Surviving and Persisting in Perilous Times
Let’s attack the UFO matter first. No, wait, “attack” literally is what we have done about UFOs (or UAPs, if you insist) in recent months. We have blasted some unidentified aerial phenomena right out of the sky and remained very tight-lipped about any wreckage or debris (or bodies) that might have been recovered. But what if those UFOs/UAPs belonged to benevolent beings from outer space who have been keeping watch over us and hoping they can keep us from self-destructing as our military technology and nuclear weapons keep advancing well past the point of mutually assured destruction? In his recent novel, After They Came, author Dan Harary explores what might happen on Earth if benevolent beings from outer space finally quit tiptoeing around us (flying saucer-style), picked a random human being to be their ambassador to the world, and became directly involved in showing us how to live better and more useful lives and co-exist more peacefully with all who live around us.
But we aren’t getting any extraterrestrial help yet. So we must continue to live in a perilous age. However, we can at least take a few lessons in coping with political and personal turmoil from the English poet John Milton, who not only was blind but had to deal with a number of personal tragedies, while also trying to hide from royal authorities who wanted him jailed–or worse. Being John Milton was not easy, but he wrote several books (from which many of us tried to hide while taking high school and undergraduate English classes and are still avoiding). Stephen B. Dobranski’s 2022 biography titled Reading John Milton: How to Persist in Troubled Times is surprisingly engrossing, informative, and even entertaining. Indeed, I hated poets such as Milton, Dante, Donne, and others–I couldn’t stand to be forced to read their long, convoluted stanzas. But after growing up and becoming a writer and poet, I have managed to read at least parts of the works I avoided in high school and college. And reading this Milton biography has inspired me to give Milton’s writings some new and more sustained looks. Dobranski ties many interesting parts of Milton’s creative output to the events, dangers, and tragedies that the blind poet had to endure. What seemed obscure and boring to me as a teenager is much clearer and more meaningful now that I have an understanding of the context behind the stanzas.
I’m not an entrepreneur, and I don’t play one on TV. But a 2022 book by Derek Lidow grabbed my attention right away. The Entrepreneurs: The Relentless Quest for Value turns a bright, clear spotlight on how entrepreneurs are among the most important shapers of our culture, especially now that we structure our lives around so many new devices, clothing trends, communication styles, and countless large and small “apps,” and other things. “Relentless innovation” has long been the way entrepreneurs survive and also how they create value and bring about changes–mostly good but sometimes bad–in their cultures. One of the intriguing aspects of Lidow’s book is its focus on entrepreneurship’s surprisingly long history: at least 6,500 years. And he contends: ” The lack of study of the emergence of entrepreneurial behavior has impeded our ability to properly define it, let alone appreciate and effectively nurture it.” Lidow also focuses on what he calls “entrepreneurial swarming.” Without giving away its complete definition (read the book!), it has to do with why and how entrepreneurs as a group can become so innovative.
— Si Dunn
Photo by Si Dunn
Third Chance: Reviews & More 