Authoritarian

A show of hands-how many of you remember my post about waterboarding from back in December? Oh, good!

I've been so frustrated by the way so many people I've talked to about this just shrug it off and figure there's not much to be done to stop it. And others are all for torture, because it's apparently a good idea if the government says it is. Waterboarding is torture, it is criminal, and it is Wrong. And yet we seem to be pretty committed to it as a society as evidenced by the fact that those responsible for this atrocity (and so many others) are nowhere near being brought up on war crimes charges.

Well, insightful commenter and expert blogger Nerdiah commented on my earlier post and included a link to a book that she recommends. After reading the introduction and the first chapter, I second that recommendation. I know that none of my faithful readers took the bait when I asked you to join me in reading a lengthy tome on evolution, but I think this could be different. This book is free, available online, and is not an insanely dense read. I'm particularly interested in what the social scientists among you have to say.

So, check out this most excellent work, The Authoritarians, and I'll check back in a few days for a discussion of chapter one.