A society in decline

I have to admit American Rust is one of the books I came across in Amazon's recommendation and customer review system. Add to it the newspaper praise, where it was compared to Cormac McCarthy's unputdownable Road, and it was more than enough to have my hands itching to buy it. What also got me attracted was the ambience of American decline that is strikingly clear as soon as you read the title and see the front cover. In a period of economic doom, when we keep picking up messages of social disintegration on a daily basis, I kind of wanted to explore this mood even more.

American Rust tells a crime story set in Buell, a small town in the Mon Valley, a depressed area hit especially hard by the offshoring of heavy industry jobs to cheaper destinations. It's not about who'd done it. We know nearly from page one that it's two local high school graduates who found themselves in the wrong place, at the wrong time. In a tussle in an abandoned machine shop, Isaac blasts a bearing against a bum's forehead and kills him. Normally a quiet and extremely clever boy, he does that to rescue Poe, a friend. The story shuttles between several characters whose lives are affected by these unfortunate events in the following weeks.

Narrating events through multiple eyes is an interesting technique. It makes it possible to keep the pace of the story quite high, as we learn about new developments from different characters. But it also allows to paint a broader social and emotional background as so many distinct voices get a chance to speak out. I felt engrossed by this style in the opening chapters, even if my enthusiasm began to taper off somewhat deeper into the book.

American Rust is a poignant portrayal of a society in decline. With a disappearing manufacturing base and a dearth of meaningful jobs to go around, the dream of a decent life for decent work is slowly but inevitably turning into a nightmare. Average Joes and Janes struggle to make ends meet, they lose confidence, optimism and a sense of direction. They have little to inspire a generation of their children to do any better. Relationships are strained and broken. Crime creeps in as a natural side effect.

The book is full of uncompromising descriptions of houses falling apart, steelyards being taken to pieces and the society getting older, rusty, beyond repair. It's often pitted against nature that, incidentally, seems to be staging a comeback. Deer wander in the streets and around houses, the valley's lush scenery offers the only real respite from all-embracing decay.

Every character in the story is somehow tragically affected by the decline. Most live on (or not high above) the breadline, doing poorly paid jobs or trying as hard as they can to qualify for government benefits. A disability pension means a life of stability and luxury. Good jobs are impossible to find. Quite tellingly, home care for the elderly might be the only growth area. Another sector that is still standing is bar nightlife. Poe and Isaac, two stray teenagers who kill the Swede in the machine shop, are incapable of leaving the place behind. They are both exceptionally talented but lack social and life skills needed to move on in life. Getting in trouble instead is a natural consequence. Isaac's smart-ass sister Lee manages to move up the social ladder by marrying rich in Boston, but remains unhappy, lonely and lost in her life. A good-natured cop Harris, who is in love with Poe's mother Grace, resorts to authority abuse to save her son from lockup. He murders two tramp witnesses.

The book's grim but enjoyable as an unsweetened look into America's underbelly.

Some quotes and vocab:

"We're trending backwards as a nation, probably for the first time in history (...). The real problem is the average citizen doesn't have a job he can be good at"

"There was something particularly American about it - blaming yourself for your bad luck" (229)

"This is what it means to get old, you don't forward to pleasure so much as easing pain"

"By a certain age, people have their own trajectory"

"painful to see the world changing without you"

to sink money into sth
send sth into a tailspin / go into a tailspin
get a free ride for sth
change the bedpan
fall behind on bills
a horror show
It's not going anywhere
be on child support (= alimenty)
probably holding the books upside down
a minimum-wage job
to take a pull from a bottle
watch a sun go dwon from a back deck
get one free pass (raz się upiec)
a licence plate
look through binoculars
bend over backwards
I think a drink wouldn't kill us.
come round for a piece of pussy
Alrighty, then.
go back on your word
call in sick
wolf or sheep / predator or prey / hunter or hunted
get arrested for public consumption
DUI = driving under influence
take an immediate dislike to
dead in the water (= not going anywhere, not making any progress)
to frisk = to search esp for a hidden gun
a shot caller = a high status gang member
That's pretty much the least of your worries
within the margin of error
a National Merit scholar
trailer trash
put a warrant out for sb
to grab sb in a haedlock

Chiny z różnych perspektyw

Książkę Liao Yiwu "Prowadzący umarłych. Opowieści prawdziwe. Chiny z perspektywy nizin społecznych" dostałem od redaktora Trójki. Wycieczkę objazdową do Chin wygrała moja dziewczyna w konkursie dużej sieci restauracji. W ten bezkosztowy sposób udało mi się wprowadzić w dość atrakcyjny ostatnio temat. O Chinach pisze się i mówi dużo, ale - jak to zazwyczaj w przypadku odległych kultur i krajów - głównie przy użyciu klisz i uproszczeń. Made in China to wciąż synonim niskiej jakości. Żółty kolor skóry to bardziej oznaka zapóźnienia, biedy, przeciętności niż seksapilu. Dochodzi do tego kilka spraw politycznych i historycznych, które budują wokół Chin negatywne emocje. Jako przeciwwaga pojawia się obraz szalonego rozwoju i rosnącego wpływu Chińczyków, najczęściej w kontekście negatywnych scenariuszy dla świata.

Książka Liao Yiwu, nietolerowanego przez chińską władzę dysydenta, wpisuje się raczej w ten krytyczny obraz Państwa Środka. Jest to zbiór luźnych rozmów z kilkunastoma Chińczykami, których łączy tyle, że - każdy na swój sposób - byli ofiarami komunistycznego reżimu. Niektórych spotkały bezpośrednie represje aparatu, inni byli ofiarami nietrafionych decyzji i polityk chińskiej władzy na przestrzeni ostatnich kilkudziesięciu dekad. Wśród rozmówców Liao są między innymi trędowaty, wiejski nauczyciel, prawicowiec, nielegalny imigrant czy robotnik napływowy. Każdemu z nich autor daje głos. Jest to format często porównywany z tym, co robił w Stanach Studs Trekel, wybitny dziennikarz, który po prostu rozmawiał z przeciętnymi ludźmi w Ameryce, np. w książce "Working people talk".

Mam jednak poważne zastrzeżenie do tej metody opisywania świata. Wszyscy mamy swoją historię, wszyscy chcielibyśmy ją zaprezentować światu, ale ostatecznie jest to tylko jedna perspektywa na całość. Często kierują nami emocje, chęć rewanżu za doznane krzywdy, chęć opisania siebie w roli pokrzywdzonego, a nie współwinowajcy. Opowieści w "Prowadzącym umarłych" są fascynujące, ale tylko w minimalnym stopniu zbliżają nas do prawdy o Chinach, one voice at a time. Przypominają mi trochę swoją dynamiką propozycję, którą otrzymałem od ojca mojego kolegi, lokalnego biznesmena, kiedy pracowałem w szkole średniej jako dziennikarz. Zaproponował, żebym opisał w pełnym artykule historię jego udręki z urzędnikami. Tylko dlaczego jego głos miałby być taki ważny? Czy jest on wiarygodnym źródłem przy opisywaniu własnych urazów wobec innych ludzi? Dlaczego nie dać głosu innym uczestnikom, w tym przypadku urzędnikom? Dlaczego nie dać głosu tym, którzy zostali w urzędzie dobrze obsłużeni w podobnych sprawach? Ludzie zbyt chętnie ulegają niekompletnemu opisowi rzeczywistości, uznają, że to ich wersja lub wizja jest jedyną wartościową.

To, co robi Liao Yiwu, trzeba jednak widzieć w trochę innym świetle. Jest to najzwyklejsza próba oddania głosu tym, którzy w ogóle go nie mają, bo są go pozbawieni przez władzę. Restrykcyjny komunizm od kilkudziesięciu lat nie zezwala na wolność wypowiedzi, krytyki, zaburza poczucie sprawiedliwości, nie pozwala dochodzić swoich praw, wdraża dramatyczne w skutkach pomysły, za które nikt bezpośrednio nie odpowiada. O takich przypadkach, na pojedynczą i masową skalę, opowiadają bohateriowie "Prowadzącego umarłych".

Sporą część książki zajmują wywiady z takimi wydarzeniami jak Wielki Skok Naprzód czy Rewolucja Kulturalna w tle. To gigantyczne inicjatywy komunistycznej władzy, głównie autorstwa Mao Zedonga, przewodniczącego partii i lidera kraju do 1976r., które miały na celu zintegrowanie społeczeństwa i jego postęp cywilizacyjny. Przyniosły jednak zgoła odwrotne skutki - przemoc polityczną, prześladowania, niszczenie kultury, sztuki i religii, zapaść gospodarczą i masową klęskę głodu. Władza żyła w paranoicznym świecie, w którym nikt nie jest wyłączony z podejrzeń. W najgorszej sytuacji byli właściciele ziemscy i ich potomkowie. Znaleźli się po złej stronie konfliktu klasowego i musieli za to zapłacić, najczęściej życiem, przy najmniejszym wymiarze kary - pozycją społeczną. Do największych wrogów należeli też tak zwani prawicowcy oraz kontrrewolucjoniści, sceptycy i krytycy komunistycznej władzy. Jako że nie było mowy o normalnym systemie sprawidliwości, dowodzeniu swojej niewinności przed sądem, każdy, ale to dosłownie każdy, mógł stać się prawicowcem lub wrogiem klasowym. Za wypowiedź, za znalezienie się w niewłaściwym czasie w niewłaściwym miejscu, za cokolwiek, jeśli taka była wola ludzi władzy.

Rozczaruje się ten, kto sądzi, że brutalność władzy zniknęła wraz z reformami Deng Xiaopinga, które stały się podstawą dzisiejszych sukcesów gospodarczych i geopolitycznych Chin. Wiele opowieści pochodzi z okresu bezpośrednio po śmierci przewodniczącego Mao, a nawet z ostatnich kilku lat. Mamy historię prześladowanych kobiet z pokojowego ruchu religijnego Falun Gong, rodziców chłopaka zabitego w czasie zamieszek na Placu Niebiańskiego Spokoju Tienanmen, bezskutecznie dobijających się o prawdę i sprawiedliwość o synu, czy dyrektora państwowego banku, który odważył się interweniować w sprawie agresji władzy na protestujących w 1989r. studentów.

Imponuje mi cierpliwość Chińczyków, szczególnie tych uciskanych, w obliczu takiej szalonej historii ostatnich dekad. Połączona z biernością i szacunkiem dla jedności narodowej, daje ona praktycznie pewność, że chińska biedota nie zwróci się przeciwko władzy. Rządzący Chinami wykorzystwali tą pewność wielokrotnie i nic nie wkazuje na to, że może się to szybko zmienić.

Outliers by Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell is one of the most prominent public intellectuals of our times. The popularity of his books knows no bounds. There is no better proof for it than what you can see in airport bookstores around the world. From Warsaw to Istanbul to Shanghai, his exquisitely readable, perfectly calibrated investigations into popular topics, like success, talent or great ideas, are what meets the eye as you walk in. Gladwell's ability to appeal to a mass audience is quite amazing in the world of modern literature, but it wouldn't be too difficult to assign his work to a category of commuting non-fiction. You can easily read it through on a mid-range flight or a train trip. There's also quite a lot to say about his trademark style, which hovers around the core idea in quite large circles through reportage type narrative only to come to relatively simple, not to say obvious, conclusions. He does have a unique way of connecting the dots you know are there but fail to see the full picture most of the time. Possibly, this is the secret of Gladwell's success.

Outliers is the second title by Gladwell I've read, after the Tipping Point. There's going to be more.

What Gladwell does throughout Outliers is try to answer the question what determines people's chances of success. He wants to know how outstanding individuals, like Bill Gates, came to be. What nurtured their ascendance to the top of their professions? His major premise is that in thinking about achievement most people pay too much attention to innate features, especially talent. We tend to think great people are born great. They're blessed by the gods. They have what it takes from the very beginning. While Gladwell admits that predispositions do play a part, he uncovers a maze of hidden patterns that additionally shape chances of success.

What are these stepping stones to greatness?

1. In hockey or football, Gladwell argues, being born at the start of the year, say in January or February, greatly improves your chances of becoming successful. School classes and sport clubs are recruited on the basis of a birth date. Kids born in January have a few months advantage over kids born later in the same year. At an early age, when physical and emotional development move ahead fast, this can mean a world of difference in strength. This is how January and February kids are spotted by coaches and given preferential treatment that quickly increases their advantage over other kids. This is how arbitary cut-off dates (known as the Matthew Effect) affect chances of success in sport.

2. On the basis of the Beatles, Gladwell introduces the 10,000-hour rule. Their talent exploded for a reason. They were invited to Hamburg to play extremely long and frequent concerts in its insatiable music scene at an early stage of their career. This allowed them to practice, experiment and improvise, building up skill and style. Having played about 10,000 hours together, their performance became proficient and instinctive. They mastered their trade. The greatest Bealtles albums were released around this time. This concept reminds me of Diego Maradona, who described his unstopping appetite for football as a kid in one documentary, including playing at night. This extra effort made him into an even better player.

3. Gladwell also looked into whether IQ has a direct relation to success and concluded that up to a certain point higher intelligence makes a lot of difference. However, when it hits about 120 points, anything more you have is not giving you too much advantage over others. This explains why Mensa geniuses, like Christopher Langan, are not necessarily very successful in professional or private life. They might be increadibly smart but they fail to find practical ways to capitalize on it, especially if they miss other success factors.

Chris Langan - IQ 195, but not terribly successful



4. Another factor Gladwell turns a spotlight on is timing. Bill Gates is a good illustration, with his extraordinary ability to program computers that was met with support of his parents, school and early IT companies. He was born at the right time, with the right set of skills and had the right conditions to grow them from an early age. Gladwell also tells a story of a merger and acquisition lawyer of Jewish descent called Joe Flom, who had the luck to join this practice area when major companies did not bother to invest time and trouble there. When the industry grew in importance in the 1980s, he had a terrific first-mover advantage and used it to secure his success as a M&A specialist. What contributed to his rise? Jewish background that placed emphasis on written word and patience plus the timing of his entry into mergers and acquisitions.

5. Cultural heritage is the last thread in Outliers and possibly the most fascinating in my judgement. I couldn't put down the chapter on the ethnic theory of plane crashes. It reports a well-known case of Korean Air pilots who had a series of fatal accidents in the 1980s. Despite excellent technology, Korean Air belonged to an infamous group of the most dangerous airlines to fly with. When its management hired Americans to investigate why, they discovered that Korean culture placed extreme emphasis on respect for authority. Korea was among countries with the largest power distance. In this culture, people in power were shown massive respect and were not to be disagreed with by subordinates. There was a clear and rigorous hierarchy of communication that made it difficult to criticize superiors directly. In the case of Korean Air, it meant that the flight crew were too shy and restrained to inform the pilot about problems or, even more so, challenge his bad decisions. This led to more instances of human error on the part of tired or mistaken pilots as there were no procedures in place for the rest of the crew to correct things.

The other fascinating story illustrating how culture influences attitudes to success has to do with Chinese work ethic. Formed in rice-growing regions, where work requires determination and dedication, it is best summed up by a Chinese proverb Gladwell uses to open the chapter. "No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich". The Chinese and many other Asians believe steadfastly in the value of hard work and they are ready to focus on it, even at the cost of some inconvenient sacrifices. Gladwell connects this with stellar results of Asian kids in maths, which - as he proves - is as much about innate talent for abstract thinking as it is about taking time and effort to solve problems. Asians are more willing to sit through problems as they trust dilligence will be rewarded.

From the rice paddies of Asia, Gladwell comes back to the US, where he picks up discussions about school attainment gap between social classes. The poor, obviously, do not do nearly as well as the rich. The usual culprit is schools. They are believed to benefit students from richer families. In reality, research shows that school performance is practically the same across different social classes and where they really diverge is during holiday. While richer students have support of parents, financial, intellectual and cultural, while school is off (which is several months in a year), poorer students are left for themselves and make no progress. Worse still - they move backwards.