Dakota Beacon

Summertime 2020 is Covid-19 sequestration time and a good time to catch up on books new and old. What I am reading (and re-reading) I can recommend to others. A dozen more books could be added to the list, but I’ll constrain myself to a few.

Unequivocally for starters my wife and I read the Bible every evening. The Bible’s ageless wisdom, portrayal of the human condition, and resolution through Jesus Christ is unequalled and without parallel.

Two very readable and edifying books were written by one of my favorite authors, Thomas Sowell. Sowell is a trained economist and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute, Stanford University. Given the abysmal state of economic understanding (Marxism and socialism rule the day usurping capitalism) coupled with the near non-existent teaching of free market economics in schools, Sowell produced something of immeasurable value. “Basic Economics: A Citizen’s Guide to the Economy” explains universal economic principles in plain English. For Sowell, economics is the study of the application of scarce resources which have alternative uses. With this premise, Sowell shows how prosperous countries with few natural resources such as Japan, Switzerland, and South Korea excel while other countries rich in natural resources such as Russia and Mexico remain poor.

His second book, “Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One” examines economic policies such as housing, medical care, and economic development in terms of their immediate effect (politically pleasant) versus long term repercussions (economically unsound). Sowell emphasizes that economics and politics requires thinking beyond immediate consequences. He illustrates how similar incentives and constraints applied across different cultures produce similar outcomes.

Mark Bray wrote an eye-opening account: “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.” As an

insider, Bray illustrates a movement now in the headlines. Professor Bray was an early organizer of Occupy Wall Street and knows of what he speaks. He reveals the tactics of the movement and the philosophy behind it.

Anything by classicist Victor Davis Hanson is worth reading. Hanson has produced some very vivid and well written histories of the ancient Greek world. A reoccurring theme throughout his work is an explanation of why the armies of the West from early Greek times to the present have been the most lethal and effective of any fighting force in the world, bar none. His better known works include “Carnage and Culture,” “The Soul of Battle,” and “The Other Greeks: The Agrarian Roots of Western Civilization.” Regarding classical education, his book “Bonfire of the Humanities: Rescuing the Classics in an Impoverished Age” offers a scathing critique of America’s colleges and universities. His most recent book, “The Case for Trump,” establishes Hanson as a keen observer of contemporary times and circumstances that gave rise to Donald Trump.

Next, there is my all-time favorite (I have many favorites) “How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading” by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. Time and again I have returned to this volume for pleasure and guidance.

Adler quickly identifies the three goals of reading as entertainment (which he dismisses as needing no guidance), information (gathering facts), and understanding (gaining insight). He expounds in great detail on this last goal. Adler also makes the distinction between learning by instruction, which he glosses over, and learning by discovery, his centerpiece. This prepares the reader for a discussion of the four levels of reading.

Additional chapters prime the reader on how to approach different types of printed matter. How to read practical books, literature, poetry, history, science, math, philosophy and social science receive their due.

Adler concludes with one appendix listing recommended classical works and another appendix of exercises and tests demonstrating application of the four reading levels. Ultimately, Adler’s book is directed toward the life and growth of the mind.

Finally, regarding the Coronavirus pandemic with so much misinformation and so little consistent information circulating in the media, I took a profitable trip down memory lane. Retrieving my old philosophy text book from my junior year at Colorado State University, I perused “Logic and the Scientific Method” by Morris R. Cohen and Ernest Nagel. Professor Willard O. Eddy, founder of the CSU philosophy department, taught the course. That text and his course taught me the beauty of clear thinking about the application of science and the scientific method. The better by which to assess the validity of media reports about Covid-19.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).