Book Review: Race?

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.

Yali, a native politician in Papua New Guinea in 1972, struck by the volume and variety of goods and technology unloading from ships in his country, asked the author, "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo, but we black people have little cargo of our own?"

The author dismissed the racist answer out of hand--namely, "Because white people are superior." Instead, he was inspired to embark on a detective's journey back through 15,000 years of human history, a fascinating journey for anyone interested in wondering. How did all our ancestors, those cave and/or jungle people get to all the different continents, and why are some successful and some still trapped in primitive societies?
This book is ceaselessly fascinating, all the way through Ice Ages and land bridges, and discussions of race are always off the table. In the author's view, the presence of natural resources, especially good farmland and the presence of manageable herd animals have made a huge difference (milk and meat in your backyard and grain in your field) The mention of "Germs" in the title refers to the exchange of diseases between the newly inhabited continents. For a cogent companion to this book, see a related essay by Thomas Sowell in his book, "Black Rednecks and White Liberals," which addresses underdevelopment in the African continent. Read it all.

Even if you believe the conclusions of the famous book, "The Bell Curve," which  charts racial intelligence, wherein the Jews and Japanese are the gold medal winners, any experience with a variety of people and races will render these charts irrelevant to living in the real world. The charts will tell you nothing about the next person who walks into the room. No group identity can refine your own judgement.
There is NO SUBSTITUTE FOR INDIVIDUALISM--in any society.

Forget race, take the journey through pre-history and read this five-star book.

Revolution!

Revolution and revolutionaries seem very romantic, especially to young people whose bloodstreams still rage against boring parental lectures and mundane family obligations--you know--the stuff you endured as a child and teenager, all of which would be useless in the commercial world of T-shirt art.

Imagine a T-shirt saying, "Help your Mom--Do the Dishes."
Get that T-shirted guy to a clinic!

But, here's a T-shirt design of a hot-blooded revolutionary that really works:

It's excellent artwork on Che Guervera, a revolutionary in Cuba, circa 1959, very romantic, especially since he's looking up--as if seeing a distant vision from the gods.

Here's a shot of Che in real life, after the revolution:

It  doesn't look like he's consulting the gods, but, after all, he had a lot of government power at that point, and he was very busy.

Here's some artwork by me on another famous revolutionary:

Oops, not a classic--he should be looking up--and I took some liberties by giving him a beret.

 Here's how he really looked after he lost his red hair, although the portrait artist may have flattered him a bit.

It's Thomas Jefferson, one of my favorites, pictured not very long after the American revolution.

Jefferson waged war to establish a nation based on individual liberty, even for individuals who happen to be rich.

Che Guervera waged war to establish a nation based on forcing the rich to share their wealth with the poor, until there was no more.

Both of these firebrands won their wars.

So, choose your revolution--then choose your country:

,

The United States.

Or Cuba.

And, do us --and the world--a favor, whichever you choose:

Go there.