Political Corruption and the Death of Civilized Society

I have recently read two very powerful books which I highly recommend to anyone trying to get a better understanding of just how brutal, repressive, and down-right violent other parts of the world currently are. I mention this not as an exercise in brow-beating but rather as a means to better understand why there appears to be such cynicism toward otherwise well-intended efforts conducted by decent people.

(a) The Art of Political Murder by Francisco Goldman – a haunting tale of incredible tragedy surrounding the cold-blooded murder of a leading public rights advocate. Reported in a highly readable narrative that describes a mind-blowing array of cover-up and deception. This book carefully projects the long-term effects that hate and evil can have on a people, a government, and a nation. In short, this is virology 101.

(b) Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent International Empire of Naples’ Organized Crime System by Robert Saviano. This book has been the rage of the summer/fall reading season in Europe due in large part to the simply shocking first person revelations about the historically intertwined relationship in Naples/Puglia of organized crime. The tragedy here is that decent people are forced to make impossible choices with all-too-predictable outcomes.