The Queue

I have a great affinity for the year 1979, the year of my birth & the birth of several of my oldest (most long-standing) kith. Beyond this affinity, Mr. Caryl makes an excellent case in support of his thesis that 1979 marked a radical break, in many different & important ways, from the secularism & socialism that were the hallmarks of the blood-soaked 20th century. A choice paragraph from the epilogue, titled "The Problem with Progress":

The idea of progress carries within it the seeds of arrogance. The engineers of social and material advancement can easily succumb to the certainty that their program is scientific, inevitable, indisputable—that progress is, essentially, an end unto itself. But this is true only as long as an overwhelming majority of people within a particular society are willing to accept this vision. The story of 1979 can be seen as the story of those who rejected it.

I have never been comfortable with "conservative" as a description of my politics, in part because of American political discourse's despicable perversion of the words "liberal" & "conservative," in part because of my interventionist views on foreign policy. Also, in part, because there is more to what I believe than a desire to preserve the best of the past alongside the useful innovations & reforms of the present. Strange Rebels has opened my eyes to the notion that perhaps "reactionary" is the best descriptor of my politics, & that I should perhaps name myself a proud reactionary.

Whatever your politics—progressive or conservative, revolutionary or reactionary; whatever the year of your birth—1979, 1969, or 1989; I highly recommend Christian Caryl's Strange Rebels (though, for my money, the book should be titled, simply, 1979 and the Birth of the 21st Century or 1979: The Birth of the 21st Century).

Now for a brief, exploratory sojourn into fiction, by a first-time novelist.

Recently
Matthew Kelly, The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic: How Engaging 1% of Catholics Could Change the World
Mark Mazzetti, The Way of the Knife: The C.I.A., a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth
Christian Caryl, Strange Rebels: 1979 and the Birth of the 21st Century

Currently
Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni

Presently
Jonah Goldberg, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Swords of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Synthetic Men of Mars
Sir Ernest Shackleton, South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Llana of Gathol
Edgar Rice Burroughs, John Carter of Mars
Richard Price, Clockers
Sir Richard Francis Burton, translator, "Sinbad the Sailor" from The Arabian Nights

Lately Neglected
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill
Edmund Burke, The Evils of Revolution
F. J. Sheed, Theology for Beginners

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Fratellis, "Chelsea Dagger" from Costello Music (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary:

"I said, 'Tell me your name. Is it sweet?'
She said, 'My boy, it's Dagger.' Oh yeah…"