Book Reviews

When it comes to accumulating knowledge - and by extension, wisdom, discipline, fortitude and aptitude - no pastime is so conducive as reading. Reading is the means by which the mind is liberated and the tempers checked. If you have a tendency to extremism, reading opposing viewpoints with an open mind can effect some remedy. Reading bestows a certain presence of mind upon all men and women, and, provided that one is guided by genuine curiosity rather than fascistic parochialism, can provide the raw material for engaging with a modern and complex world. The objective is to strive to understand what one does not know - about the world and oneself - and to mould oneself into the ultimate person.


- A.C. Grayling's The God Argument
- N.N. Taleb's The Black Swan
- Noam Chomsky's Who Rules the World? 
- Michael Lewis', The Undoing Project

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What can we do about Political Correctness?

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In this third part to the series of articles on political correctness, I discuss what may be done to reverse its tide and its accompanying symptoms. I understand that this might be wishful thinking, but the preliminary to action is planning. In any case, there is much to be said for excising political correctness from one’s life – anyone willing to take the first, personal, steps to become more frank and assertive, rather than wallow in a culture of self-pity and victimhood, will reap dividends in terms of social capital. What I mean with respect to the individual is simply: let others take care of themselves; you should be independent and a little selfish, even if it risks offending others. This culture of personal responsibility is no doubt antithetical to the dictates of communal values, but it is most consistent with progress and personal advancement.
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Book Review: Noam Chomsky's Who Rules The World?

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The eminent linguist Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus of linguistics and philosophy at MIT, pours invective at the accepted political narrative promulgated by the then-Obama Administration. Written before the possibility of President Trump’s electoral victory cast its ominous shadow over American politics, Chomsky’s book peels apart the hypocrisy of the American government, evident (provided, that is, one had the requisite information) since the onset of the Cold War. In an incisive and searing analysis of contemporary American policies, Chomsky persuasively substantiates his point: that America, for all its talk of morality and freedom, actively works against the proliferation of the values treasured at home. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent end of the ideological conflict, America has found itself embroiled in one military quagmire after another, destabilizing and radicalizing the very regions and peoples it criticizes for harboring terrorist
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