When I initiated these weekly updates, I began using the postscript, scribendo cogito, or “I think by writing.” That is part of a Latin phrase preceded by docendo disco, “I learn by teaching.” For me, teaching and writing go together like writing and coffee. I love both. But I am not a teacher per se. That’s for sturdier people with the discipline and patience to undertake it.
Nevertheless, I think teaching oneself is a good life-long habit and you can do that by reading. After all, Abraham Lincoln, was a self-educated man who rose to save the nation from certain demise. Self-teaching works. And literacy and reading are central to success. Reading enables my writing, not only in matters of content, but in style. Concerning the latter, I owe much to my English composition professor at the Virginia Military Institute in 1969. He reviewed each student’s composition in person. My first encounter was memorable.
“Well, Mr. Lingamfelter, this is a good effort. Your opening was strong, your arguments sound, but your conclusions didn’t reach back to your well-developed case. D-. Keep up the good work.”
“Good grief,” I thought, “this is going to be a long year.” Over time, I would continue to improve my style and with that, continue to learn by reading.
While pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Virginia, my favorite professor was Alvin Z. Rubinstein, a noted Sovietologist and author. He reminded his students that when we left the halls of academia, the demands of our profession would gobble up our time. Therefore, it was vital, he counselled, that we carve out opportunities to read and continue to learn. I have and it’s been a blessing to me.
Occasionally, I catch myself reading more than one book at a time. That’s the case now and I thought I would share with you what I am currently reading. I try to read works that expand my understanding of things to not only satisfy my curiosity, but also to learn new ideas and the arguments associated with them.
This summer I started William Manchester’s The Arms of Krupp: The Rise and Fall of the Industrial Dynasty that Armed Germany at War. This is a very detailed look into the formation and activities of the Krupp family industry and its development of war materials and arms. The saga began in the 16th century and extended to WWII. It has all the stuff of an interesting read. Innovation, determination, deceit, power, influence and, yes, war. More importantly, it reveals the nature of the military industrial complex that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about while he was president. While I think we should be careful not to allow the arms industry to dominate our defense policy, I do consider defense manufacturing as vital to our national security. But Manchester’s history is an important warning that we should not let the arms “tail” wag the national security “canine.” It’s a timeless lesson that I may well incorporate into a future work I am contemplating.
I also picked up a copy of Frenchman Marc Bloch’s Strange Defeat: A Statement of Evidence Written in 1940. Bloch—a renowned historian and resistance fighter who was later executed by the Nazis—analyzes firsthand why France fell in 1940. This book was recommended to me by a group of former Army colleagues with whom I regularly communicate. As we discuss national security policy and the direction of our Army today, it’s important to reach back to understand why nations can potentially collapse quickly, if they are unprepared to engage enemies. It’s insightful and I plan to finish it before the new year as I think about that future book I have in mind.
Finally, I just started Angelo Codevilla’s America’s Rise and Fall Among Nations: Lessons in Statecraft from John Quincy Adams. Codevilla, who recently passed away, explores the foundations of America’s foreign policy, and identifies where he thinks America has erred in the 20th Century. In the process he examines what would truly be an “America First” foreign policy. I became very interested in his perspective even as I began reading the introduction. His choice to begin with John Quincy Adams is a good one, particularly since Adams was the son of our second President and himself a statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States. This work I suspect will offer a clear warning about adventurous wars and the perils of nation building; lessons made clear to America in recent years. I am sure it will be good food for thought as I am revising a manuscript that I wrote two years ago but have not published.
So, there you have it. I learn by reading and think by writing. A perfect symbiosis
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