Feed your rational brain
You are living through a time of unprecedented change and confusion. In the last couple of years you’ve experienced a global pandemic, a violent attempt to prevent the peaceful, constitutional transfer of power, unprecedented unemployment, unprecedented stimulus, unprecedented recovery, almost unprecedented inflation, and the erosion of the societal, cultural, and political norms that have supported our country since its inception. Polite dialog has disappeared. Constructive dialog has disappeared. Common agreement on facts has been replaced with an infuriating conflict between science and a hodgepodge of conspiracy theories, feelings, wishful thinking, “alternate facts” and “emotional truths.” You might rightly blame our politicians who have abandoned integrity, honesty, and any sense of public service for craven political gamesmanship. But, of course, in a democracy, we elect those craven politicians so the buck stops with us. And so you might ask, “What the hell is wrong with all you people?” I ask that all the time.
It would be surprising if you weren’t confused, overwhelmed, angry, shut down, or discouraged. I feel that way. When I get overwhelmed or angry I find it helps to put my emotions aside and feed the rational side of my brain. For me, understanding where we are, how we got here and, more importantly for my mental health, what is driving the people I see, work with, and care deeply about, to behave the way they do, say the things they say, and apparently believe the things they believe, helps me to cope. Understanding is not a cure for what ails our society now. But whatever the cure, it won’t happen without understanding first.
I’ve found the following collection of books helps me with that understanding. You might too.
The Righteous Mind, by Jonathan Haidt. This is my number one favorite. It does an excellent job of explaining our tribal nature and apparent refusal to make good use of logic and rationality in our personal, social, and political decisions. Whether you are a liberal, a libertarian, a conservative, a fundamentalist or an atheist, this will help you understand how you and people not like you think, process information, and make choices.
How Markets Fail, by John Cassidy. You may have read this already in one of your classes. Read it again! Because free market conservatives (myself included) are sometimes put off by the title suggesting markets don’t work for allocating capital, it ought to be renamed “How Markets are Incredibly Powerful and Useful in Allocating Resources Except in these Couple of Tiny but Very Important Cases, and How Markets Can Be Improved To Work Better In these Cases.” This is a must read (or re-read) for all finance and economics graduates.
American Nations, by Colin Woodard. How did Texas, California, Vermont, Appalachia, Florida and other regions get the cultures they are known for? Why are their cultures so persistent? What do their cultures imply about their social and political environments? Might this help you understand your own culture? Might this help you decide where you want to locate?
Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal, by George Packer. Trigger warning for conservatives: this book does not treat Trump well. George Packer’s previous book, The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America, won the National Book Award in 2013 and traces how we ended up with the partisan, divided, and toxic political environment of of the early 2010s. This second book examines the factors, including COVID, that led to support of Trump and then his and his followers’ attempt to overthrow the government after his ouster.
Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Mary Lathrop said in 1895 you shouldn’t judge someone until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. This book will provide a vivid, compelling walk. My advice about reading it is to take a deep breath and suppress your own perspective while you walk in Coates’ experiences as a young Black man, and his advice to his son. Take them in as he describes them without imposing your judgment. You can come back and evaluate and judge later.
Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, by Heather Cox Richardson. This is the newest book (2024) by Boston College’s widely celebrated historian who describes herself as an “Abraham Lincoln Republican.” She explores how the MAGA movement is not an outlier but, instead, ties into 70 years (and, actually, closer to 170 years) of partisan activism in support of big business, racism, and Christian nationalism. Whether you consider yourself (or discover in reading that you are) a liberal, conservative, authoritarian, fascist or theocrat, you’ll be fascinated by how these apparently outlier political ideas and ideals have been above and just below the surface of our political discourse for generations. Her daily newsletter, Letters from an American, is a must read for anyone who wants or needs to thoughtfully appraise the current chaotic political climate. You can find her newsletter at https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/.