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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Phenomenal book, well written and researched (of course). As always, Junger delivers, but we never quite really know exactly what will be delivered. This fairly quick read is insightful and gets into some territory that may make a lot of people uncomfortable, but explains how being left alone, unattacked, may be our nation's enemies' greatest strategy. We join together and form tribes when attacked. After 9/11, for example, people banded together and crime plummeted. As we are, comfortable, fat, and happy, with minimal real external threats to our well-being, we disintegrate. Social systems break down, dog-eat-dog capitalism and competition takes over, and we have no sense that we owe each other anything. One of the sweetest "Aha!" moments of the book was about the litter we see along the highways and in the neighborhoods. The dog crap on our yards shows that our neighbors have no sense that they owe us the courtesy of cleaning up after their supposedly beloved pet. All liberty and no responsibility is the condition of tyrants and two-year olds, but it is increasingly what we see in our communities, roadways, and especially ourselves. Much of this was insights I was familiar with, but the way Junger structures the information is clear and persuasive. He refuses to take sides in a us/them social or political battle because it's always ultimately us/us.
I disliked this not because of the ideas that Junger presents necessarily, but the way he presents them and he evidence he uses for them. The main themes are the problems that come with individualistic societies and how that contributes to modern anxiety, depression, and the incidence of PTSD, and how that is related to the (lack of) ways we reintegrate soldiers into society after their service (whether they were in combat or not). He points out that depression and suicide are less frequent, if not unheard of, in more tribal societies and old societies. For instance, he notes that Israeli soldiers have a suicide rate of about 1% (it is surprising to hear Israel in this context of 'tribal'), far lower than that of US service men and woman and that it was basically unheard of in Indian (Native American) societies. He points to the fact that everyone serves in Israel, and so it's simply not a big deal. Military vets are not treated like victims or people to be handled with kid gloves. In Native American cultures, there were (are?) various rites and rituals to bring soldiers back into society, or the situation was similar to Israel--it simply wasn't that big a deal. I agree with the idea that we don't integrate those who've served back into our society very well; that something like memorial day and veterans day are kind of meaningless in the face of vets not being able to get the medical care they need, or people not know what they might have been doing at all. However, pointing to this as the cause of problems like PTSD completely ignores the cross-cultural problems in comparing mental illness, even just defining what counts as a mental illness in different societies and the likelihood of reporting it. He also argues that some people like serving because the military creates a tribal-like community. And that the same thing happens after disasters. On the one hand, it makes sense and I don't completely disagree. On the other hand, this is an idea that needs a lot more study than he gave it here. Here it felt like he was trying to justify his attraction to war.
In the end, what I dislike is the shoddy journalism. Not all of his sources are cited, he relies on cherry-picked evidence, and makes leaps of logic based on that evidence. I don't like the fact that he exoticizes other cultures, particularly Indian (Native American) cultures. He treats them, and tribal societies in general, as somehow very different from us at an individual level. He treats modern society as inferior. He glosses over the idea that there are pros and cons to all societies, especially the cons of tribal and collectivist societies. He doesn't really acknowledge our commonalities that stand out regardless of our culture. Compared to his other work, particularly the excellent documentary Restrepo, this was disappointing.
In the end, what I dislike is the shoddy journalism. Not all of his sources are cited, he relies on cherry-picked evidence, and makes leaps of logic based on that evidence. I don't like the fact that he exoticizes other cultures, particularly Indian (Native American) cultures. He treats them, and tribal societies in general, as somehow very different from us at an individual level. He treats modern society as inferior. He glosses over the idea that there are pros and cons to all societies, especially the cons of tribal and collectivist societies. He doesn't really acknowledge our commonalities that stand out regardless of our culture. Compared to his other work, particularly the excellent documentary Restrepo, this was disappointing.
informative
fast-paced
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
It’s not often I give out full five star reviews without reservation. This is one. Junger not only put forth compelling data backed theories about who we are today, and why we suffer such disorders as PTSD - he managed to change how I think politically about compassion. This is a quick read, but packed with food for thought.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
In this time of semi quarantine, this is a great book about acting for others instead of only self
Basically no culture is without good and bad points. That is what I got from this book. To romanticize the old, tribal ways belies the danger we see from tribal mindsets in the world today. What we really need to remember in society is to care wisely for each other and to be good citizens of the world.
Short & sweet, easy read. Fair mix of things people will agree and disagree with. Interesting approach to the idea of how we've become less connective & supportive of each other over the years.