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On those visits, my mother and I walked in together but as soon as we passed through the door, we split up and each headed to our favorite section. The library might have been the first place I was ever given autonomy.
“You can’t perpetuate the myth in America of rugged individualism forever,” as she told me later. “Everyone benefits from networks and mentorships, but when men or people from affluent backgrounds network and mentor, nobody labels it like this. They are just ‘helping each other”
― There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
― There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
“In short, a college degree and other advanced or technical training were individuals’ personal investments in their own future, not part of the state’s investment in its population’s education or in the country’s future. The ethos of Thatcherism and Reaganism had spread from economics to education. Here, perhaps more than anywhere else, their influence would eventually prove disastrous on both a human and a political level.”
― There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
― There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
“Perhaps more than anything else, the press conference highlighted—for me, and for the public—just how low America could sink in its own estimation and in the eyes of the world. The country’s long-festering domestic crisis had exploded into view with Trump’s election, and now we were seeing the consequences on the international stage. This, I felt, was the agony of American populism. But it wasn’t over yet.”
― There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
― There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
“Like every great love, patriotism broadens one’s conscience. A true patriot loves the whole world. Having discovered the greatness of one’s native land, it is impossible to conceive hatred for the world. People devoid of love are poor patriots. The pseudo-patriotism of the fascists rests on contempt for other peoples; it narrows down the world to the limits of one language, one type of people, one breed.”
― The Tempering of Russia
― The Tempering of Russia
“Russia is America’s Ghost of Christmas Future, a harbinger of things to come if we can’t adjust course and heal our political polarization. In the late 1980s and 1990s, Russia entered a promising period of democratization that was ultimately weakened by political upheavals and attempted coups, overwhelmed by economic crisis, and undermined by declining opportunity. Vladimir Putin was the first populist president of a major country in the twenty-first century. He came into the presidency at the end of 1999 promising to make Russia a great power again, blazing a restorationist political trail at home and abroad. Putin set a personalized, bravura style of leadership that others, including Donald Trump, sought to emulate. And over the next two decades Putin rolled back Russia’s democratic gains to firmly entrench himself in the Kremlin. First he served as president, then as prime minister, and then as president again. Each time he made adjustments to Russia’s political system, until finally, in 2020, he amended the constitution. In theory, Vladimir Putin can now stay in power until 2036. Under the guise of Putin strengthening the state and restoring its global position, Russia slowly succumbed to authoritarianism.”
― There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
― There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century
Barry Mernin’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Barry Mernin’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
284 books
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24 friends
593 books
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22 friends
24 books
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21 friends
904 books
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133 friends
126 books
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91 friends
4 books
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13 friends
1 book
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62 friends
414 books
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61 friends
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