Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Daily Thoughts 11/22/2016


J E Blanche Marcel Proust 01-01-2013.jpg
J. E. Blanche, Marcel Proust, 1891

Daily Thoughts 11/22/2016

I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I read the New York Times on the way to work today.

I checked the displays and the gift books this morning.  I displayed some books by local authors in the display case.

I checked out the book, A Nation of Takers America's Entitlement Epidemic by Nicholas Eberstadt this morning.

I am looking at A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines.  It is one of the books on the NEA Big Read list.

The crochet club is meeting today from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

There was a Fundamentals of Computers Class from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Beginning Microsoft Word class from 6:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. tonight.

I finished reading A Nation of Takers America's Entitlement Epidemic on the way home by Nicholas Eberstadt.  It was about the increasing growth of the use of entitlement programs like disability insurance, social security, and other forms of welfare in the United States.  It described a process where men were increasingly leaving the workforce and living off entitlements.  The book is short and a very quick read.  It includes two essays at the end of the book with differing views on entitlements.

I decided to read this because of some articles about the monograph, Men Without Work America's Invisible Crisis also by Nicholas Eberstadt. An example of an article along these lines is America's Quiet Catastrophe, Millions of Idle Men.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/americas-quiet-catastrophe-millions-of-idle-men/2016/10/05/cd01b750-8a57-11e6-bff0-d53f592f176e_story.html

What led me to reading this article is that I was reading about the loss of work due to automation.  It ties in directly with increasing entitlement.  In fact, the ultimate entitlement is the idea of a Universal Basic Income.  Nicholas Eberstadt is quite conservative.



Web Bits 


The Rise of Knowledge Workers Is Accelerating Despite the Threat of Automation
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/05/04/the-rise-of-knowledge-workers-is-accelerating-despite-the-threat-of-automation/?mod=e2fb

MIT  Libraries Stand Committed to Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Social Justice, A Statement from the Director

Tunisians are Being Encouraged to Read by Turning Taxis Into Libraries

8 Legendary Ancient Libraries


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