It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism by Bernie Sanders

This sounds like an election manifesto from the beginning till end, and its a good thing because it tells you how author looks at a particular problem, and what are his plans to tackle it.

Capitalism being bad is a very relative point, which means, whether it is good or bad depends on where do you see it from. And its not just filthy rich who thinks its good but even the relatively affluents, and youngsters starting fresh aspire to be on the right side of capitalism. All the arguments against capitalism sound great until we reach at the point of action. And did anybody say trickle down?

If change in taxation system could work we'd have never seen so many tax fugitives or tax camouflage. Anyone who sees that this is unprecedented just need a primer from history. Anyone who thinks this will change needs second thoughts.

This is not something that a system can fix and it will never happen with a change of heart. This is a long process where every step counts, but who knows by the end of the tunnel, there is another tunnel.

The rich will remain rich or even get richer irrespective of the policies (until they really screw up on their own). The system which is not designed to serve the rich has enough loopholes to keep them rich, and be a blocker only for the aspirational (which has been overcome by a lot of youngsters who start humble and end up being in the same soup). And the worst part is that the rich will feel magnanimous and worthy of what they have achieved without being aware of at whose expanse. The thirst for wealth and power is never quenched.

Peace

Victory City by Salman Rushdie

Reading this book in 2023 is a kind of standing up to what happened to the writer. That incident is not unprecedented, and it was bound to happen one day. But the sad part is that the words (not even an argument) can cause people to act in this way.

About the book, it has as much magic as Rushdie's any book. The funny part is that if you're well versed with Indian history, geography, and mythology then you can understand a lot of it without much efforts. That symbolism goes deep into the overall narrative.

Noting beats the Midnight's Children but a frequent reader can get the hang of his writings and, there will be instances where it sounds like something you've already heard before. And the good thing is that that most likely you have, it is just told by Rushdie in his own style of storytelling.

Worth a read.

Love

The Myth of Normal by Gabor Maté

The normal discussed in this book is what should be considered normal in healing. Does the advance medicine turned the people in a mere subject which can be treated for the ailments it suffers? Or can we look at the human life, and its ailments as a whole, and focus on a process which focuses on improving human life ad not on just giving medications for symptoms.

Are diseases an indicator of past sufferings that a patient has gone through? Does a medical practitioner needs to get to the bottom of the cause what is causing this disease?

Writer gives a lot of accounts where the patients denied the modern medicine, and rather worked on their own life to start the healing. This did get the due support from the modern medicine in some cases but for a lot of them the cure was not in medicine but in identifying the cause of it.

It is a well established fact that thoughts do alter the response of our bodies. Different mental conditions cause or cure the sick. There is a whole new field of faith healers who are trained in alternative procedures apart from their own speciality. And one of the appealing feature is that it changes the whole being rather than just the body. And the road to recovery starts from the thoughts. The positive thoughts of forgiving, letting go, accepting and welcoming new are the building blocks of it.

Peace

The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

Stories and myth are part of a culture. And suppression of a culture is not only the loss of a tradition, it is also a decay of a unique, vibrant and different society. Which makes this book unique.

It is a memoir of a family which traditionally deals in magic, myth, and surrealism. A modern mind may not accept the magic of supernatural events but that doesn't make such events any less beautiful for someone who sees them as a second nature.

This books sounds a lot of quackery but the deeper meaning is how we look at our own life, past and present, from an outsider's perspective. How we connect our life events with the lives of others which gives us a sense of connection with this world.

It is not a vey recommended read but it does give you some perspective of life. Even if you don't believe in magic.

Love