The Disappointed Idealist

The Story of Che Guevara by Lucía Álvarez de Toledo My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book is written more from a personal perspective, rather than a historical one. It means to introduce us to Che the human being rather than the revolutionary. The author is obviously an admirer of Che's - and she admits so from the start. Her sources are Che's diaries, his letters to his family and the testimonials of people who fought by his side. I do not doubt the accuracy of the sources but we must bare in mind that they are presenting only one point of view: Che's. The author glosses over his less admirable acts and executions and I do not feel that she addresses them strong enough to convince me that the other side did not also have a valid point. If you want an objective view on Che, this may not be the best choice. But it's a good story, it's well written and it's an accurate portrayal of at least one side of things. View all my reviews

There are different ways to judge this. There's the whole 'it's not what's going on that's hurting you, as much as how you perceive what is going on'. And yes, that is also true, and it may be the subject of a different blog entry later on. The perspective I want to touch upon is the one of the things we do to ourselves. The fact that we cannot stop ourselves from digging into shit, even though we know it will not do us any good to do so. Kind of like watching a car crash. Or like all the stupid horror movie characters that always seem to go right where the serial killer is waiting for them rather than getting away from the noise. Why do we do this? Why can't we learn the first time that some things are better not done and not said? That certain people (or types of people) will always hurt us and that we either educate ourselves to be insensitive to them or steer clear of them? I have no answer to my own questions. On this subject, I am weaker than mos

This is one question that is bound to haunt each and every one of us at least once in our lifetime: what should we hang on to and what should we let go of? Being too rigid is not good - you need to listen to the other side and at least try to understand it. On the other hand at which point giving in to the other side becomes giving up on yourself and what you are? It's one of the unfortunate things in life - you can never truly evaluate the consequences of the choices you make until you have actually made them. You will not know whether giving up on something would be too much too bare for you until you have actually done it. There may be an inkling beforehand that may point you in one direction or the other... but the only way to truly know is to go through with it. Giving up on yourself for another person will eventually lead to frustration. Frustration usually leads to people falling apart. Of all the what-if's in life, this is one type of choice that will forever st

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild My rating: 4 of 5 stars Most of the Western civilization as we know today is built on the money brought on from exploiting other people. There is no greater reminder of that than Adam Hochschild's book about Congo, showing that even the less obvious nations (not so famous for their colonial history) like Belgium have such a gruesome history behind them. The book shows clearly how, in a true marketing exercise, King Leopold built an image for himself of a saviour of "poor African souls" while at the same time exploiting them to the maximum without any consideration for their rights as human beings. Descriptions of torture, beatings and regular disregard for human life show how different Europeans looked down on Africans while at the same time fighting for their own rights and democracy in their own native countries. The saddest part of all to me is the ending which shows

A History of the Middle East by Peter Mansfield My rating: 4 of 5 stars The developed countries in this world are the ones that had the time to develop by themselves, through trial and error, trying out things and establishing what is good for them. Unfortunately, these developed countries are now spending a lot of time not letting other people develop. The history of the Middle East, presented in this book with loads of accuracy and objectivity is showing us what happens when for various reasons areas are not allowed to develop by themselves. At first it was the Christianity vs Islam aspect, then there was the Israel aspect, then there was the oil aspect. For various reasons and for the sake of the interests of countries far away from the Middle East, the Middle East is now the mess that it is. It is a mess of the making of the "Great Powers" (first the British, then the Americans). Yes, there's nothing that we can do about what's done. But it would be great if we

Nothing But the Truth: Selected Dispatches by Anna Politkovskaya My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a book that needs to be read if not for any other reason than for us to remember what war brings. To remember what happens outside our zone of comfort to people just like us who had the misfortune to be born in an area where other nations' interest decided that a warzone must be created. This is what happens when nationalism and pride in your nation goes to the extent of not respecting other nations' right to live. In a world where most of the people reading this book have no worse worries than paying their mortgages and loans to buy cars and phones, there are people who don't even know whether or not they will live another day. And when the worst strikes, it doesn't even strike fast, because the people of which this book talks of are tortured in the most inhuman ways you can think of. And this happens while the Western society ignores it and numbs itself into oblivion. W

I have never been accused of being an optimistic person. But where is that fine line where you cross from realistically anticipating potential negative consequences of your actions to focusing on the negative? There is a certain safety in being able to predict the negative and having a back-up plan for it. The safety from having a back-up plan comes from the fact that you can honestly say 'worst case scenario, I will still be OK'. Does that mean that you're focusing on the potential negative issues or does that make you rational and prudent? Surely, we all want the best for ourselves and we all hope for the best. But belief based on the 'happy arrangement of planets' conspiring to ensure the best case scenario happens to you with no basis in fact may find you helpless in the face of 'unfortunate arrangement of planets'. Because despite what we might like to believe, we are not the center of the universe  and the universe does not conspire to achieve ou

It just so happens that yesterday I was talking to someone about this and then today I found this article: How Michigan literally poisoned an entire city to save a few bucks . I will let you read the details, but the conclusion is what needs to remain: "Being a cheapskate can be expensive indeed." The article is written from an economic point of view, so I will adopt the same tone from then on, but let's not forget the damage done to actual children and human beings, a damage which cannot be measured in money. But, by all means, let's be as cynical as the people making these decisions and let's just talk in terms of how much money these decisions will cost them (because, yes, money makes the world go round and health is a minor issue). We've just come out of a period of crisis. During this time lots of companies laid off a lot of people for reasons of cost-saving. I can totally understand the decision, hard as it may be for me as an employee, what I am