I was unimpressed by Graeber’s Debt: The First 5,000 Years. Its conclusions were juvenile, a moralist’s wish to abolish the machinery that sustains civilization. Debt is not an aberration of justice; it is its ledger. The financial edifice may be flawed, but it is constructed and destroying it is not an option. Even sovereign adversaries,Continue reading “Financial Warfare Redux”
Tag Archives: Putin
Rewind the Clock
Arnold Toynbee’s A Study of History is a 12-volume monster. I have read only the two-volume abridgement (many years past), which preserves Toynbee’s central thesis that there is a pattern to history. Civilizations rise and fall primarily in response to specific challenges; whatever those challenges are will be defining, and they must also be of the right pressure.Continue reading “Rewind the Clock”
The Russian Way of War
Tyler Cowen pointed to >this< post by Gilbert Doctorow on The Russian Way of War, a title that alludes to Hanson’s seminal work. Doctorow is a convincing writer and has a corpus of work that builds a defense of Putin’s position. I admire his intelligence and flair as demonstrated >here< in melding Bulgakov with AmericanContinue reading “The Russian Way of War”
Protective Arts 