Thieves of State
A former advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff explains the common role of corruption in today's international uprisings, tracing corruption since the 1990s while arguing that corrupt governments have been largely responsible for extreme acts of rebellion.
Stats for nerds
2recommend
5mentions
2people
2021–2023years
80% recommend20% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- A good book about systemic corruption is Thieves of State by Sarah Chayes, here's a long review that also discusses the topic: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/19/corruption-rev...
For example Egypt is like GP's explanation, that's why when the Arab Spring happened, cops were beating up protestors; the cops were part of the corrupt system and were eager to defend it/themselves.
- I just got done reading Sarah Chayes's excellent book Thieves Of State. She spent significant time working with the USA military in Afghanistan and she devotes substantial time to the idea that the CIA is a rogue agency that often undermines the USA military and undercuts the goals of the USA State Department. Her stories are really shocking, including many months spent setting up a sting to take down a vast network of corruption in Afghanistan, only to have the whole sting sabotaged at the last moment, because it turned out that many of the people who were taking bribes were taking bribes from the CIA, and the CIA had refused to share that information with the USA military. If the subject interests you, I posted a long excerpt here:
https://demodexio.substack.com/p/thieves-of-state-part-8-of-...
- Who cares? The framing of this issue is strange to me. I know what my values are, I know which side I'm on, I know what I fight for.
If you're looking for new philosophies or perspectives, I strongly suggest two things:
1. fiction
2. history
I don't think day-to-day news coverage can ever be written at a level where it might affect your fundamental values; among many other problems, it is typically written in a hurry, with a lack of context, and so it lacks long-term perspective.
In terms of books that have changed my perspective on some subject, here are some important ones I've read over the last year:
Reading Lolita In Tehran, by Azar Nafisi
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Lolita-Tehran-Memoir-Books/dp...
Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security, by Sarah Chayes
https://www.amazon.com/Thieves-State-Corruption-Threatens-Se...
The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism, by Andrew J. Bacevich
https://www.amazon.com/Limits-Power-American-Exceptionalism-...
The Emergence of China: From Confucius to the Empire, by E. Bruce Brooks and A. Taeko Brooks
https://www.amazon.com/Emergence-China-Confucius-Ancient-Con...
Azar Nafisi's book is both a true life action story, and it's also an intellectual journey, a consideration of how authoritarianism slowly takes over.
Sarah Chayes book is remarkably ambitious, not only did I suddenly see corruption as a global issue, but she connects it to religious extremism and then reviews the corruption of the Catholic Church in the 1400s and how that lead to Martin Luther and that era's own explosion of religious extremism.
Andrew J. Bacevich's book is a sober look at all the things the USA probably cannot do, even though it has the worlds most powerful military
The Brooks book about China was eye opening for me. I previously knew nothing about the Warring States period, or the intense intellectual debate that occurred over the meaning of the state and the duties of the leader to the people. I wish more Westerners knew this story.
Should I expect this kind of writing from the daily newspaper? Absolutely not. It's ridiculous. It's a category error. That's now what the daily newspaper is for. That's certainly not what the 24 hour news cycle is for.
Sometimes I want actionable news I can use, which is partly a matter of knowing which candidates might have the best chances of advancing my goals. Especially during primary races, day-to-day political news is useful to me when it gives me the information I need to decide who of many candidates I should donate money to.
But when I want new perspectives and philosophies? I turn to books.
- This subject feels like the mirror subject to the question that was discussed on HN 2 days ago: "Do we live in political echo chambers?"
My response: Who cares? I know what my values are, I know which side I'm on, I know what I fight for.
If you're looking for new philosophies or perspectives, I strongly suggest two things:
1. fiction
2. history
I don't think day-to-day news coverage can ever be written at a level where it might affect your fundamental values; among many other problems, it is typically written in a hurry, with a lack of context, and so it lacks long-term perspective.
In terms of books that have changed my perspective on some subject, here are some important ones I've read over the last year:
Reading Lolita In Tehran, by Azar Nafisi
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Lolita-Tehran-Memoir-Books/dp...
Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security, by Sarah Chayes
https://www.amazon.com/Thieves-State-Corruption-Threatens-Se...
The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism, by Andrew J. Bacevich
https://www.amazon.com/Limits-Power-American-Exceptionalism-...
The Emergence of China: From Confucius to the Empire, by E. Bruce Brooks and A. Taeko Brooks
https://www.amazon.com/Emergence-China-Confucius-Ancient-Con...
Azar Nafisi's book is both a true life action story, and it's also an intellectual journey, a consideration of how authoritarianism slowly takes over.
Sarah Chayes book is remarkably ambitious, not only did I suddenly see corruption as a global issue, but she connects it to religious extremism and then reviews the corruption of the Catholic Church in the 1400s and how that lead to Martin Luther and that era's own explosion of religious extremism.
Andrew J. Bacevich's book is a sober look at all the things the USA probably cannot do, even though it has the worlds most powerful military
The Brooks book about China was eye opening for me. I previously knew nothing about the Warring States period, or the intense intellectual debate that occurred over the meaning of the state and the duties of the leader to the people. I wish more Westerners knew this story.
Should I expect this kind of writing from the daily newspaper? Absolutely not. It's ridiculous. It's a category error. That's now what the daily newspaper is for. That's certainly not what the 24 hour news cycle is for.
Sometimes I want actionable news I can use, which is partly a matter of knowing which candidates might have the best chances of advancing my goals. Especially during primary races, day-to-day political news is useful to me when it gives me the information I need to decide who of many candidates I should donate money to.
But when I want new perspectives and philosophies? I turn to books.
- Something I wrote before:
"One of the interesting things about Sarah Chayes book is her description of the relationship between the CIA and the military. In her view, the military was relatively powerless, and lacked the ability to fight back against the CIA. Meanwhile, the CIA undermined the goals of the military in Afghanistan, especially when it came to fighting corruption."
https://demodexio.substack.com/p/thieves-of-state-part-4-of-...
Thieves of State
Why Corruption Threatens Global Security
By Sarah Chayes, 2015
Page 50–52
