In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

This book was written by a doctor in Canada who cares for addicted, homeless people in Vancouver. He explains addiction as he understands it (it's causes and the ways it changes the brain), he explains why the war on drugs has been a complete failure, and believes we treat addicted people horribly.. less than human. He suggests kinder, more humane approaches to the addicted as they affect all of us.

He also makes a broader point about our society (western Europe, Canada & the US): we have sky-rocketing rates of all manner of addictions (drugs, alcohol, gambling, spending, work), depression and anxiety so perhaps we should look a little more closely at our values. The way we treat the most vulnerable is founded in the (at this point, very bad) idea that each person is responsible only for himself. If you make mistakes, they are your own and you should pay for them. If you cannot survive within the capitalist structure that values people only for what they can produce, then you have no value. And then worse, you deserve what you get.

I don't think most of the liberal people I know think this consciously. However, the way people raise their children now exposes the rot described above.  Hyper-competitive parents cultivate their products ( I mean kids ) into production machines. They do not care about other people's children.  We are lost.

A Year in Provence

This book was written in 1989. It's is a very popular, bestselling memoir that details a couple whose problems you wish you had. They buy a home in Provence. It's hard to get contractors to come to your home to finish the remodel. The concrete table may not be in place by the summer. Tourists swarm in the summer ( I am sure they are there year round now). The neighbor is cranky but lovable.

 In 1989, we had not begun to feel the effects of globalization.. or we didn't understand that globalization was the force causing the problems. We didn't know the earth was cooking. There was no internet or smart phones or 9-11 or the myriad of other things that have changed. The world seemed simpler. I am not sure it was though.

The book is fun and fluffy. A good escape from the modern world.