A Week in Reading

I haven't done this in a while, and I'm not sure how often I would do this, but I thought I would share some of what I've been reading this past week. I am not intending to do "book reviews" anymore, outside of quick blurbs and ratings on Goodreads, but I still like to think and share what I'm reading. But anymore, with as much other material that I read (news stories, long form journalism, etc.), thinking about what I read in the past week isn't simply limited to books anymore. So, some of the best I read this week...

1. Inside the Trial of Dylann Roof - a piece in last week's The New Yorker, the author, Jelani Cobb, writes about covering the trial of Roof, who murdered 9 Black Americans in an historic Charleston church. The writing is terrific, but what I was really taken with is how well Cobb presents the issue of the Death Penalty throughout the story. For those of us who have strong opinions against the use of the death penalty (particularly due to racial inconsistencies in its application), the Roof case can present a more difficult quandary.

2. The New Face of American Unemployment - The article briefly discusses the structural changes in unemployment in the American economy before sharing 5 short glimpses into examples of the "new face." Those 5 stories are important for the breadth of experiences they relate, and hopefully put a human face on a situation that is unlikely to go anywhere for awhile.

3. Trump Gets a Powerful Lesson in Role of judiciary - There were many stories this week, particularly at the end, regarding the role of the judiciary branch of U.S. government; especially so following the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the stay of President Trump's executive order on immigration/refugees. Part of me was surprised by the court decision, thinking it might go the other way (particularly as to refugees) (and it still might, once it is fully decided on the merits). But, in any event, this read, from the great Washington Post, does a nice job summarizing the issues and what is likely to be an ongoing "clash" between the executive and judicial branches (on the assumption that the legislative continues to have no will to do anything in response to either or the other branches).

4. The Desperate Battle to Destroy ISIS - This longread, also from last week's The New Yorker, is, simply, the best piece of journalism I have read in a while, and maybe ever. It will take a while to read, but its worth it. Go read it. Now.

Other than those pieces, I have been reading American Amnesia this week, a book about how America has forgotten the role effective government played in making American economically wealthy. I'm only a quarter of the way through it, but I keep having a recurring thought. Candidate Trump made part of his campaign successful on this notion of "Make America Great Again." This book, thus far, provides some convincing evidence that there is something to the idea that America is not as "great" as it used to be - there is declining income to the middle of the economy, declining health and quality of life, and so on. But the reasons for that decline, per the authors, is that we have pushed for less and less government involvement in regulating the economy, among other factors. It is an interesting read thus far, and while I doubt the President's ideas of making America great again will be remotely similar to what the authors are suggesting, I think there's been value in the reading to the book to understand the structural and political decisions that have impacted our modern economy and quality of life.

And seriously, go read The New Yorker piece on the battle to destroy ISIS.