Author Topic: Book Journal  (Read 105622 times)

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Mikey

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #30 on: January 11, 2020, 01:58:39 am »
0


This book was a great read!

"For decades, politicians- Republicans and Democrats both- and pundits had all been spewing empty platitudes of praise for "the heartland", "real America", and "small-town values". Then, with shameless hypocrisy, they supported the very policies that helped destroy thriving small towns.
Corporate elites said they needed free trade agreements, so they got them. Manufacturers said they needed tax breaks and public-money incentives in order to keep their plants operating in the United States, so they got them. Banks and financiers needed looser regulations, so they got them. Employers said they needed weaker unions- or no unions at all- so they got them. Private equity firms said they needed carried interest and secrecy, so they got them. Everybody, including Lancastrians themselves, said they needed lower taxes, so they got them. What did Lancaster and a hundred other towns like it get? Job losses, slashed wages, poor civic leadership, social dysfunction, drugs".

^^ damn.

It's a great book. When inequality goes up, social mobility goes down. There's almost no country on earth where the American Dream is less likely to come true than in the USA. Anybody eager to work their way up from rags to riches is better off trying their luck in Sweden, where people born into poverty can still hold out hope of a brighter future. You have corporate lawyers in the USA earning $1200 an hour while the factory workers are earning $12 an hour while the lawyers are working out how to liquidate it!
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Mikey

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #31 on: January 18, 2020, 02:39:54 am »
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"We live in a time of unprecedented upheaval, with questions about the future, society, work, happiness, family and money, and yet no political party of the right or left is providing us with answers. Rutger Bregman, a bestselling Dutch historian, explains that it needn't be this way.

Bregman shows that we can construct a society with visionary ideas that are, in fact, wholly implementable. Every milestone of civilization – from the end of slavery to the beginning of democracy – was once considered a utopian fantasy. New utopian ideas such as universal basic income and a 15-hour work week can become reality in our lifetime.

This guide to a revolutionary yet achievable utopia is supported by multiple studies, lively anecdotes and numerous success stories. From a Canadian city that once completely eradicated poverty, to Richard Nixon's near implementation of a basic income for millions of Americans, Bregman takes us on a journey through history, beyond the traditional left-right divides, as he introduces ideas whose time has come".

"IMO, It didn't happen if it's not on vid/official"- adarqui

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Mikey

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #32 on: January 18, 2020, 02:58:44 am »
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This book is basically about an Irishman who immigrated to the USA and joined the NYPD and his experiences being a cop.

He described felons as this:
"Felons are, in reality, non-persons in the USA. At best, from the moment the judge’s gavel falls until the day they die they are second class citizens, with none of the rights the rest of us take for granted, including grant aid, which is automatically denied to anyone convicted of a felony. That means if you do try to turn your back on crime, there will be no money for college or business start-ups and no place for you in public housing. Felons are not allowed to vote, and at anytime they can be stopped and questioned by members of law enforcement who have a reasonable suspicion they are up to no good. A felony conviction ends your life as you know it".

No wonder the USA has such high recidivism rates compared to other developed countries!!!

More insightful Review of the book:
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/nypd-green-by-luke-waters-review-an-irish-cop-s-lively-memoir-1.2241751

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Mikey

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #33 on: February 23, 2020, 06:19:01 am »
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Very alarmist book wrote in 2014 and none of the predictions came true. Quite opposite with booming real esate and share markets!





Book co-wrote by Robert Kiyosaki and Trump with most of the contribution coming from Kiyosaki. They discuss how the US system of pensions/welfare is unsustainable and how you can't depend upon the government to look after you.
« Last Edit: February 23, 2020, 06:21:35 am by Mutumbo000 »
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LBSS

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #34 on: February 23, 2020, 08:41:54 am »
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i'm gonna go out on a limb and say the last book is full of shit.
Muscles are nonsensical they have nothing to do with this bullshit.

- Avishek

https://www.savannahstate.edu/cost/nrotc/documents/Inform2010-thearmstrongworkout_Enclosure15_5-2-10.pdf

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Coges

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #35 on: February 23, 2020, 08:30:30 pm »
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i'm gonna go out on a limb and say the last book is full of shit.

I haven't read the book but I can imagine the message. Don't rely on others and make money to look after yourself. He/it may not be to everyone's liking but I think it's a message more people need to listen to. Making money is a different kind game to what everyone is taught in school. 
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LBSS

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #36 on: February 24, 2020, 02:54:58 pm »
+1
i'm gonna go out on a limb and say the last book is full of shit.

I haven't read the book but I can imagine the message. Don't rely on others and make money to look after yourself. He/it may not be to everyone's liking but I think it's a message more people need to listen to. Making money is a different kind game to what everyone is taught in school.

the lie is deeper than that, though. the US welfare system is strained because people like donald trump want it to be. we have the resources to do a better, fairer job looking after each other than we do. that we don't is a political choice, and it's one that books like that play a part in supporting.

i'm not saying making money is wrong, or that self-help books focusing on how to invest better or save or whatever are all useless or false. you're right: we don't learn nearly enough in school about how money and finance work and if you're not born rich there's no obvious place to start learning stuff like that. i've got a book like that on the shelf: the millionaire teacher. but i haven't read it because thinking about money and investing and long-term and blah blah blah is intimidating and it's easier to muddle through.

but convincing poor people that the government can't help them, that any sense of collective responsibility is a constraint on individual potential, and they should rely on themselves is one of the most important strategies of economic and political elites have used to drive the concentration of wealth at the top, the gradual hollowing out of the middle class, and worsening quality of life for the poor in the US, UK, and other places over the last 40 years (not to mention a lot of other problems). i mean, class mobility is worse in the US than in the UK, which still has a real live aristocracy. plus, human beings are social, we rely on each other all the time! the idea that we don't or shouldn't is ludicrous, and it's worth thinking about who that idea serves. the 20th-century ideal of a man who goes out and works to feed his family of four while his wife takes care of the kids and the house relies on the wife taking care of the kids and the house without being paid. erasing that interconnectedness and reinforcing the idea that everyone is an individual whose sole purpose is to maximize their own gain is just wrong.

so sure, look out for yourself, try to make more money, yeah. but i wish more people would think about how to make our shared institutions do a better job of looking out for everyone. and for the love of god, who on earth would take financial advice from donald fucking trump? born rich as hell, a deeply terrible businessman who's gone bankrupt multiple times only to be bailed out repeatedly by his racist slumlord father, he'd be richer than he is today if he'd put the cash daddy gave him in an index fund and then sat back and done nothing. and he's now a deeply corrupt president who is using the US government as a way to funnel cash to his businesses. anything he has to say about finance is either stolen from somebody else -- in which case just go read that person -- or a lie.
Muscles are nonsensical they have nothing to do with this bullshit.

- Avishek

https://www.savannahstate.edu/cost/nrotc/documents/Inform2010-thearmstrongworkout_Enclosure15_5-2-10.pdf

black lives matter

Mikey

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #37 on: February 25, 2020, 05:36:01 am »
+1
i'm gonna go out on a limb and say the last book is full of shit.

I haven't read the book but I can imagine the message. Don't rely on others and make money to look after yourself. He/it may not be to everyone's liking but I think it's a message more people need to listen to. Making money is a different kind game to what everyone is taught in school.

the lie is deeper than that, though. the US welfare system is strained because people like donald trump want it to be. we have the resources to do a better, fairer job looking after each other than we do. that we don't is a political choice, and it's one that books like that play a part in supporting.

i'm not saying making money is wrong, or that self-help books focusing on how to invest better or save or whatever are all useless or false. you're right: we don't learn nearly enough in school about how money and finance work and if you're not born rich there's no obvious place to start learning stuff like that. i've got a book like that on the shelf: the millionaire teacher. but i haven't read it because thinking about money and investing and long-term and blah blah blah is intimidating and it's easier to muddle through.

but convincing poor people that the government can't help them, that any sense of collective responsibility is a constraint on individual potential, and they should rely on themselves is one of the most important strategies of economic and political elites have used to drive the concentration of wealth at the top, the gradual hollowing out of the middle class, and worsening quality of life for the poor in the US, UK, and other places over the last 40 years (not to mention a lot of other problems). i mean, class mobility is worse in the US than in the UK, which still has a real live aristocracy. plus, human beings are social, we rely on each other all the time! the idea that we don't or shouldn't is ludicrous, and it's worth thinking about who that idea serves. the 20th-century ideal of a man who goes out and works to feed his family of four while his wife takes care of the kids and the house relies on the wife taking care of the kids and the house without being paid. erasing that interconnectedness and reinforcing the idea that everyone is an individual whose sole purpose is to maximize their own gain is just wrong.

so sure, look out for yourself, try to make more money, yeah. but i wish more people would think about how to make our shared institutions do a better job of looking out for everyone. and for the love of god, who on earth would take financial advice from donald fucking trump? born rich as hell, a deeply terrible businessman who's gone bankrupt multiple times only to be bailed out repeatedly by his racist slumlord father, he'd be richer than he is today if he'd put the cash daddy gave him in an index fund and then sat back and done nothing. and he's now a deeply corrupt president who is using the US government as a way to funnel cash to his businesses. anything he has to say about finance is either stolen from somebody else -- in which case just go read that person -- or a lie.

 I saw the book in the library and decided to give it a read. I remember about 7 years ago I read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and thought it was a great book at the time. It was different than the usual finance books that all have the same 'live below your means and save x amount' and eventually you'll be financially secure. Kiyosaki claims that saving is a waste of money because since the US came off the gold standard, banks just print money so inflation makes money worthless. Therefore, he advocates for investing in assets by using other people's money (OPM). The major point Kiyosaki omits is that in order to borrow OPM you have to have a sizable income. Rather then avoiding debt Kiyosaki explains the difference between good debt (assets that produce income) and bad debt and advocates for people not being afraid to use debt and leverage in order to build up a sufficient asset base.

https://www.thewealthadvisor.com/article/donald-trump-would-be-richer-if-hed-have-invested-index-funds

Literally half the book was just shameless self-promotion from Kiyosaki and Trump bragging about their wealth and the 90/10 rule. 90% of businesses fail while the other 10% thrive. They expect that in an increasingly globalised society this trend will become more entrenched. Ageing populations throughout the developed world were used as another the reason why the USA will not be able to provide adequate welfare for pensioners in the future.

The irony is that Trump and Republican politicians always claim that there isn't enough money to fund welfare, education and government services and are continually looking for "efficiencies". Yet they have no qualms about tax cuts that drain revenue and increase budget deficits, which they use as the justification for cutting services. In South Korea their currently undertaking uncoventional economic policy. The government has raised the minimum wage significantly and plans to fiscally stimulate the economy through increasing the public service and infrastructure spending. If the experiment is successful other countries may take note instead of following the same 'trickle down' policies and privitisation schemes, which have been implemented since Thatcher/Reagan in the 1980's.

Personally I hope for the best. Although, I'm preparing myself for the worst and investing for a rainy day.
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Mikey

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #38 on: April 24, 2020, 09:32:55 am »
0
Non-book related but my 401k took a substantial hit in March due to coronavirus.



I Plan to retire at 60 so I've got 31 years left if I live that long.
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Mikey

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #39 on: April 24, 2020, 09:38:25 am »
+1
All of the libraries in my city have been closed for the last 4 weeks so I haven't read as much. Recently read the following books though:


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Mikey

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #40 on: April 25, 2020, 12:32:15 am »
+1
This was a fascinating book.


I wouldn't be surprised if they make a movie out of this one day. It's based on the story of an American whistle blower who spent time working in Swiss banks.

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/business/whistle-blower-awarded-104-million-by-irs.html
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Mikey

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #41 on: April 30, 2020, 06:24:53 am »
+1


"People who assist authorities in endeavouring to prosecute Paul Dale have a pretty poor life expectancy. Two of them have been murdered." - Gary Livermore lawyer for the Australian Crime Commission.

This book is from an ex-detective suspected of a double murder. He was charged with conspiracy to murder but ultimately the charges were dropped. Obviously he is going to say that he's innocent, but it's interesting how the police pursued him for 10 years and spent millions of dollars on convincing people to testify against him.

My opinion is that he didn't get anyone killed but as the head of a drug squad he was being accused of being corrupt as one of his detectives got busted robbing a known drug house with an informer. The informer stated that Paul Dale was also involved in the robbery and had planned it and they were going to split the proceeds. The detective refused to implicate Paul Dale. The police ended up charging Paul Dale with the robbery but before the trial commenced the informer and his wife were both shot in the back of the head in their residence, which led to the robbery charges for Paul Dale being dropped.

A few years later a convicted criminal was looking to make a plea bargain with police and alleges that Paul Dale came to him to organise for the informer to get murdered. Paul Dale denies this. Paul Dale's lawyer breached her client privilege and also came forward to the police implicating Paul Dale in the murder of the Hodson's. Paul Dale was charged for murder but before the case went to trial the convicted criminal got murdered in his cell for being a "dog".

 In his book  Paul Dale admitted that he he made people informers without their knowledge (Tommy Ivanovich) that could lead to these people being killed if their status was found out, albeit mistakenly as they never agreed to become informers. The evidence of him being involved in the robbery was all from a police informer who obviously had ulterior motives to try and lessen his sentence. Although, Paul Dale was a somewhat dodgy cop I don't think he would have been found guilty for the robbery, which is why I can't see why he would have ordered for the murder of the informer and his wife.

It was a a good read.
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/bad-company-lifting-the-lid-on-the-terence-hodson-murder-case-20150116-12s24g.html
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Mikey

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #42 on: July 07, 2020, 10:22:01 am »
+2
The library opened up again about a month ago so I've been doing a lot of reading on the train again.

Recent books I've read:


The book was similar to Freakonomics and just discussed how incentives can alter behavior. It was a good read.


This was a fairly 'dry' read. It discusses and challenges mainstream economic theory and details the weaknesses of economics as a discipline and to what that means for economic analysis.


"Offering a range of practical reforms that it deems are essential and urgent, this compilation argues against Australia’s enthusiastic adoption of free-market economics. A unique perspective from a highly qualified expert, this volume explains how the triumph of a fundamentally flawed economic orthodoxy has weakened the economy and now threatens the country’s future. Examining the economic theories that have shaped Australia over the past 30 years, this account demonstrates the strategic strength of combining the bureaucracy and the media and proposes new tactics for prosperity and opportunity in times to come".


It's crazy that I had never learnt about this guy during high school! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Leopold%27s_Ghost
"In the late nineteenth century, when the great powers in Europe were tearing Africa apart and seizing ownership of land for themselves, King Leopold of Belgium took hold of the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. In his devastatingly barbarous colonization of this area, Leopold stole its rubber and ivory, pummelled its people and set up a ruthless regime that would reduce the population by half. While he did all this, he carefully constructed an image of himself as a deeply feeling humanitarian".

The exact number of people killed in the Congo is unknown but it's estimated to be anywhere from 3-15 million people. Apart from being murdered they were forced onto expeditions and basically enslaved to build railroads and work on rubber plantations. If they weren't dying from disease and exhaustion they were having limbs and heads cut off for failing to meet rubber quotas. It wasn't until missionaries and people that couldn't be bought to silence started speaking out about what was happening in the Congo, that the international community finally started to take notice.
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LBSS

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #43 on: July 07, 2020, 12:51:14 pm »
+1
if you liked those econ books, you might like doughnut economics, by kate raworth.

king leopold's ghost has been on the list for ages, how was it?
Muscles are nonsensical they have nothing to do with this bullshit.

- Avishek

https://www.savannahstate.edu/cost/nrotc/documents/Inform2010-thearmstrongworkout_Enclosure15_5-2-10.pdf

black lives matter

Mikey

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Re: Book Journal
« Reply #44 on: July 09, 2020, 05:46:34 am »
+2
if you liked those econ books, you might like doughnut economics, by kate raworth.

king leopold's ghost has been on the list for ages, how was it?

King Leopold's Ghost is a long read but it's very informative. If you like reading about history you would enjoy the book.
"IMO, It didn't happen if it's not on vid/official"- adarqui

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