Allen Liao

The story ended too optimistically. I don’t think a society which has degraded like that would fix itself in such a short time, and it’s a bit disappointing that once Earthseed has taken roots, the rest of the world seems to fall in line. Or at least, the troubles are no longer present in the narrative. What was somewhat realistic though was the decline of Christian America, provided that Jarret’s fascism has not persuaded the masses sufficiently.

I really liked Parable of the Talents otherwise. The middle section was a HARROWING read, but never unbelievable. I shudder to think what might be done in the “Camp Christians” of today.

My knowledge on Fascism prior to reading this is limited, so I cannot comment on the accuracy of Stanley's portrayal of it. However, he paints a wide and interesting picture of both the ideology of fascism and its strategies to obtaining power. Chapter 1, 5, and 6 seems to be the essential chapters to understanding the politics of Us and Them, with other chapters detailing the strategies or the societal effects of such politics.

The book is a bit confusing, as it weaves in between the ideology and strategies, and draws no clear line between conservative ideologies and fascism itself. The last chapter is a bit clearer on this distinction, but I wish it had come sooner. The book would benefit from replying to possible counter objections and dispelling any notion that fascism has a monopoly on totalitarianism, or that conservative ideologies inevitably slides to fascism (with no further qualifications)--notions that careless reading of the book would suggest. Peter Ludlow's review of this book (^1) misinterprets many aspects of Stanley's work in this way, as I have at first, but Stanley's reply (^2) made clear the project of the book and the nature of fascism. As a companion, is worth a read.

^1: http://quarterly.politicsslashletters.org/fascism-doesnt-work-like-that-a-review-of-jason-stanleys-how-fascism-works/

^2: https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/campuspress.yale.edu/dist/7/272/files/2021/02/Reply-to-Ludlow-HFW.pdf

Although this requires a little bit of knowledge of theories of arithmetic (particularly Gödel encodings and the diagonalization lemma), each paradox is presented concisely and intriguingly. Highly recommended to anyone who wants an introduction to paradoxes.

Read the first half (up to encoding logical notions in λC). The first three chapters are pretty clear and easy to understand, but once it gets to type dependent on types and terms, they stopped giving syntax rules and things becomes more sloppy, requiring more work from the reader to understand the full implication of the typing system.
Would recommend this to all readers who know a bit of logic, but make sure to at least skim through the exercises and proofs portion of the text, as they become increasingly important.