How To Win The Civil War

While I am still reading People Centered Economy as I mentioned in this post, I have also started reading "How To Win The Civil War" by Steve Phillips. Steve was my best friend until the first couple of years of Elementary School and then a move to a different city began to separate us. We went to rival high schools and I'm pretty sure he went to a presitigous west coast school. Stanford I think it was called. Of course of our Dartmoor Road friendship, he got the brains (and the looks, and the atthleticism (marathoner), dammit). Anyway, I am headed to the west coast to visit my son in Seattle and I'm going to stop by and see my sister in Livermore CA. I'll be flying into to San Fransisco where Steve lives, or nearby anyway. So the plan is to see him while I'm there if just over a coffee.

I didn't want to show up not having read either of his books, the other one being "Brown is the New White" which I believes lays out the numbers for the democratic party leaning more into POC than centrist, white, part of the machine democrats. I have a signed copy, my Mom got it for me, but I haven't read it yet. So when I bought How to Win The Civil War I decided I had to have at least started prior to seeing Steve and asking him to sign it.

I am currently on the second chapter and besides referencing Dartmoor Rd a couple of times, sharing some information about how his family came to be the only black family on our street that I did not know. Which I look forward to finding out more about when I see him in SF. I think though the sheer amount of information he shares on the United States and its treatment (oppression) of African Americans that I did not know, is embarassing really. It is also hard to read to think that I belong to a country where the color of your skin is more important than the ideals that this country was built upon - life, liberty, pursuit of happiness and the rights for all human beings. I am really looking forward to the second half of the book where he outlines how to win the war that is still ongoing because this first half is depressing and I feel disillusioned with our country - imagine what people of color feel, egads!

As with People Centered Economy I hope to post some blog entries on my thoughts on this book as I learn more.