Tag: Politics

Top 5 Books of 2025

Published on by Kieran Johnson - The Generosity GuyLeave a comment

A precondition for reading good books is not reading bad ones: for life is short.” Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer

As it turns out, my reading this year was skewed to power and politics. I know, I’m as surprised as you are, but it was a fascinating year of reading, also devastatingly troubling. But I have found one of my all-time new favourite books. You will see below.

TOP 5 NON-FICTION

The Chancellor: The remarkable odyssey of Angela Merkel – Kati Marton

Angela Merkel is a unique and brilliant women, born in a unique time, in a unique place. Some would say just the right time and just the right place. She could have chosen to go into academia and make a significant impact there, instead she chose public service. With an interest and skillset for global affairs, when East Germany opened up it allowed her to continue her journey which eventually led to the role of Chancellor of Germany, and one of the best leaders the world has seen in recent times. Humble to the point of still doing her own shopping at the local supermarket, and private to the point that her staff never saw inside her small home. This book is an incredible insight into who she is, how she thinks and the legacy she left. It’s an unofficial biography of course, because Angela would never sell her story, but still is a very full telling of her story nonetheless.

The Fifth Risk – Michael Lewis

Classic Michael Lewis – running through the biggest risks to America and diving deeper into the fifth one, being the risk of the failure of complex government functions due to incompetence/ignorance and poor management.

Michael spent time with people who worked in some of the most unknown and misunderstood elements of the essential government operations, his conversations with those people shine a very scary light on what happens when the transition into a new government is not handled well, or in some cases, doesn’t happen at all.

Lost Connections: Uncovering the real causes of depression – and the unexpected solutions – Johann Hari

As only Johann Hari can, through his journalistic approach he takes a deep look at depression through first hand experiences as well as in depth conversation with experts across the board. Not taking the general medical advice on face value, he asks some challenging questions which are helpful to anyone who is struggling with depression, or know someone who is. A quick overview: medical interventions can be helpful in the depression journey, but they are not the only thing that can help – there is more to be done.

***TOP BOOK OF 2025*** Corruptible: Who gets power and how it changes us – Brian Klaas

Brian Klass answers the age-old question, does power corrupt or do corrupt people seek power? One that I have been trying to work out for a while but have never come to a satisfactory answer, until reading this book. Brian notes that those who stay in power for a long time are generally attuned to do what needs to be done to stay there, meaning that most have flexible morals as those who would not corrupt themselves for the sake of position and power have already opted out. Who is left over is a diminished field of leaders.

At the same time, the systems of accountability in place in power structures also have an impact how people behave.

If you combine those two elements together, we find ourselves with the world we live in. Perhaps we might want to change how we think about what makes a good leader.

Careless People – Sarah Wynn-Williams

Maybe it was just a year of freaking myself out or letting myself get disappointed with the people we let have some authority over us, but this book added to my sense of bewilderment. Sarah was at Facebook from early days and journeyed with Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Samberg through the growth period of Facebook and how they attempted to deal with political powers in order to keep that growth going, no matter the cost.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Facebook before reading this, now, wow. Reading this after finishing Corruptible, certainly helped me understand how this kind of thing happens but it didn’t make me feel any better about the shady people who say they are for making the world a better place but are only chasing growth and profit.

TOP 5 FICTION

Boy Swallows Universe – Trent Dalton

I am sure many have read this already, but Trent Dalton can write a story. I loved reading this book. Not just a story about a family living in Brisbane in the 80’s, it’s deals with organised crime, poverty, magic and kids growing up. The Netflix series did a great job of capturing all of that on the screen.

Everything Lost, Everything Found – Matthew Hooton

Brand new book alert!

Matthew Hooton lives in Adelaide and this book was one of the stories that gripped the most this year. From the rubber-tree plantations in the Brazilian Amazon to the heart of Michigan’s rust belt, the story follows Jack through his life of family tragedy, age and loss. I was truly sad when I finished this book because it was over, but I am very happy to be able to read it again.

The Overstory – Richard Powers

I had no idea what this was when I picked it up. It was a random podcast recommendation. I read the first section and thought it was a book of short stories. The first one, if it was a just a short story, was the best one I have ever read. But, the stories interconnect over time as the Overstory interacts with the main characters and the trees, although it could be said that the trees are the main characters. (That may not make any sense to you, my wife didn’t get it either when I tried describing it to her). Although I didn’t thoroughly enjoy how it ended, it was a very good read.

The Stranger in the Lifeboat – Mitch Albom

From the author of Tuesday’s with Morrie, Mitch Albom has shown himself to be an excellent fiction writer as well. (Other people may know that already, I am just discovering it). After a boating accident, survivors end up on a lifeboat, with a stranger that just seemed to appear. Through the challenge of survival in the middle of the ocean, the survivors seek to learn about the stranger but end up learning more about themselves, and death. Many of them die. Don’t let that put you off, it is a great book.

Steelheart – Bandon Sanderson

Apparently I read Young Adult fiction now. This is the first in Brandon Sanderson’s series about the Reckoners. I read the whole series this year, that’s how good this book was.

It’s a superhero thing, but not how you would imagine.

Your Money Chooses

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“Apart from the ballot box, philanthropy presents the one opportunity the individual has to express their meaningful choice over the direction in which our society will progress” – George K Kirstein

There is nothing I can do about it now. I voted. The election is over and now I sit back and wait to see where the leaders take the country, until the next election in three years when they ask my opinion again. I have this tiny moment in time to add my voice to the millions of others, and if most people agree then we might get somewhere. It’s hard to see what kind of impact I really have though. One vote in millions doesn’t seem to carry any weight at all, so why bother? I am sure that I’m not the only one who has thought that too because in my electorate alone, the informal votes ranked higher than a number of the candidates. That means that more people didn’t fill out their ballot paper correctly than those who voted for some candidates on purpose. The Australian Electoral Commissions suggests that 5% of all votes are informal and can’t be officially counted.

It’s easy to see how people can end up there. And it’s easy to see how people can disengage from community life thinking that they are unable to change anything, so why bother.

But that’s not true. The impact an individual can have on our world is huge, and we don’t have to wait for an election to be called to do it. Every day we have money within our control and what we do with it creates the society we live in. The organisations we give to shift our culture. When we give money to charities it shows politicians what people actually care about, not what they say they care about. Money moves our culture. Money moves our values. Money is a tool we can use to create the society we want. We get to choose what we do with it. So, give generously to organisations as a vote to create the world you want.

Nope.

Published on by Kieran Johnson - The Generosity Guy1 Comment

There is a story, perhaps a myth, about the king of Siam (modern day Thailand) who would give a white elephant to those in his kingdom who displeased him. Not wanting to upset the king, everyone accepted this gift. Plus, it was such an honour to own such a rare animal and it signified that you had made it. It was the Ferrari 250 GTO of its day (look it up, super rare and expensive).

In doing so, it was the king’s hope that the cost of looking after the elephant would financially ruin the person and free the king of their presence. Pretty sneaky.

Then there is the time that the king of Siam offered two elephants to President Abraham Lincoln in the early 1860’s, because America had none, and obviously need some.

The catch was that Siam didn’t have the means to transport them there, so President Lincoln needed to send a ship full of hay and other food that the elephants could eat. Also, fresh water – tanks of it. Plus, special berths so that the elephants could stand up and lie down. Also, they wanted to do it a few times so it would be more than one trip. Once in America, they had to make sure the elephants kept warm and then they should just let them run around the country for a bit to multiply.

President Lincoln said no. Respectfully so. With wisdom. Essentially he said, “Nah, we don’t need ‘em. We have other machinery that we use.”

I don’t know what the political fall out from that was, but that’s probably the reason there are no elephants in North America. Also, it’s way too cold in America for elephants. They would have died pretty quickly. In saying no, it saved America a lot of time, money and hassle.

Sometimes it’s important to say no when someone tries to give you something.

Which One?

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I recently saw a list of those who make significant political donations and I was a little surprised that there were a number who gave to both major parties in Australia. I guess it makes sense if you are looking to hedge your bets, so you don’t back the wrong horse, but it reminded me of how most people give money to charity.

It is very rare to come across someone who donates to only one charity. Instead, I often hear that people give to a few different ones, sometimes to two that are working in a similar space because, whilst they may be different organisations with slightly different approaches, the supporter likes them both. So why not?

It’s a portfolio style of giving, where you choose a selection of charities to support across a few different areas. Some will be similar, others will be doing something completely different so that you can diversify your portfolio. Over time you become more engaged and connected with the charities you support which leads to greater fulfilment in your giving, as you learn more about the difference that your generosity is having.

Oops, I Did it Again

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I know not to read the comments. I know that.

It’s something that I tell other people about social media – “Don’t read the comments!”

But, well I forgot for some reason. I don’t know why. When I came across a meme featuring Prime Minister Scott Morrison, put together by people bemoaning about how Australia gives $4 billion worth of foreign aid to other countries and not to our struggling farmers, I should have kept scrolling. But I didn’t. Rookie mistake.

The comments were different versions of “this is disgraceful, let’s look after our own first!” and of course “Charity begins at home!”, not to mention numerous comments on how awful all of our ‘corrupt’ politicians are.

As I read through these comments from people, whom I would consider ignorant and uneducated on the wider issues around foreign aid and global economics, I was stuck. I disagreed with everything that was being said and much was based on misinformation, which made me angry. I imagined that the type of people who are commenting would be those who are unwilling to change their opinion, or have an educated discussion, or any sort of discussion with anyone who disagreed with them without it turning into an argument with personal attacks and name-calling.

I found myself asking, if generosity is what I talk about and seek to live out, how can I be generous to these people? What does generosity look like in this situation?

I think it starts with self-reflection and asking some hard questions.

Am I willing to change my opinion?

Do I get argumentative with people who disagree with me?

How can I serve the discussion around issues where there is conflict?

The answer to the first two questions is ‘it depends’, which is a deeper conversation for another time.

The third question is about how I can serve the discussion, the answer is to participate in it, which is what the next post will be about…