Been listenting to a UC Berkeley course lately on Economic History of the US. Really interesting stuff - up to the 1870's or so right now.
Takeaways so far -
1. As you'd expect, a UC Berkeley professor has a considerable leftward bias. Not raging-America-hating Zinnish by any stretch, but it's noticeable in his lectures. Say, in one class diversion he'll talk about the nutsy mortgage stuff the big houses were doing, but not mention the federal requirements to make dodgy loans at the time. I notice the same omissions in bits and pieces in places where I am familiar (say, the spectrum of political opinions in the post-WWII South, or the lead up to the Trail of Tears) just enough to want to check his sources when he talks about stuff I'm *not* familiar with.
2. He provides them. Frankly, he's a perfect counterbalance, because he's up front about where he's coming from, shows his work, and makes a point to provide other viewpoints in the reading. His exploration of the government's role in opening and maintaining the frontier is an especially worthwhile set of counterarguments.
All the above said, my favorite moment from this morning's lecture -
"So 40 million dollars in gold, that's..let's see... wow.
Oh wow.... a thousand dollars an ounce now hunh?
Wow. Okay, so that's this much weight, so....."
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Sorry, but the first thought across my frontal lobe was the old joke: "What's heavier? A ton of feathers, or a ton of bricks?"
Interesting guy, though ... and you just keep right on checking his 'facts'. The whole thrust of most progressives' talking points lies in hoping you won't notice the omissions, contradictions & disparities.
What is the lecture number for those of us playing at home?
Oh, and google doesn't know what Zinnish is, nor do I.
Hint Hint
sorry Michael - that should be "Zinn-ish," as in "Howard Zinn" as in "pretty much everything America has ever done is selfish and evil and we suck."
Rev - tee!
I think with this guy though it's not "lies and distortions" but rather "these are the things I think relevant." There's a diff between honest disagreement and saaaay.... the ADN in any given election year. ;)
Are you still listening to "American Studies C132B, 001, History C132B, 001 - Intellectual History of the United States since 1865" or have you moved on?
D'oh!
Sorry Michael..
I'm mostly finished with that one. Still need to catch up with the last two James lectures, but it gets rather repetitive in there for a while.
Presently on Econ 113
... and GOD I love the Internet
After all that Intellectualism and Economics, you should do as others and unwind. I'm assuming you get the news.
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ewuoo/how_do_i_get_these_fucking_birds_to_stop_running/
You do know gold is in troy ounces so that's 1.371485 tons/us.
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