The Truth About Social Security

There are books I cannot stop talking about. Bad Blood is still one of those books. The Truth about Social Security is now another. Everything you think about social security is a right wing talking point. You think of it as part of the general federal budget, believe the money has already spent, that the program is going bankrupt, it wasn't intended to be your sole source of retirement income, that it's an entitlement, and (if you are under 50) will not be there for you when you retire.  All of those things are complete lies. I am most struck by how completely I have absorbed the right wing propaganda about this program.

The author, Nancy Altman, started her career as a tax lawyer after attending 2 Ivy League universities. She served as a legislative assistant to a Republican Senator in the 70's before the Republicans became crazy, doublespeak peddling devotees of Lenin. She moved on to work in the field of private pensions and then served as Alan Greenspan's assistant in the early 80's when he was chair of a bipartisan committee that developed amendments to the Social Security law. Since then she has worked in public service either directly or indirectly with the Social Security program.

When I tell people that everything they know about social security is not true, they do not believe me. But that is because everything they know, they've heard from the media. Unfortunately, it is hard to get good information on complex issues from the media these days. They seem to feel they have to tell you both sides which in this case is here are some lies and here is the truth, you decide which is which. And of course, you cannot.

The facts of the program are well documented and publicly available. The book is filled with speeches from founders of the program as well as congressional testimony from the time Congress was debating the program. Altman explains that the social security administration employs 40 actuaries. She breaks down actuarial terms and data which isn't great for bedtime reading but interesting earlier in the day.

Reading this book was reassuring -- what a great program! well designed! -- and terrifying -- these crazy people are close to fulfilling their dream of destroying this program.

Nothing to do but keep on fighting the good fight.

Sula

In honor of Toni Morrison, my book group chose the book Sula for the month of September. When I was a sophomore in college I read Beloved, and I understood none of it. My experience being required to read books seem to deplete my engagement with the book and turn it into figuring out what I needed to know about the book for a grade.

Maybe if I'd read Beloved under different circumstances, I may have understood more. But then I was reading the book around the time of the riots caused by the exoneration of the police when they severely beat Rodney King. I remember at the time thinking .. huh. well, I have never had that experience with the police. So, I didn't understand much.

Toni Morrison seems to paint scenes as she writes.. I've never read anything so deep, lyrical and mystical. Sula was her second book written in the early 70's. It is really, truly sad but somehow sort of hopeful in that one of the themes is strong women who can survive anything. I still probably didn't understand half of it.

mystery book

I have a friend who writes books. That is her career. When I tell people that they look at me like I said, 'I have a friend who lives on the moon.' Sure you do. But I do! Good books published by real publishers that win awards and end up on famous lists.

anyway, I read her latest unpublished book. It is so good I am sorry it is not published. I can't say anything else though. Big secrets. When it is available for pre-sale, I will buy 10 copies because people are going to love it so much it will be a great gift.

You don't need more information because when it comes out, you will hear about it.

Bad Blood

It is really hard to find the words to describe the events of this book. In Bill Gates' review of the book, he called the events "insane." Review here.  It is hard not to compare Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the now defunct Theranos, to Donald Trump. They are both narcissists or they are both evil but I sincerely hope it's the former. Narcissists have no empathy for others. They lie constantly to support their own grandiose self-image.

The most phenomenal and unbelievable part of this book is not that this woman is a vicious liar but the people that she fooled -- Henry Kissinger, Larry Ellison, Rupert Murdoch, David Boies, Jim Mattis (among others). Now, I care very little that these men either lost a great deal of money or sustained damage to their reputations or both. Given their positions in the world, I wonder how they were so thoroughly fooled. The fact that they were fooled gave Holmes the foundation to fool the rest of Silicon Valley. It wouldn't matter at all if Theranos had been a software company but they produced a health care product that caused many, many people to suffer.

The only silver lining of this horrible story is that it would not have been exposed if it weren't for many brave people who put the interests of public safety ahead of their own. The journalist, John Carreyou, and the management of the Wall Street Journal also deserve credit for their integrity and unwillingness to be intimidated by very powerful people. Lastly, Rupert Murdoch could have killed this story but didn't. And while he has mostly created evil in the world, I admired that decision.

Incredible read. I am not at all surprised it will be a movie soon. It's a very classic tale of good vs evil. It is probably the story of our current era.

Maisie Dobbs

While in Greece, I ran out of books to read. My travel partner handed me Maisie Dobbs right after I had finished The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency. A blurb at the top of Maisie Dobbs promised that it was in the same spirit as Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency. I really enjoyed the book but it was not quite as uplifting as the Number 1 book.  Half of the book takes place during World War I and I cannot think of a less uplifting topic. However, it's a great read and the characters were inspiring.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

The home that hosted our yoga retreat had a lending library and that's where I found this book. The blurb on the front says "One of the best, most charming, honest, hilarious and life-affirming books to appear in years." I'll take anything life-affirming so I read it and it delivered. The story takes place in Botswana. The hero is a lady detective who is a very clever, independent, no nonsense gal. She solves many mysteries and we meet lots of good and decent characters. A fun holiday read.

A Husband's Secret

This is another Liane Moriarty book. I saw lots of tourists on the beaches and in the airports with her books. They are easy to read -- fun and light. I didn't love this book though. It had some good twists and turns but in the end, it wasn't that compelling. I can that she used the frame of this book to build the plot of Big Little Lies -- a far better story. So far, I can only recommend Big Little Lies. I am not sure why the other books are so popular.