Review: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

From The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber and David Wengrow

Once upon a time, the story goes, we were hunter-gatherers, living in a prolonged state of childlike innocence, in tiny bands. These bands were egalitarian; they could be for the very reason that they were so small. It was only after the ‘Agricultural Revolution’, and then still more the rise of cities, that this happy condition came to an end, ushering in ‘civilization’ and ‘the state’ — which also meant the appearance of written literature, science and philosophy, but at the same time, almost everything bad in human life: patriarchy, standing armies, mass executions and annoying bureaucrats demanding that we spend much of our lives filling in forms."

Amazon

The subtitle of this huge work is "A New History of Humanity" and as the name implies, Graeber and Wengrow range over the whole planet and tens of thousands of years. In the process they challenge the almost universal assumptions of humanity's social evolution. No one will be able to write another "big history" book without addressing the questions raised here.

Eternals (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Eternals (2021): Too many characters. Too complicated. Character motivation is never clear, so you can't tell who the bad guys are. The humor falls flat. Normally, action scenes make up for these failings, but even those scenes got repetitive. A miss by Marvel and Chloé Zhao. C-

POTD: Deep into the Tomb

Tomb of Rameses IV (died 1149 BCE)

From 2019 11 22 Valley of the Kings

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. There are 63 known tombs. From the outside, the tombs are nondescript, deliberately so. The ancient Egyptians hid the tombs by filling the entrances with the rock excavated in making the tombs. Inside is a different story. This photo shows the long, inclined rock-cut corridor leading to the burial chamber of Rameses IV (died 1149 BCE). The walls and ceilings are decorated with paintings and chiseled hieroglyphs, still vibrant after more than 3,000 years.

Being the Ricardos (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Being the Ricardos (2021): It's an Aaron Sorkin movie, so more dialog than action. Even the explosive Desi/Lu marriage is more talk than passion. If you want to know what made "I Love Lucy" so significant, or you don't know what the Hollywood Red Scare was, this is for you. B-

TIL: MLK on Economic Justice

Minimum Wage by State

Today, our country honors Martin Luther King, Jr. Normally the focus is on his movement for voting rights. It's tragic that today, more than half of a century after his death, the voting rights secured in MLK's day are under threat in America. In 2021 alone, "19 states have enacted 33 laws that will make it harder for Americans to vote." But voting rights are not what I want to focus on today. Instead, I want to turn to a speech by MLK that ties voting rights to economic justice. In it, MLK makes an observation that explains a feature of that map above showing the minimum wage laws by state. The connection MLK drew between economic justice and segregation is what I learned today.

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Licorice Pizza (2021): Southern California, 1973. Teen boy and mid-20s woman, independent go-getters, both too busy hustling to connect. Movie is a series of good standalone scenes that lack a connecting thread. Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper each get a scenery-chewing cameo. B-

Hawkeye (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Hawkeye (TV 2021): Clint Barton is on the way out and Kate Bishop is getting started. The crisis surrounding the handoff is crowded with characters and subplots. I would trade a quiver full of trick arrows for a gun. On the plus side, it's Marvel's best Christmas show. C-