My Friend Leah—Update 11

Leah recently pointed out to me, “You haven’t exploited me for content in a while.” I have been accused of this by others—I kid you not—and now we joke about it. “Oh my God, it has been a while!”

So, here we are. Update 11.

I suppose I have not written about Leah in a while because I’m frustrated with all the specific details about her life that I cannot share. I’ll throw in small deets once in a while. But 85 percent of her life I can’t. And I’d love to. I would really like you to get to know her.

It’s been a crap year in the pets department; she’s lost quite a few. Petco gave (yes gave) her a couple of tortoises a small while ago. The damn things escaped from an enclosure she had in the back yard. So, she has been on tortoise patrol lately.

She remains hopeful; upon inspecting some recent gardening, she noticed there were nibbles taken out of the leaves of some new hostas. “They’ve been here!” So, they might turn up yet. Good thing it’s summer.

I’m not sure if they have names. I do not believe they do. I suggested “Sears & Roebuck.” Leah vetoed this idea. “Dolce & Gabbana”? “Stop.” [sigh]

And just today (June 29) Leah noticed a her male veiled chameleon named Francisco whom she adores was not doing well. Leah was very upset. I tried to be consoling, but made a hash of it. The less I say the better sometimes. 

The chameleon died tonight on the way to my place, after a day of going on a last adventure; Francisco got to feel the sun, meet kids, and touch plants. Leah took it hard—another reminder that beyond buying sneakers and books for her, I can do nothing.

Her reading continues on a warpath. She is reading Aristotle, Heidegger, Doctor Zhivago, War and Peace, an immense history of WWII, and some more Aristotle. A lot of Aristotle. And as noted, she carries these books around like a kid that brings her toys everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Her enthusiasm is infectious. I used to pile up books and read five at a time; but these days I focus on one, then move on to the next. Not anymore. I, too, am reading Doctor Zhivago, a huge biography on Albert Speer, and I just started the complete works of Primo Levi.

Oh, did I mention I’m writing a book on Adam Smith?? Who do I think I am? Leah reads about five-times faster than I do, so I’m in a Hyundai Sonata trying to keep pace with a Formula 1 car. But will that stop me? I think you know me by now.

Leah has done nicely staying out of the hospital—knock on wood. She does have bad days and bed-ridden days, but I am quite proud of her increased strength, which continues to floor me.

She went through a bad withdrawal with Xanax about a month ago. Her prescription got messed up, and she was in serious pain. I could see it in her eyes, the darkness of agony. And yet, she tried to smile through it. Pain, smile, pain, smile. I was on the verge of tears and just told her everything was going to be alright, my arms tightly embracing her. I have never met a stronger or kinder human being.

I hate the pain she is occasionally in. I hate the lost days when she can’t get out of bed.

She has a birthday coming up. She will be 36.

We were going to sing happy birthday at the Peninsula in Chicago. But we had to cancel. I guess it’s going to be a Christmas thing. So, we’ll sing at a nice restaurant. A mutual friend suggested Pop’s. I countered with Taco Bell. Because of course I did.

You Are Probably a Liberal

 

Democratic Socialists

I found this article interesting. The reason I found it interesting is that the New York Times, in its review of the positions held by Democratic Socialists, never mentions that most Americans hold these views.

Most Americans are centrist liberals. Most Americans are aligned with or to the left of Bernie.

Here are the points the NYT summarizes:

1. End military aid to Israel
2. Expand the social safety net
3. Government healthcare
4. Tax the rich
5. No expansion to police budgets
6. Raise the minimum wage

. . .

1. This is about half of Americans. As I have said for many years, if the coverage was better, this would be in the 90s.

2. Major support. Most Americans want the government to do more. It depends on the specific issue, but support in general is over 60 percent—sometimes well over.

3. Over 60 percent. And has been higher. This one’s easy. Do you love your health insurance company??

4. Almost 70 percent support. Also a no-brainer. The position that if we take care of the rich, they will create jobs, etc. is pure, unregenerate nonsense.

5. Almost 60 percent of Americans want to see major changes and reforms with regard to the police. But the “defund” word is a mistake.

6. Over 60 percent support. Duh.

CONCLUSION: Most Americans are just fine with Democratic Socialism and would like to see the United States become more like Denmark or Norway.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/us/politics/heres-what-it-means-to-be-a-democratic-socialist.html

Whatabout

Socialism

I self-published this essay eight years ago. The topic of socialism continues to crop up. And what I hear is very strange.

I’ll admit, the word is somewhat ambiguous. It has been all but scrubbed of meaning. In the classical sense, the workers would assume control and ownership of the means of production. The employees of Apple would own Apple.

Americans have been drowned with Cold War ideology, conflating Sovietism with communism. The poster boy here is Karl Marx. All of this is wrong. The Soviet Union was not a communist worker’s paradise. And Karl Marx would have detested what happened in Russia in the early twentieth century.

Nevertheless, the Soviets wore the black hat, and we wore the white hat. Of course. And now, that’s communism/socialism.

However, this has all passed through the prism of American politics. Criticizing socialism is an opportunity to be racist without having to say so. Criticizing socialism is also an opportunity to feel like a scholar, by (inaccurately) citing historical chapters.

We are a nation that believes in boot straps: working hard, being smart, and making good decisions. If you’re poor, you have failed in life. If you’re a millionaire, you’re really smart and the embodiment of success. And socialism, the thinking goes, rewards the losers and punishes the winners.

Never mind that this is false. Never mind that poverty does not mean failure. Never mind that many wealthy people in this country receive free money all the time. And never mind that most of the population doesn’t really understand what capitalism even is, and therefore have no idea what they’re cheering for. (I thought being smart was held in high regard.)

Would poverty alleviation, universal healthcare, and universal basic income be so bad? And we could have those things and still remain “capitalist”—which we are not.

. . .

https://gregoryharms.blogspot.com/2018/08/more-socialism-than-socialism.html

[I have also included a 2023 essay on the subject.]

https://gregoryharms.blogspot.com/2023/01/random-thoughtsocialism.html

Books

Um … I don’t know about this article. The topic is “booksmaxxing,” which seems to be a kind of movement. As the piece says, “[It’s n]ot just fashionable—being a big reader is considered sexy.”

I tend to side with the article when it says, “it [is] an entirely performative exercise aimed at convincing the world you are intelligent and possess an attention span.”

But, maybe that’s not so bad. Even if the motives are shallow and absurd, people are at least talking about books.

The overall trend—noted by the article—is Americans are in fact reading less. If my observations in the classroom for almost fifteen years indicate anything, many (most) students don’t seem too interested in reading or learning for that matter.

The culture, taken in aggregate, is intellectually incurious. There doesn’t seem to be much interest in reading, in culture in general, in food even. Many cultures and ethnicities are proud of their various dishes and national cuisines. Americans seem content with Burger King and Chili’s. Why can I not buy a $5 bowl of noodles from a Vietnamese grandma? Why is that??

So, we cannot be surprised that Americans don’t care too much about reading; they don’t even care about eating.

In order to become better educated, reading is going to be an important tool. And being better educated makes one stronger and more alive. To remain uneducated is to be weak and half asleep. Being educated makes one more developed. One sees the world more clearly, more confidently.

When one is engaged in a course of study, there is a moment I hope everyone reading this gets to experience. You’re sitting with a book, and you lean back and say out loud, “Everyone is wrong.” I wouldn’t trade that event for anything in the world. It’s a moment when you have become stronger, more developed. Now, it doesn’t come easy. It will take years, but it is the best thing you will ever experience.

Oh, also, please do not make the assumption that college degrees = educated. They do not. One can rack up degrees and certificates plural, and remain uneducated. Becoming educated is on you.

Also, a population that is uneducated is in danger of itself. As I tell my students, it is very easy to convince a four-year-old there is a monster in the closet. Why? Because, from the four-year-old’s perspective, a monster being in the closet is plausible. The four-year-old does not know any better. This applies to very tall children. Uneducated adults can be convinced of anything. They don’t know any better.

Politics? The economy? Vietnam? The Middle East? Foreign policy? World War II? American history? Basic philosophy? Basic logic? Basic science? All these things remain a mystery when one is not educated.

We live in an age of information. There is information and data everywhere. Why are we still so badly uneducated? Why do so many Americans not know rudimentary politics or rudimentary economics?

And when you cannot make sense of the news or read a newspaper critically, you’re at risk of believing strange things. You judge what you hear by who is saying it—and how they are doing so.

Washington DC knows this; they hire top-flight marketing firms to deliver what they want the population to want. (Americans believe and do what they are told; it’s a very obedient culture.) And believe me, Washington knows very, very well what you actually want. The public-opinion polls are watched quite closely. They know the population judges by appearance and is not politically articulate. You are served immense helpings of bread and circuses.

Past generations and eras frequently look childlike and foolish. “How did they believe such nonsense? Why did they tolerate that?” But future generations will say the same things about us. It is tempting to view ourselves as sophisticated and enlightened. We are not. Don’t like who’s in the White House? We put him there. He is our fault. He is America.

So, if a shallow and niche movement that reduces reading to a pose is afoot—an aesthetic that enhances one’s online dating profile—it is I suppose harmless. And just might do a small bit of good.

The motives are superficial and frivolous, yes. But the movement can only move things in a positive direction, assuming it moves them at all.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jun/17/booksmaxxing-how-reading-became-sexy

Damn Kids

The Economist recently published an asinine op-ed piece, warning the danger socialist Gen Z places the wealthy in. The Economist issued a grave warning and called for resistance to this “brand of leftism.”

I quickly wrote a short response essay on the article. I then sent it to friend Michael and said, “Do what you want with it; we’ll both take author credit.”

So, Michael tripled the length and made my short piece a serious piece of analysis.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/06/17/those-damn-kids/