Red Knife(Cork O’Connor Number 8), William Kent Krueger. Atria Books (ISBN: 9781416556749), 2008.
Summary: Cork O’Connor is asked to help end a series of apparent revenge killings threatening a war between the Ojibwe and Tamarack County.
Buck Reinhardt’s daughter is dead from a drug overdose. He believes Lonnie Thunder, one of a group of young Ojibwe men, the Red Boyz, is responsible. And he wants revenge. The leader of the Red Boyz, Alex Kingbird, seeks out Cork O’;Connor in his role as private investigator to arrange a meeting with Reinhardt, promising him justice. Before the meeting can happen, someone brutally murders Kingbird and his wife.
Cork and Sheriff Marsha Dross want to find the killer before things escalate into an all-out blood feud. The lead suspects are Reinhardt and Lonnie Thunder–until a sniper’s bullet ends Reinhardt’s life. And Cork cannot find Thunder.
The tribal council hires Cork to bring an end to the killing. In the process, he discovers an evil beyond the Red Boyz and the townspeople. It will force him to choose between his commitment to law enforcement and loyalty to his Ojibwe heritage. Meanwhile, his daughter Anne will face her own struggle as she seeks to be a true friend to Uly Kingbird, the brother of Alex, and a suspect in Reinhardt’s death
The prologue describes a massacre that occurs in a clearing that will be called Miskwaamookomaan or Red Knife. Two hundred years later, that clearing became the site of a school. You will forget it as it seems irrelevant to the subsequent plot. I did, only to encounter one of the most chilling plot turns in Krueger’s series so far.
Summary: Explores what is distinctive about Christian philosophy with notes on apologetics and moral philosophy.
Can there be any such thing as a “Christian” philosophy, and if so, in what does it consist? In 1931 Jacques Maritain, a Catholic philosopher delivered a paper at a conference at the University of Louvain. He addresses these questions in the context of a dialogue between Etienne Gilson, Emile Brehier, and Maurice Blondel. This occupies the first part of the essay, in which the question of whether philosophy and faith have anything to do with one another.
Maritain argues that Christian belief can enrich philosophy in offering new ideas for rational consideration including that of creation, of God subsisting in God’s self, and unique perspectives on the question of the person raised by the Triune revelation of God. Maritain argues that such insights are not removed from reason but may enrich it. He proposes that reasoning from nature provides knowledge of the existence of God but this is enriched by revealed insights.
At the same time, he contends that philosophy is always ancillary, or a handmaid, to theology. Moreover, he contends that moral philosophy in a fallen world is subalternate to theological ethics. In all this he draws heavily on both Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, believing the latter’s work provides a foundation for Christian philosophical work.
This work also includes brief essays on Maritain’s ideas on the role of faith-informed reason in the work of apologetics, and further elaborating the ideas already touched on concerning moral philosophy.
I found this a challenging read. Some has to do with Maritain’s context, unfamiliar to me. The writing is also dense, laden with philosophical jargon. This edition helps with providing a glossary of many of the technical terms Maritain uses. This is an academic paper, given for other specialists. I hope at some point that someone will produce an annotated version. The ideas are important as a model of what it means to think Christianly about anything. Maritain significantly influenced John Paul II’s personalism. This essay is a concise summary of a significant part of his thought. It is worthy of explication.
Summary: By explaining the central assertions of critical race theory, offers constructive and critical assessment.
Until my retirement, I worked in collegiate ministry. In recent years, I increasing faced questions from concerned Christians about “Critical Race Theory” (hereafter CRT). I found it helpful to ask what my questioners meant by this term. Often, I discovered that my questioners often didn’t know what they meant but had heard concerns expressed in the media. I saw that it was important to untangle what critical race theory actually is from the media versions of CRT. As a Christian, I care deeply about separating truth from false accusation. I wish I had had this book!
Ed Uszynski describes his own journey of dealing with issues of race, from growing up in the Cleveland area, his observations of racist treatment of athletes in the sports ministry with which he worked, and his encounter with critical race theory in his doctoral studies. He describes his own attempts to parse out critical race theory in relation to his faith. This meant going back to its roots in Marxism. While Marx’s solution is disastrous, Uszynski found insightful his analysis of the ways capitalism oppresses whole classes of people. He saw the systemic realities Marx describe in the lives of his own parents.
More immediately, CRT arises from critical theory, which developed out of Marxism in the Frankfurt School. He begins by stating that “CT should be chastised for its illiberal, cynical, and unredemptive vision of the world.” Uszynski notes key themes of the insatiable pursuit of profit, the invisible influence of power, the on-the-ground conflict of politics, and the influence of Postmodernism. He observes that CT makes sense of life without God in a broken world. Specifically, it helps explain human alienation, it takes power seriously, it exposes problems with Capitalism, and it takes structural sin seriously, speaking for the oppressed.
From here, Uszynski traces the rise of CRT to Harvard Law Professor Derrick Bell in the 1970’s. Bell was asking why integration efforts weren’t working. He began to recognize how racist hierarchies and systems were embedded in American life. This work was further developed by Kimberle’ Crenshaw. Much of the work focused on how racism is embedded in social structures and reflected in laws, practices, and policies, despite civil rights efforts. Then Uszynski offers what I think is a key chapter in summarizing key tenets of CRT. You find CRT’s critiques of objectivity, of colorblindness, and the importance of the voice and experience of minorities.
Then, the discussion turns to why the varied responses to CRT. Uszynski distinguishes between CRT as a framework and as a faith. The former is helpful, and actually draws out many truths found in scripture about how sin may be systemic as well as personal (read the prophets), and how the powerful use structures and laws to their own benefit at the expense of others. The framework identifies injustices that Christians ought care for. Meanwhile, he recognizes how, for some, it has coalesced into a worldview, a kind of secular faith without the power of the gospel to bring lament, repentance, restoration, and reconciliation.
In a later part of the book, he offers two chapters addressing concerns that have been raised about CRT. He addresses the contention that CRT focuses too much on race, sees race everywhere, all the time, that all whites are racists, and that in the Marxist paradigm, all whites are oppressors and Blacks victims.] Furthermore, he addresses the contentions that CRT is divisive, judges everyone according to groups, blames us for others’ racist sins, and overplays systemic injustice and underplays personal responsibility.
For those looking for an unqualified endorsement of CRT or a merciless takedown of CRT, this is not your book. It will probably leave you angry. Uszynski moves beyond simplistic binaries to offer what is both a constructive and critical assessment. He also identifies five stumbling blocks to thinking Christianly about CRT. He recommends:
Separate the secular culture conflict from the church culture conflict.
Educate yourself out of crosscultural shallowness.
Take seriously your theological myopia.
Examine yourself for biblical selectivity.
Confront your ethnic indifference.
As these points make evident, the book primarily addresses white Christians, and particularly evangelicals. This may sound like “wokism” to some. Instead, I read this as a serious effort to discuss what it means to be “awake” and engaged redemptively with realities of race. If you are willing to admit that you may not know what CRT is beyond the caricatures and want to dig in, this book is for you.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Both in central Ohio, where I live, and in many parts of the U.S. we’ve seen some of the coldest weather we’ve had in recent years. From some observations, I’m convinced that humans, and especially bibliophiles, have a hibernation instinct when it gets cold.
Last Saturday, ahead of the cold stretch, we stopped into our local Barnes & Noble while waiting for a take out order from the restaurant next door. The place was packed, with a long line at the cash register! I did not see any special promotion going on. Instead, I concluded that people were loading up on books to read when they were hunkered down in sub-zero cold.
It probably was a good idea. We had several days of school cancellations because of the cold. I go for daily walks, and usually generate my own heat. But that was barely the case this past week even with extra layers.
How inviting, then, to sit down in my favorite chair with a hot cup of coffee and just savor some good theology in the morning and lose myself in a mystery in the evening. While reading is an all-weather activity, I do think there is something especially comforting about a thick book, a warm comforter, and a hot drink beside my favorite chair on those cold days and colder nights! Although I can’t explain it, I can’t help but wonder if storing up that TBR pile beside our reading chair is the form that hibernation takes for booklovers!
Five Articles Worth Reading
Unfortunately, it’s not been cold everywhere. Los Angeles is burning, resulting in displacement and ruin for thousands, including some friends. One of the most referenced articles in discussions about the fires is one written in 1995 by Mike Davis, “The Case for Letting Malibu Burn,” reprinted in this 2018 Longreads post. He explores the clash between the native ecology and the decision to build in a firebelt.
Francesca Wade reviews Randall Fuller’s BRIGHT CIRCLE: Five Remarkable Women in the Age of Transcendentalism, in “You Know Emerson and Thoreau. Why Not Their Female Counterparts?” We’ve heard of the men. The book and review introduce us to the women in that circle.
At age 50, Leo Tolstoy struggled with the question, “What will come from my whole life?” He was strongly tempted to commit suicide. In a review of Open Socrates by Agnes Callard, Tim Clare explores how Socrates found a way through “:the Tolstoy problem.”
In “Laugh a Little: Why We All Should Be Telling More Jokes,” Allison Wood Brooks explains why we all could use more humor in our lives. The article is an excerpt from her book, Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves.
Finally, in an age of digital streaming, there is a resurgence of vinyl. I can attest to this. I participate in a Facebook group of over 20,000 enthusiasts of classical music on vinyl. In “A Phenomenology of Spotify and Vinyl,” Dolan Clay thinks Heidegger can help us understand what is going on.
Quote of the Week
Edith Wharton was born on January 23, 1862. I think there is a lot of wisdom in this observation:
“If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.”
Miscellaneous Musings
I got my hat trick of championship ball caps for Ohio State (see below). There is a story for the good sports writer in this team’s season. Seniors chose not to go pro. A transfer quarterback bonded with the team. After a devastating loss to arch-rival Michigan that had people crying for the coach’s firing, the team pulled itself together to beat four top ten ranked teams. I love a good sports read. I hope someone writes it.
Timothy P. Carney’s Family Unfriendly is a thought-provoking read. He explores why the birth-rates in the U.S. and other Western countries have tanked. He argues that we have created a “family unfriendly” culture. Carney looks at communities of large families and explores the relation of faith, being around other large families. And he considers allowing, not forcing women (or men) to choose stay at home parenting, and even how we configure our neighborhoods.
We all have blind spots. I’m reading a book on the theme of love in the parables, the subtext of which is a rather uncharitable polemic against Christian orthodoxy through most of history across the major branches of the church. I wonder if the author is aware of this contradiction. But I also wonder about my own blind spots–the places where I try to remove a speck from someone else’s eye, unaware of the log in my own.
Next Week’s Reviews
Monday: Ed Uszynski, Untangling Critical Race Theory.
Tuesday: Jacques Maritain, An Essay on Christian Philosophy.
Wednesday: William Kent Krueger, Red Knife.
Thursday: Michael Licona, Jesus, Contradicted.
Friday: Ellis Peters, A Rare Benedictine.
So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for January 19-25, 2025!
Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.
Between Two Sounds, Joonas Sildre (text and illustrations) Adam Cullen (translation). Plough Publishing House (ISBN: 9781636081342) 2024.
Summary: A graphical biography of Arvo Pärt tracing his faith, musical journey and clash with Soviet artistic censorship.
In the first two decades of the twenty-first century, the works of two living composers have been performed more than any others. John Williams and Arvo Pärt. Of the two, the music of Arvo Pärt, with its distinct tintinnabuli style is by far the most distinctive. This graphic biography of the composer was first published in Estonia, the native country of Arvo Pärt. Now, thanks to Plough Publishing, the story of Arvo Pärt’s musical journey, struggle with Soviet repression, and underlying faith, is available to an English-speaking audience.
The account begins with his birth in 1935, the family’s struggle during the war, the discovery of Arvo’s love of music and his early musical training. From early on, we see his love of playing for children. Military training interrupts the journey, although he was able to fulfill his service in a military band, playing drums! With his entry into the Talinn Conservatory in 1956, we observe the beginnings of serious work as a composer under Heino Eller. He experiments with twelve tone music, earning him his first ban from having his music performed in public.
Subsequently, much of his work in the 1960’s involved composition for film, including children’s films. He also worked as a recording engineer, affording him extensive time in musical libraries. He experiments with avant-garde and polyphonic styles. A composition in the latter style, Credo, earned him another ban in 1968, and led to an extended period of silence until 1976, and the emergence of his distinctive style.
During this period, he meets Nora. Both are baptized in the Orthodox Church, and subsequently married. He studies early music and Gregorian chant, and composes single melodic lines for each of the Psalms. Then he has the inspiration to add a second note, creating a tension between two voices, in the space between the two notes. It is this that he calls tintinnabuli (from the sound of bells). But as he performs, the religious content of his music once again brings him in conflict with Soviet authorities. Sildre traces the buildup to his emigration to Vienna. They will live there and later in Berlin, until returning to Estonia in 2010.
The black and illustrations fit the black and white keys of a keyboard, and convey the space and tension between notes of Arvo Pärt’s style. It also seems particularly apt to convey his struggle to find his style, and his “leap of faith.” This minimalist palette is in keeping with that of Pärt. I thought this particularly effective in conveying the impact of the performance of his different compositions. The most moving scene for me was the last night in their apartment with friends, giving each a little bell.
I received the book as a Christmas gift from my son, accompanied by a collection of Arvo Pärt recordings. It helped to listen to his work as I read. Plough provides tracks of three of the pieces mentioned in the book on the book’s website. Together, these make for a wonderful introduction to one of our most significant contemporary composers, who is also a man of deep faith.
Defiant Hope, Active Love, Jeffrey F. Keuss, editor. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802883919) 2024.
Summary: What young adults seek in places of work, faith, and community and how churches may respond hospitably.
Many congregations have witnessed an exodus of young adults. But Jeffrey F. Keuss and the researchers with Pivot NW who contributed to this work are convinced that this is not for lack of spiritual interest. Rather, their research showed young adults care deeply about faith and long for the creation of faithful spaces connecting worship, community, and the working out of faith in society that answers calls for justice.
They began by defining emerging adulthood and then researching those in this cohort. As a result, they identified six themes that characterized thriving organizations that served young adults: community, personal transformation, social transformation, purpose finding, creativity, and accountability. The question is not how to attract young adults. Rather, will the longing for belonging, believing, and becoming find a welcoming and sustaining space in churches?
However, the character and level of religious affiliation shapes what they look for. They identified four classes of religiosity: abiders, adapters, assenters, and avoiders. Then, the researchers identified on-ramps and barriers. On ramps include people care for each other; they are involved with the poor and disadvantaged; church is a place to meet people; it is also a place to deal with grief and loss; and leaders including pastors welcome them. Barriers include resistance to change; political differences; hypocrisy and judgmentalism of both people and leaders; and no space to talk about controversial issues.
Deep listening in interviews with young adults turned up themes related to what has already been noted. They longed for communities that actively listened to and obeyed God. They addressed spiritual formation needs of discipleship and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Churches need to be attentive to young adult needs for authenticity, an understanding of their lifestyles, the ways churches have and can wound, and for a God who can take the hard questions. Young adults long for a depth of community that extends beyond the church walls. Young adult ministry needs to be sustainable. Specifically, this means structures, leadership, relational focus, creation of space, and good communication. Young adult ministry also needs to have young adult leadership. Transition needs to be managed well. Finally, intergenerational relationships characterized by two-way mentoring are valued.
It is vital to recognize the liminal space of young adult life. It is one of transition. Churches that minister effectively accept that. People move away for work. Or they mature into a different life stage. Effective ministries see themselves as resource stations supporting this transitional space. They help people live well in the present rather than adding to the pressure to move on.
I’ve already noted that young adults need to lead young adult ministry. The researchers encourage identifying rather than developing leaders. Leadership also means recognizing the challenges of young adult life, which may include provisions for stepping back and sharing leadership. Mentors who can come alongside to support without taking over are vital.
Pivot NW outlines some of the different church models and how they engage young adults. Working in the Pacific Northwest, they address the Mars Hill model and its fallout. They describe New Community and household of the Spirit models. On the basis of their research, they posit that safety, security, and belonging are the bottom line.
The researchers conclude with a discussion of the deep poverty of metamodernism, both economically and spiritually. Reflecting the title, they summarize the thrust of their work as a call to building lovingly defiant communities.
This book is a rich resource for church leaders pressing into young adult ministry. They name cultural, generational, and ministry realities to consider. Each chapter offers questions ministry leaders can use to apply the material. The contributors strike a good balance of outlining research and summarizing practical implications. Finally, I appreciated the concise writing that offered substantive help in 176 pages!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
The Mind Readers(Albert Campion Number 18), Margery Allingham. Open Road Media (ASIN: B08CRRYGK7), 2020 (First published in 1965).
Summary: When Amanda’s nephews, playing with telepathic devices, are nearly kidnapped, Campion gets involved in a deadly quest.
The Mind Readers reminded me of the fascination with telepathy and extra-sensory perception in the 1960’s. In this story, a mix of mystery and science fiction, Allingham explores the implications of being able to read the thoughts of others. It is perhaps needless to say that this ability is neither benign nor desirable in her portrayal. Only children can handle it, lacking the depth of experience to comprehend the swirl of thoughts and emotions in adult minds. For adults, it can be unsettling to deranging.
The story begins at the home of Canon Avril, where Albert and Amanda are visiting. They are awaiting a visit by Amanda’s nephews, Sam and Edward, on term break. What promises to be a pleasant time is upset when someone tries to kidnap the boys on the way from the station. It comes out that the boys have been playing with telepathic devices. When taped to the jugular, allow one to read other’s thoughts and communicate telepathically.
As it turns out, the boys’ father Martin has been working on this problem at a research facility at a remote location connected by a causeway on the coast. Martin turns up with Pagan Mayo, who assumes responsibility for the devices, even though it is apparent they know nothing about them. These devices produce results they have not been able to achieve. There is an international effort to harness this technology with the English and French chief rivals. When Pagan Mayo turns up dead, it is clear the rivalry is deadly.
By this point, Edward, the older of the boys, has disappeared. Yet from what he says before he leaves, he seems to know what he is doing. But what Is he doing, and is he safe from the murderous people who seem after the telepathic devices he and Sam had been experimenting with? Meanwhile. Campion has gone to the research facility to see if he can unravel the mystery of the devices while DS Luke hunts for Edward. Campion is on the island when Pagan is murdered. The head of the facility, Ludor puts it on lockdown. Campion’s becomes a murder target. But an old associate offers unexpected help.
As the story comes to a climax, we wonder who killed Mayo, where the devices came from, and what happened to them. Most of all, we wonder, “Where’s Edward?” and what does he know about all this? At a deeper level, Allingham raises the specter of a technology that people would kill for. And in the end, would we really want to know the hidden thoughts of others? And what would it be like to be in a crowd? Would you really want to know everyone’s thoughts, simultaneously?
Summary: A climate activist and investor argues we can win the climate war through clean tech and free market capitalism.
Tom Steyer walked away from a highly successful investment fund he managed to focus on climate issues. Since then, he has advocated for clean-energy ballot measures and invested in clean technology firms. He even pursued a brief run for president on a climate platform. Reading Steyer is metaphorically, and perhaps literally, a breath of fresh air. Steyer moves past the standard binary of either climate action that is costly and government regulated and the fossil fuel industry arguments that we need to keep digging and drilling. From his work, he is convinced that mobilizing capital to invest in clean energy can be profitable, create jobs, and can be ramped up to reach climate goals. And we can do this without climate-shaming people.
He begins by describing his personal pivot to climate activism and investing. He became convinced of the real threat to life on our planet from climate change. And he discovered that the fossil fuel industry is also convinced of this. It has orchestrated campaigns to protect their industry, including the huge government handouts they receive each year. As a capitalist, he argues that this just doesn’t make sense, comparing it to the whaling industry, that tried to hang on as oil discoveries threatened to supplant them. Doesn’t it make more sense to shift our investment to new sources of energy, especially as these become cheaper to implement and scale up? Rather than get into the weeds of all the fossil fuel industry arguments, he applies “the Jane Austen test.” He asks “Are these guys trustworthy?”
He outlines the major areas where technology innovation is needed: electricity generation, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and building. The point is for each of us to assess to understand our choices and what we can do in each area. He argues against climate doomsayers and urges people to stop rooting for the end of the world, contending that we’ve just scratched the surface of what we can do. Instead, he argues for embracing a “walk-on” mentality. You accept you are an outsider, enjoy the game you can play as a JV and don’t relinquish your judgement to the insiders. It means doing what needs to be done even if you are not on “the first team.” This includes refusing to accept conventional wisdom and thinking smart. An example is the cattlemen who figured out you could grow beef and sequester carbon.
He argues against carbon-footprint shaming. Of course we should do what we can personally. But it can be more important to join collective actions like ballot initiatives that have the potential to be carbon-negative on a large scale. Steyer also believes it is time to take calculated risks to “go big.” We can timidly ask “what is right?” when we need to think about whether we are doing enough. This means winning in the marketplace by doing things that are not only cleaner but better and cheaper. And he offer examples of clean technologies that are doing just that.
Steyer believes the rules need to change so that fossil fuels don’t have an unfair advantage. He believes the best way to do this is to set standards but give lots of flexibility to industries as to how they meet them. He also proposes that getting better at measurements helps us better target interventions. Finally, messaging is more important than being right. What we call things is important.
Steyer compares this generation to the Greatest Generation of World War Two. Just as it was common to ask someone “what did you do during the war?” in an effort to which everyone was all in. He argues that we have this opportunity once again. One way or another, our children and grand-children will ask, “what did you do?”
I write this review on the night a president who opposes what Steyer advocates has taken office. I suspect this is especially a time for that “walk-on” mentality. It doesn’t look like the “rules” are going to favor clean tech. It’s going to take scrappy entrepreneurs who succeed because they are doing something better and cheaper. It would be great if they do this in America. But they might be more successful in other places more open to clean tech. The world needs this, even if the U.S. falls behind.
I like Steyer’s approach which argues that we can both walk and chew gum. We can be clean and profitable. We can invent in ways good for both people and the planet. Steyer impresses me because he has put his money and his life where his mouth is. The question is, will we jump in, or give over to despair? Will we believe lies that even those telling them don’t believe, or will we act on what we know is true while there is time?
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer Program.
Seeking the City, Chad Brand and Tom Pratt. Kregel Academic (ISBN: 9780825443046) 2013.
Summary: A biblical, historical, and political economic argument defending responsible free-market capitalism.
My life has been marked by an ongoing discussion of what it means to have a good society. It is a discussion that has not only occupied political deliberation but also significant discussions among Christians of all stripes. One of the images offered for our destiny as God’s people is the City of God, a place of flourishing for all the people of God and all creation. And scripture articulates how we might live toward that destination in fruitful work and a beloved and just community.
Chad Brand and Tom Pratt came together to produce a lengthy treatise (912 pages) exploring these matters. They consider what scripture teaches about what might be called “political economics” and how this has worked out through history. The first part of the book considers the teaching of scripture. The second part surveys political economic development from the Roman empire, the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the development of mercantilist economics, and American history up until the present. The final part explores how we might order our political-economic house in ways that pursue a biblical vision.
In brief, the authors argue that we best “seek the city” through responsible and just forms of free-market capitalism. They argue for the dignity of human work. That is as God’s vice-regents in creation, we exercise dominion in ways that bear fruit in the prosperity of the worker for both their own benefit and that of others. Good government, in whatever form, exists to justly enforce laws protecting life, liberty, and property.
The book also serves as an extended polemic against coercive distribution of wealth by government. They critique the idea that wealth is inherently evil, and the corollary of manipulating guilt in redistributionist schemes of government. Along the way, they criticize movements for social justice, efforts to address poverty involving governmental measures to transfer wealth, and environmental regulation that stifles business development.
I had a variety of reactions to this book. I know entrepreneurial people who create jobs, justly employ and treat their employees, produce useful goods and services, and prosper as a result. Many are quite generous and entrepreneurial in giving as well. Yet they’ve sat in churches where they were made to feel guilty about being wealthy. Often, it is a prelude to requesting a generous contribution. Yet they have been both lawful and ethical in their work, and sometimes acted out of rigorous thought of how to do business “Christianly.” This form of guilt manipulation is wrong.
I appreciate the authors’ affirmation of justice, including measure affording civil rights. Yet I wondered if the authors sufficiently reckoned with the ways powerful interests use our system to protect their interests at the expense and/or exclusion of others. One may speak of equal opportunity for those who work hard. But I know of some who must work much harder than others to achieve the same result.
I didn’t appreciate caricatures that crop up at points like the person using SNAP benefits to buy unhealthy food. The use of “straw man” or worst case arguments ignored more moderated approaches. I found this particularly so in the anti-environmental arguments, opposing productive enterprise and environmental measures. In fact, the situation is very different where entrepreneurial “green” businesses are employing people and making money, contributing to the economy while our government afford huge subsidies (read this as redistribution of tax monies!) to the fossil fuel industry.
In fact, the redistribution of funds to enhance the wealth of the rich far exceeds poverty spending. Is it just for someone like Warren Buffett to pay less tax than his secretary? I agree with the authors in opposing redistributionist schemes. Particularly, I oppose having to pay for the benefits of the rich either through my taxes or budget deficits.
I would argue that wealthy individuals or corporations disproportionately benefit from the infrastructure we all pay for. Currently, in our region big data companies are building data centers that are energy intensive. These companies want all rate payers to share the cost of new transmission lines. I wonder if the authors would oppose such forms of redistribution? It’s not something they discuss.
My basic issue is not with the authors’ thesis but whether they have taken the measure of what it means to consistently apply their principles. They are right to defend wealth acquired honestly and to observe that much of our philanthropy would be impossible without it. But not all wealth is created equal. When it is created through exploiting people and resources, or where it benefits from unjust protection that amounts to a redistribution from the poorer to the richer, this needs to be addressed. The binaries set up in this book seem to me to ignore this excluded middle of those arguing for a truly just free-market system for all. That seems to me to be the city we ought to be seeking.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
This Monday marks the inauguration of one of the most controversial presidents in U.S. history to a second term. Some of my friends are thrilled. And some are in dread. Personally, I’ve accepted that this is the president the majority of our voting populace chose. I sincerely hope we will be as pleased with our choice in two or four years. As a reader of presidential history, I find this rarely to be the case,
Monday is also the day we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. One of his close associates was John Lewis, who was bludgeoned at Selma, and went on to serve in Congress. David Greenberg’s John Lewis: A Life sits on my “to read” pile and I look forward to reading it this winter. John Lewis lived as a man of faith-inspired hope and grit who never stopped getting into “good trouble.” And he never stopped striving toward the “liberty and justice for all” that expresses one of our loftiest ideals, often unrealized. But he never gave up and I think he is a model for our times.
Finally, Monday night is the College Football championship game. Living in the heart of Ohio State Buckeye country, you must know I bleed scarlet and gray. I have championship ballcaps from 2002 and 2014 and think it time for a “hat trick.” Actually, it will be a hat trick of hat tricks for whoever wins–the ninth championship for the victor. Only Alabama has more at fourteen. I hope for a good game. Marcus Freeman, the Notre Dame coach who has done amazing things with their program, is a Buckeye alumnus. All in all, it will be a packed Monday, especially if Ohio State lofts that championship trophy at the end of the evening.
Five Articles Worth Reading
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ban on Tik-Tok if it was not sold by its Chinese company to an American buyer. This has big ramifications for publishers and authors and social media influencers. “Publishers and Authors Wonder: Can Anything Replace BookTok?” explores these consequences and the alternatives to which this triad may pivot.
The Millions has become known for its book previews. Their “Most Anticipated: The Great Winter 2025 Preview” went up this week. They pick 90 books coming out over the next three months by both recognized and new authors that you may consider,
One of the books in that preview is Nobel Prize author Han Kang’s latest, We Do Not Part. which drops next Tuesday. In “Where Han Kang’s Nightmares Come From,” Judith Shulevitz explores the dark history behind her novels, and how other countries are implicated in that history.
Finally. most of us associate Hannah Arendt with her trenchant thought and formidable prose. But did you know she was a poet, as well? “For the Love of the Word” introduces us to Hannah Arendt, the poet.
Quote of the Week
Robert W. Service was born on January 16, 1874. He made this statement which is an inspiration to this plodder:
“It’s the steady, quiet, plodding ones who win in the lifelong race.”
Miscellaneous Musings
It’s interesting how different readers react to the same book. I reviewed (and loved) Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake finding myself drawn into the story and its setting. Several other readers just couldn’t get into it, despite listening to Meryl Streep’s narration. I wonder if my reaction might have been different if I listened to it on audiobook. Or perhaps it’s just that no book will appeal to everyone. Probably a good reason not to read what others say you “should” read if you can’t get into it.
I also reviewed Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, a book written about the relationship of two game developers. I was not sure I would get into it–not my world–but loved the mix of characters as well as the idea behind the title. A very different book from Tom Lake, and Zevin is a very different writer from Patchett. Isn’t that the delight of books?
Two books I’m reading make me wonder why some writers make their ideas more incomprehensible than needed while others can explain complicated things simply. I suspect audience and convention are two factors. But I admire those who arrive at “the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” I suspect part of the process is living with material long enough to reach that clarity. I wonder if, in our ‘hurry up” society, we lose that clarity and incisiveness.
Next Week’s Reviews
Monday: Chad Brand & Tom Pratt, Seeking the City
Tuesday: Tom Steyer, Cheaper, Faster, Better
Wednesday, Margery Allingham, The mind Readers
Thursday: Jeffrey F. Keuss, ed., Defiant Hope, Active Love
Friday: Joonas Sildre, Between Two Sounds: Arvo Pärt’s journey to His Musical Language
Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for January 12-18, 2025!
Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.
