The Plague

By Albert Camus

More reading for my philsophy explorations. A story of the outbreak of bubonic plague in Orman. 

How does one deal with senseless, persistent suffering or evil, be-it war, death, facism or plague? There are ways...

• Quiet persistent resistance. Fight the evil without hope of final victory.
• Reject the judgement. Revolt. Organize for the greater good.
• Humility. Moral value is found in persistent and small human acts
• Faith-- struggle to reconcile belief with senseless evil
• Understand your part-- individualism and personal happiness vs the greater good and moral duty.

Meaning is not found in the universe or in the afterlife, but in our actions. 

Evil retreats and evil returns. Never forget that. Be vigilant. 

"On this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it's up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences. That may sound simple to the point of childishness; I can't judge if it's simple, but I know it's true. You see, I'd heard such quantities of arguments, which very nearly turn my head, and turned other people's heads enough to make them approve of murder; and I'd come to realize that all our troubles spring from the failure to use plain clear-cut language. So I resolved always to speak-- and to act-- quite clearly, as this was the only way of setting myself on the right track." 

"the doctor raised himself a little in his chair and asked if Taro and an idea of the path to follow for attaining peace.

"Yes", he replied. "The path of sympathy."

"A man should fight for the victims, but if he ceases caring for anything outside that, what's the use of his fighting?"

Waiting for God

By Simone Weil

"The love of our neighbor in all its fullness simply means being able to say to him: 'What are you going through?' It is a recognition that the sufferer exists... as a man, exactly like us"

Somewhat intuitively and intentionally, I've been learning about philosophies and philosophers who advocate that discovering the truth, is our primary obligation to others. The first step on that journey is to pay attention to reality, the our problems and to others. 

The chief enemy of excellence is personal fantasy. Free your self from being a slave to your reactions. Stay away from the desire to fix, help or set people straight until you deeply know the truth, until you are invited.

Many of these readings point back to Weils and her essay on attention. It was good to go back to the source. 

Weils deeply believed in God, though she declined to join a church. I need to reread that at some point. 

The Manticore

By Robertson Davies

2nd book in the Depford trilogy, following the Fifth Business.

A satisfying book, though it has a lot to say about Jungian psychology. Perhaps the book hasn't aged well since Jung is no longer as influential. 

We often see or interpret the world through simplifications and archetypes. Health comes from seeing beyond that, from seeing the truth, seeing people for who they really are. 

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

By George Saunders

I want to enjoy great literature, yet I struggle to maintain interest in great books and great authors. This was a great book to help me explore more.

Saunders discusses six short stories written buy the Russian greats. I appreciated the depths, this history, the callbacks, along the way he discuss the hard work of writing. 

"It's seams that much of the time we spend worrying would be better spent working though the problems. Don't worry, work."

Discipline and Punish

By Foucault

How did we get from being a society that publicly punishes, hangs, flogs its criminals, to a society that quietly hides them away? We become more efficient. The tools of that efficiency can be used to guide society as a whole.

Now we all live in a Carceral society where control is exercised, not through the threat of punishment, but through surveillance, ranking and the gentle pervasive insistence of the norm. Society has became more effective at standardizing its values. 

"Power and knowledge directly imply one another. "

Midnight In Soap Lake

By Matthew J Sullivan

A fun read. A thriller/mystery about a decades long conspiracy/organized-crimes in Soap Lake. 

I've been to Soap Lake. It's an interesting place to stop over if you are doing a road trip around easter Washington. 

The novel has two story lines, the story of the victim and the story of the detective. 

I've been reading Agatha Christie of late. Her characters are decidedly upper class. Sullivan populates his mysteries with junkies, ag workers, the poor and others living their lives of the margins. This is a refreshing change.

The Four Pillars of Investing

By William J Bernstein

Covers the theory, history, psychology and business of investing. 

No one can reliably predict or time the market. Invest with Index funds. Broadly diversify, including bonds, U.S Stocks, International Stock, small and large caps. Keep your expenses and taxes low Your stock mix depends on your risk tolerance.