We Are Not Saved

Cheap Sex: The Transformation of Men, Marriage, and Monogamy By: Mark Regnerus Published: 2017 280 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? A data-driven look at the modern dating and “hook-up” culture. As you can tell from the title, he argues that sex has become cheap, not so much in dollars and cents, but in the level of commitment it requires. He points to three reasons for this change: the pill, porn, and dating apps.  What's the author's angle? As I was reading this book, I was trying to remember where I had heard the name Regnerus before. It took me a while to get around to looking him up in Wikipedia, at which point I was reminded of the “New Family Structures Study”. He was the lead author on this study which claimed that children raised by a parent who had been in a same-sex relationship had worse outcomes than those raised by heterosexual parents. If you guessed, based on this, that he’s a conservative, then you would be correct. However, that didn’t really come through very much while reading the

The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 3]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation (1918-1956) By: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Published: 1973 608 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? The final piece of Solzhenitsyn’s amazing, depressing, baffling, chilling, frightening, absurd, terrible, cold, weighty chronicle of the Soviet gulags. This part includes the period after his release which, by itself, could be a fantastic guide to simple contentment. What's the author's angle? I found it interesting how much of this book concerned just preserving the notes he’s made and all of the material which will eventually be turned into the book—the angle of making sure the story gets told.  Who should read this book? I have not talked about the fact that there are actually two versions of the Gulag, this three volume behemoth, and an authorized abridgement. Here, at the end, it’s worth considering whether I would recommend this three volume set, or the abridgement. I haven’t read the abridgement, so I’m not in the ideal position to

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection By: John Green Published: 2025 208 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? The ubiquity of tuberculosis (wait, did I just restate the title?) especially outside of the US. And its prevalence despite the fact that a cure is available. What's the author's angle? Green was already interested in global health when he met Henry, a young man with tuberculosis (TB) in Sierra Leone, literally on the way out of the country. Green was so affected by Henry and his plight that it eventually led him to completely change his focus, and while I don’t want to minimize the vast harms caused by TB, it’s apparent that, for Green, it’s personal.  Who should read this book? This is a good book to broaden your horizons. When you consider that (TB) kills over a million people per year. And when you consider that most Americans have only the most cursory knowledge about it (including, at the start, Green by his own admission) this book should be read

Biden was just the tip of the iceberg...

Everything you know about WWI is wrong! Okay... maybe not everything, but some things definitely. Forgotten Victory: The First World War: Myths and Realities By: Gary Sheffield Published: 2001 318 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? An apologetic work directed at British leadership during WWI. It refutes the claim that the British Army was composed of “lions led by donkeys”, and instead lays out a case for increasing competence, the necessity of offensives, and a string of victories in 1918. What's the author's angle? Sheffield is a noted member of the revisionist school. He wants to revise the vision of futility most commonly associated with the British participation in WWI.  Who should read this book? Someone who wants a more complete view of WWI, and who is wary of simplistic tales of strategic idiocy.  Specific thoughts: WWI was horrible for the British, but it couldn’t have been won any other way

Forbes magazine, the bastion of conservative American business journalism, called it "a filth-spattered lens of depravity and dysfunction". Crisis Zone By: Simon Hanselmann Published: 2021 296 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? A very non-traditional household navigates the pandemic using violence and porn production.  Who should read this book? I would not recommend this book to anyone. It is without a doubt the grossest, crudest work I have ever read. Though Forbes reviewed it and said: In the deluxe and beautifully designed Fantagraphics edition, Crisis Zone ends up looking like a children's book produced in an institution for the criminally insane.  Assuming we have a future ahead of us, Crisis Zone will be the keepsake to remind us what we became in [2020]. But even they had to admit that it was “a filth-spattered lens of depravity and dysfunction”. Specific thoughts: A strong case against a certain lifestyle. 

Noticing: An Essential Reader (1973-2023) By: Steve Sailer Published: 2024 458 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? A collection of essays from Steve Sailer covering immigration, culture war stuff, and human biodiversity. What's the author's angle? For some, Sailer is a horrible right-wing racist. For others he’s a data-driven contrarian. I mostly fall in the latter camp. Also whatever you think of his opinions, his tone is exceptionally mild. He’s not a fire-breather. Who should read this book? If you’ve been following Sailer forever there’s nothing especially new here. Even if you haven’t previously read all of the included essays (and I believe I was at probably 90%), he’s covering territory which is very well-trod by him in general. On the other hand if you’re only vaguely familiar with Sailer—perhaps you’ve come across his name once or twice, then this is a great summation of his opinions and writings.  Specific thoughts: How important is tone?  

Collapse of Complex Societies By: Joseph A. Tainter Published: 1988 262 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? A new (at the time) theory for the collapse of societies based on declining marginal returns to complexity. What's the author's angle? This is a book definitely written in opposition to previous theories (think Spengler, Toynbee, etc.) many of which Tainter rejects as overly moralistic. Who should read this book? If you’re interested in how the United States will end (and I can’t imagine how you’re not) this is a great book. Specific thoughts: Okay so this is how collapse happens. Can it be stopped?  

By: Patrick McGee Published: 2025 448 Pages Briefly, what is this book about? How Apple went all in on China, not merely moving manufacturing there, but also educating their companies in, and co-developing with them, numerous advanced manufacturing techniques. These techniques then spread all throughout China. As such, Apple, far more than any other company, enabled China’s rise to be the world’s most sophisticated manufacturer. In effect they imported a super-charged industrial policy for China. This was bad enough, but the eventual result was that Apple is now utterly dependent on a capricious one-party state.  What's the author's angle? McGee is not entirely unsympathetic to Apple, but it’s also clear that he finds the consequences of their actions to be damaging, and, most of all, dumb. Who should read this book? If you’re interested in China, technology, the future, or competition then you should read this book.  

In which I start by using my massive intellect to predicte a timeline for the end of the world and end with admitting that I couldn't remember whether I'd read a specific book or not.

In which I engage in an extended, and somewhat clunky Star Wars metaphor. And eventually conclude that clunkiness is sort of the point.

Hamlet by: William Shakespeare Gods and Generals (The Civil War Trilogy, #1) by: Jeff Shaara We Solve Murders by: Richard Osman Stop All the Clocks: A Novel by: Noah Kumin Pyrebound by Brayton Cole Grunge (Monster Hunter Memoirs, #1) by: John Ringo and Larry Correia Sinners (Monster Hunter Memoirs, #2) by: John Ringo and Larry Correia Saints (Monster Hunter Memoirs, #3) by: John Ringo and Larry Correia Fever (Monster Hunter Memoirs, #4) by: Larry Correia and Jason Córdova Target Rich Environment (Volume 1) by: Larry Correia Target Rich Environment (Volume 2) by: Larry Correia Monster Hunter: Siege by: Larry Correia Monster Hunter: Guardian by: Larry Correia Monster Hunter: Bloodlines by: Larry Correia The Monster Hunter Files by: Various

A review of Douglas Murray's "On Democracies and Death Cults" with broad discursions into Sam Kriss' article "Douglas Murray, gruesome toady" and the entire Israel-Hamas-Gaza Mess.

Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth by: Catherine Pakaluk The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities by: Mancur Olson This Kind of War: A Study in Unpreparedness by: T. R. Fehrenbach Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House by: Jonathan Allen Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by: Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson Meditations by: Marcus Aurelius The Gap and The Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success by: Dan Sullivan and Benjamin P. Hardy

People are worried about a lot of things at the moment, but one thing near the top of everyone’s list is a war between the US and China over the fate of Taiwan. What most people have forgotten is that the US already fought a war with China. It’s easy to overlook this previous conflict because we called it the Korean War (and initially it wasn’t even called a war). This is understandable given that it took place in Korea. As such, it’s forgivable to overlook the huge Chinese involvement. But for most of the war the Chinese were our primary opponents. (At its peak 80% of enemy troops were Chinese.) Can we draw any lessons from our last war with China when considering the possible outcomes of a future war with the same adversary? There are certainly worse places to look for information. The first thing we might look at is the outcome. How did we do? How did the war end? This part, at least, most people remember. It ended in a draw. After costing the lives of at least four million people (soldiers and civilians)

A Rumor of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural by: Peter L. Berger The Four Cardinal Virtues by: Josef Pieper Analects by: Confucius Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious by: Ross Douthat

Someone needs to point out the potential problems with superforecasting. For some reason it as fallen to me.

The movement is called anti-aging, not anti-injury. How do people who believe they have a real shot at immortality interact with the phenomena of safetyism?

The Moral Sense by: James Q. Wilson The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation (1918-1956) by: Alekandr Solzhenitsyn Stalin's War: A New History of World War II by: Sean McMeekin Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's by: Charles Piller How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain by: Peter S. Goodman Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by: Sarah Wynn-Williams Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by: Dan Sullivan

Getting people to have more children may be as difficult as getting people to abandon their four-door sedan for a horse and buggy.