10-07-2021, 04:23 PM
Imperial San Francisco by Gray Brechin
Another history book this time centering on San Francisco. Another book declaiming boy are people bad and here the receipts. Dr. Brechin is a geologist by training so this books starts with a premise on mining and the deleterious effects the mining has on the area around it in profound ways. There is a lot of talk about the mining pyramid and how the axis of the pyramid work to support the central theme of mining. The idea is that all the wealth of the mines are eventually concentrated into the hands of a few people. The book is broken down into four main sections and the families that benefited from those sections. The discussion is about the Iron Works owners and The water barons and the real estate brokers and the newspaper publishers. And there are a lot of families that cross all the different segments. I learned a lot about the Hearsts, DeYoungs, Spreckels, and Phelans. It's all kind of disheartening to see how the majority of people are just pawns to a small minority of people who would strip our country for wealth for their own ends.
Oddly, the book ends with a deep dive into the birth of UC Berkeley (aided in the early days by the Hearst family) and the birth of the Atomic Bomb. Oddly again there wasn't a lot of talk about trains which I though would have played a bigger part. There are brief mentions of Crocker, Stanford, and Huntington but only as asides. Crocker is mentioned because he's a banker and a Newspaper owner. Stanford because of the University. Huntington because of the trains but only in passing. No mention at all of Hopkins.
So, yeah. Doctor, my eyes indeed.
Another history book this time centering on San Francisco. Another book declaiming boy are people bad and here the receipts. Dr. Brechin is a geologist by training so this books starts with a premise on mining and the deleterious effects the mining has on the area around it in profound ways. There is a lot of talk about the mining pyramid and how the axis of the pyramid work to support the central theme of mining. The idea is that all the wealth of the mines are eventually concentrated into the hands of a few people. The book is broken down into four main sections and the families that benefited from those sections. The discussion is about the Iron Works owners and The water barons and the real estate brokers and the newspaper publishers. And there are a lot of families that cross all the different segments. I learned a lot about the Hearsts, DeYoungs, Spreckels, and Phelans. It's all kind of disheartening to see how the majority of people are just pawns to a small minority of people who would strip our country for wealth for their own ends.
Oddly, the book ends with a deep dive into the birth of UC Berkeley (aided in the early days by the Hearst family) and the birth of the Atomic Bomb. Oddly again there wasn't a lot of talk about trains which I though would have played a bigger part. There are brief mentions of Crocker, Stanford, and Huntington but only as asides. Crocker is mentioned because he's a banker and a Newspaper owner. Stanford because of the University. Huntington because of the trains but only in passing. No mention at all of Hopkins.
So, yeah. Doctor, my eyes indeed.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm