tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23123512512106632142024-02-20T04:27:29.400-05:00Magister librorumReading is part of my life. I can live with books, inter librorum copias.Rick Subberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10117679082089176132noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312351251210663214.post-63809211157051970462016-12-11T14:57:00.000-05:002017-06-09T13:36:51.924-04:00Everything I write is now posted daily on my website<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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I am now writing daily blog posts about my poetry, book reviews, history and other topics on<br />
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my website, click here: <a href="http://richardsubber.com/"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">http://richardsubber.com/</span></a><br />
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Thanks for your interest, I welcome your feedback on my website.<br />
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Rick Subber</div>
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Rick Subberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10117679082089176132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312351251210663214.post-23859332931574687432016-10-29T07:11:00.000-04:002016-10-29T07:11:53.702-04:00Rick Subber's new website<br />
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Here’s a sneak preview of my new website, check it out here:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://richardsubber.com/"><span style="font-size: large;">http://richardsubber.com/</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s still under construction, but you can read samples of my poetry and my blog posts on books and book reviews, history, politics and some strange and wonderful stuff in the “Tidbits” category.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the near future I will say goodbye to my three longstanding blogs—Barley Literate, History: Bottom Lines, and Magister Librorum—and do all of my daily posting on the website, where everything will be conveniently accessible from a single landing page.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I will manage the new website in tandem with my dedicated Facebook page, <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Richard-Subber-1320938847929886/"><span style="font-size: large;">click here</span></a></span> to take a look at it—and please “Like” the new Facebook page if you care to, I need 25 “Likes” to get access to some advanced Facebook audience measurements (all aggregate stuff, no personal or private information about individual persons, not even a little bit, not ever).</div>
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With appropriate humility and excessive excitement, I mention that in the near future I will publish my first poetry chapbook. Stay tuned!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thanks again for your kind consideration in reading my daily scribblings. I try to write something worth reading every day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Words, words, words—they can say so much if we choose them carefully, and if we choose to listen....<o:p></o:p></div>
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2016 All rights reserved.</div>
Rick Subberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10117679082089176132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312351251210663214.post-26417853754112646902016-08-18T14:49:00.001-04:002016-08-18T14:49:35.424-04:00Mindset: think about it<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Book review: <i>Mindset: The New Psychology of Success</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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By Dr. Carol S. Dweck, New York: Ballantine Books, 2006<o:p></o:p></div>
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277 pages<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is one of those books that knocks a hole in your head and then fills it up with startling knowledge.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dweck wrote this rather chatty book about a very serious subject: the mindset that influences much of your life, and can literally play a critical role in your success or failure at work, at school, among your friends and at home with your family.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here’s a simplistic summary of her findings based on years of teaching and research:</div>
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There is a <i>fixed mindset</i> and a <i>growth mindset</i>. A mindset is a frame of mind that enables you to interpret what’s happening in the world around you, and to determine how you will feel about it, and how you will act and react.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ll take a stab at briefly defining the two mindsets in my own words.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Fixed mindset</i>—you interpret most everything that happens to you in terms of whether it validates your static view of your own abilities and self-worth, in other words, you see the events and people in your life as confirming that you are talented and wonderful, or proving that you’re stupid and worthless. You can’t change, and you’ve got to grab what you deserve.</div>
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<i>Growth mindset</i>—you interpret most everything that happens to you in terms of feedback about your motivation and your performance, in other words, you see the events and people in your life as part of your continuous quest to learn and achieve your goals and enjoy your relationships with others. You can change, and you can learn to do better.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Of course, it’s possible to have different mindsets in different circumstances, and it’s possible to have some mix of the mindsets.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dweck says you can learn to have a more effective growth mindset, and you can teach others, kids and adults, to embrace a more effective growth mindset.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We can always learn, we can always build up our talents, we can always get smarter, and we can help ourselves to have more enjoyable lives.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This all makes sense to me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I don’t think I learned everything Dweck can teach me, so I’m going to read the book again.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2016/08/somewhere-hot.html"><span style="color: #0563c1;">"...somewhere hot..."</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #0563c1;"><a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2016/08/book-review-sea-runners.html">Book review: The Sea Runners</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #0563c1;"><a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2016/08/heres-one-for-your-reading-list.html">Here's one for your reading list</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #0563c1;"><a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2016/07/book-review-waterloo.html">Book review: Waterloo</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #0563c1;"><a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2016/07/book-review-orphan-train.html">Book review: Orphan Train</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Rick Subberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10117679082089176132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312351251210663214.post-59441558408385461802016-01-21T06:52:00.000-05:002016-01-21T06:52:40.213-05:00Book review: Lafayette: Lessons in Leadership from the Idealist General<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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Book review: <i>Lafayette:
Lessons in Leadership from the Idealist General</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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by Marc Leepson
(b.1945) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Palgrave Macmillan, New
York 2011<o:p></o:p></div>
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202 pages<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m a first-time reader of
Lafayette biographies, so I’ll acknowledge that Leepson entertains by
re-stating the obvious: Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier de la
Fayette was a national, military, political and, indeed, a paternal hero to
millions in America and France during the American and (several) French
revolutions. </div>
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There is no doubt that,
despite the fact that he was one of the richest French nobles of his time, he
was publicly and privately dedicated to republican government and a
social/economic order that was far more egalitarian than the monarchical and
aristocratic structures that prevailed.</div>
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Was Lafayette a great man?
Leepson, like many of his biographers, says yes. Lafayette was a courageous
battlefield leader, he was an enlightened manorial lord who enhanced the lives
of his peasants, and he was both outspoken and fearless, repeatedly, in
literally dangerous political situations for a couple decades in Revolutionary
and Napoleonic France. Leepson amply demonstrates these lifelong
characteristics of the man Americans called “our Marquis.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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I feel obliged to call
attention to some countervailing factors that Leepson fully describes but does
not adequately interpret.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lafayette put his money
where his mouth was. He repeatedly used his great personal wealth to pay and
outfit the troops he commanded, when government funds and supplies ran low. I
suggest a case could be made that the Marquis, almost uniquely among American
commanders, paid for his military success in the Revolutionary War. Throughout
the war, the options and operations of colonial commanders were significantly
hindered by short funds and short supplies. If Lafayette had not been able to
pay, feed, clothe and arm his troops with his personal resources, could he have
been as winning a general as he was? I suspect the answer is “No.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Some biographers refer to
Lafayette as the “victor” at Yorktown in 1781. Leepson says that Lafayette’s
campaigning in Virginia in the spring and summer of 1781 “led to the victory at
Yorktown.” Lafayette was not the only American general at Yorktown, and he
wasn’t the only French general. Lafayette did use his small force to isolate
Cornwallis in Yorktown, but he had to wait until Washington, Rochambeau and
others arrived with sufficient forces before he participated in the final
assaults.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggE-SSboS44ILhyzC-49GDNO9g63BJi6oc6l8j8OClMxJkeHSsy7JCs2TVF80R_519mArlgOaglFDz60lb_DOmhg3G1XxoLuwlfHOj5o9nM0RUDcBWNaBI77dSnBMF431EAN6HzqirJM8/s1600/Lafayette+02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggE-SSboS44ILhyzC-49GDNO9g63BJi6oc6l8j8OClMxJkeHSsy7JCs2TVF80R_519mArlgOaglFDz60lb_DOmhg3G1XxoLuwlfHOj5o9nM0RUDcBWNaBI77dSnBMF431EAN6HzqirJM8/s320/Lafayette+02.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
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In France he repeatedly
declined to step up to the plate and take executive leadership, during the
revolutionary and Napoleonic convulsions, when the French people and the
contentious military/political factions would have handed the throne or the
presidency of France to him on a velvet pillow. The Marquis repeatedly risked
his life to defuse explosive situations by his personal, courageous
intervention. However, Leepson fastidiously details Lafayette’s repeated
reluctance to take the final step and take control when, arguably, he could
have stabilized dangerous situations, and forestalled or prevented catastrophic
consequences, by doing so. Lafayette wasn’t responsible for the violence, but,
time after time, he left a void that was unfortunately filled by lesser men.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Was Lafayette a great man?
Yes. A successful general? Yes. Was he a really lucky guy? Yes. Did he and his
reputation benefit immensely from great wealth and fortuitous circumstance?
Yes. Did he live up to his potential in serving France and the French nation?
Maybe not.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A final note: for my taste,
neither Leepson nor Gen. Wesley Clark (in his Foreword) lives up to the promise
of sifting “lessons in leadership” from Lafayette’s battlefield and political
exploits, or his largely exemplary personal character. I think the fact is that
almost all of the notable events in Lafayette’s public and private lift were as
much circumstantial as anything else. Certainly, in the worst of times during
the French Revolutions, when he could have demonstrated compelling leadership
for the lasting benefit of his countrymen and nation, Lafayette came up short.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-beautiful-book.html"><span style="color: #0563c1; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A beautiful book</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #0563c1; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2016/01/book-review-end-of-greatness.html">Book review: The End of
Greatness</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #0563c1; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2016/01/book-review-shantung-compound.html">Book review: Shantung Compound</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2016/01/preschool-school-is-it-right-thing.html">Preschool
school: is it the right thing?</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://historybottomlines.blogspot.com/2016/01/eight-year-old-kids-go-on-strike.html">Eight-year-old
kids go on strike</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Copyright © Richard Carl
Subber 2016</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Rick Subberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10117679082089176132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312351251210663214.post-35883268634634409112016-01-12T10:03:00.000-05:002016-11-29T08:31:04.958-05:00Lafayette: a hero, great general, rich lucky guy<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">Book review: <i>Lafayette</i> by Harlow Unger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">He was a great man. Also rich and
lucky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">This post has been moved to
my website:</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://richardsubber.com/book-review-lafayette-by-harlow-unger/">http://richardsubber.com/book-review-lafayette-by-harlow-unger/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Rick Subberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10117679082089176132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312351251210663214.post-85157936289852313902016-01-03T06:31:00.000-05:002016-01-03T06:31:54.388-05:00Book review: The Climate Casino<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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Book review: <i>The
Climate Casino: Risk, Uncertainty, and Economics for a Warming World</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Nordhaus"><span style="color: blue;">William
Nordhaus (b. 1941)</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Yale University Press, New
Haven, CT, 2013<o:p></o:p></div>
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378 pages<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think Prof. Nordhaus has
given us a remarkable achievement: a solid, sobering, stimulating, scientific,
scary book on human-caused global climate change, that leaves no room for doubt
about the prospect that climate change deniers are going to sweat more, like
the rest of us, in coming decades. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ely5SN55Fg6NqAXlFjakENLkrepIUGWgqkZtbJ7ONlkIXhcXjmAfBes29eJB02UroG7NwkGEcNh2B5HSgB7N_BIqRu30n75CD_mgajDtBKYR2IX0UIX_5qPDKelB-pFM4Ay4FTR0tHo/s1600/Kids+playing+01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ely5SN55Fg6NqAXlFjakENLkrepIUGWgqkZtbJ7ONlkIXhcXjmAfBes29eJB02UroG7NwkGEcNh2B5HSgB7N_BIqRu30n75CD_mgajDtBKYR2IX0UIX_5qPDKelB-pFM4Ay4FTR0tHo/s1600/Kids+playing+01.jpg" /></a></div>
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This is not a book about
Apocalypse. If anything, the Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University
writes with an even temper and drily matter-of-fact language that is a teensy
bit annoying, given the massively dangerous, initial impacts of climate change
and global warming that are already unavoidable.</div>
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I think the principal value
of <i>The Climate Casino</i> is that Nordhaus lays out the economic
(cost/benefit) framework of policy considerations and possible remedial steps
that the nations of the world, and mankind, can take to deal with the fact that
we’re putting too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In simplest terms, he says
there are many things we can do to mitigate global warming….some are more
costly than others and some are very expensive….some folks and some companies
and some countries will have to pay more of the costs than others.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was surprised to read his
conclusion that humans can likely survive the initial moderate impacts of
global climate change/warming without substantial social and economic
disruption, if we start seriously working on it now—there is a big pricetag,
but we can tolerate it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiam-6tmLccqF0xtoMU4kwyLj_tkt84seQyr8RoLv_-H9siY2Vh5fLYJE9eOKzw01yj6vEpaIZLH8pjJ4jWeToTse_mhC7v-HLqJCUYARPd2FvEM2MWg1aFzaMyH0CjW_PVfM9nvyK56ZI/s1600/Kids+playing+02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiam-6tmLccqF0xtoMU4kwyLj_tkt84seQyr8RoLv_-H9siY2Vh5fLYJE9eOKzw01yj6vEpaIZLH8pjJ4jWeToTse_mhC7v-HLqJCUYARPd2FvEM2MWg1aFzaMyH0CjW_PVfM9nvyK56ZI/s1600/Kids+playing+02.jpg" /></a></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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(I mention, for the record,
that Nordhaus carefully discusses the unpredictable, and more than trivially
possible, catastrophic “tipping points” in climate disruption that might occur
regardless of what we do or don’t do—think Dennis Quaid and “The Day After
Tomorrow”).</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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We’re going to have to stop
using coal around the world, or figure out how to burn it cleanly. And more
generally, we’re going to have to figure out how to require companies and
individuals to pay the true cost of burning fossil fuels, that is, the present
and future cost of the damage those fuels cause to our environment and to our
grandchildren’s prospects for survival.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It was remotely heartening
to read Nordhaus’ estimate that we have a reasonable chance of dealing with
global warming if we get the ball rolling now, and make sure everyone pays the
price.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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This is the only planet our
grandchildren will have to live on. We must do the right thing for them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-review-brothers.html"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Book review: The Brothers</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2015/12/moby-dick-stuff.html">Moby-Dick and stuff....</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-review-holton-woody.html">Book review: Forced Founders</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2016/01/see-segregated-usa-in-your-chevrolet.html">"Get out of town before sundown!"</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://historybottomlines.blogspot.com/2015/12/readin-writin-rithmetica-little-history.html">readin', writin', 'rithmetic....a little history</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Copyright
© Richard Carl Subber 2016 All rights reserved.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Rick Subberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10117679082089176132noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312351251210663214.post-90623737696510427492015-10-08T06:27:00.000-04:002015-10-08T06:27:51.074-04:00The history that didn't happen<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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Book review:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dowd, Gregory Evans. <i>A
Spirited Resistance: The North American Indian Struggle for Unity, 1745-1815. </i>Baltimore:
The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.<o:p></o:p></div>
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261 pages<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Dowd's <i>A Spirited
Resistance</i> provides some examples of considering "history that
didn't happen."<o:p></o:p></div>
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For every account of
"history that happened" there might be a complementary book of
"history that didn't happen."<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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It's important to emphasize
that people and groups in the past continually faced decision options and
critical choices and conflicting imperatives to act, as we do now. People and
groups in the past continually made unique decisions in the face of uncertainties
and competing exigencies, as we do now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The "history" of
an individual or a group is a distinct track, forward in time, of decisions and
choices and events, some discretionary, some imperative, some unavoidably
random. This process continues through a welter of known and unknown
alternatives. This ever-changing process of life is unique in retrospect, but
it is increasingly, incomprehensibly variable and complex as we consider the
prospects for the future at any point in time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thus, the "history that
happened" is one of the possible histories that could have happened. It
never was inevitable. There is difficulty enough in reconstructing, analyzing
and understanding the actual "history that happened." The discovery
and illumination of the course of history, however well done, is profoundly
insufficient for the student of history.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Any possible, speculative
scenario of historical events is a "history that didn't happen." Any
version of the "history that didn't happen" is potentially a
compelling object of interest, and there are limitless different versions.
There is an effectively boundless scope of interest in such histories, and a
wide range of probabilities that they might have occurred.<o:p></o:p></div>
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To be clear, popular
accounts of so-called "alternative history" or "what if?"
history are not suitable exemplars of this theme. An historical treatment that
focuses on a single, arbitrary "what if?" scenario for a known
historical event or extended historical process is of course a "history
that didn't happen," but it is a special case. For example, a speculative
presentation of "The South Won The Civil War" can be entertaining
overall, even instructive in detail, but it is flawed. The author has the
benefit of hindsight and cannot avoid using it. Of necessity, the author must
repeatedly, expansively and arbitrarily choose alternative versions of what
actually happened; the probability of occurrence of such a single, massively
multi-variable alternative actually is vanishing small. Why bother writing or
reading it? One may imagine that simultaneous nasty influenza outbreaks might
have sidelined all the generals in both camps on July 2 in Gettysburg. The
probability of such a scenario is vanishingly small. This scenario may be
entertaining, but it does not merit serious consideration. It is imaginable,
but it adds little to our understanding of history. The popular "what
if?" approach to history is almost always arbitrary, eccentrically narrow
and overwhelmingly improbable.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A structured, exploratory
consideration of "history that didn't happen" could be useful. Such a
structured approach, for example, could include:<o:p></o:p></div>
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·<span color:black="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" roman="" serif="" style="font-family: "; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;" times=""> </span>examination of the
knowledge, values and motivation of historical actors;<o:p></o:p></div>
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·<span color:black="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" roman="" serif="" style="font-family: "; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;" times=""> </span>identification of
realistic, feasible alternative decisions and reactions that might have<o:p></o:p></div>
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occurred at specific points in time or throughout an event in process;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">
·<span color:black="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" roman="" serif="" style="font-family: "; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;" times=""> </span>analysis of decision
factors that were considered or ignored by the historical actors.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This approach envisions a
retrospective presentation of history that illuminates reasonably feasible
alternative courses of action, and clarifies possible explanations of why the
actors did not make such decisions or pursue such courses of action. This
concept does not assume and generally would avoid any attempt to prove that any
particular alternative decision or action would have been better or should have
been chosen. The point of this essentially objective reconsideration of history
is to clarify the motives and expectations of the actors, and to gain a broader
and deeper appreciation—in analytical contexts framed by hindsight—of what they
thought was happening, what they wanted to happen and what they thought was
possible or probable, all without the benefit of foresight.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A poignant example is Jared
Diamond's question in <i>Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or
Succeed</i>. It includes a chapter on the almost complete deforestation of
Easter Island and the cultural decline of its people who had depended on the trees
for canoes, construction material and fuel. Diamond asks: "What did the
Easter Islander who cut down the last palm tree say while he was doing
it?" (p. 114). By extension, what did the rest of the Easter Islanders say
while he was doing it? Of course, with hindsight it's obvious that cutting down
the last tree was not a good move. Was it obvious in the 17<sup>th</sup> century
on Easter Island? It would be interesting to attempt to reconstruct the
ax-man's knowledge, values and motive: did he not know it was the last tree?
Was he concerned about preserving his essential environment? Did Easter
Islanders desire a tree-less landscape? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5G-xWctPEOcZH1KbZwqXvfVmkLHgWzNi1m18gbDWWcIirpt063oU2bQhiAc-Wh-ae2Ejd0Fn4dtkXMyvKsyScOCmVQfvdNzpOR4yvJ4urInHf7nfnNpuEB77P3ResADDSAuSsDaMwPlM/s1600/Easter+Island.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5G-xWctPEOcZH1KbZwqXvfVmkLHgWzNi1m18gbDWWcIirpt063oU2bQhiAc-Wh-ae2Ejd0Fn4dtkXMyvKsyScOCmVQfvdNzpOR4yvJ4urInHf7nfnNpuEB77P3ResADDSAuSsDaMwPlM/s1600/Easter+Island.jpg" /></a></div>
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Was the last tree worth a
million bucks? Forward-thinking, environmentally sensitized Easter Islanders
could have started planning earlier to figure out how to conserve a minimum
number of trees or develop substitutes for transportation, construction and
fuel. What are some possible elaborations about why that didn't happen? Was any
such attempt actually made? Was tree-cutting strictly a commercial activity?
Were there any social/religious/cultural imperatives regarding tree cutting?
Was that ax-wielding Easter Islander a hero or a villain?</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now, back to Dowd and <i>A
Spirited Resistance</i>. Apparently, a fundamental constraint to the success
of the 18<sup>th</sup> century pan-Indian prophets on the East Coast was
the persistent obstruction of many neutral or accommodationist chiefs who
rejected their prophets' call for both violent and spiritual resistance to the
Anglo-American authorities and settlers. These neutral chiefs sought to
co-exist in relative peace with the Europeans. This internal division among the
native Americans and the longevity of the ill-fated nativist movement suggests
many questions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In hindsight, it seems, at
least superficially, that the ultimate dominance of the Europeans was
inevitable. Did none of the chiefs in the late 18<sup>th</sup> century
recognize this imperative? What arguments did both the nativist and neutral
leaders use in their private councils to minimize their prospects for failure?
How did their knowledge, values and motives sustain their doomed objectives for
decades? Is it possible that the prophets might have been substantially
successful if no internal Indian strife had existed?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRKdWdbeb2iXPthYeeUR5fdZNC-RgMI0QKImZyYI8Os9jgkt731DoArkxgf88WcGr1M2hhWsaRT2LI9PCzN_cBIp7ME27pm3faj4P1T7Q8pHijIzSxuxsfusmH6yHP-SLSFDY4MGKHgM/s1600/Tenskwatawa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcRKdWdbeb2iXPthYeeUR5fdZNC-RgMI0QKImZyYI8Os9jgkt731DoArkxgf88WcGr1M2hhWsaRT2LI9PCzN_cBIp7ME27pm3faj4P1T7Q8pHijIzSxuxsfusmH6yHP-SLSFDY4MGKHgM/s1600/Tenskwatawa.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tenskwatawa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Dowd says the inter-tribal
and intra-tribal conflicts in leadership actually bolstered the motivation of
the nativists, who argued that the neutral chiefs' failure to respect Indian
cultural and spiritual values was partly to blame for the degradation of their
culture and way of life. Did the neutral chiefs make the same criticism of the
prophets? By implication, Dowd suggests that most nativist and accommodationist
chiefs were doing their honorable best for their people. This viewpoint should
be challenged; can it be confirmed? What was the motivation of the prophets and
nativist chiefs? Did Tenskwatawa share personal attributes with Martin Luther King?
with Billy Graham? with Elmer Gantry?</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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What primary military,
political, economic and cultural factors were important to the neutral chiefs
and to the prophets? Was their strife righteously motivated and conscientiously
implemented? How much of it, if any, was simply opportunistic, localized
internal wrangling for political power and personal prestige? Did the warriors
and the people and the clans who actively supported the chiefs fully understand
the implications of their commitments? Did the warriors follow Tecumseh for
glory or for their informed vision of a better future? Did any Indian chiefs
believe there was a third version of doing "the right thing"?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://historybottomlines.blogspot.com/2015/10/you-can-call-him-quake.html"><span style="color: blue;">You can call him Quake</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2015/10/first-drunk-driving-arrest.html">First drunk driving arrest</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2015/10/trash-talk-to-king-george.html">Trash talk to King George</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2015/10/book-review-kingdom-of-kid.html">Book review: The Kingdom of the
Kid</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://magisterlibrorum.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-art-of-rafael-sabatini.html">The art of Rafael Sabatini</a></span><u><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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Copyright © Richard Carl
Subber 2015 All rights reserved.</div>
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Rick Subberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10117679082089176132noreply@blogger.com0