One hundred years later, Chris Hedges has written “War is a Force that Gives us Meaning“, and I’d suggest that it’s possibly one of the most important books on the subject of war ever written. If I were putting together a reading list on the subject, it would have at its core three books.

“The Art of War”, by Sun Tzu, is one the oldest and most well known, of course, and gives us the famous dictum ‘know your enemy and know yourself’‘ – advice that is relevant to all human endeavour.

“On War” by Carl von Clausewitz is perhaps the most comprehensive book on the subject, a careful study of all elements of waging war, and the interaction between warfare and politics. It is still highly relevant nearly 200 year after its composition.
Finally, “War is a Force that Gives us Meaning” takes a hard and frequently painful look at the social and cultural forces that drive humanity to war. Unlike Tolstoy, Hedges does not present himself as a pacifist. In fact, after describing the pointlessness and brutality of many of the conflicts he’s covered in his role as a war correspondant, he has few suggestions to make. However, the few rays of hope that shine through the book are his stories of encountering acts of love, kindness and hospitality, even in war zones.

He suggests that much ‘delinquent’ behaviour is a product of kids resorting to illegitimate for outlets for the natural desire for risk, adventure and identity when they haven’t been provided with legitimate expressions of risk.

This is always a challenge for us as parents – encouraging our kids to take responsibilities and risks at a pace that is appropriate for them.  We want to take care of our kids, but at the same time want them to become adults that know their own capabilities, and are able cope sensibly with new situations.  It’s not fair to any kid to make all their decisions for them and protect them from the consequences of their actions for twenty years, and then throw them out into the ‘real’ world and expect them to manage well.

There are some common threads running through all my reading material right now:

• The modern/postmodern divide.
• Networks versus Hierarchies.
• Emergent behaviour.
• Complex systems.

I’m looking forward to seeing where all this goes.

I’m around halfway through Free Agent Nation – The Future of Working For Yourself. Very readable, and pretty informative. Pink takes a look at the rapidly eroding distinction between corporation and employee, and the transition from a world dominated by large companies providing cradle-to-grave career paths to far more complex, dynamic and networked systems composed of a large number of interacting free agents. A very timely book, given my current situation. Six months ago I was a treasury analyst for a major bank. (Without a doubt the most boring, tedious work I’ve ever done.) Now I’d find it hard to describe myself in a single sentence; I write software, light photo shoots, teach Latin, consult on systems development, do graphic design, and read lots of books! So I definitely see myself in the world that Pink is describing, and its both exciting and reassuring to know that there are a lot of people out there that are in the process of making this transition.

One of the most fundamental points Pink makes is that in the past, security came from an institution – your employer or the goverment. In the future, security will come from diversification, just as it does in the stock market. So although according to conventional wisdom it seems strange to trade a job with a large company, reasonable benefits etc. for a loose set of diverse contracts, in many ways it’s actually a more risk-averse set up. In the current world economy, I’m becoming convinced that the key things to possess are a broad talent set, a diverse client base, and a rich and deep network of connections.

Not particularly in-depth, and chapters about the Web were weaker than the others, but a good introductory read.