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Explorations in Economic Liberalism contains some of the Wincott Lectures. Over the years some of the most famous free market economists in the world have used the opportunity of an invitation to speak at a Wincott lecture to bring to a wider audience some of the most theoretical concepts in a clear and understandable manner which I am sure would have met with Harold Wincott's total approval.
Milton Friedman begins the volume with a paper on the counter-revolution in monetary theory which is a lucid exposition of the central tenents of monetarism. James Meade , in the second paper apllies his customary analytical skill to a consideration of wages and pricing in a mixed economy with particular emphasis on the labor market. Friedrich Hayek's concern is with the temptations which bear on democratically elected government and their subsequent impact on the economic system. Lionel Robbins looks at postwar economic policy in Britain while Alan Peacock looks at the survival of liberal economic ideas and their promulgation in the future.
Alan Walters main concern too is the performance of the British economy in the post war years and the crucial role that money plays in the economic system. George Stigler examines the relationship between business and regulation and argues for less of the latter. Deepak Lal offers a critique of developmental planning in the third world in view of the overwhelnming evidence being collected against it. Anna Schwartz returns to the question of money in her exposition on currency boards while finally Jagdish Bhagwati further promotes the benefits to be gained from free trade in a paper concerning the new World Trade Organisation.
This volume offers a wealth of economic ideas from some of best minds in economics in a way that can be understood by the average reader. While some of the concepts may be difficult one common theme is that freedom benefits everyone through free markets and free trade. Governments, supposedly for the people have their own agenda and their own interests at heart. It is an excellent book and should be on the reading lists of any worthwhile economics program.
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With these words, Henry Thoreau ended his world-famous masterpiece, "Walden", neatly summarizing the essence of both his book and his life: that we are all on a journey of awakening to the divine fullness of Life. Like the writings of great saints and mystics through time, "Walden" is less one man's philosophical musings than it is the ecstatic outpouring of a soul that has "dipped into the well of eternal Truths" and held up the dipper for the rest of us to drink from.
But the real wonder of "Walden" is that it speaks even more to the problems of our nation today than it did 150 years ago -- that we are living "lives of quiet desperation", our souls drowning in a sea of materialism and media messages, our natural environment poisoned and obliterated before our slightly-open eyes. We are out of touch with the rhythms of nature and with our own beingness.
Yet Thoreau does not merely describe the problems of our time, he gives specific solutions -- solutions that are increasingly respoken if not practiced: Follow a different drummer. Follow not your neighbor nor your parents nor anyone else, but follow the genius within yourself. Sit still and listen to the divine music within. Simplify.
There's a reason Thoreau's "Walden" has never been out of print since the 1860's, and possibly never will: it's a message we need to hear, more than ever.
I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. This is mindless jungle entertainment at it's best. Of course it's ludicrous that a human baby could survive living with a family of apes. Of course it's silly that the human could not only survive but thrive to become the supreme jungle power. Of course it's ridiculous that he could teach himself to read and write English from books alone. Does all that really matter though? Of course not. Don't expect deep characters, life-changing philosophies, or even intricate plotting. Burroughs wrote this book as entertainment, pure and simple.
Burroughs style may be a bit dated but he certainly does know how to write an engrossing adventure tale. He uses tried and true writing techniques like ending chapters on cliffhangers and presenting his protagonist as the underdog in a struggle against all odds. Early on in the book I found myself rooting completely for Tarzan.
For the sensitive reader, I'll offer a couple of warnings. First, Burroughs presents native Africans as superstitious, cannibalistic "savages". Second, the book is surprisingly violent. I'm sure that in the screen adaptations Tarzan never stabbed or throttled to death so many humans and animals.
One final caution -- the book ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger. Make sure to have "The Return of Tarzan" ready.
The Weissmuller movies didn't get him right. The TV series haven't got him right. And the Disney movie CERTAINLY won't get him right. Burrough's original narration of the story of Tarzan is a mix of bloodthirsty savagery and unrestrained suspension of disbelief that few would attempt to capture these days.
The Tarzan series is unique among his author's body of work. Where the Barsoom, Pellucidar and Caspak series concern modern men travelling to exotic lands and falling in love with native women, this time around it is a modern woman who comes to the wilderness and steals the heart of the savage protagonist, who must now step up to her civilized ways.
The tale is laced with bloody scenes of man-against-man and man-against-beast rampage. The great apes among which Tarzan grows are a cannibal species, who eat the prisioners of raids against other simian clans. The king ape kills Tarzan's father in a moment where he is caught off guard, mourning the recent death of his wife. When Tarzan first encounters men (an African tribe), he hunts and kills one of them to steal his arrows (killing being the way of the jungle, since Tarzan knows nothing of human behavior). Also, these men turn out to be cannibals too. And when the white men finally arrive, they raid their village and kill almost every one in an attempt to rescue a captured comrade.
After growing wild among beasts, Tarzan (whose name menas White Skin) realizes that he is different from his ape family. And through a series of inventions of his own (like making a rope) and fortunate coincides (like the use of a found hunting knife), he steps up the evolutionary ladder by himself. The moment he learns to read and write from illustrated primers and a dictionary is among the most improbable in the whole book. But if we have kept up with it until now, allowing ourselves to accept that a human child can be raised by apes, then his ascension to superiority isn't that hard to embrace.
Tarzan turns out to be the primeveal lovesick nerd. After the first time he sees Jane Porter (the first white woman he ever casts his eyes on), his heart is all for her. He writes her a love letter, which smacks of the most pityful puppy love ("I want you. I am yours. You are mine... When you see this you will know that it is for you and that Tarzan of the Apes loves you"). Yet our hero is true and noble, and he holds the upper hand in his homeland. The girl can't do anything but be carried away by her primeveal pretender.
I recommend you get this edition I'm reviewing, the one by Penguin. Besides the introduction which gives a valuable background to the place of Tarzan among popular literature and some details on the life of Edgar Rice Burroughs, it contains a series of notes that signal where he took some liberties with his story's setting (like placing American plants in the African jungle).
The English is a little bit archaic, the characterization tends to cartoon and stereotype, but the story is powerful and nothing captures the beauty of the original like the original itself. Read Tarzan of the Apes, and meet again for the first time an archetypical hero of timeless charm.
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