21 Lessons for The 21st Century by Yuval Harari – my previous note on this is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/07/21-lessons-for-21st-century-by-yuval.html where I have thousands of other reviews - 10 out of 10

 

21 Lessons for The 21^st Century by Yuval Harari – my previous note on this is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/07/21-lessons-for-21st-century-by-yuval.html where I have thousands of other reviews

 

10 out of 10

 

Yuval Harari is one of the luminaries of our age, he is the author of the mesmerizing Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/02/sapiens-brief-history-of-humankind-by.html a great work, if proved a bit overoptimistic perhaps, with hindsight, but that is just petty criticism and not worth much

 

In Sapiens, Yuval Harari comments on the fantastic period of peace which humans have enjoyed in the last part of the twentieth century, and now that there is a war in Ukraine – invaded by Russia, let me be clear on my stand, it was not the Americans pushing anything, it was Putin – and another in Gaza, well, what about peace?

This would be a lamentable take on such a sophisticated volume, for yes, the thinker is right, people have enjoyed a period of progress – somehow, I think of Flourish https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/11/flourish-by-martin-seligman-part-1.html by Martin Seligman, co-founder of positive psychology

 

 

Furthermore, since the war in Ukraine had started, Yuval Harai has had some excellent analysis of the conflict and the outcomes, he wrote a couple (was it two, I wonder) of articles for The Economist in which he estimated that spending on defense will increase, and it did, a congress man spoke about this and the perspective

America may have to go to ten percent of GDP allocated to military kit, because as it is, it could not cope with crisis on a few fronts, we have the wars aforementioned, and what about China trying to invade Taiwan, what would happen then, with the limited means we have seen, not enough weapons to fight the Russians

 

 I remember dialogues at the Downtown Club, where conspiracy theorists (we have those all over the world) claimed it was NATO, The Big Satan that provoked the big bear, and for the last years of the war in Ukraine we could see that the opposite is actually true, the Americans are holding the Ukrainians back in a few ways

Let me pause and introduce a spoiler alert, because I got going on this topic, and like Orange Jesus, I will not stay on the alleged subject, but put in my view of the 21^st Century, and for a different take on the 21 Lessons, I have included at the top the first note on it, however flawed that is as well, and the perils facing us…

 

Instead of arming Ukraine, the US has actually dragged its feet, especially because of the Orange Felon, favorite to be the next commander in chief, who prevented his cohorts in congress from voting for the packages proposed by the Biden administration – and on that subject, this is a loathsome ghoul, an established crook

Indeed, one former representative, from the once great republican party, explained how this orange mess would not be allowed to join the armed forces – and he could well command over them all, soon – because of his criminal record, he would not be hired for a multitude of positions, on that same 34 counts for which he was declared guilty!

 

As it is, even Biden is telling the Ukrainians that they cannot use missiles and other weapons sent by America to hit targets in Russia – and another article, in the same The Economist of this week, has the title which explains that this is hurting the efforts of that state, under so much pressure and trauma provoked by Putin and his acolytes

As it is, around the world you find all sorts of other human refuse that embrace Putin, and they are loathsome in their own right, say Maduro, who just lost the elections, stole them, and declared that Christmas will arrive on…October 1, to distract, get the attention away from the fraud, and use any crazy means

 

Even the largest democracy, India, has a leader with a lot of baggage and skeletons in his cupboard, buying a lot of fuel from Russia, hugging Putin, giving legitimacy to one of the worst monsters alive, and then there is Xi, another despot, who is keeping Russia and its dictator funded, through the huge trade between them

The European Union and allies have tried to provoke pain to the war mongers, but without much success, Putin’s economy is not shrinking, it is actually overheating (or was a while back) and alleged friends have found ways to bypass the sanctions, Central Asia is now in big IT business with Putin, so as to give them ways to make weapons

 

Erdogan is supposed to be a member of NATO, only he acts as if he is crazy, first of all, and then he supports the enemies, not his friends (he is no friend really of the West) he bought missiles from Russia, and with that there was an embargo, because the nemesis would be able to get the secrets through this fool

When that leader of Hamas – a terrorist outfit, no question about it – was killed in Tehran, Erdogan had Turkish flags flying at half mast, members of that horrifying outfit find refuge in Turkey, they recruit attackers there, it is an outrageous situation, and a few days ago, they attacked some sailors in Izmir, their alluded allies!

In conclusion, there would be so much we need to learn from Yuval Harari, from the way cars will not have drivers, the software would give us the chance to be driven by a combination between Michael Schumacher and Kant

 

 Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”