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Human kind A Hopeful history

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  Rutger பர்க்மேனின் மனிதகுலம், ஒரு நம்பிக்கையான வரலாறு - புத்தக விமர்சனம்      இந்தப் புத்தகம், ஹான்ஸ் ரோஸ்லிங் எழுதிய 'Factfulness' புத்தகத்தை கருத்து ரீதியாக ஒத்திருக்கிறது. Factfulness புத்தகத்தில், மனிதகுலத்தின் கடந்த காலம் நிகழ் காலம் புள்ளி விவரம் மூலம் ஒப்பிடப்படுகிறது. Rutger படைப்பில் பாதகமான சூழ்நிலைகளிலும் கூட,  மனிதன் எவ்வாறு கருணையுடனும் கண்ணியத்துடனும்  இருந்திருக்கிறான் என்ற கருத்தியலில் இருந்து சொல்லப்படுகிறது. ஆசிரியர், தனது வாதத்திற்கு நிஜ வாழ்க்கை உதாரணங்களிலிருந்து போர் முனைகளை உள்ளடக்கிய ஆய்வுகள் வரை மேற்கோள் காட்டுகிறார். இந்தப் புத்தகம், Reader's Digest சிறப்புக் கட்டுரைகளின் தொகுப்பைப் படிப்பது போல உள்ளது. உலகின் நிலை குறித்து எப்போதும் எதிர்மறை பார்வையை கொண்ட அனைவருக்கும் இந்தப் புத்தகத்தை நான் பரிந்துரைக்கிறேன்.      இந்தப் புத்தகத்தின் மையக்கரு,  மனிதர்கள் இயல்பாகவே கருணையும் அன்பும் கொண்டவர்கள், பெரும்பாலும் நெருக்கடி காலங்களில் அவர்கள் பொதுவாக உள்ள நம்பிக்கைக்கு மாறாக கண்ணியமாகவும் நாகரீகமாகவும் நடந்துகொள...

Rutger Burgman's Humankind A Hopeful history - review

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Review: Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman Conceptually, this book is quite similar to Hans Rosling ’s Factfulness . While Factfulness compares humanity’s progress through history, Humankind analyzes the perspective that the majority of humans have been kind and decent, even in the most adverse situations. The author quotes everything from real-life examples to case studies from the front lines of war. At times, the book feels like a collection of Reader’s Digest special feature articles; otherwise, it is a gem of a work written from a refreshing and hopeful point of view. I recommend this book to anyone holding a cynical view of the world who wants to see a completely different perspective. The Core Argument The crux of this book is the statement that humans are inherently kind and lovable . Contrary to popular belief, most people react with decency and civility during a crisis. Admittedly, the book begins to feel like a collection of anecdotes after a certain point. The ...

Hindus in Hindu Rashtra book - A point by point rebuttal

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Hindus in Hindu Rashtra book - A point by point rebuttal       I got this book through one of my relatives whose political leanings I do not know. Anyway it doesn't matter here for reviewing this book. Except Historian Sitaram goel's book 'Hindu temples - what happened to them' , I have never read any book by a hindutva writer. The author of this book "Hindus in Hindu Rashtra" is Anand Ranganathan. I already knew about him as a Right wing propangadist and writer in English along with people like J Sai Deepak & Vikram Sampath. These people are very popular through their speeches and discussions on Youtube channels and I have watched some of their videos. They were all very articulate and communicative to drive their points hard. The agenda, of course is Hindutva.       Let's come to the book. We will see the some of the arguments put forth by the author on the plight of hindus in India and my views on them. 1 Hindus are treated like Eighth clas...

The importance of being Gandhi

Why Gandhi is important?     Here I have tried to summarize some points which are uniquely Gandhian. These are the reasons why I admire Gandhi the most among the political leaders past and present.  I had Gandhi on my WhatsApp DP some time ago. I remember someone asked, Why Gandhi ?   I came up with some reasoning for that and seemingly he was not impressed. So then I thought of writing down some of the aspects of Gandhi which I consider his unique contribution to humanity as a whole.  Ahimsa and violence  First time in history a major struggle was launched based on Non violent methods which eventually succeeded.  It paved the way for using the method for resolving conflicts. Until then violence was the only option. Gandhi proved and gave another highly successful, viable and less destructive for humanity to follow. It is not that the method will always work. It may not. But it is an option to explore in bigger and even smaller disputes between gr...