The Stand-up Philosopher

Book Review: 5 Cities That Ruled the World by Douglas Wilson

I’ve had this book for a long time. I think I got it in October or November. But, with some of the changes in my life, I had to reprioritize. I started reading books about getting a new job or working as a freelancer. Unfortunately, this one didn’t make it back up to the top of my ever-growing book pile again. It seems like the entire world changed since I first got this book. The program that I got the book from, Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Bloggers, has been completely redesigned as “Booksneeze”. Try them out if you’d like to get free books in exchange for a 200 word review.

5 Cities That Ruled the World is a history book. But this isn’t boring, academic history. It’s not overly simplified either. Douglas Wilson declares his thesis, or the purpose for this book, in the 2nd paragraph on page xi:

Here we will consider the stories and legacies of the great cities of Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York and what they mean to us.

They ruled the world in a unique way, unlike other cities. No earthly city can rule the world forever, but many more than five have ruled the political world temporarily. These five have been singled out because, despite their moments of glory shared with many others, they have also had an enormous influence down to the present day.

I’ll summarize the point here simplistically: Jerusalem gave us spirit. Athens gave us democracy. Rome gave us law. London gave us literature. New York gave us commerce.

The book is not that simplistic though. I believe that Douglas Wilson gives us his point in a well written, amusing manner. Easygoing humor is sprinkled throughout the book, and is always good for a chuckle.

I love history. History is a subject that gets me really excited. As such, I can’t say that this book gave me much new information. Certainly, I learned a lot from it. I really appreciated Douglas Wilson’s perspective on history. It was definitely a nice break from the business and job hunting books I’ve been reading a lot of lately.

My verdict: get this book.You can buy it from my affiliate link below.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Cracked: The 6 Most Insane Moral Panics in American History

I came across an interesting article at Cracked about the 6 Most Insane Moral Panics in American History. As with all Cracked material, the language can be a little raw, so you should know that going in if it's an issue for you.

The article discusses moral panics like Comic Books, Dungeons and Dragons, Satanic subliminal messages in heavy metal, and Satanic ritual abuse.

Dungeons and Dragons

I was growing up when most of the moral panics were happening. I can remember some kind of stink about video games as well. As with all moral panics, I think there is a lot of excitability and a lack of critical thinking involved.

Let's take Dungeons and Dragons as an example. I remember one time in the early 80's when we were stationed in Germany. My dad came home with some D&D material. I don't think he had much. He had some cardboard tiles to make a dungeon out of. Maybe a book or two. He was excited about playing D&D with my brother and I. Then, nothing happened.

I asked him later why we never did anything with it. He said something about some kids were playing in a storm drain, and it flooded and killed them. Somehow, it was the fault of Dungeons and Dragons. I never really understood it. I even asked him if he really thought I was so stupid that I'd think it was OK to play in a storm drain just because I played Dungeons and Dragons. He didn't think so, but somehow the idea that some kids' deaths were related to the game kept him from playing it with us.

When I got a little bit older, I bought a Basic D&D kit. I played a little bit with a friend of mine. Then we got into AD&D for a while. Then I realized it was boring and I walked away from it. I couldn't get into it, and it wasn't worth trying anymore.

I've read some of the literature against D&D. I've read Jack Chick's stuff. I read William Schoenbelon's claims that the creators of D&D consulted with him as a high-level warlock to ensure accuracy of the material with the occult. Even if it's all true, I still believe that if people are going to do stupid, insane, or unsafe things, they don't need D&D to do it.

Comic Books

I never could get into comic books. The villains were dumb, the heros were cheesy, I wasn't impressed with a panel taken up by a "BAM!" or "SOCK!", and I had better things to do than worry about "Wait! I'm missing the 4th issue of the 31st edition!" I don't know the difference between Marvel and DC Comics. That is, I couldn't tell you which comic went under which label. I also don't feel like I'm missing out on anything because I can't. I'm not likely to end up on Jeopardy. 

I bought a Lobo comic once. It was amusing. I could have followed Lobo, but I couldn't be troubled to make sure I had EVERY SINGLE ISSUE so I didn't bother.

I think the moral panic surrounding comic books was silly.

Satanic Subliminal Messages in Heavy Metal

I agree with Cracked's assessment of this one. If a metal band had the idea to implant a subliminal message, "Buy more of our stuff!" would be more like it. Actually, I'd expect that to be placed by the record companies, which seem to have a direct communication link to evil. Of course, the Compact Disc rendered the "play a record backwards to hear our Satanic altar call" obsolete. When I was a teenager and this was going on, I couldn't understand why everybody appeared to be worked up over this. Of course, I didn't listen to much Heavy Metal at the time. Trans-Siberian Orchestra didn't exist.

I can remember an image of old people sitting around churches late at night listening to metal records backwards and painstakingly transcribing the Satanic messages supposedly implanted in them. 

I think history bears out that this moral panic was a huge overreaction to nothing.

Conclusion

I'm not denying that there are moral reason why we should get worried. There are moral issues that need to be confronted. But most of the moral panics that show up in popular culture are not those moral issues. At best, they are symptoms.

For Such A Time As This

I had a thought recently. I was listening to one of the many podcasts I try to cram into a week. One of the guests claimed that he really should have lived during the American Revolution.

I can’t say, at least since my teen years, that I’ve ever thought I belonged somewhere else. At one point, probably because of a cheesy movie I rented one summer vacation before I had my driver’s license, that I might have enjoyed living in the 1950’s.

Not so anymore. I don’t claim any Biblical, like, Ester type prophesy about being born “for such a time as this”, but I definitely feel like I’m living in the correct era. Sure, we face all kinds of financial and political challenges that are, frankly, terrifying. But as an engineer and a computer geek, and as an amateur historian and philosopher, I think I’m living in the right time.

How ‘bout you? Do you belong in 2010? Or do you wish (or “feel like”) you should have lived in another time? Which time was it?

Dude, the White House Goes Web 2.0!

This is an interesting surprise. The White House now has a blog, already complete with RSS. President Obama (please bear with me while I adjust to that as I wasn’t as enthusiastic as some of you) plans to have an open and transparent government. That will be interesting. I’m fairly cynical, and when I read that line in the White House’s first blog post, I immediately thought of former-President Clinton’s promise to have the most ethical administration in history.

I didn’t agree with the new President in many of his policies and proposed solutions, but now that he’s in office, it is my duty to support him as I am able, and of course to pray for him.

At this point, the best we can do is watch. I will say that while I don’t agree with many of his policies and proposed solutions, I do respect the man in many ways.

Anyway, I’ve already got the White House blog in my Google Reader feeds. I’ll pray for the new President as he goes through BlackBerry withdrawals. That would hurt me.

Technorati Tags: White House Blog,White House Tech,Presidential tech

There Were No Choo-Choos in Ancient Israel...

I just thought I'd stop for a moment to recount one of the more amusing episodes of my week. Somewhere after 9 or 10 PM tonight, my wife put on The Santa Clause 3 for my kids to watch. I considered myself done with that franchise after the second movie, so I decided to sit and read Josephus. I'm not reading the complete, five or so volume set. A friend loaned me an edition called "Josephus, the Essential Works". It's a modern translation that attempts to convey the most relevant parts of Josephus. The translator omitted some extraneous material and duplicated writings, and the book is probably written on a sixth-grade level. In any case, it's enough to get me off the ground with this essential historian.

 

My kids decided to climb up on the chair with me. Caleb, my two-year old, was about ready to fall asleep so he curled up on my right side where he did eventually succumb to sleepiness rather than stay up until midnight. Joshua, my three-year old, took the book from my hands and started flipping through it. He saw some pictures and started asking questions. I would answer "Oh, that's the Cave of Machpelah", or "That's Herod's Palace" or "That's Herod's Temple". Suddenly, while looking at a picture of Jerusalem, he asked where the choo-choos were. I tried to explain that Josephus wrote a good 1800 years before the choo-choo was invented, with the minor exception of some early steam engine technology by engineers in ancient Alexandria. He became obsessed with finding Thomas the Tank Engine within the confines of Josephus.

 

I found that highly amusing and thought I would share it. Forgive the sloppy editing, but I'm up way past my bedtime, and I have partaken of some New Year's Eve refreshments.

 

Happy New Year!

 

Technorati Tags: Josephus,History,Thomas the Tank Engine

 

Labels: Bible, Family

Irony At Its Finest: Hitler Was An Anti-Smoking Nazi

Last night I was watching Cities of the Underworld on the History Channel, when I learned the most ironic piece of information I have ever heard. The episode had to do with the tunnels and bunkers under Berlin, and at one of the commercials, they posted a quick fact that said something to the effect of "Hitler was a committed non-smoker. He offered a gold watch to any of his close associates who were able to quit."

As a former smoker myself, I guess the term "anti-smoking Nazi" is grounded in some historical relevance.

 

Technorati tags: Nazi, History Channel, Irony, Quit Smoking, Smokers, Hitler