Site icon Dana Stabenow

The pursuit of public policy contrary to self-interest. Or why governments keep shooting themselves in the foot.

The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam by Barbara W. Tuchman

A book which informed my entire world view. In it, Tuchman posits the existance of folly, or the pursuit of public policy contrary to self-interest–in other words, why nations keep shooting themselves in the foot. She uses the Trojans taking the Greek horse inside the walls of Troy as her template, and then goes on to talk about how the Renaissance popes caused the Reformation, how the British lost America, and how the US lost in Vietnam. A lively, engaging prose style with more than a hint of “Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

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