Reading 24 Nov 2005 10:32 pm
Warrior Politics
I just finished a book that I've (literally) been reading for the past four months. Lately when I come home from work, I find it very difficult to stay home and veg, so I've either been going out, or I've been trying to enrich myself in some way. This means I've been reading quite a lot lately, both fiction and non.
I came across Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos earlier this summer when I was reading a Wired article about Amazon Top500 book reviewers and such. One of those mentioned was Newt Gingrich (the former Speaker of the House), and one of the books that he had just reviewed was this one. I read it over, saw that it got good reviews, so I requested it from the library.
I'm glad I read it.
Going through life you occasionally meet people that teach you to look at things from a higher level. Imagine you're in New York City, on the first floor of the Empire State Building. You can see some things, but not much. You go up to the tenth floor, and you can see a heck of a lot more. But continue all the way to the top, and you can see for miles in all direction, and you can see the city as a whole, in all of its parts. This is how this book was for me: it was eye-opening about why and how the United States and leaders of years gone past have operated in the ways that they have.
Strangely enough, it explained some parts of current foreign policy that seemed a little out of whack somehow. It explained the moral obligations of a statesman as opposed to the media, who has no obligation to anyone. This, as a result, explains why the media will seize upon many human rights stories, particularly when they are not stopped by the government, or especially if they are perpetrated by the government either directly by actions, or through inaction. It explained why it's not always possible or advisable to go charging into every situation.
It all boils down to self-preservation and prosperity. Just as humans are inherently selfish and interested first in themselves and their own success, so also a statesman must do the same for his country if he wishes to accomplish even altruistic goals. Every altruistic thing a country does is done for selfish reasons, not because it's the "right thing" to do.
I wish I could accurately describe the entire book, but these were the parts that largely stood out to me. It was fairly information- and concept-dense, though I found it a relatively easy and enjoyable read. Definitely check it out if you can.
I'm now reading Leadership by Rudy Guiliani, a book that I've owned for a few years but never actually read.
