like it. It is still painful. But free will is the norm. Good decisions will be made, as will bad. Life will go on.

Movies and Metaphors

I watched The Godfather today and, as I'm wont to do after watching a movie, I read its Wikipedia page afterwords. This is because film production interests me and Wikipedia often includes interesting notes on the making of films, especially films as renowned as The Godfather. In reading the entry I saw an something I thought peculiar. Apparently F.F. Coppola was not the initial choice for director, nor was he even particularly interested in making the film himself. Then he changed his mind. He did so when it struck him that he could make the film as a metaphor for capitalism. He liked this idea so much that he completely reversed himself and took up the project with vigor.

Now, at the risk of revealing the depths of my own ignorance, I don't see it. I don't see how The Godfather could be a metaphor for capitalism. Granted I'm not an economist, but I consider myself well read on the subject, much more so than the average person in fact as I routinely read both books and articles on economics for my own enrichment. And as I said I just watched the movie today so it is not as if the plot is not fresh in my mind. Despite this I just don't see the connection between a film about a powerful family of La Cosa Nostra and an economic system based on voluntary exchange, free markets, and private ownership of the means of production.

Perhaps somebody who is more attuned to such things could lay this out for me.

On Soldiers, Civilians, Competency, and Mad Men...

As I have been whiling away my time here in Afghanistan I find it enjoyable to watch digital copies of television series which I don't watch at home since a) I don't watch much TV to begin with and b) it's easier to watch a serial if you have multiple, consecutive seasons saved to your hard drive.

Recently I've been watching a show called Mad Men which depicts life in the 1960s. In season three a doctor who has failed in the civilian world joins the Army. He had failed to become a surgeon in the civilian world yet the Army, which presumably has lower standards then the rest of America allows him to waltz right in and take up the post for which he had previously been deemed unsuitable. I find this to be a disturbing story line. The obvious implication is that soldiers are less qualified, or inferior to their civilian counterparts. While, as a libertarian I will be the first to admit that the free market almost always outperforms its government run opposition, that is an indictment of the system and its inherent flaws, not the people who populate it, politicians aside. I often hear this accusation leveled against career soldiers and frankly I find it to be by and large untrue. All of the military doctors I have attended in my 13 year Army career have been more than the equal of the civilian doctors my family have been attended by. Furthermore I find the notion that people join the military because they can't make it in the "real world" to a bit offensive. Think what you will but some of the greatest men in history have been military men, and you underestimate them at your own peril.

Quote of the Day

"The same prudence which in private life would forbid our paying our own money for unexplained projects, forbids it in the dispensation of the public moneys. ... The multiplication of public offices, increase of expense beyond income, growth and entailment of a public debt, are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife. ... We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. ... The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale. ... If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy. ... I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. ... The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground. ... [A] wise and frugal government...shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. ... Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question."

Quote of the Day

It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellowmen. – George E. MacDonald (1824-1905), Scottish Novelist

Quote of the Day

"Harmony, liberal intercourse with all Nations, are recommended by policy, humanity and interest. But even our Commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand: neither seeking nor granting exclusive favours or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of Commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing with Powers so disposed; in order to give trade a stable course."
--George Washington, Farewell Address, 19 September 1796