Flimsy Sanity: What I'm Reading Now

Flimsy Sanity

In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Thursday, December 14, 2006

What I'm Reading Now

I know probably everyone else has read it already, but I finally bought a copy of A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. I have heard about it for quite awhile but was just too cheap to buy it - thought I would run across it somewhere while book scouting. I think I read it was the most reviewed book on Amazon as most people love or hate it - many think it is unpatriotic and Zinn is (horrors) a SOCIALIST.

This book looks at the America of the little people, the pawns in the game of control. Columbus was a cruel bastard and Zinn mentions body counts and specific instances of murder if the natives did not bring enough gold. He documents the slave trade profitability with statistics on the money made by the Dutch and English traders and explains why families were intentionally split up to demoralize the slaves. We are raised with the notion that it is impolite to talk about uncomfortable facts. I see it in family histories, the Christmas letters I get (which leave out the unpleasant), and it is also true of what we call "history" in school.

This book is very good therapy for me. If you think you were mistreated, you are definitely not alone in the history of America. This is a history of money in USA as it is ALWAYS about money.

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