What's Wrong with the World

I didn't finish this, although it's good fun to read. Chesterton has a well deserved reputation for his humour, and you can't help the odd laugh. But he's just too far off the wall, and it's hard to understand sometimes whether he's being serious or just teasing the reader. I suspect the former. I don't know whether this kind of crypto-fascism is actually dangerous, or just too silly to take seriously. But some of the ideas are so appealing that you have to ask yourself why it appeals to so many people? Some of his social comment is very valid - I particularly like his description of the evolution of the socialist Hudge and the conservative Grudge. But how long can you put up with the claim that the solution to England's ills is to show more provide every Englishman with three acres and a cow? show less

Chesterton wrote almost a hundred years ago about the turmoil and issues that seized a changing English government and society in the early twentieth century. He talks of the issues brought about by militant feminists; the attack of sociology and social workers on the family; the arguments attending to creation of a public school system (England's not America’s definition of public schools); the growing separation of religion from literature, schooling, and government; and the expanding influence of Socialist views as proposed in the Fabian Society.

Many of the changes he argues against were implemented by their proponents, a political success but an operating failure. The result is that new proponents propose even further steps be show more taken in our day. In spite of, or perhaps because of, the lapse of time Chesterton’s observations and arguments seem to go more to the roots of the problems than many recent books of political analysis and argument. And they have the added strength of the author’s ability to add humor, insight, and humanity to his arguments. Time does create a disadvantage as well in that some of his references to people, events, and literature (and he has many) will not be familiar to a modern reader.

In short, if you want to better understand the origins and history of some of today’s political issues you ought to read this. I believe that if you are right leaning, conservative, or libertarian you’ll be happy with his views; or conversely unhappy from the other side. But from either side this is a mind expanding and a delightful read. show less

Basically a long essay, summarising what GKC thought were - sometimes the world's, but most often England's in particular - main problems society had at the time of writing (1910, between Queen Victoria and WWI). He often mentions in passing minor topics and opinions he dealt with in more detail in newspaper articles later collected in other books of his. Some of his argument may seem, from today's perspective, almost antediluvian; more often it's excruciatingly easy to apply his words to the world (and Britain) as we know it now, a century and a decade later.

Many observations in this book are applicable today as when it was written. We refuse to learn from history.

Muito bom.

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