[WITI No. 027] Accepting a book recommendation from someone who has read one of your faves
Nonstandard Autobiography, extractive vs. inclusive institutions, 10X ROI from Craigslist, Tony Hawk & Dogecoin
Welcome to my returning and new readers. There’s been a handful of new folks and loyal readers who continue to reward me with their attention. I’m especially grateful as I figure out where I’m going on this journey - thank you for accompanying me. Let me know if something hits you this week…
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What I’m Reading(have read, listened to, or consumed)
Born Standing Up by Steve Martin. I am surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I must admit I was not expecting to like it as a much as I did. I have read Martin’s Shopgirl many years ago and enjoyed it too. I was unprepared for the depth of author’s thinking about comedy, career and commitment. His assessment about his parents (and eventually corroborated by his sister) was eye-opening. Oftentimes, a trauma our parents carry sometimes causes a trauma we later are forced to deal with. This book came to me as a recommendation from Sahil Lavingia, founder of Gumroad, an online publishing platform. Follow him on Twitter where he truly shines. He recommended The Social Animal by David Brooks which is one of my favorites. This bet paid off. The book is short but not inconsequential. In terms of autobiography, I’m in unfamiliar territory with some loosely held ideas about stand-up comedy which I would classify as anti-knowledge.
Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu. This is the kind of book I cannot put down. This is my 2nd reading and it’s hitting me differently. One of the main points of the book is that a country’s history (and politics) have an outsized effect on the future success of a nation. If an extractive political system develops, then that system will have a long-term negative effect on members of a nation. If the system is inclusive, then long-term a nation is headed toward prosperity. There are several examples presented to bolster this idea with examples of geographically similar places like Nogales, Mexico & Nogales, Arizona. People in Arizona enjoy an American standard of living while people in Mexico, only a few a miles across the border, experience a noticeable decrease in their lifestyles. The same could be said of North & South Korea. People in the NK have no interest in improving their lifestyle because it can be expropriated for no reason. Why should one work to accomplish more when one won’t experience any benefit from it? The opposite is true in South Korea where one can work hard, improve one’s lot, be rewarded for the work, and have some freedom to achieve some level of success.
Recently I encountered The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee and Race for Profit by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. To be totally honest, I’ve only downloaded the Kindle samples of those two titles but Acemoglu’s book makes me think about how racism is an extractive institution and one that prevents its victims from escaping it.
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10X+ ROI from Craigslist
It was a good weekend. We were able to obtain:
an upright piano in excellent condition. My son loves music and has decided he would like to learn to play piano. I made arrangements to have the piano moved. Me, my son, my brother-in-law and his two stout sons headed to the ‘burbs to pick up our free piano. U-haul charged me $60 for the van. Pianos are freaking heavy and we had to lift it up about 2.5 feet to get it into the van.
Four hours later, hearing the tinkling ivories floating through the neighborhood was serene. I am sore as hell but it was worth it. New dad level unlocked. If you want to check out some of my son’s music, click here.
Real books: 54 volume set of the Brittanica Great Books Series & Will Durant’s 11 volume set of The Story of Civilization. I paid less than $50 for 64 library quality books. Where to put them? I cross-referenced what those books cost from eBay. Low-ball estimates are about $500. I used this information to convince my wife that I would find the shelf space for them.
I love real books. Nassim Taleb talks about buying books. Umberto Eco’s library and anti-library is a thing of beauty. I discussed this at one point with one of my readers, when I shared a this very cool video of Eco’s library and his milling around it.
William Gibson’s quote is always appropriate and applicable regarding the appreciation of books.
The future is already here just not evenly distributed.
There will be always be people who love books and love to read. There are businesses built around 2nd hand books - betterworldbooks.com, Amazon’s used pricing, eBay. Even boutique book businesses on Instagram or book reading businesses like Alex and books.
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Find of the week
I had to rewatch this a couple times but the pun is perfection. If you don’t know who Tony Hawk, you’ll have to google it but it will make a ton of sense after.
I’m not sure what to make of cryptocurrency especially Dogecoin, especially in light of Elon Musk shilling for it on SNL but this video is so good. Enjoy.
That’s all I got.
If you interested in nonstandard autobiography check out, The Art in Yourself with John Lister, who interviews professionals of different backgrounds from TV, theater and movies. The story you think is the story is never the story.
Is your investment of time here better than dogecoin or not? Let others know!
Till next week,
-George