Ed Curtin > Recent Status Updates

Did not finish and do not care. I have learned more about the election of 1896 through books that brush past that period of time than I have from this book that literally focuses on the life of the candidate.

oh god oh fuck politics in my biography about a politician oh god

Back to our regularly scheduled programming

If there is a single mention of unit economics in this book my brain might vomit

Regarding the first fine in the Standard Oil antitrust case, which was the maximum penalty possible - “Asked about the penalty, Mark Twain said it reminded him of the bride’s words the next morning: ‘I expected it but didn’t suppose it would be so big!’”

Rockefeller shot a 53 on 9 holes that day, which was his personal best and very good for a 68 year old on an “era adjusted youthfulness” scale

So he goes around telling people “The entire Southern US has hookworm” and people laugh at him because they think he’s playing up a joke - there was already a big stereotype that Southern workers were lazy. He bashes his head against the wall for years until he catches the ear of the man who runs the Rockefeller philanthropies. Rockefeller turns on the money spigot and they cured a million people in 2 years.

Back on the grind. There is a massive chunk of this book dedicated to the Rockefeller philanthropies, and this bit is my favorite:

There was a zoologist who had just returned from curing a massive hookworm outbreak in Cuba. He returns to the US, looks around, and realizes that most of the people in the Southern US are also suffering from hookworm. Hookworm causes lethargy and declined mental capacity

Interrupting your feed to insert my favorite John D Rockefeller stat: John Rockefeller was the richest man in the world, and Standard Oil was the largest company in the world, BEFORE the invention of the automobile and the advent of the gas powered engine. Kerosene, fertilizers, and industrial lubricants were the main revenue drivers, and they got broken up before gasoline sales even took off.

I’VE ABANDONED MY YEARLY READING QUOTA! I’VE ABANDONED MY YEARLY READING QUOTA! I’VE ABANDONED MY GOAL!