Treating people well
The book is a very valuable addition to scant pile of books advising readers about the importance of good manners and civility. The authors have a stout pedigree to write about the subject as they have served in high political positions where the art of civility counts the most. Berman is a veteran of George W. Bush administration and Bernard served as social secretary to Barack Obama. It is not surprising therefore that both have combined together their intellect and experience to address an issue that is fast losing its validity in fast moving world. The authors point out that “each president sets a tone for the nation” and cultivate habits of “steadiness, restraint, and decency,” which in turn confer moral authority on him or her who practices them. Since the office of the president serves as a cultural icon therefore the impact of his manners broadly trickles down to common people. The authors borrowed a page from the inimitable Letitia Baldrige and have written a catalogue on how to navigate the mine-strewn worlds of society, commerce, and other adult realms. They advise taking advantage of humour to successfully negotiate the travails of decent behaviour and emphasise that “one of the easiest ways to disarm a skeptic or potential competitor is to be self-deprecating”. They also emphasise a consistent application of attention, respect, thoughtful comportment, and active listening. The authors support their argument by giving examples mostly pertaining to success of civility. They point out that Ray LaHood, a Republican who served as Obama’s secretary of transportation, took an agency that was renowned for being a miserable place to work and utterly remade morale simply by listening: “his first step was to gather information and get a grasp of the most pressing issues.” TW
A River in Darkness
The book is a terrifying tale of life in North Korea narrated in simple prose. The author was born in Japan in 1947 to a Korean father and Japanese mother. His Korean father always extolled Kim Ill Sung as the superior most general ever produced by Korea. His father followed the command of the Supreme Leader given in 1958 to all Koreans to return home from abroad proclaiming, “North Korea is a paradise on earth!” Accordingly senior Ishikawa brought his family back to North Korea in 1960 and settled down in village of Dong Chong-ri as part of a mass repatriation campaign. The general rule was that everyone had to join the Worker’s Party and pledge allegiance to Kim. The author was taught in school that “thought was not free,” and anyone questioning the wisdom of the leader was badly berated by his comrades. The author reports that he “played along” but knew he was now part of a “pseudo-religious cult.” Being employed on a farm as a member of the Youth League, he found out that failure in life was the result of not respecting the commands of the Supreme Leader. The slogan that everyone not respecting the party was bound to fail, was the common creed. The author was treated badly as being a half-Japanese he was lowliest of the low in North Korean social structure. He was an excellent student but his academic achievements were looked down upon. He was condemned to the very bottom of the society owing to his racial origins. The author described the farming process as “staggeringly crude and idiotic.” Food was forcibly usurped from them and old people died working with no social security. Poor workers were confined to concentration camps or were executed making the author to lament that: “So many lives wasted.” Ishikawa got married in 1972 and soon after that his mother died. His family went through tremendous hardships that multiplied after Kim Jong Ill became leader. TW
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